time, vacation season hasnt started yet.
Do you think the Doctor would be interested in tagging along?
All are welcome though some may be more high maintenance guests than others .
Again, the words rattled out slowly with no pause for thought and again Bookwalter managed to imbue his response with the right measure of grainy, subjective relevance.
How do you think Laura would react to a visit from Mutatkar?
I cant speak for her because shes indisposed but I would guess shed be as surprised to see him as she would you.
Then maybe we’ll both consider making the trip .
It was easy enough when he was alone at home but sitting in a dead stranger’s room using a dead stranger’s laptop seemed to remove any last anchors of his own reality.
Just give me the word and I can make all the arrangements. Remember, Ill cover the whole trip out here.
Let me consult with Doctor Mutatkar when I see him later and I will give you his response.
Id like to believe youre not putting me on.
Why ever would you think I was doing that?
Because Laura would be so disappointed if you were. Can I take it that I can go tell her the good news?
Of course.
Great. What date can I tell her?
For the first time Leo saw how he could completely let go of his reality and indulge in the fantasy as much as Bookwalter did.
Will discuss with Doctor Mutatkar. Do you have a message for him?
More a belated piece of advice for you both. Dont leave without saying goodbye. You might never get the chance again.
* * *
6.05
Leo glanced at the clock in his living room and thought about food for the first time. Less than two hours until he was on duty. Mutatkar’s confiscated laptop had so absorbed him that time had sped by, hours sneakily speeding outside the closed blinds while he scanned every conceivable folder. The phone rang and he cast it an accusing glance before getting up to answer.
If I reach it before its fourth ring then the caller will have news of Laura .
He did but they didn’t.
‘Leo?’ He didn’t recognise the female voice. ‘It’s Henryka.’
‘Oh hi, Henryka. Everything OK?’ He wondered why the Polish cleaning girl he’d occasionally shared coffee with at the end of his shift and the start of hers was phoning him and how she got his number.
‘Mrs Baptiste told me to telephone you. Are you ill?’
‘I’m fine,’ Leo answered in confusion. Then he pulled the closed blinds aside and noted the early morning sunlight. It was not 6.05 p.m. but 6.05 a.m and his shift was nearly over. Recovering quickly he added, ‘Well, a bit under the weather. Migraine,’ he added lamely.
‘We were worried about you when you didn’t come in. Don’t worry, we will tell your relief that you went home early.’
‘Thanks, Henryka. I’ll see you tomorrow.’ Leo put down the phone and sat back in front of the laptop, the conversation already forgotten. His stomach purred and he told himself he would work through one more file before he made himself some dinner.
* * *
Lunch with Ashley was always a three-hour affair but Leo had been strangely relieved to get a telephone call from her. Having raked the contents of Mutatkar’s laptop he was down to the last couple of files and welcomed any interruption that would stall resigning himself to finding nothing. He accepted the invitation even though he hadn’t slept for over twenty-four hours. The lack of temazepam made him feel like he could stay awake for hours but when she told him where she’d booked lunch Leo thought he’d fallen asleep at the laptop.
Chevalier’s was buzzing when he got there and Ashley was waiting for him at a table in the front bar looking into a bowl of red wine. She stood up to kiss him as he tentatively removed his jacket.
‘I know why you’re doing this, Ash, but you’ve no idea how many times I’ve been back here already.’
‘Not to eat though,’ she said sitting down again. ‘I’ve ordered for both of us.’
Leo sat and looked up the
Do you think the Doctor would be interested in tagging along?
All are welcome though some may be more high maintenance guests than others .
Again, the words rattled out slowly with no pause for thought and again Bookwalter managed to imbue his response with the right measure of grainy, subjective relevance.
How do you think Laura would react to a visit from Mutatkar?
I cant speak for her because shes indisposed but I would guess shed be as surprised to see him as she would you.
Then maybe we’ll both consider making the trip .
It was easy enough when he was alone at home but sitting in a dead stranger’s room using a dead stranger’s laptop seemed to remove any last anchors of his own reality.
Just give me the word and I can make all the arrangements. Remember, Ill cover the whole trip out here.
Let me consult with Doctor Mutatkar when I see him later and I will give you his response.
Id like to believe youre not putting me on.
Why ever would you think I was doing that?
Because Laura would be so disappointed if you were. Can I take it that I can go tell her the good news?
Of course.
Great. What date can I tell her?
For the first time Leo saw how he could completely let go of his reality and indulge in the fantasy as much as Bookwalter did.
Will discuss with Doctor Mutatkar. Do you have a message for him?
More a belated piece of advice for you both. Dont leave without saying goodbye. You might never get the chance again.
* * *
6.05
Leo glanced at the clock in his living room and thought about food for the first time. Less than two hours until he was on duty. Mutatkar’s confiscated laptop had so absorbed him that time had sped by, hours sneakily speeding outside the closed blinds while he scanned every conceivable folder. The phone rang and he cast it an accusing glance before getting up to answer.
If I reach it before its fourth ring then the caller will have news of Laura .
He did but they didn’t.
‘Leo?’ He didn’t recognise the female voice. ‘It’s Henryka.’
‘Oh hi, Henryka. Everything OK?’ He wondered why the Polish cleaning girl he’d occasionally shared coffee with at the end of his shift and the start of hers was phoning him and how she got his number.
‘Mrs Baptiste told me to telephone you. Are you ill?’
‘I’m fine,’ Leo answered in confusion. Then he pulled the closed blinds aside and noted the early morning sunlight. It was not 6.05 p.m. but 6.05 a.m and his shift was nearly over. Recovering quickly he added, ‘Well, a bit under the weather. Migraine,’ he added lamely.
‘We were worried about you when you didn’t come in. Don’t worry, we will tell your relief that you went home early.’
‘Thanks, Henryka. I’ll see you tomorrow.’ Leo put down the phone and sat back in front of the laptop, the conversation already forgotten. His stomach purred and he told himself he would work through one more file before he made himself some dinner.
* * *
Lunch with Ashley was always a three-hour affair but Leo had been strangely relieved to get a telephone call from her. Having raked the contents of Mutatkar’s laptop he was down to the last couple of files and welcomed any interruption that would stall resigning himself to finding nothing. He accepted the invitation even though he hadn’t slept for over twenty-four hours. The lack of temazepam made him feel like he could stay awake for hours but when she told him where she’d booked lunch Leo thought he’d fallen asleep at the laptop.
Chevalier’s was buzzing when he got there and Ashley was waiting for him at a table in the front bar looking into a bowl of red wine. She stood up to kiss him as he tentatively removed his jacket.
‘I know why you’re doing this, Ash, but you’ve no idea how many times I’ve been back here already.’
‘Not to eat though,’ she said sitting down again. ‘I’ve ordered for both of us.’
Leo sat and looked up the
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