The Green Trap (39 page)

“You have?”

“When his second wife left him. He went wild, just like this.”

“His second wife? The one who died in the auto accident?”

The butler nodded.

At last Gould ran out of things to smash. He sank heavily on the only chair still upright in the dining room, his shirt drenched with sweat, his arms hanging limply at his sides, his chest heaving painfully.

“Cochrane,” he muttered again, his voice murderously low. “Cochrane.”

H
OUSTON
, TX—In what he playfully described as “an early Christmas present to the world,” Lionel Gould, president and board chairman of Gould Energy Corp., personally confirmed rumors that a new breakthrough will make it possible to produce hydrogen fuel efficiently and economically.

“This is the beginning of a new era,” Gould announced at a news conference in Houston. “The age of petroleum is about to end. The age of hydrogen is beginning. And we at Gould Energy intend to lead the way.”

The scientific breakthrough was made at the Calvin Research Center of Palo Alto, California, recently acquired by the Gould Trust, a not-for-profit philanthropic organization based in New York. The process involves using primitive bacteria to produce pure hydrogen, which can be used directly as fuel in cars, trucks, planes and other transportation systems. Gould added that hydrogen could be used for heating fuel, as well.

“Within a few years the United States will no longer be dependent on oil imported from overseas,” Gould stressed.

Gould's announcement confirmed rumors that had been blazing through the Internet for several months. Bloggers and scientific Web sites alike were buzzing with the anonymous revelation of the Calvin Research Center's work.

Oil stocks plummeted on the world's stock exchanges,
but Gould said he expected energy stocks to recover, since most of the energy corporations around the world were also moving to develop hydrogen fuels.

“We intend to be at the forefront of the shift from petroleum to hydrogen,” Gould said. “But we welcome competition from others in the industry. Competition is the heart of the free enterprise system.”

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H
OUSTON
C
HRONICLE

T
UCSON
—A University of Arizona faculty member was killed in a hit-and-run accident yesterday afternoon.

Dr. Paul Cochrane was struck by an unidentified sedan as he crossed the intersection of Campbell Street and Speedway. According to witnesses, the dark-colored sedan sped through the intersection against the traffic signal and struck Cochrane in the pedestrian walkway, then raced away without stopping.

Cochrane was pronounced dead on arrival at the nearby UA Hospital's accident ward.

“It's almost like the car was trying to hit him,” said one witness. “It just bore down straight at him.”

“He was limping,” another witness told police. “He never had a chance to get out of the car's way.”

According to police, Cochrane was on his way to a meeting at the Steward Observatory to discuss his reinstatement on the UA faculty, after an absence of several months.

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A
RIZONA
D
AILY
S
TAR