Babel by Barry Maitland Page A

that he would soon be murdered. That was how Max sounded, although at the time I didn’t realise. But afterwards, last night, his words came back, it was up to us now, my generation, as if he knew he wouldn’t be with us much longer. I guessed he was sort of rehearsing what he was going to say later, in his lecture.’
    ‘But nothing specific, then or earlier, about a threatening phone call, or note?’
    ‘No.’ Briony shook her head firmly and turned back to her papers, putting down the lighter and running her fingers over the pages as if wanting to feel the substance of Max Springer in his scribbled notes.
    ‘The lecture yesterday, was it a regular thing? Only I got the impression from others I spoke to that he didn’t do much lecturing.’
    ‘No, that’s right. He didn’t give any undergraduate courses any more. They wanted him to teach business ethics to commerce students, but he refused. He said he didn’t come here to teach budding entrepreneurs how to cheat their customers without getting caught.’ She smiled wanly.
    ‘Yesterday’s lecture was a one-off, a public lecture open to everyone. The title was “The Tyranny of Faith and Science”.’
    ‘That sounds challenging. I shouldn’t think the scientists would like that, or the Islamic students.’
    She looked at him, puzzled for a moment, then nodded. ‘They boycotted it. The theme of the lecture was to be that . . .’ She pointed to one of a number of printed quotations, which she had stuck to the pinboard above her workspace.
    ‘ Where unanimity exists, some form of coercion is at work, whether of the tyrant or of logic. ’
    ‘Hannah Arendt wrote that. I’m studying her for my Ph.D.’
    Brock looked at some of the other quotes on the wall. Another said, ‘ The poor man’s conscience is clear; yet he is ashamed . . . He is not disapproved, censured, or reproached; he is only not seen . . . To be wholly overlooked, and to know it, are intolerable. ’
    ‘Arendt again?’
    ‘She quoted it in one of her books, but it was originally said by John Adams, the second American President, the one after George Washington. It was one of Max’s favourite quotations. He said that every politician should have that pinned up over their desk.’
    ‘About the lecture, were there many people there?’
    ‘Not many,’ she said, defensive. ‘There were a dozen, twenty maybe, waiting, when we heard that something had happened outside.’
    ‘What about on your way into the theatre? Did you notice anyone then? Any strangers you didn’t recognise? Maybe wearing a dark anorak, jeans, light coloured trainers.’
    ‘That’s what they were asking us after it happened, but I didn’t see anyone like that.’ She stared glumly at the pinboard.
    ‘And did Max mention Islam at all in his tutorials?’
    ‘Yes. He drew parallels between scientific methods, Nazism and fundamentalist religions, like Islam. He said he was going to discuss this in his lecture. He said it would be a revelation to some people.’
    ‘Sounds as if he intended to upset a few people.’
    She shrugged. ‘It was a favourite theme of his. He was fearless in expressing his opinions.’
    ‘OK, well I won’t disturb you any longer just now, Briony. If you do think of anything, here’s my phone number.’
    Briony seemed preoccupied with some thought and didn’t reply. Brock turned to go. As he reached the door she suddenly spoke again.
    ‘I just remembered. At our last tutorial he said something else a bit odd. He used a phrase, “the people of the book”, and said something about it being a lottery which people of the book would shut him up first, something like that.’
    ‘People of the book? What does that mean?’
    ‘I don’t know, but I don’t think he meant they were going to take away his library card or something. I asked him what he meant, but he wouldn’t explain. He would do that, say something mysterious and leave you to think about it.’
    ‘You didn’t take it to mean