The Strange Attractor (16 page)

With a powerful thrust of his right leg the Major spun his chair round through a hundred and eighty degrees and then spun it back again; bewilderingly thus confronted, albeit briefly, with the back of the Major’s neatly-trimmed head, Dobie wondered if some weird new form of callisthenics was being practised and if so, if he should not do the same. He decided, however, against it; probably wisely. “Just exactly that,” Michaels said. “The boss may be prepared to shut an eye or even both if his senior staff bend the rules a little, but that doesn’t go for junior staff in the Research Section. No way, José. He got the boot
and
deserved it.”

“Did he know
Mrs
Corder?”

Michaels seemed to find this question a trifle disconcerting. He revealed his inner perturbation by raising his right eyebrow about one-thousandth of an inch. “Why do you ask that?”

“She came round here, didn’t she? On occasion?”

“Yes, she did. On occasion. I once asked if I shouldn’t issue her with a pass but she got quite shirty about it. So we let it ride. No – the reason why your question surprised me a little,” the Major said, adjusting the set of his sleeve to show the greater part of an unidentifiable regimental cufflink, “one of my blokes saw her talking to him the day before he got copped. He thought it was odd because she didn’t usually stop off to chat up the junior staff. No reason why she shouldn’t, of course. It just wasn’t something she often did.”

Certainly hob-nobbing with the
hoi polloi
had never been Jane’s sort of thing. “Did she seem to know who he was? Or was she just generally dispensing a gracious word?”

“Not knowing, can’t say. The
really
odd thing was that he later denied the incident had ever taken place.”

“Really? When?”

“Very next day. When I was pointing out to him the error of his ways and handing him his cards. I mean, it was just a casual question I put to him, but he lied about it, just the way he lied about everything else. Never seen her, he said, much less spoken to her. He couldn’t have known I had a witness. Two, in fact, since my lot always go around in pairs.”

“And that’s the only time she’s ever spoken to one of the junior staff?”

“Oh no, I don’t say that. But it doesn’t very often happen. Other than to say ‘Good morning’ and so forth. Except to Wendy, of course. When she’s here.”

“Wendy?”

“Don’t you know Wendy? The boss’s daughter?”

“
Wendy
, of course I know Wendy.” Dobie shook his head. For a moment or two, his thoughts had wandered.

“I don’t think she came in today, but that’s understandable. Of course,” the Major said, trying out a new exercise which involved tipping his chair over backwards until he appeared to be in imminent danger of capsize, “the old man’d like her to go into the business on the management side. Natural enough as he doesn’t have a son. But I don’t believe she’s really all that keen. Women in business…” He scrutinised the ceiling keenly, pondering the matter, before abruptly coming back to an even keel. “It might be better if there were more of them. We just haven’t got used to them yet.”

“That’s a very enlightened view,” Dobie said. “Personally, I—”

“Oh well, as employers go, old Corder’s enlightened enough. The trouble is, it don’t always cut both ways. I mean the ladies have got to liberalise some of their views as well and it isn’t easy for them. I don’t think our Wendy was one little bit chuffed when she got to hear about Sinful Susan but that’s the sort of thing I mean. A son, now, would understand at once. You can’t expect a
daughter
to.”

“Ah,” Dobie said, out of his depth but struggling manfully.

“That’s another aspect of the problem, of course. The security problem. You just can’t stop people gossiping, not even about the boss.
Especially
not about the boss. Men are
worse
than women, believe you me.”

“I suppose you’ve had her checked? Security-wise?”

This was Dobie at his most brilliantly guileful.

“Susan? Oh Lord, yes. She’s perfectly okay. Nice quiet young lady. Husband’s in insurance, I believe. Of course
she
never comes round the office. Naturally not.”

“Susan… I’ve forgotten her other name…”

“Not a frightful lot of people know that. The old man likes to keep it pretty much under his hat. It’s Strange.”

“Well, not altogether. In the circumstances.”

“Eh?… No, I mean her
name
is Strange.”

“Oh, I see. What is it?”

A faint grinding noise emerged from the Major’s mouth. “Strange is her name, for Chrissake, it’s
Mrs
Strange,
Susan
Strange. I do hope I’m getting through.”

Brilliant guilefulness was not, in fact, Dobie’s forte. It was str— It was very odd how often he had this effect upon people. “Yes, oh yes, I’m sorry, it’s just that it’s some time since I heard… I mean it has to have been going on for some little time now. Hasn’t it?”

The Major’s jawbones relaxed perceptibly. “About a year or so, I would say. But what I’m really
getting
at, you can see the daughter’s point of view in these cases. What she doesn’t realise is that it could’ve been so much worse. You know, the directors of some of the companies I’ve worked for… Well, you wouldn’t believe it if I were to tell you.”

“But of course, you have to keep all that side of things pretty confidential.”

“Haw haw yes,” the Major said. “I should rather say so.”

“At least I found out what Alec’s security problem is.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“The security officer.”

“It seems to be true about Sammy, though.”

“Yes.”

“So let’s leave it alone.”

“It’s where the connection is, though.”

“What connection?”

“Between everyone, just about. Me and Jenny and Jane and Alec and Sammy. And now this additional complication.”

“Sinful Susan?”

“Yes.”

“Is that what she is?”

“Sinful? Or a complication?”

“Skip it. You weren’t all
that
surprised, were you?”

“I was in a way. I didn’t know Alec had a mistress.”

“God, Dobie, people don’t
say
that any more.”

“… Was having a bit on the side.”

“That’s much better.”

“I don’t see why, but never mind.”

“I’ll tell you why,” Kate said. “When my father started out in practice, he was what used to be called a family doctor. If you were on his panel you had everyone else along with you – aunts, cousins, grandparents, the lot. But then things changed and it just meant parents and children. By the time
I
was a student you could forget about the children unless you wanted to be some kind of children’s specialist. And now there aren’t any married couples, either. Only males and females. In other words, when they come to see me there’s only me me
me
. This is a me-me-
me
society, Dobie, and I’m a me-me-
me
doctor, family doctors have gone with the dinosaurs and so have kindly fathers and loving wives and all that caboodle.
That’s
why no one says ‘mistress’ any more. Except for a few befuddled refugees from Barchester Towers. You got to get
with
it, Dobie baby, else you’re way out in Cloudsville. I’m sorry but
someone
has to let you in on the facts of life.”

“Don’t be angry, Kate.”

“You’re such a
cluck
.”

“I know I irritate people.”

“So did Jesus Christ. It’s not
that
. Or maybe it is. You remind them of the days when things were different. You’re so fucking
quaint
.”

Dobie hadn’t anticipated this attack but his years of experience as a college lecturer had given him a certain expertise in the arts of ducking and weaving. “Yes, but in those days women didn’t have much say in the matter, did they? What you’re talking about, it goes with being independent and having a career and so on. You can’t have it—”

“Oh, shut
up
, Dobie. And stop dithering about.”

Dobie in fact wasn’t dithering about but merely arranging the cassette tapes on the shelf into some semblance of order. Of course, it all depended on how you looked at it. Were he to continue the argument, the calm perseverance with which he marshalled the relevant facts would no doubt be immediately characterised as pig-headed obstinacy. It was no good saying she couldn’t have it both ways when she so very obviously could.

“Just because you’re married,” Kate said, “doesn’t mean you’re not on your own. You can run a big business and still feel lonely. It’s no one’s fault. That’s how the system works.”

“You said once that Sammy felt lonely.”

“So he did. But it didn’t worry him.
He
knew all about the system.”

“He must have had old-fashioned tastes, though.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Well, look at
this
.” Dobie held up a cassette box. “Cole Porter. That’s before
my
time, even.”

“Isn’t Mozart? Don’t you
like
Cole Porter?”

“That’s not the point. I don’t listen to much pop music. Of course Jenny used to…”

He stopped, staring miserably down at the tape in his hand. Argument ended. Kate watched him in silence for some little while, then slid an arm round his waist and squeezed it gently. “… Hello, sailor.”

“Hello,” Dobie said.

“I’m sorry. That all came out a bit differently to the way I meant.”

“It’s not that,” Dobie said. “It isn’t anything you
said
. Do you mind if I play this?”

“Play that tape?… Why should
I
mind? Be my guest.”

She sat down a little heavily at the work-desk as Dobie turned towards the cassette-player, pressing the power and the ejection switches. There was, as he then saw, a tape in the machine already. He pushed the ejection cover closed again and pressed the play button. Nothing happened.

“What’s the matter? Can’t you work it?”

“Wait a moment,” Dobie said. “There seems to be a temporary hitch…”

He tried the rewind button. The spools whizzed obediently round for several seconds, then stopped with a click. He tried again.

“…
Hey Kate
,” Sammy Cantwell said. “
This is Sammy
.”

Kate’s normally pale face had gone considerably paler than usual.

“You scared the shit out of me, you know that?”

“I didn’t mean to,” Dobie said. “I’d no idea…”

“I should have… Why did I never
think
of it?”

“The police must have missed out on it, too.”

“Yes, but Sammy always sent me messages that way. He never wrote letters.
They
didn’t know that. But
I
did.”

“What sort of messages?”

“Anything at all. Like he needed some groceries or maybe he’d be working late, he did that sometimes… If he couldn’t catch me because I was in the clinic or out somewhere, he’d pop a tape in through my letterbox. I just didn’t
think
about it, that’s what bugs me.”

“But he
didn’t
put it through your letterbox.”

“No. That’s the point.”

“Because he didn’t have time.”

“Is that what you think?”

“It looks that way,” Dobie said.

“Let’s hear it again… “

Dobie set the tape in motion once more.

“Hey Kate… This is Sammy, look… I haven’t seen you since yesterday and what happened was, they gone and given me the sack or anyway told me not to come back, there was an unpleasantness, y’know?… So what I’m going to do, I’m going up to town to talk things over with my uncle but I’ll be back Monday and what I’ll do, I’ll leave part of the rent money on the table, okay?… Right now I got someone coming round I’ve been sort of helping out and maybe we can get it fixed up so I’ll get some more bread, one good turn deserves another sort of thing, only I’m not too sure how it’ll go because it’s all got a bit complicated and I won’t be able to help out any more because of something else that happened at bloody Corders… Look, I only mention it because any old way I should be getting a few more bucks so I’ll be paying you the rest of my back rent soon as I get back from London, okay?… Okay. See you then…”