anything underhand. He’s as straight as they come. You know that.’
‘The straight and narrow runs right through people sometimes. Like an arrow.’
‘What do you mean by that?’
‘Just what I said.’
He was definitely hiding something.
‘That club that murdered girl was from, George, what’s it called?’
He looked at her blankly.
‘You know the place I’m talking about. Mrs Vaughann told me some of them went there last night. The name is probably in the
Evening Standard
. It’s not a state secret.’
George hesitated. When he spoke, his tone was more sympathetic.
‘Magnolia.’
‘What kind of a club is the Magnolia, George?’
‘It’s a sleazy rip-off lap-dancing club. The kind that serves food and champagne at £500 a bottle. It’s for banker dummies who’ve got too much money, who get sucked into doing stupid things to prove how important they are.’
‘When do they open?’
His eyes glistened. ‘I don’t know. You’re not planning on going there, are you?’ He guffawed.
She was going to find out what had happened.
‘
What did you mean the straight and narrow runs through people, George?’
‘I’d have to kill you if I told you the answer to that.’
29
Lord Bidoner closed the small laboratory fridge. It clunked shut. He walked to the glass window of the apartment. Far below on Fifth Avenue, the traffic was bumper to bumper. It had started snowing again. Flakes of snow blew against the glass, then flew away. A few inches from his face the world was icy and blustery. Where he stood it was warm and hushed. He smiled to himself.
Then he turned back and contemplated the laptop screen at the far end of the room. On it was a slowly revolving gold-on-gold depiction of the square and arrow symbol that had consumed his life for the past four years. Ever since he had learned it had been in the manuscript that contained a record of Jesus’ trial, that it had been referred to in the trial document explicitly, he had wanted nothing more than the symbol’s secret to be revealed and the dark prayers it had contained to be invoked.
Because the symbol did hold a secret. A secret that would help them find the most important DNA sample in history.
The images of the manuscript they had obtained from Dr Hunter’s home, before it had been torched, had made that indisputable. Dr Hunter, who had been tasked with translating the manuscript that had been found by the ever stupid and interfering Sean and Isabel Ryan, had probably never even realised that copies had been taken.
He walked towards the painting above the fireplace. It was blazing with a perfect fake fire. This was a good moment. The recent news about Sean Ryan had been positive. The man’s stupidity, his real character, would be obvious to all soon. Lord Bidoner had kept his enemy close and the situation was resolving itself. He couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.
It is strange the way things work out, he thought. Just when his search for what lay behind the symbol reached its fruition, the problem of the man who had discovered it would be resolved.
He deserved some good fortune, after all he had done, all he had invested in this project.
A light knock on the front door of the apartment broke his thoughts. He walked across the soft grey carpet and stood near the door.
‘Who is it?’ he asked.
‘Jim Green,’ came a voice. Green, the head of trading at Ebony Dragon was early, but that probably just showed his eagerness. He reached for the button that would unlock the door.
30
‘I told you this place wouldn’t be open so early,’ said George, as they walked back along the lane that led from Jermyn Street to the row of five-storey white stuccoed Edwardian houses tucked away behind a department store. The Magnolia club appeared to take up the basement levels of two houses, at least.
‘They probably open at eight. We could come back then.’ It sounded as if he was trying to cheer her up.
There’d been a light on
‘The straight and narrow runs right through people sometimes. Like an arrow.’
‘What do you mean by that?’
‘Just what I said.’
He was definitely hiding something.
‘That club that murdered girl was from, George, what’s it called?’
He looked at her blankly.
‘You know the place I’m talking about. Mrs Vaughann told me some of them went there last night. The name is probably in the
Evening Standard
. It’s not a state secret.’
George hesitated. When he spoke, his tone was more sympathetic.
‘Magnolia.’
‘What kind of a club is the Magnolia, George?’
‘It’s a sleazy rip-off lap-dancing club. The kind that serves food and champagne at £500 a bottle. It’s for banker dummies who’ve got too much money, who get sucked into doing stupid things to prove how important they are.’
‘When do they open?’
His eyes glistened. ‘I don’t know. You’re not planning on going there, are you?’ He guffawed.
She was going to find out what had happened.
‘
What did you mean the straight and narrow runs through people, George?’
‘I’d have to kill you if I told you the answer to that.’
29
Lord Bidoner closed the small laboratory fridge. It clunked shut. He walked to the glass window of the apartment. Far below on Fifth Avenue, the traffic was bumper to bumper. It had started snowing again. Flakes of snow blew against the glass, then flew away. A few inches from his face the world was icy and blustery. Where he stood it was warm and hushed. He smiled to himself.
Then he turned back and contemplated the laptop screen at the far end of the room. On it was a slowly revolving gold-on-gold depiction of the square and arrow symbol that had consumed his life for the past four years. Ever since he had learned it had been in the manuscript that contained a record of Jesus’ trial, that it had been referred to in the trial document explicitly, he had wanted nothing more than the symbol’s secret to be revealed and the dark prayers it had contained to be invoked.
Because the symbol did hold a secret. A secret that would help them find the most important DNA sample in history.
The images of the manuscript they had obtained from Dr Hunter’s home, before it had been torched, had made that indisputable. Dr Hunter, who had been tasked with translating the manuscript that had been found by the ever stupid and interfering Sean and Isabel Ryan, had probably never even realised that copies had been taken.
He walked towards the painting above the fireplace. It was blazing with a perfect fake fire. This was a good moment. The recent news about Sean Ryan had been positive. The man’s stupidity, his real character, would be obvious to all soon. Lord Bidoner had kept his enemy close and the situation was resolving itself. He couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.
It is strange the way things work out, he thought. Just when his search for what lay behind the symbol reached its fruition, the problem of the man who had discovered it would be resolved.
He deserved some good fortune, after all he had done, all he had invested in this project.
A light knock on the front door of the apartment broke his thoughts. He walked across the soft grey carpet and stood near the door.
‘Who is it?’ he asked.
‘Jim Green,’ came a voice. Green, the head of trading at Ebony Dragon was early, but that probably just showed his eagerness. He reached for the button that would unlock the door.
30
‘I told you this place wouldn’t be open so early,’ said George, as they walked back along the lane that led from Jermyn Street to the row of five-storey white stuccoed Edwardian houses tucked away behind a department store. The Magnolia club appeared to take up the basement levels of two houses, at least.
‘They probably open at eight. We could come back then.’ It sounded as if he was trying to cheer her up.
There’d been a light on
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