“Yes, I do know that,” Kieran answered. He looked at her curiously. “So did you worry?”
“Not at first. Leo had this line that said switching the personality to the duplicate was really no different from what happens naturally in the course of years . . .”
“Yes, I’ve heard it. Leo told me.”
“He made it sound believable, and I accepted it. . . . But as the time got nearer, he started to act less sure. It got to be as if he were trying to sell himself more. But inside, I could tell: he was scared.”
“I would be too,” Kieran said.
Elaine seemed relieved at not having to go into details. “Well, when he came up with this idea of switching bodies so he wouldn’t really have to go through with it, I was more than just willing to help. It was after I told him I worked with a medical hypnotist. Obviously, a plan like that couldn’t work if the copy came out knowing everything that had happened.”
“You’re saying that’s all it was to begin with?” Kieran checked. “You just wanted to help the Leo that you knew stay around—and to keep him yourself. It didn’t matter what he or anyone else said about this copy who was supposed to be identical.”
Elaine nodded, brushing her eye with a knuckle. “That’s it, exactly. I loved him. How could anyone not sympathize with his situation? As you just said, it was to keep him. That was all we wanted. We were just going to disappear and find a spot somewhere. The copy could get rich and famous—do whatever he liked.”
“So when did the notion of cleaning out his bank start?” Kieran asked.
“That came later,” Elaine said. “Something started to change in Leo. He became envious, malicious, saying that he had earned the money and taken all the risks; why should the other one walk away with the proceeds? I wasn’t so happy about the idea. But I couldn’t help feeling for him in some ways. I attributed it to the strain he was under, and let myself be drawn into it.”
Kieran waited. Elaine sat staring at the sculptures a short distance away. Her manner signaled that there was more, but she wasn’t sure how to broach it. “Was it really worth it?” he asked, helping her a little. “I mean, okay, a third of five million isn’t exactly peanuts, I know. . . .” He watched her as he spoke. She nodded an unconscious confirmation, her eyes still on the figures. That told Kieran that only the three people were involved. “But for established professionals like you and Henry? It wouldn’t justify all the complications and risks.”
Elaine sighed and turned her head, finally. “Once Balmer got involved, everything was moved up to higher stakes.” She gestured appealingly, as if some defense or justification were called for. “He’s one of those high-pressure, over-assertive people who will always take over something like that to get whatever they can. He persuaded us that we could go for much bigger money than what Leo was talking about. Leo was interested straightaway. . . . And I was so far into it by then, I just saw no alternative but to go along.”
“There was no question of setting Leo up, then?” Kieran said. “Nothing `personal’ with Balmer—on your part?”
Elaine looked horrified. “God, no! Everything with Leo had been genuine. My relationship with Balmer was just professional . . . even a bit opportunist, I guess you could say. He knew all the right people, had the contacts. He was the perfect ticket to success and career advancement—if you could put up with the rest of him.”
Kieran nodded. It was as he’d thought, but he’d needed to be sure. “So how did Balmer decide to up the stakes?” he asked.
“By doing an end run around Quantonix and the client they’ve got lined up, and selling the TX technology elsewhere. We’re talking maybe a billion here, not five million.” Elaine looked at Kieran, giving him a moment to think about it. “And with Leo handling the negotiations—the one who isn’t supposed to exist—you’ve got the perfect front man.”