Stalking Salk...

Still on the trail of Doctor Jackal the EIS team are turning their attention to virologist and medical researcher Jonas Salk. The EIS team consists of Alfie Baldrick, the one man rifle section; Mimi Dubois, maîtresse of skills; Madeline Forsyth, the living shadow; and Sven Hyse, the Norwegian shapeshifter.

San Francisco, California, United States of America, November 1949

Leaving Mimi, with Billy Baldrick for company, at the safe house come hospital the rest of the EIS Team head for the Palace Hotel where they have been informed that Jonas Salk is staying while he is in San Francisco. Before they set out Madeline takes the time to disguise both Alfie and herself, however Alfie Baldrick proves to be a difficult subject to transform given his permanent stoop and continually grubby appearance. Terrance was also able to inform them that Salk was residing on the top floor of the hotel in Room 712.

Alfie drives them past the Palace Hotel, which was in an upper market borough of the city, and the area was busy for a Thursday morning. Baldrick parks the car around the corner and Madeline climbs out throwing her acquired fur coat over her shoulders and walks brazenly through the main doors of the hotel and into the foyer. For a moment she is stunned by the glamour of her surroundings before she recovers herself and walks boldly straight towards the elevators. As she approaches the bell hop presses the button to call the elevator and a moment later it arrives and Madeline steps in, the elevator operator asks her what floor she would like and Madeline responds that she is heading for the fifth floor.

Madeline steps out of the elevator and walks nonchalantly towards room 512, orientating herself as she goes. Once she has a through understanding of the layout of the hotel she heads back towards the elevator. Checking to make sure that there is no one watching she transforms into a shadow and slips beneath the elevator doors and into the elevator shaft. She slides up the internal wall and emerges on the seventh floor where she quickly slips under the carpet to remain hidden. When she arrives outside of room 712 she listens at the doorway but can hear someone moving around within the room. Deciding to check to make sure that she isn't going to be surprised by FBI agents rushing out of the surrounding rooms, Madeline checks them out.

Madeline listens carefully at the room opposite room 712 and again can hear someone moving around within, she slips beneath the door and can see that it is a very impressive suite and there is a woman in a state of undress moving about smoking a cigarette. She checks the rooms to either side and finds that one is empty and the other contains a middle aged couple having a late breakfast. Madeline moves to check the rooms on either side of Salk's room and finds that each contains a woman lounging and enjoying the luxury. Happy that the coast is clear, Madeline slips back to Salk's room and slides under the door where she instantly sees a pair of men in poorly fitting suits looking very much like agents. One of them is seated and reading a newspaper while that other stares out of the window, Madeline sneaks closer in the hope of catching any conversation but the men are not talking to each other.

Seeing a doorway to her right she expertly slips beneath it and finds herself in a large bedroom with a man carefully packing a suitcase laid on the bed. It is very obvious that Madeline has found Jonas Salk, and that he is not planning on staying around. Making a snap decision Madeline slips as a shadow onto the inside of Salk's coat, which was draped over the back of a chair, and waits for him to leave. She doesn't have long to wait as after a couple of minutes Salk grabs his suitcase and coat and heads back into the other room. One of the waiting agents tells Salk that the car should be here soon and the three men leave the room and head for the elevator.

After a few hours, and several doughnuts, Alfie and Sven decide to go looking for Madeline. Sven heads into a alley and transforms into a London business man carrying a briefcase and walks in through the front doors of the Palace Hotel. He walks straight towards one of the elevators but is intercepted by the bell hop who asks to see his room key. Thinking on his feet, Sven answers in Norwegian and then turns on his heels and heads towards the reception desk. He queues for a moment before heading back out of the hotel doors defeated by a bell hop.

A somewhat disgruntled Sven heads into the nearest alleyway and transforms into a bird before flying up to the roof of the hotel and prying off one of the vent covers on an air duct. He clambers into the ducting and crawls along the duct above the ceiling of the seventh floor hallway until he finds a small foot wide grill. Peering down he hears voices approaching and sees a small group pass beneath him heading towards the elevators. He waits for them to descend and then breaks the hinges on the grill before transforming into a blackbird and flapping through. Once on the floor he transforms back into the London businessman and strolls along the corridor looking for room 712. Once he finds it, he knocks on the door but gets no response. With a frown, he exits the same way that he entered and returns to the car.

Still hidden within Salk's coat, Madeline hears him ask the agents how long it will take to get to San Diego? One of the men replies:

The traffic looks good all the way along Route 101 and we should be there in about nine hours.

After approximately three hours the car stops and Madeline hears the men discuss getting something to eat. Madeline breathes a sigh of relief when Salk decides to leave his coat in the car and she takes the opportunity to find a telephone and call through to Terrance leaving a short message:

On route to San Diego with Salk and two agents. Travelling on Route 101.

She then heads back to the car and hides in the rear footwell as a shadow. Terrance visits the safe house and lets Billy and a slowly recovering Mimi know the message, and Billy lets Alfie know via their unique link just as Sven arrives back to the car. The pair set out for the safe house with Alfie driving and attempting to navigate. They are both surprised when they find themselves crossing the Golden Gate bridge and realise that they must be heading in the wrong direction. They turn around and this time Sven takes charge of navigating them back to the safe house, but again they find themselves crossing a different bridge. This time they reach out via Billy to Mimi and get her to guide them back.

After a brief discussion it is agreed that Billy and Mimi should remain at the safe house for at least another day, while Mimi heals enough to at least be moved, Mimi touches the Doctors hand and borrows his surgery ability in order to confirm his opinion. With her newfound skill she agrees and resigns herself to more bed rest, while Alfie and Sven jump into the car and head for San Diego.

Salk's car stops again and this time Madeline has enough time to get through a longer message containing the make and model of the car that Salk is travelling in as well as it's registration number and the fact that she believes that they are heading to his home. But when the car sets off again, Salk asks the agents if they would stop at the institute on their way, the agents agree and so Madeline slides onto Salk's coat again. But Salk leaves his coat in the car and Madeline is forced to wait for him to return which he does around midnight. The agents then drop Salk at his home and this time he takes his coat, and Madeline, with him.

Salk hangs up his coat and as he walks away Madeline slides her head out a small amount and watches as a woman greets him with a kiss and a hug. Madeline's eyes go wide as she sees Salk put down his wallet and keys on a side table, it is not these mundane items that draw her attention but the small brass sphere that Salk places beside them. Then Salk stops in his tracks and says:

Oh! It’s never done that before!

As Madeline looks on she can see that the brass sphere is flashing light on and off. He wonders aloud what it means and as he does Madeline freezes in place. The Salk's head to bed, with Jonas grabbing the brass sphere from the table, and Madeline follows. Salk checks in on two children, a boy and a girl, and then enter their own bedroom. When Salk turns his bedside light off he is disturbed by the flashing brass sphere and turns the light back on muttering something about it meaning something. Salk climbs out of bed, grabbing the brass sphere, and then says aloud:

Yes! But I know what he said!

His wife, who was almost asleep, says:

What my darling?

And Salk says that is was nothing. Madeline finds this very odd. It felt like she was hearing only one side of a conversation, but there was no one else in the room. Madeline slips under the carpet to hide as Salk heads out into the hallway and then downstairs, turning lights on and off as he goes. He heads out into the garden and watches a car pass, then looks up at the house and then up into the sky. He then sighs heavily before returning to bed and slipping the brass sphere under his pillow. Madeline waits for Salk's breathing to become deep and rhythmical before sliding towards the bedroom.