Scandalous Behavior

48

Al Jr. settled down in first class, had a couple of bourbons, avoided the fish and chose the steak, washed down with two glasses of wine. He enjoyed travel at the expense of others, and he was looking forward to England.

At Heathrow an immigration officer asked him, “Business or pleasure?”

“A little of both.” He cleared customs, changed some money, then found a phone and called Furrow.

“I’ve booked you a room at the best hotel in town,” Furrow said, giving him the name and address.

“Make it a suite,” Al said. He then went to a rental car desk and asked for a Mercedes, got an E-class sedan with a GPS; he entered the hotel’s address, and half an hour later he had cleared the airport and was turning onto the motorway south. He longed for a shower, a shave, and a long nap.

At the hotel he checked in, and as he turned from the desk a large, ruddy-faced man approached him. “Al? I’m Edgar Furrow. Can I buy you some breakfast?”

“Just coffee. I had breakfast.”

They sat down in the restaurant. “I was told you might need tools. Anything special?”

“Can you obtain exotics?”

“How exotic?”

“Ideally, a smallish nine-millimeter handgun and a sniper rifle, with a fitting for a tripod and an eight-power scope, and that will break down and fit into a briefcase — both of them silenced.”

“The silencers are no problem. I’ll have to inquire about the other.”

Al gave him his cell number. “Call me after noon. I need to sleep until then.”

“Don’t you want to know the lay of the land?”

Al sat back. “Sure.”

Furrow unfolded a hand-drawn map and showed him where the two houses were located. “My daughter, Sadie, works at Windward Hall. She says there are a lot of movie people in and out of there all the time. The son and his partner work in an office in the southwest corner of the ground floor, and the father has an office next door to them.”

“How do they move between the two houses?”

“Most of them drive, both the father and the son have taken to riding horses. They take a trail through the wood here, they jump a stone wall here, then ride to Curtis House. Sometimes they go together, sometimes alone.”

“What time of day?”

“They leave Windward Hall around eight in the morning and return around six. The father doesn’t stay all day, sometimes he’ll take a ride around the Curtis property.”

“Is either of them armed?”

Furrow laughed. “You’re in Britain, where guns are rare, except for shotguns. I have a military source — the army is all over Salisbury Plain, north of here.”

“Anywhere around I can rent a horse?”

“The nearest place is ten miles or so.”

“How about a bicycle?”

“There’s a very good shop in the town, in the high street, where you can hire or buy. It’s next door to a bank.”

“I came down here from Heathrow on the motorway, past Southampton. Is that the best way back?”

“It’s the fastest.”

“Is there a back route?” He took the map Calhoun had given him from a pocket.

“You can go north across Salisbury Plain and connect with the M4 motorway west of Heathrow, here, or you can navigate cross-country.”

Al thanked the man and gave him his cell number. “Call me if there’s anything I should know.”

“Certainly.”

Al collected his luggage and found his suite; it was small but comfortable. He undressed and got into bed and was still sleeping when the phone rang. “Yes?”

“It’s me. Your tools will be ready tomorrow this time of day. Someone is modifying them to your specifications. There’ll be a box of ammo for each of them. Do you need a holster for the nine?”

“Something to wear on my belt would be good.”

“Done.”

“I don’t want to meet at the hotel again.”

“On the road toward Windward Hall there’s a pub called the Rose & Crown. Meet me there at two o’clock tomorrow in the saloon bar. It’ll be quiet at that hour.”

“I’ll find it.” Al hung up, showered, shaved, and dressed, then left the hotel, with directions to the high street. He found the bicycle shop, and it was a good one, also selling maps, travel books, and birding equipment. He asked the clerk to show him a good touring bike and selected a Raleigh five-speed. He chose a roomy set of saddlebags, as well, and picked out a large, comfortable seat. “Will you take American dollars?” he asked the clerk.

“You’ll get a better exchange rate at the bank next door,” the man said. “Your bike will be ready to go in twenty minutes. Oh, and you’ll need a lock, unless you plan to keep it indoors.”

“You have binoculars?” Al asked. “I’d like to do some birding.” He looked at some, chose a ten-power pair, and bought a tripod, as well, then he went next door, changed three thousand dollars for pounds, went back, and rode away on his new bike, whistling a tune, the binoculars and tripod in a saddlebag. He rode out of town, past the Rose & Crown, then found the gates to Windward Hall and Curtis House.

He didn’t go inside; he would do that later.