Masters And Lovers 1-4 novel Chapter 44

Richard

James steps out of the elevator looking…

What?

Harassed?

Worried?

“James?”

He looks to me then jerks his head towards his office. I follow him in. Silently, he offers me a small padded envelope, still sealed. “This was waiting for me down in the lobby. Special delivery.”

“A packet?”

“Look at the addressee.”

I look, extract spectacles from my top pocket and look again.

And the hair rises on the back of my neck.

Michelle Kimberley, c/o James Alexanders.

“Klempner?”

“Who else could it be? Conners wouldn’t know where to find her. Michelle’s brothers would probably send it to her direct. So, who else?”

“James, before anyone opens that envelope, could it be a letter-bomb?”

He blows out air, rubs his forehead. “I wouldn’t have thought that was Klempner’s style… If he wanted her, he come after her himself…” He paces the room. “And why would he send it through me?”

“You parted… amicably… from Klempner? After the shooting?”

He huffs. “I’m not sure that amicably is the right word, but yes, I had no feeling he held me any ill-will. Or Mitch. And he was the one with a gun in his hand. Still…” He strides to the door, flings it open. “…. It does no harm to check… Francis. Get City NDT on the phone for me would you. Ask for Mel Winters.”

“On it now, James.”

“How’s Michael doing?” I ask.

He rocks spread fingers back and forth. “Good days and bad days. Charlotte’s giving him a lot of support and I think that’s about the best that can be said.”

The phone on James’ desk buzzes. “Mel Winters for you, James.”

“Good morning, Mel. Yes, I am, thank you. Listen, I’ve a favour to ask. I’d like to use your x-ray facility for a few minutes. Yes, right away if that’s possible.” He checks his watch. “I could be there for 10am if that works for you? Perfect. Thank you.” He puts the phone down, looks up. “Want to come?”

*****

I’ve never been in a room quite like it, and for the first time I wonder if James chose a more interesting career path than I did. “So, what is this place exactly?”

We’re standing at one of a dozen workstations. At each of the others, a woman in a white coat peers at a monitor displaying the x-rayed image of some gizmo, examining it for about half a minute before moving to the next image.

“The company as a whole deals with the non-destructive testing…” says James… “… Of anything from metal castings to aircraft wings; looking for cracks, corrosion, defects… Anything that might compromise the usability, and the safety, of the item in question. This…” He gestures around the room… “is a test centre for military components. It’s the job of these people to see that everything is correctly assembled. It also means we are in the ideal environment to deal with it if we do find that we have a letter-bomb on our hands.”

I peer over the shoulder of one of the women, the display on her screen: an x-ray of something that looks like the lovechild of a mad clock-maker. “What are these, then?”

“Fuses for mines. The operator’s job is to check that all the components are in place and in the correct position.”

“So the mines explode when they should?”

“Yes, and more importantly, don’t explode when they shouldn’t.”

“But…” I look in close again… “there must be a couple of hundred parts in there. They only look for about thirty seconds.” The woman looks back over her shoulder at me, sucking in a smile.

James smiles too. “That’s the value of training for you. You’d be amazed what they can pick out and how fast they do it.”

“Can you do it?”

“Nope. It’s a special skill.”

The door opens and the man we came to see, Mel Winters, enters. “All set up for you, James. Let’s take a look, shall we.”

The three of us stoop to see as an image pops up onto the screen; a vague rectangular outline, and inside, quite clearly…

“That doesn’t look like any bomb I ever saw,” comments Mel.

“Keys?” I say. “And that looks like a necklace.”

James straightens up. “I think we can give Mitch her package.”

I turn to Mel. “Thank you for this. If I can ever return the favour, just let me know.”

He grins and winks. “Just keep the work coming.”

*****

As we drive back, James looks thoughtful.

My mind whirrs. “What do you make of it?”

“Not sure. If they are from Klempner, and remember, we don’t know that for sure yet, until Mitch opens it…” He falls silent…

“Yes?”

“I’m just thinking, what happened with Klempner and Ben. Both were, in their own ways, quite crazy. And Klempner has committed atrocities. But, at the end there, you could see, Klempner knows that there’s something wrong, that he shouldn’t be as he is. He was almost begging Mitch to help him…”

He runs a hand through his hair, sucks in air. “But Ben, he was so convinced he was right and everyone else was wrong, he was willing to shoot his own brother to save him.”

I chew that over. “I don’t think that’s something you can say to Michael.”

“Michael’s able to reach that conclusion himself. I suspect he already has. He’s just having trouble dealing with it.”

“He’s just lost his brother.”

“He lost Ben a long time ago.”

“And what about Mitch?”

“Let’s see what’s in the packet. And what she has to say about it.”

*****