true—he had been.
Sivart’s plan involved a home in the country somewhere and the writing of his memoirs. Unwin had been surprised at the detail of Sivart’s description: a little white cottage in the woods, at the north end of a town on a river; a slope covered with blackberry briars; a tire swing; a pond. Also a trail that led to a clearing in the woods. A nice place to take a nap, he had written.
Unwin knew that Sivart might never have found his way to that cottage. Something terrible could have happened—why else a corpse on the thirty-sixth floor?
As though sharing in Unwin’s thoughts, Emily said, “There’s no official explanation regarding his disappearance.”
“Is there an unofficial explanation?”
Emily frowned at that. “Sir, there is no such thing as an unofficial explanation.”
Unwin nodded, swallowing against the dryness in his throat. He would have to be careful with his words, even when speaking to his assistant.
Emily switched on the desk lamp, and now he could see a wooden filing cabinet, chairs for visitors, empty bookshelves, and a decrepit electric fan in the corner. He set his briefcase on the floor and sat down. The chair was too big for him, the desk absurdly expansive. He put the box containing his badge and pistol next to the typewriter.
Emily stood before him, her hands clasped behind her back, waiting. What would she do once she perceived that his clerk’s identity was not a cover? The scent of her lavender perfume, mingled with that of Sivart’s cigars, tickled Unwin’s nostrils, made him dizzy. He tried to dismiss her with a polite nod, but Emily only nodded in reply. She had no intention of leaving.
“Well,” he said, “I trust you have undergone standard Agency training, as well as any training requisite to your particular position.”
“Of course.”
“Then you can tell me what I might expect from you at this time?”
She frowned again, only now the look was darker, more wary. Unwin understood that his assistant had been looking forward to this day, her first on the job, for a long time. He risked disappointing her. It would be dangerous, Unwin thought, to disappoint her.
She changed her mind about what was happening, though, and appeared suddenly pleased. “You’re testing me!” she said.
She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, as though to read something imprinted on the backs of her eyelids. She recited, “ ‘On the first day of a new case, the detective shares with his assistant whatever details he feels the assistant ought to know. Typically this includes important contacts and dates, as well as information from related cases called up from the archives.’ ”
Unwin sat back in the enormous chair. He thought again of that corpse upstairs, bloated with mystery. He felt as though the thing had crawled onto his back and would drag him into the grave with it if he did not throw it off. What was the case Lamech had meant for him? Whatever it was, Unwin wanted nothing to do with it.
He said, “I see that you have a subtle mind, Emily, so I can trust you. As you suspected, this is an internal affair. The case before us, number CEU001, concerns the very reason for my presence here. Our task is simple: to find Detective Travis T. Sivart and convince him to return to his job as quickly as possible.” He was forming a plan even as he spoke it. With Emily’s help, perhaps, he could pretend to be a detective just long enough to bring Sivart back to the Agency. Then he could make sense of the watcher’s corpse, of Miss Truesdale’s long-stemmed roses, of the phonograph record he had found in Lamech’s office.
Emily was all business now. “Clues, sir?”
“No clues,” Unwin said. “But then, this was Sivart’s office.”
Emily checked the filing cabinets while Unwin searched the desk. In the top drawer, he found, forwarded according to Lamech’s demands, his personal effects: magnifying glass for small type, silver letter opener presented to
Sivart’s plan involved a home in the country somewhere and the writing of his memoirs. Unwin had been surprised at the detail of Sivart’s description: a little white cottage in the woods, at the north end of a town on a river; a slope covered with blackberry briars; a tire swing; a pond. Also a trail that led to a clearing in the woods. A nice place to take a nap, he had written.
Unwin knew that Sivart might never have found his way to that cottage. Something terrible could have happened—why else a corpse on the thirty-sixth floor?
As though sharing in Unwin’s thoughts, Emily said, “There’s no official explanation regarding his disappearance.”
“Is there an unofficial explanation?”
Emily frowned at that. “Sir, there is no such thing as an unofficial explanation.”
Unwin nodded, swallowing against the dryness in his throat. He would have to be careful with his words, even when speaking to his assistant.
Emily switched on the desk lamp, and now he could see a wooden filing cabinet, chairs for visitors, empty bookshelves, and a decrepit electric fan in the corner. He set his briefcase on the floor and sat down. The chair was too big for him, the desk absurdly expansive. He put the box containing his badge and pistol next to the typewriter.
Emily stood before him, her hands clasped behind her back, waiting. What would she do once she perceived that his clerk’s identity was not a cover? The scent of her lavender perfume, mingled with that of Sivart’s cigars, tickled Unwin’s nostrils, made him dizzy. He tried to dismiss her with a polite nod, but Emily only nodded in reply. She had no intention of leaving.
“Well,” he said, “I trust you have undergone standard Agency training, as well as any training requisite to your particular position.”
“Of course.”
“Then you can tell me what I might expect from you at this time?”
She frowned again, only now the look was darker, more wary. Unwin understood that his assistant had been looking forward to this day, her first on the job, for a long time. He risked disappointing her. It would be dangerous, Unwin thought, to disappoint her.
She changed her mind about what was happening, though, and appeared suddenly pleased. “You’re testing me!” she said.
She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, as though to read something imprinted on the backs of her eyelids. She recited, “ ‘On the first day of a new case, the detective shares with his assistant whatever details he feels the assistant ought to know. Typically this includes important contacts and dates, as well as information from related cases called up from the archives.’ ”
Unwin sat back in the enormous chair. He thought again of that corpse upstairs, bloated with mystery. He felt as though the thing had crawled onto his back and would drag him into the grave with it if he did not throw it off. What was the case Lamech had meant for him? Whatever it was, Unwin wanted nothing to do with it.
He said, “I see that you have a subtle mind, Emily, so I can trust you. As you suspected, this is an internal affair. The case before us, number CEU001, concerns the very reason for my presence here. Our task is simple: to find Detective Travis T. Sivart and convince him to return to his job as quickly as possible.” He was forming a plan even as he spoke it. With Emily’s help, perhaps, he could pretend to be a detective just long enough to bring Sivart back to the Agency. Then he could make sense of the watcher’s corpse, of Miss Truesdale’s long-stemmed roses, of the phonograph record he had found in Lamech’s office.
Emily was all business now. “Clues, sir?”
“No clues,” Unwin said. “But then, this was Sivart’s office.”
Emily checked the filing cabinets while Unwin searched the desk. In the top drawer, he found, forwarded according to Lamech’s demands, his personal effects: magnifying glass for small type, silver letter opener presented to
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