Page 38 - double revenge 3.

‘Goodbye Bryant.’ She kissed me long and hard and then pulled away. ‘Promise me you will re
arrange the bedroom now you have moved on a little.’

She giggled coquettishly and handed me an envelope.

‘What’s this?’ I asked.

‘It’s something Arnold asked me to keep for him. I have no idea what it is, a meaningless jumble of
letters and numbers, something to do with his clients, I guess.’

‘Why give it to me?

‘When you punch him on the nose, you can give it back to him. Bye bye my darling.’

Then she was gone.

I opened the bedroom door and looked around at all Anne’s effects, her perfumes, hairbrush,
vanity mirror, everything that I had seen every day of our married life and never noticed before. I
felt very self-conscious and murmured, ’sorry my darling Anne.’ I knew that one day I would
reorganise this room but not just yet, I had to pay penance.

I had missed the early morning traffic jams and so it was quite easy to spot the Silver Volvo on my
tail but by the time I got to the Cottage it had disappeared.

I wandered up to George’s office. His desk was clear except for one folder marked Arnold Warner.

‘You’re late. I expected you at daybreak on Monday. Sorry if you have been left in limbo but I do
not trust that Barker too much. Never met him before but I could not take to him. Thought it best if
we kept the briefing to what he had provided. Have you got anywhere?’

‘Well I haven’t found him if that is what you mean but it might help if you tell me what you know. I
see it’s the only file on your desk, is there some importance I’ve missed?’

George didn’t reply but instead spoke into his intercom ‘William, I have Bryant in with me. Could

you pop along and explain the Guatemalan problem?’

George rose and turned on the ceiling fan.

William Collinson arrived almost immediately with a folder under his arm.

‘What took you so long Bryant, expected you earlier.’

‘We’ve just been over that one.’ I laughed.

Collinson felt around in his pockets for his pipe but changed his mind and put it back, a sign, I

thought, that he needed one hundred per cent concentration on the Guatemalan problem,
whatever that was, rather than trying to keep his foul smelling bonfire alight.