The Mind Man

Chapter twenty one

Laura found the New South Wales State Library next to the parliamentary buildings in Macquarie Street. It was elevated enough to enjoy breathtaking views across the harbor towards the dramatic sandstone headlands guarding the entrance to the sea. The old colonial building with cool verandahs around all four sides was immersed in meticulously manicured gardens dotted with several large fig trees, making it a welcoming cool retreat from the hot, noisy city. 

Once inside she settled herself down at a desk in a secluded corner and spread out her things anxious to begin her research. She was now intensely curious as to what other facets of telepathy existed, beyond the hocus-pocus of popular convention, which could explain the actions of Adam Henderson. She was not interested in any mystical concepts, only scientific testaments to a deeper understanding of telepathy of which she had no knowledge. 

She scoured through all the books and journals on the library's shelves which related to the subject matter and then she placed herself at one of the computer terminals to search the Web as well. As she had anticipated, there were a multitude of links to psychics, skeptics, spiritualists and a host of other sites eager to take people's money for the exchange of some form of bogus service. However, she also found reference to a list of academics, intellectuals and scholars who were devoting significant portions of their careers to elevating telepathy from a paranormal phenomenon to a recognized scientific discipline of research. One such person was Dr. Alfred Zimmerman who was currently working out of a research center in Boston. His name continually appeared in the literature which Laura unearthed. He was regarded by his peers as a global leader in the study of telepathic communication. Laura noted his name and the address of the center and decided to pay him a visit on her way home. She read further. He had conducted numerous mental telepathy experiments using advanced statistical tools to evaluate the results. He claimed the results were in favor of the credible existence of the phenomenon. Other researchers had derived similar conclusions. 

Laura was then struck with a thought which filled her with such excitement she had to contain herself from standing on the table and shouting it to everyone in the room. After spending almost a day in the library she had discovered that at all levels telepathy remained a statistical game, there was no indication of conclusive research ever being conducted. What Chuck was suggesting to her from Sergeant Farrell's observations of Adam Henderson indicated that she had the opportunity to document events which would rewrite every book and webpage on the subject in the world. She was on the verge of being in every newspaper and on every television network around the globe. 

Her hands trembled as she set to work composing her article. Her fingers moved so fast over the keyboard of her laptop the words were barely making sense. 

Suddenly she paused. She had to be clever. She thought hard about her article and decided she should write about telepathy in general terms, but then link its application to Adam. There could not be any suggestion of incrimination as she wanted to avoid a lawsuit but enough accountability to draw him to her. She wanted to write the article in such a way that people with specific knowledge and a flair for lateral thinking would recognize what she was suggesting. She wanted to raise enough attention and controversy to open a door to accessing Adam for an interview which she would promise at the end. This way she would have the eyes of the world upon her anticipating her next move. 

It was an ambitious plan but the rewards would be exceptional. She renewed typing with vigor. 

She finished her report late in the evening and sent it off to London with a handful of brief travel reports which she had promised Dennis. 

The following day she went and rerouted her ticket to include Boston before taking a ride on a harbor ferry and treating herself at a chic waterside restaurant.