The Time Machine: Heart, Mind & Soul.
Chapter 1:
Jack Kilroy was Here.
Jack Kilroy was a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma[1]. Every answer created more questions. Special Agent Lafayette suspected Kilroy of several serious felony crimes; including money laundering, insider trading, weapon trafficking, and even homicide. But she couldn't find any hard evidence connecting Jack to those crimes.
Jack Kilroy popped up all over recent history, everything from the 1930s up until last Tuesday. But these references were always vague and didn't have any useful information in them. Clearly unless Jack Kilroy was over 100 years old it couldn't be the same man. Lafayette's search for whoever this man was; led to a tremendous amount of dead ends; and even more questions.
Today would be different however; she had a lead that connected to Jack Kilroy. Surprisingly it seemed like he was the hero who had saved a young college student from a murderer.
Lafayette's phone rang again. Then it signaled a message had been left, and then a text. It rang again and she put it on speaker.
"Please tell me you haven't started the interview with the young lady yet?" asked a researcher that worked for Lafayette. "Because I just found a paper trail on Jack Kilroy."
There was a brief pause; then special agent Lafayette spoke back into her phone as she took it off speaker. "I was just about to," said Special Agent Lafayette. "Okay what can you tell me about Mr. Jack Kilroy?"
"He's an Arizona Ranger," replied the researcher.
"He's a cop?" said Lafayette stunned.
"Yeah and get this; the only document I found was a request from the police station that you are at right now; sent directly to Jack asking that he track down a girl who went missing while jogging south of her dorm. And the date of the request was 06:45 in the morning today," explained the researcher.
"She was dropped off here at 08:28; by Jack Kilroy," remembered special agent Lafayette.
"There's no way that Kilroy could've gotten from his ranch to south of the university in that amount of time, on horseback," reasoned Lafayette. "Unless of course he actually is a time traveler," said Special Agent Lafayette.
"You're not gonna bring up that theory again are you?" pleaded the researcher.
"I can't help it; evidence of it keeps coming up," admitted Lafayette. "You said that Kilroy was an expert tracker right?" asked Lafayette.
"Yeah I did," said the researcher reluctantly.
"Check to see if Kilroy uses a dog; maybe we can find veterinary records." Theorized Lafayette.
"I already checked; I found a lot of veterinary records but they're all redacted. The only thing I have is the dog's name: Dexter."
Lafayette ended the phone call and walked into the local Flagstaff police department. A local officer walked up to special agent Lafayette and asked if she wanted to hook up the young girl to a polygraph?
"No; she's been traumatized enough," explained Lafayette.
"Okay; it's your show," replied the officer.
They both made their way into the conference room where a young lady sat. She was extremely nervous and a bit traumatized. She was a young college student. "Hello sweetheart my name is Special agent Lafayette and I wanna ask some questions about what happened."
"Okay," said the young lady.
"According to your statement; sweetheart, you were jogging on the trail just south of your dorm. Is that correct?" asked Special agent Lafayette.
"Yes that's correct," said the young lady.
"Okay and you said that you were attacked?" asked Lafayette.
The young lady nodded.
Special agent Lafayette then pulled out a mug shot of a man and showed it to the young lady, "Is this the man that attacked you?"
"Yes he attacked me," said the young lady with a great deal of certainty.
"And according to your statement he was not wearing clothes and had a butcher knife and screaming at you? Is that correct?" asked the special agent.
"Yes that's correct," said the young lady.
"And a man on horseback then came out of the woods and rode between you and your attacker?" asked Lafayette.
"Yes that's correct," said the young lady.
"What did the man on horseback do to stop your attacker?" inquired Lafayette.
"Mr. Kilroy ordered him to stop, the attacker did not stop and Mr. Kilroy shot him," explained the young lady.
"How many shots did Jack Kilroy fire?" asked Lafayette.
"I don't remember," the young lady said honestly. "But I think that it was only one."
Lafayette didn't question her. That response was very normal for a civilian who had just witnessed a shooting.
"Do you know who attacked me?" asked the young lady.
"His identity came back. He's suspected of committing several violent crimes; and he has two felony convictions. He was a very bad person indeed," confirmed Lafayette. The United States Marshalls had a reward for him at about twenty five thousand; dead or alive.
"Wow, I could have been killed?" reasoned the young lady.
"Yes," confirmed Lafayette.
"Have you ever met this man on horseback before?"
"No, It's the only time I've ever met Jack Kilroy," said the young lady.
"So how do you know his name was Jack Kilroy?" asked special agent Lafayette.
"Oh; he told me," the young lady said simply. "He showed me his badge; he's an Arizona Ranger," explained the young lady.
"I wanna say something," interjected the young lady. "Jack was a perfect gentleman. He didn't touch me without permission."
"-can you elaborate on that?" asked Lafayette.
"Well he got off his horse and he approached me. He's a lot less scary when he's not on his horse. It's an awfully big horse. And he said that he wanted to examine me to make sure I wasn't hurt. He had me turn around and the only thing he did was he said he was gonna grab my elbow which I bumped and he examined it to make sure nothing was broken." The young lady's right elbow had been bandaged. It was fairly banged up but the physician who had just examined her a few moments before said that she should make a full recovery and that nothing was broken.
"Okay what did Jack Kilroy do next?" asked Lafayette.
"Well he moved my attacker's body off the trail. Then he helped me get up on his horse. I said it was Okay if we both rode on the horse. He got up and he rode me to the police station and dropped me off here," explained the young lady.
"Why are you so interested in Jack?" she asked.
"I've been tracking Jack Kilroy for months now. He is suspected of some pretty serious felony crimes," explain Lafayette.
"You know Jack's a cop right?" objected the young girl bluntly. "He also saved my life; which he didn't have to do. Look Special Agent Lafayette; I'm a psychology major; with an emphasis on criminal psychology. If Jack wanted to cause me harm he definitely had the ability and the opportunity to do so. But his intent as demonstrated by his words, actions, and demeanor was to help me." The young lady had just schooled Lafayette. Instead of getting upset about this though; she took it to heart. The young lady did indeed make an excellent character witness.
Lafayette decided to change the subject. "Did Mr. Kilroy have a dog with him?" asked Lafayette.
"Oh yes he did. He has a very nice dog named Dexter," explained the young lady.
"What kind of dog was it?" asked the special agent.
"Well it kinda looked like a Belgian Malinois but it had all kinds of stripes on it sort of like a brindle. Jack said it was an exotic dog breed from Australia called a Thylacine."
There was a very long silence in the room. It started to make the young lady fairly nervous. "You said that the dog named Dexter was an exotic breed from Australia called a Thylacine?"
"Yeah Dexter was super friendly," volunteered the young lady.
Special agent Lafayette pulled up a black-and-white picture on her phone and showed it to the young lady, "Is this the type of dog that Dexter was?"
"Totally," confirmed the young lady. "I've never heard of them before but he's awful pretty. Do you know anything about them special agent Lafayette?" asked the young lady.
"Sweetheart; this is a picture of a Tasmanian tiger, and they do look like dogs. They have also been extinct since 1936," instructed special agent Lafayette.
"Well obviously not," the young lady replied sarcastically. "look I got a good look at Dexter. He let me pet him. Like I said he was super friendly and that's definitely the type of dog he is," explained the young lady on no uncertain terms. "You don't believe me do you?" ask the young lady.
"Sweetheart this is not a dog, it's a marsupial and it is closely related to the Tasmanian devil, and a kangaroo," explained Special agent Lafayette.
"Well I'm telling you special agent; Dexter is the same kind of animal in that picture. And he was very friendly; and cute." The young lady thought for a second and then asked, "You said these things are marsupials right?"
"Yes they are," said Lafayette.
"So they have a pouch right?" surmised the young lady.
"Yes," agreed special agent Lafayette.
The young lady put her hand on her mouth and started to giggle.
"What's so funny?" asked special agent Lafayette.
"That would explain why Dexter had such a big ball sack. It was actually his pouch." giggled the young lady.
"And how do you know that?" asked Lafayette.
"Oh I got a good look at it; Dexter likes tummy rubs." The young lady continued to giggle.
This revelation didn't jive with how Lafayette understood reality in general.
"Okay sweetheart, help me reason through this," said Lafayette.
"Okay," the young lady agreed.
"You said that Dexter is a male and he had a marsupial pouch; is that correct?" said Lafayette.
"It looks that way yes," confirmed the young lady.
"I don't think that male marsupials have pouches," said Lafayette.
"Some do," said the assisting officer; who had been silent up until now. He was looking on his phone and said, "Male Thylacine did have pouches," he confirmed.
"But why would a man in the 21st-century have a pet Thylacine?," asked Lafayette.
"Well that's obvious," said the young lady. "Mr. Kilroy said that Dexter was the best tracker on the entire planet. Jack explained that Thylacine can track things especially by their sent a lot better than even bloodhounds."
Special agent Lafayette decided to change the subject back to Jack Kilroy, "So Mr. Kilroy was armed is that correct?"
"Well yeah obviously," responded the young lady.
"Do you know what type of gun he was carrying?" asked the special agent.
"Oh I don't know anything about guns," responded the young lady.
Special agent Lafayette decided not to ask any more about the gun. "Sweetheart I've been investigating Jack Kilroy for several months now. I suspect that he has been involved in money laundering, insider trading, gun running, and identity theft," explained Lafayette.
"Don't forget trafficking in exotic animals," objected the young lady with a great deal of sarcasm in her voice.
"Did Jack Kilroy tell you that he was a time traveler?" asked the special agent.
The young lady was not fazed by the oddity of this question. She simply looked at Special agent Lafayette directly in the eyes and said, "Why don't you go ask HIM?
Special agent Lafayette decided to do exactly that. Despite her best efforts to steer clear of any evidence that Kilroy was a time traveler she still found it.
CHAPTER 2: Wellerman Ranch.
Special agent Lafayette was driving down the worst excuse for an unpaved road in the history of the state of Arizona. One would be lucky to drive greater than 10 mph without being shaken to death by all the bumps. After about an hour, she found a spot to pull out and decided to take a short rest.
Special agent Lafayette pulled out a very complicated satellite phone and dialed the office. An agent who was working under her answered the phone.
"I'm still on my way to Wellerman Ranch. Have you been able to find anything on this place or about Jack Kilroy?" she asked her subordinate.
"Well it's paid for in cash, all of it. It cost about 50 million but he only paid about 1.5," said the desk clerk. "Which obviously doesn't add up"
"Yes I know," said special agent Lafayette. "That's why I think he's into money laundering."
"Well you might actually be wrong," said the desk clerk. "I did some investigating and apparently he shipped the entire payment over Amtrak. The weight; not including packaging, was exactly 30,000 ounces. If you take the spot price of gold in 2012 that's about $50 million. And 30,000 one ounce gold American Eagle coins has a face value of 1.5 million."
"Gold coins are the best investment you can make to be protected from inflation," surmised Lafayette.
"What else did you find?"
"Wellerman Ranch is one of the most remote estates in the world. Jack Kilroy likes his privacy," concluded the desk clerk.
"No kidding," responded special agent Lafayette; as she rubbed her back from the rough terrain
"Did you check the satellite photos?" she asked.
"Yeah I did they're all redacted and unavailable," replied the desk worker.
"Redacted by who by what agency and under whose authority?" asked Lafayette quite surprised.
"That information is also redacted," replied the frustrated desk worker.
"That's preposterous," responded Lafayette. "We have security clearance."
There was a fair pause. The desk worker had no idea how to respond. Lafayette realized that it was pointless to argue with her subordinate; obviously he had done his best. However this revelation did give specialist Lafayette some insight. "Jack Kilroy is obviously a protected man who has friends in high places." Concluded special agent Lafayette.
"What do you mean by that?" asked the subordinate.
"I think it means I should walk up to the front door knock and ask politely to come in; as opposed to breaking down the front door with a warrant," said Lafayette.
"The autopsy report from the dead attacker also came back," said the subordinate.
"Go ahead," encouraged Lafayette.
"The attacker was killed by a single gunshot wound to the heart. The shot was fired at an approximate height of 8 feet from a distance of about 20 feet. The weapon was a 357 Magnum with a one and 18.75 inch right hand twist with five lands and grooves. Standard Smith & Wesson. But get this, the autopsy showed that he was hit directly through the left ventricle," concluded the researcher.
"Damn good shot from a horseback," concluded Lafayette. "It also means that his horse is firearm trained. Which lends an awful lot of credibility to him being in Arizona Ranger," surmised Lafayette.
"I did actually find out one thing about his ranch that wasn't actually redacted," said the subordinate.
"Okay what?"
"There's a decommission missile silo on his land. I checked with the Air Force and confirmed it."
"Wait a minute did you say a decommissioned nuclear missile silo?" Said Lafayette.
"Yep."
"Okay with all the stuff about his ranch that is redacted; why is the decommissioned missile silo NOT redacted?" asked special agent Lafayette.
"I got nothing," said the desk clerk. "Are you getting any ideas?"
"I have one but it's crazy; if someone saw that there was a decommission nuclear missile on his property it would very likely stop anyone from asking any more questions about why the rest of it was all redacted," surmised special agent Lafayette.
"Okay so you think he didn't redact the nuclear missile silo to explain why he had all the other stuff reacted; so people would not ask any more questions about what was reacted?" Set the desk clerk.
"Exactly," concluded Special agent Lafayette.
"I would like to point out something else Lafayette. Despite all of our best efforts we have not uncovered a single piece of hard evidence to suggest any crime of any type committed by Jack Kilroy," said the researcher.
It was time to make the way to Jack Kilroy's front door and knock politely.
Chapter 3: Welcome to Time Travel
Special agent Lafayette finished driving her jeep up to the front gates of the Wellerman Ranch. They were open and there was a sign handwritten; that said:
Come on in Lafayette. I'm expecting you
Jack Kilroy is here.
Mr. Kilroy knew that she was coming. The man was connected indeed. She drove her jeep into the courtyard and parked. As she got out she saw a curious four legged critter looking directly at her. The animal didn't bark. It yipped. It seemed friendly enough. But still very cautious. It was probably about 55 pounds and about 2 feet tall at the shoulder. It had all the markings of a Tasmanian tiger. It wore a dog collar that had 'Dexter' written on it. Along with a QR code.
Lafayette loved dogs; she had had a lot of them growing up; and her best friend's mom and dad ran a dog rescue. As soon as Lafayette said something friendly and knelt down. Dexter came right up to her and wanted some love and affection. Lafayette couldn't believe it.
Dexter was indeed very friendly and allowed Lafayette to examine his feet. He had five toes on his front feet and four on his back; and a very long planter pad on the front and especially the rear. This was no dog. This was a Thylacine; that had been thought to be extinct since the 1930s. But it was more than that, this animal was domesticated; and there had never been a single recorded instance of a domesticated thylacine; at least not before before this.
Since Lafayette was a scientific person who didn't dismiss evidence; she was beginning to believe that Jack Kilroy may indeed be a time traveler.
"Wow, Dexter hardly ever makes friends with someone that fast," said Jack Kilroy who had appeared.
Jack was a tall man, a little over six feet. He had a thick but well-kept beard and was in his early 40's or so. He wore a long leather coat. He also had a gun belt with a modern revolver holstered in a left handed cross draw style. It was a 357 magnum. The same caliber that had killed the young lady's attacker. Jack had several moon clips on his gun belt to reload. Dexter came up to Jack in a manner that told Lafayette that Jack was his primary person. The bond between the two was obvious.
"Mr. Kilroy I wanna get some things out-of-the-way. Are you the man that rescued the young lady who was jogging?" asked special agent Lafayette.
"Yes," said Jack. "And I stopped her attacker in self-defense," Jack readily confessed.
"May I ask why you did not report the crime?" Asked Lafayette.
"You're kidding right?" chuckled Jack Kilroy.
"No I am not," Lafayette was not amused.
Jack thought for a couple moments and said, "Come on in; I will show you for yourself."
Jack insisted that she take her jacket off and put her feet up in the sitting room. The house was indeed splendid. But definitely lived in. Dexter had a doggie door specifically built for him; which he happily used.
Jack returned with some cheese and a fresh bottle of unopened wine, along with some chips and some homemade salsa. It actually smelled really good.
Jack poured both of them a glass of wine. It was a blush. And it smelled amazing. Technically drinking on the job was against regulations; but there wasn't anything 'regulation' about this guy. Thus Lafayette decided what the hell. She gave the wine a quick sip but before she could put the glass down devoured the whole thing like it was a shot glass. "Oh my God," said Lafayette. "Where did you get this? Or when did you get this?"
"Cana near Galilee; first century A.D.," replied Jack Kilroy with a smile.
"I don't believe you," agent Lafayette said bluntly.
"Would you like another glass?"
"Yeah I would like another," Lafayette agreed.
"Are you saying; or are you suggesting that this is some of the wine that Jesus made from water?" asked Lafayette.
"Come follow me I want to show you some more," was Jack Kilroy's reply.
Special agent Lafayette did indeed follow him. She noted that Jack did not seem bothered that she was armed, nor had Jack asked for her credentials. This did put her at ease. Dexter was very close in tow behind Jack. "You're enjoying this and you're showing off," special agent Lafayette accused Jack Kilroy.
"How long have you been tracking me?" asked Jack.
"About 18 months," Lafayette said honestly.
"I'm going to tell you something Lafayette; something that I think you already know. I am indeed a time traveler; I've been doing it for several years now. You've been tracking me down long enough and have found enough evidence to come to that conclusion; even if I didn't just come out and say it," confessed Jack.
"You might be right," admitted Lafayette.
The two of them entered into Jack Kilroy's den; or his office. The windows there had a unique coating over them; it blocked out all of the harsh light. There were several paintings in there. But she did not recognize any of them. One in particular was of the Grand Canyon; and it strongly resembled the art style of Vincent van Gogh. She examined it closely; it was signed by Vincent.
Anybody's first thought about this painting is that it was obviously a fake. But Lafayette wasn't prone to taking a conclusion just because it was easy. She knew an awful lot about how to spot a fake. This painting was not overly large; nor was an overly bright; nor was it overly shiny. If this was a fake done by someone other than van Gogh; then it was a very good one. The paint still had some odor to it. Besides; if someone wanted a fake Van Gogh it would be something famous, like 'Starry Night'. This was excellent physical evidence that indeed Jack Kilroy was a time traveler.
"Where did you get Dexter?" asked Lafayette.
"I bought him from a breeder in the early 1800s; in Tasmania," admitted Jack Kilroy.
"A breeder; like a dog breeder?" Lafayette asked in disbelief.
"Indeed; an Aborigine," confirmed Jack.
Lafayette decided to drop that subject and move on; besides who would believe her if she said anything?
Walking straight through the office and by the suitcase on the left was Jack Kilroy's favorite guitar. "They only made five of these," said Jack. "It's a left handed 1959 Les Paul standard. Three of them are in the museum, one is unaccounted for; although I suspect it was buried with Jimi Hendrix, and then there's this one."
"And do you own a Stradivarius, Mr. Kilroy?" asked special agent Lafayette.
"I do not. Although I do have two sets of Del Gesu instruments. Two violins, two violas, and two cellos." Jack Kilroy grinned.
"You are a Secret Service criminal investigation agent correct." Said Jack Kilroy it was not a question.
"Yes," said Lafayette.
Jack Kilroy pulled two watches out of out of his desk drawers. They were both Rolex Submariners. "Are they both genuine?" asked Jack.
"No," said Lafayette.
"How could you tell?" prompted Jack.
"The watch on your right has fonts that are brighter and bolder than the one on your left," respond to Lafayette without hesitation.
"Which one is fake?" asked Jack.
"The one on your right," set Special agent Lafayette.
"Why?" asked Jack Kilroy.
"Because the counterfeit has to be more real than the real one actually is. The shiny one is always the fake."
"What does that logic tell you about me?" prompted Jack.
"Your van Gogh was not overly large or bright, your violins were made by Del Gesu; who is considered to be equal to Stradivarius; but not nearly as famous. If they were fakes you would claim that they are Stradivarius," said Lafayette.
"Yes," responded Kilroy. "And what does that tell you about me?"
"You are indeed a time traveler. However telling anyone that; would be completely unproductive because no one would believe me."
There was a long pause. Jack and Lafayette just looked at each other for a while. Jack gave her a face that indicated that he was waiting for her for her to ask something.
"Are you waiting for me to ask something?" asked Lafayette.
"Aren't you going to ask about Hitler?" Prompted Jack.
Special agent Lafayette was amazed at how bold Jack Kilroy was at this. Of course she wanted to ask why he never went back in time and assassinated Hitler. It was one of the quintessential time travel paradoxes. The fact that he was to ease with the question made her pause. She said nothing.
"Okay if Hitler is assassinated before the Nazis invade Russia; then they don't invade Russia obviously, and they develop the atomic bomb before everyone else and win the war. If Hitler is assassinated after the Nazis invade Russia, it has essentially no effect on the outcome of the war whatsoever," concluded Kilroy.
Lafayette had to admit; that made sense.
"Okay; so why not go back in time and do insider trading?" asked Lafayette.
"The definition of insider trading is that I trade based on confidential information that's not public. Time travel and knowledge of the future is not confidential."
"You're right," admitted Lafayette.
"So why not go back in time and meet Jesus?" asked Lafayette.
"I have."
Lafayette realized that Jack Kilroy was deadly serious.
"Why?" she asked.
"Personal reasons," answered Jack.
Jack Kilroy reached behind his desk and handed her a newspaper. According to the date it would be printed next Monday. The front page talked about the remains of the jogger being found; and her murderer at large.
"You are a time traveler; and you went back in time to save that girl." As crazy as it sounded Lafayette believed.
Lafayette then had another thought; another epiphany, "You wanted me to find you and track you down." It was not a question.
"Yes," said Kilroy.
"Why?"
"Because you know how to track someone down and you're good at it. I can follow tracks on the ground; but you can follow paper trails, historical events, you find secrets that most people can't. And you can track down where those secrets come from."
"Who are you trying to find?" asked special agent Lafayette.
"I don't even know who it is yet," said Jack Kilroy honestly. "But I do know that a time traveler named Xavier Wells from 1895 is captured or killed by someone in the year 2384. This somehow results in an apocalyptic event."
"That's wonderful, I solve one mystery only to find a deeper one," observed Special agent Lafayette.
"Welcome to Time travel," said Jack Kilroy.
[1] Quote from Winston Churchill.