CHAPTER 15
Simon pulled his coat closer. There had been a light fall of snow during the night, and although there was no visual evidence of it this morning, it had left its chill behind.
He was glad when the grey Mercedes pulled up in front of the hotel. More glad when once in the car he found the cars heater had warmed its interior.
Karl greeted him cheerfully, and Simon proved the feeling mutual. They chatted about the weather as they drove on moistened roads to his office.
It too was warm, for a large open fire burned and crackled in a stone fireplace. Simon was at home for a time.
Karl had certainly done some homework. The evidence of this was loaded into a fat file which lay on his desk. Simon glanced at its cover and saw his name, along with some reference numbers that he didn’t understand. Karl opened it and pulled from it three papers.
Simon understood about the banks with bolted doors. A letterhead of one of them was amongst the papers in the file. He realized then, that Karl must have opened an account during the night.
They certainly did have unusual trading hours.
Simon imagined the response he would get if he knocked on his bank managers’ door at even two minutes after closing time.
Karl explained to Simon the significance of these three documents until he was content that Simon understood the facts. He asked Simon to sign all three. There were three more exact copies for Simon to keep. He shuddered with excitement at the one that held the account numbers, and address details of the bank which Simon needed for the bill for services rendered.
It wasn’t this information that excited Simon, but the banks letterhead which was what he needed to forge a letter to send to Abu. A letter Simon felt absolutely necessary in order to allow the African to feel at ease.
It took all his self-control to not stand up, like a spectator when his team scored and shout, “Yes.”
*****
He was still on a high when he boarded the bus which would take him to Feldkirch. The views from the bus were spectacular, and they continued to be so after he left the bus and boarded a train. It took him to Innsbruck where he changed trains and headed for Verona.
An overnight train took him to Florence, and he arrived in Rome the next morning. It was from there he caught a midday flight to Sydney via Bangkok.
Simon had always been unexcited about overseas travel, but now after seeing some of the scenery he knew that at some stage in the future he would have to return and see more.
Now, as he lay in his bed in another Sydney hotel he wished he’d had more time to spend there, but he had to move. Keep on moving, for it had been over ten days since his first electronic introduction to the African and he wondered if time was running out.
Today he would have to find a small time printer, maybe a one-man operation. He flicked through the phone book and made a list of the names which looked the most promising.
With this done he showered and shaved before venturing out onto the busy city streets to hail a taxi. He gave the driver an address and sat back as he swallowed a pill for the headache which seemed to have dogged him for the last week.
The first thing to do was find a colour photocopier.
He met with success at a news agency and laid the documents in their machine. A carefully placed blank sheet of paper concealed everything except the letterheads, and he printed copies of both the banks and the short lawyer’s documents. Then with the copies tucked under his arm in a large envelope, Simon left the newsagents and sought the first address on the printers list.
Simon supposed it was ink he could smell when he entered the small printers shop. There was no one at the counter and while he waited he looked about the room.
It looked a bit of a mess really. A rough counter held evidence of past ink spills, each of these spills had left designs which might appear to be the work of children.
He glanced at the cobwebs in the corner of the ceiling, before he allowed his gaze to drift down and across the wall to the doorway which connected to the buildings rear. He was about to ring again when a figure appeared in the doorway. Simon greeted the older man with a smile and suggested that it was a nice day.
The older man agreed that it might be a nice day for some, so Simon came to the point.
He removed the two letterheads from the envelope and brought them to the older man’s attention.
“I wondered, if it might be possible to have exact copies of these made?”
The older man looked at and read each and every word, then peered at the emblems at the top of each page.
“Same colour?” He asked as he blinked his eyes.
“Close as possible please.”
The older man rubbed the side of his nose.
“I can handle them alright. It may turn out a bit fluffy on the edges of the emblem though,” he said.
Simon considered a moment, and expressed his opinion that it would be alright.
“How many do you want?” The older man asked as he put the pages down on the counter.
“Four copies of each one.”
The older man eyed Simon through dusty spectacles.
“They’ll cost $50 a copy. Half of that in deposit, just in case you get caught up in something and don’t get back.”
“When can I have them?” Simon asked.
“When do you want them?”
“This afternoon?”
“For an extra hundred you can pick them up at 4 o’clock this afternoon.” Simon pulled at his wallet, extracted $300 and handed the money over. The older man wiped his hands on his ink stained apron and accepted the cash.
“I will see you at 4 o’clock then.”
The old man said nothing and walked out to his workshop.
CHAPTER 16
End It With A Lie Page 16