Chapter 40
The Investigation continues
A giggling Leonard locked the hotel room door and together with Penny, who was also suffering a fit of the giggles, began walking down the hall towards the lifts.
The reason for the couples mirth was due to their unsuccessful attempt to recapture their courting days, though the closeness that was shared between them in the failed attempt was priceless.
"I guess it was a lot easier when we were much younger sweetie", Penny told her husband once she had regained her ability to speak without giggling.
"Yeah, I guess, though we still had lots of fun trying", Leonard admitted.
"Absolutely sweetie, absolutely", Penny replied and giving the love of her life a warm hug and a kiss to emphasise her point.
"So then, moving on to serious matters, what's our next move?", Penny asked her husband.
"First, we visit the widow of our John Doe, and see if we can discover if this is an elaborate hoax, or not. Oh, incidentally, our government has yet to inform the Widow that her husbands body was discovered in a Californian wilderness. Seems it's on a need to know basis, and his Widow doesn't need to know according to the General, so keep it under your hat please", Leonard informed Penny.
Just as they exited the lift though, Leonard's cell rang.
"hello?' oh Hi General Rawlinson. Yeah we're just leaving', they've found what?..., I'm not surprised, the voltages may be the same but the frequencies are different...", Penny stood there impatiently, feeling rather puzzled, due to hearing only one side of a telephone conversation.
Leonard continued, "half a mile away?..., Well OK Sir but I'm not sure if Penny will like it at all?",
finally Penny, as soon as Leonard had finished his telephone conversation, rounded on him, her anger already rising at hearing Leonard's doubts.
"And just what will I not like, Leonard?" , Penny demanded, standing stiffly with her hands on her hips and glaring at him dangerously.
Well on that same afternoon our guy went travelling with his dog. A warehouse, according to the local cops here, was ram raided and a load of power tools were snatched", at this point Leonard lowered his voice to a whisper.
"They were discovered in a small ravine half a mile from where the body was discovered., by a guy who tried to sell them in our town which was where the PD, picked him up. So, to cut a long story short.
General Rawlinson wants me to go to the warehouse and see what I can find out there, while you are to wait here for his agent, who will then take you to see our guy's Widow", Leonard nervously explained.
Penny thought for a moment, before informing Leonard that if they are going to go their separate ways in this investigation then the Army had better take cover, "I mean it Leonard I won't stand for it", She declared vehemently.
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Leonard once again scanned the brief seven seconds of footage from the warehouse security camera.
For those few brief moment he watched as a white tornado like object cut across the screen from left to right illuminated by plasma discharges on its surface.
"I dunno how them blokes did it but they even snatched the bloomin' camera as well, Thieving so and so's can't seem to keep their 'ands off nuffing", the Manager informed Leonard in disgust.
"Yeah and twenty feet of shelving to boot", Leonard noted looking at the message text from General Rawlinson, listing everything that had been 'stolen', Leonard then groaned as he read the General's request for Leonard to go to the Marshes for soil samples, as, 'Those dozy s.o.b's have managed to lose the first samples that were gathered.
"I reckon they'll set up a shop somewhere to flog the stuff quick like", the Manager surmised.
'yeah, perhaps somewhere like Pasadena', Leonard thought.
Once he was back in the car Leonard called General Rawlinson, Informing the General that there was not enough footage of the video to get much information from it at all.
"Rats that's a bummer, just think Hofstadter, if we could only have got some information on this thing then the Army could have transported ammunition, guns and troops anywhere in the world, hell, maybe even tanks, And all without the enemy even noticing a thing", the General informed him disappointedly.
"Yeah I guess, tough break huh", Leonard commiserated, though feeling somewhat relieved,
. 'We are so not ready for wormhole technology at all. All they seem to think about is gaining military superiority. They're just not interested in accruing knowledge of our universe at all'. Leonard thought sadly to himself.
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Penny had just finished drinking her coffee she had decided to get while waiting for the General's Agent, when said Agent appeared.
"Hofstadter?", the Agent inquired of Penny as she examined Penny's picture on her cell.
"Yes, It's Penny Hofstadter, pleased to meet you", Penny cheerfully replied, holding out her hand in a friendly manner.
The Agent a stunningly beautiful Woman in her mid twenties, (that would have immediately welled up in a much younger Penny her acute insecurities. Possibly making her feel like a toothless old crone), looked down at Penny's hand in a disdainful fashion.
"Right, all set", The Agent asked Penny in a businesslike fashion, and ignoring the hand.
"I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name?", Penny asked her feeling a little affronted by the Woman's abrupt manner.
"That's because I didn't give it", The agent told her tersely. "Now then, let's proceed shall we?".
The Journey to the unfortunate man's home was carried out in silence, as the Agent busied herself with reading the report on the case, while Penny looked out the window at the pedestrians they passed on that rainy morning and wondered how different life actually might be on this side of the Atlantic, compared to California.
They were surprised to see, as they drew up near the house, an ambulance parked outside, while an ambulanceman was just in the process of shutting the rear doors.
Penny frowned at this unexpected development as an uneasy feeling assaulted her.
Then on approaching the short path to the door, She was startled to see a Police Constable emerging from the house.
The Agent showed him her I.D. And began asking him questions.
"I'm afraid Ma'am, the poor woman killed herself sometime yesterday evening. She was found holding this tightly in her hand", The Constable informed them.
The Agent took a cursory glance at the silver locket, before handing it to Penny. And while the Agent continued her questions, Penny shakily entered the house and as she sat down in the lounge she looked around at the many photographs dotted around the walls of the couple from their wedding photograph onwards. The later ones of the couple, even including the couples dog.
She opened the locket to see the treasured pictures of the man and of his wife lovingly placed inside.
Penny looked once again around the room at the photographs and noticed that in each one except for the wedding photograph, the wife was wearing the locket.
"It's his wedding present to you isn't it", she asked the photograph of the wife in the locket.
"You just couldn't cope with this world without him, could you?", Penny guessed with a startling clarity of insight.
Once again the awful image of Leonard in the I.C.U connected up to tubes and wires assaulted her consciousness.
"I know how you felt, I thought I had lost the love of my life too, once", She told the photograph, in empathy.
At that moment the Agent entered, "OK, I've arranged for an autopsy. My guess is she was silenced to stop us getting near the truth" we should get the results sometime this afternoon, yep I got top priority on this one", The Agent informed Penny proudly.
At this an already emotional Penny rounded on her angrily.
"Are you kidding me?, Look around you, you stupid bitch!, they were devoted to each other, look at this one," Penny demanded as she pointed to one of the photographs of the couple on the pier at Southend, then her anger blazed at the unfeeling attitude of this harpy and gave the Agent a hard slap round her face.
"She's wearing that locket he gave her in every photograph except their wedding one, that's why she was holding it tightly", at this point Penny now overcome by her anger and the bitter memories of that awful day of her anguish over Leonard. Gave way to tears,
"Don't you see?, It was all she had left of him", Penny, in utter disgust, screamed this last at the Agent at the top of her voice, before collapsing on an armchair in her distress and then felt even worse as she looked at the dog's empty basket.
The Agent angrily began calling General Rawlinson in an attempt to have Penny arrested for assault and immediately thrown off the case, and as soon as Penny heard the Agent greeting the General, she snatched the cell from the cold hearted Woman, and shoved her in the face, causing her to land heavily on her posterior. The Agent sat their stunned and suddenly feeling more than a little afraid of Penny's surprising strength despite her age.
The General listened carefully to Penny's impassioned report, "...And please could it be arranged for them to be buried together, preferably in Pasadena. Only I wondered, I just feel that somehow I owe them this?. I guess I just feel a strong connection to his widow.
Also I've still got the locket she was holding, I really think she would like to be buried, with it in it's rightful place, around her neck".
The General, feeling touched by Penny's kindness agreed to all her requests and asked if he could speak to the Agent.
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The Agent sullenly made her way back to the car after having been torn off a strip by General Rawlinson and was also informed, that because of her apparent urgent need for more training she would be sent on a six month course at a facility in Illinois.
The General had informed the Agent at length of the importance of empathy and the vital need to gain an insight into an individual's life, also stressing the importance of making a thorough investigation before arranging an autopsy and not to make immediate assumptions.
Penny meanwhile, stayed for a last look round at the treasured photographs of a devoted couple, and as she turned to leave she accidentally knocked the dead woman's handbag to the floor spilling some of it's contents. And as she quickly replaced the spilled items, lip balm, keys, a pack of tissues, and some loose change, when she noticed amongst the items, a cheque payable to Mrs Julie Brankle, from the Doohan, Kelly & Nichols life assurance company, for an amount totalling £50,000.
Penny placed the cheque carefully in her purse with the intention of passing it on to Leonard later, in order for Leonard to ensure that the cheque was sent to the Solicitor (Lawyer) of the unfortunate couple.
Then , as a final act, Penny sadly closed the front door of the late couples home.
"'Scuse me love, you haven't seen Rexy 'ave yer?",
Penny turned in surprise and saw the tearful elderly next door neighbour looking at her, clearly hoping for a positive answer.
"Rexy?", A bewildered Penny asked her.
"Sorry, I'm Elsie, their neighbour, Their little dog?, doted on 'im they did, She couldn't 'ave kids herself see, so Rex was a sort of surrogate for them you see". The old lady elucidated.
Penny smiled at this kindly woman. "He's quite safe I assure you", Then, getting an idea, Penny added, "He's coming to live with me and my Husband now", She told her, sure in her heart that neither Leonard nor the General would object.
The old woman was instantly relieved, "Ow, I'm so glad, 'E's such a friendly little chap. In fact I would've 'ad 'im meself see, Julie was such a lovely person, and I would have very much liked to have done something for her as she's helped me a lot over the years. But the old age pension won't stretch to it nohow these days", she told Penny sadly, then brightened visibly, as Penny warmly hugged her and told her not to worry over Rex any more, and if Elsie would like, Penny could send her regular updates and photographs so she could see how Rex was doing.
The old Lady, now with a big beaming smile thanked Penny profusely, then after saying, "Cheerio then duck", Elsie turned, then shuffled back to her house.
When Penny returned to the hotel, she was pleased to discover her Husband already there,
"Hi Darling, I was just looking through the menu as to what we could have for dinner this evening?", Leonard told her, his pleasure at seeing that his Wife had returned, written all over his face.
Penny though needed something more important than dinner right now and she hurled herself into Leonard's arms, and at her request. Leonard held her tightly in his arms for quite some time, before Penny could gain some respite from the emotional upset she had suffered earlier that Day. That evening, after dinner, the couple decided to stay in their hotel room, as both Leonard, worrying over the intentions of the military, and Penny still feeling somewhat unsettled after her day, sought some more comfort from each other.
It was while they were watching an English comedy on the T.V. When the principal character entered a Bank. That Penny remembered the cheque. She rose and retrieved it and handed it to Leonard and asked him if he could make sure it was sent to the couples Solicitor so it could be distributed to any surviving relatives.
Leonard took a cursory glance at the cheque before putting it down, then suddenly picking it up again for another look.
"Penny, have you noticed the name of this company?", Leonard asked her as he booted up his tablet.
"Yes, Dooley, someone and somebody I think. Why do you ask?", Penny puzzled at Leonard's sudden feverish activity with his tablet.
Leonard did not reply for a moment or two, then finally turning to Penny he told her.
"I thought so, there is no such company listed under those names", Leonard informed her triumphantly.
"Do you mean to tell me that that cheque is fake?",, Penny ejaculated, already feeling her anger rise over a seemingly despicable trick played on a kind woman and devoted Wife that Julie was.
"No I think the cheque is genuine but the insurance company is not. Look at these surnames. James Doohan, Deforest Kelly and Nichelle Nichols were actors who played the parts of Chief Engineer Scott, Dr McCoy, and Lieutenant Uhura. So this cheque came from someo..., Oh my God, Sheldon!", Leonard declared incredulously.
Penny too had put her hands to her face as she too realised that surely this could not be from anyone else, but Dr Sheldon Cooper.
"Leonard, we have got to go back and see him. And find out for sure. See if you can book a flight back to LAX for tomorrow?", Penny requested of Leonard, as now she was worrying over the well being of Amy and Sheldon.
"Sorry Honey no can do, the General wants us to go to the marshes and take some more samples", Leonard informed her apologetically.
Penny began to fret even more at Leonard's news. It was vital they returned to Pasadena very soon and see if they can help Amy and Sheldon.
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The visit to Hackney Marshes was carried out without incident, though Penny found, as she absently in deep thought, wandered along the bank of the river Lea, when she suddenly spotted a large sprig of a familiar looking plant, Artemesia Californica, or to give it it's local name in the U.S. Californian Sage.
"Leonard!, I take it this doesn't grow in the U.K. Does it?", she announced holding out the plant to Leonard.
"Nope, it sure doesn't, this area around here sure doesn't look like semi desert to me", Leonard confirmed indicating with a wave of his arm the large flat grassy field, recently marked out for football pitches (Soccer).
"I'll put it with the General's samples", He told her, then disclosed worriedly, "Really as it's eight and a half miles from here to the warehouse. But only half a mile from where the body was discovered to the ravine where the tools were found, then it's very likely that the wormhole was generated on the U.S side of the Atlantic. Which is also provides us another strong link to Sheldon".
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Leonard tossed and turned that night. It was quite clear, 1)Mankind was really not ready for a wormhole generator. And 2) Leonard was positive that Sheldon was involved somewhere.
So what possibly could Leonard come up with that could convince the General that it was a result of natural phenomena. After wrestling with the problem for an hour or so he suddenly sat bolt upright remembering something Rajesh had told him a couple of weeks or so ago.
Leonard quickly scrambled to pick up his phone.
"Hello?, could I speak to Rajesh Koothrapalli please?", Leonard asked, hoping Rajesh was available.
Soon the familiar voice of Raj sounded in his ear.
"Leonard!, Nice to hear from you Dude, though it's a bit early to drag me out of bed, it's only 07:15. I'm an old man now, I need my beauty sleep. It's OK I'm only Joking. So, What's up?", Rajesh asked.
"Do you remember when we talked last?, I seem to remember you telling me about some huge sunspot activity, and I was wondering when was that?", Leonard asked him hoping that the date would coincide with the wormhole transportation.
Rajesh thought for a moment, "That would be March the 12th, Man I'm not kidding, this thing was off the scale, We've never seen it so strong. Truly I swear, you could have seen the Northern Lights from Sri Lanka...".
Leonard joyfully interrupted, "Raj you are a lifesaver, Honestly I could kiss you".
"Little loud Dude, I have this on Speaker phone", Raj told him, his embarrassment quite evident in his voice.
Leonard apologised then ended the call, after promising Raj he would ring him soon.
Yes it was an impossible long shot that General Rawlinson would swallow Leonard's explanation, but the cosmic rays were so powerful that day that, according to Rajesh, they fried quite a number of the older satellites,. And also, it was the only natural phenomena that Leonard could use.
Then smiling to himself Leonard returned to his bed and cuddling his Penny, He soon fell fast asleep.
Fortunately for Leonard, though General Rawlinson did not swallow the powerful sunspot activity as explanation for the wormhole incidents. He wrongly concluded that Leonard gave him that bullcrap to hide the fact that Leonard did not quite have the necessary knowledge of the subject and ordered them, to their great joy, to return to the U.S.A..
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Four Days after their return home, (In order to ensure they were not under surveillance, in case General Rawlinson suspected anything). They made their way to the abode of Dr and Dr Cooper.
Leonard and Penny's suspicions of Sheldon's involvement were confirmed when the front door was opened a crack with the security chain engaged, before the Wary face of Amy checked just who it was that was calling.
Amy's face softened with relief when she saw that it was only her own dear friends and ushered them inside.
They were immediately struck by the thin, nervous man that was their old friend Dr Sheldon Cooper, who was seated by the window on look out.
Leonard came straight to the point, "That was you, wasn't it?. With the wormhole generator I mean?".
Sheldon looked aghast at him then slumped in defeat.
"I always knew that somehow it would be you who would find out my secret. I suppose it's you're clear duty now to hand me over to the authorities?", Sheldon said quietly.
"No, No Sheldon I'm not. Do you know who it was that wanted my services so badly to find out just who was doing this?", Leonard continued, without waiting for Sheldon to answer, "The Army told me they needed me. Not for the purposes of gaining the knowledge to benefit Mankind, No. But so they can put an army anywhere in the World. The World is just not ready for your invention Sheldon", Leonard explained.
"You're right, It's already taken one man's life", Sheldon admitted sadly.
"Sheldon, Sweetie, it wasn't your invention that killed him, he suffered a heart attack", Penny reassured Sheldon.
"It was terrible, I was so elated that the generator worked, that I was already making my speech of thanks to the Nobel committee, when he just appeared out of nowhere with his dog on a lead. He just looked at me , clutched his chest and died, I quickly switched the machine off and rushed to help him but in so doing I stumbled against my machine and it started again", Sheldon began to sob, then continued tearfully, I quickly switched it off again. God only knows how many people I killed this time", Sheldon wondered in anguish, as a stricken Amy rubbed his back in comfort.
"It's OK Buddy, You didn't. You just transported a bunch of 110v construction tools from England to here. Some guy was trying to sell them until the Pasadena P.D. Picked him up". Leonard explained.
"But that's ridiculous, the voltage is the same but the frequencies are different, they would just run too fast here?", Sheldon noted, brightening a little at the stupidity of anyone who was oblivious to the difference.
There was silence for a while, then Sheldon spoke.
"It was a marsh Leonard. Who on Earth walks on a marsh?. That's why I chose that location", Sheldon suddenly explained, "I thought it would be safe?", He added.
"I'm afraid that place ceased to be a marsh a long time ago Buddy, why didn't you check it out on satellite?," Leonard asked him.
"I can only conclude that I was to obsessed with the Nobel prize, I just took the name for granted, Sheldon confessed.
"I sent his widow a cheque, I hoped it might make things a little bit easier for her", Sheldon informed them earnestly.
"It did, Sheldon, It really did", Penny told him as she gave Leonard a warning look so he would not tell Sheldon of the man's Widow's death. After all there was no point in Sheldon knowing now, it would just make things worse, also it wouldn't change anything either.
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Sheldon dismantled his wormhole generator and stowed it away in his lock' n' store.
He Sheldon Cooper had made an error that cost an innocent man his life. Leonard and Penny seemed very happy together in their retirement. So Sheldon decided that it was time to leave it to the next generation to make scientific discoveries, and he would enjoy his own retirement with his Wife and absolute rock, Amy.
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Penny rose from the graveside and brushed a few stalks from the flowers off of her skirt.
She stood and read the inscription again.
Here Lies
Stephen and Julie Brankle
A truly devoted couple
I know they will rise on the last day
Leonard glanced at the time, "OK Honey, don't forget, Rex is still waiting in the car for his walk", He reminded her.
Penny turned and taking hold of Leonard's arm she smiled at him, "OK my Darling, lead on".
Then they made their way towards the car where an excited Rex eagerly greeted their return.
