Goodbye California - Alistair [15]
‘You know Susan. Never does things by halves. Or quarters. Or eighths.’ He pushed some of the scraps around – remnants of letters, carbons, some pieces of shorthand. ‘Sixteenths, yes. Not halves.’ He turned away. ‘Any other clues you haven’t come up with?’
‘Nothing on her desk, nothing in her desk. She took her handbag and umbrella with her.’
‘How do you know she had an umbrella?’
‘I asked,’ Parker said patiently. ‘Nothing but this left.’ He picked up a framed and unflattering picture of Ryder, replaced it on the desk and said à propos of nothing: ‘Some people can function efficiently under any circumstances. And that’s it, I’m afraid.’
Dr Jablonsky escorted them to the battered Peugeot. ‘If there’s anything I can do, Sergeant –’
‘Two things, as a matter of fact. Without letting Ferguson know, can you get hold of the dossier on Carlton? You know, the details of his past career, references, that sort of thing.’
‘Jesus, man, he’s number two in security.’
‘I know.’
‘Any reason to suspect him?’
‘None. I’m just curious why they took him as hostage. A senior security man is supposed to be tough and resourceful. Not the kind of man I’d have around. His record may show some reason why. Second thing, I’m still a pilgrim lost in this nuclear desert. If I need any more information can I contact you?’
‘You know where my office is.’
‘I may have to ask you to come to my place. Head office can put a stop order against my coming here.’
‘A cop?’
‘A cop, no. An ex-cop, yes.’
Jablonsky looked at him consideringly. ‘Expecting to be fired? God knows, it’s been threatened often enough.’
‘It’s an unjust world.’
On the way back to the station Jeff said: ‘Three questions. Why Carlton?’
‘Bad choice of hostage, like I said. Secondly, if the villains could identify your mother they could probably identify anyone in the plant. No reason why they should be especially interested in our family. The best sources of names and working locations of the staff is in the security files. Only Ferguson and Carlton – and, of course, Dr Jablonsky – have access to them.’
‘Why kidnap him?’
‘To make it look good? I don’t know. Maybe he wasn’t kidnapped. You heard what Ferguson said about the government not paying highly for unskilled jobs. Maybe greener fields were beckoning.’
‘Sergeant Ryder, you have an unpleasantly suspicious imagination. What’s more, you’re no better than a common thief.’ Ryder drew placidly on his cigarette and remained unmoved. ‘You told Jablonsky you never tampered with evidence. I saw you palm pieces of paper from the table where Sergeant Parker was trying to sort them out.’
‘Suspicious minds would seem to run in this family,’ Ryder said mildly. ‘I didn’t tamper with evidence. I took it. If it is evidence, that is.’
‘Why did you take it if you don’t know?’
‘You saw what I took?’
‘Didn’t look much to me. Squiggles, doodles.’
‘Shorthand, you clown. Notice anything about the cut of Jablonsky’s coat?’
‘First thing any cop would notice. He should have his coat cut looser to conceal the bulge of his gun.’
‘It’s not a gun. It’s a cassette recorder. Jablonsky dictates all his letters and memos into that, wherever he is in the plant, as usually as not when he’s walking around.’
‘So?’ Jeff thought for a bit then looked properly chagrined. ‘Guess I’ll just stick to my trusty two-wheeler and handing out tickets to traffic violators. That way my lack of a towering intelligence doesn’t show up so much. No shorthand required, is that it?’
‘I would have thought so.’
‘But why tear it up into little bits –’
‘Just goes to show that you can’t believe half the experts who say that intelligence is hereditary.’ Ryder puffed on his cigarette with just a hint of complacency. ‘Think I would have married someone who panicked and lacked resource?’
‘Like she runs from a room when she sees a spider? A message?’
‘I would think. Know anyone who knows shorthand?’
‘Sure. Marge?’
‘Who’s Marge?’
‘God damnit,