Thursday 13 June 2019

Episode 88 – Harry returns to the office


Harry was not surprised when he opened the door to the office and saw the lack of mess in front of him.  He was surprised to see that it was not as bad as it could have been and that he assumed was because of either Corinne or Felicity had cleaned it up.


More than Corinne ever did at home, he thought, remembering the old days when he lived at home and the bribery involved to clean their own rooms, all of them except Corinne.

Her mother gave up asking just closed the door and pretended it didn't exist.

He went in, closed the door behind him, and then took a quick look at the extent of the damage.  Little to the furniture, books back in the wrong places, files likewise in the cabinet, it appeared whoever paid his office a visit was looking for something specific.

In his office, it didn’t take long to realise the paper he had stuck to the bottom of the drawer had been removed.  The edges of the tape were still there, so it was safe to assume the visitor had found what they were looking for.  Everything else had been to convince the police it was a random robbery.
So the break-in was solely about the address.

Why?

It was just an empty block.

Was there something special about it?

It was down on an area of the docks that was slated to be turned into a number of possible projects, an entertainment centre, a five-star hotel and shopping mall, luxury apartments.  He remembered reading about it in the paper some months ago, but couldn't remember the details.  He would have to find the paper or look it up on the internet.

Another look showed his computer was missing, presumably taken by the thieves.  It was a good thing he had everything backed up in the cloud.  Or it could be locked away.  The thief hadn’t taken a few other items that would net him or her quite a tidy sum.  There was nothing on the computer that would be useful to them.  He never kept notes on there, but intangible files with handwritten notes. 

Old style.

Another question; had Corinne or Felicity called the police about the break-in?

He sat down, putting his cell phone on the desktop.  He was going to call Felicity, he just needed to consider what questions to ask.

The phone rang, vibrating loudly on the desktop, waking him.  He hadn't realised he'd drifted off.
He looked at the screen.

Corinne.

He answered the call putting it on the speakerphone.  “Corinne.  Where are you?”

“At Uni for the moment, got an assignment to finish.  Just wanted to know how you are.  The hospital said you discharged yourself despite their advice.”

“I had to get back to work.  I can’t justify you doing anything considering the danger”.

“And I told you I can take care of myself.”

“I disagree but I'm not going to argue with you now.  A couple of questions.  You've been to my office, did you call the police?”

“Apparently Felicity did.  She told Sykes.  I think he’s annoyed that you were poking your nose into matters that don’t concern you.  You know the standard police warning for civilians.”

Harry thought that amusing considering he had no idea which case had provoked the kidnapping, torture and attempted murder.

And aside from that, it was best, he thought, not to tell her it was about that empty block, something both, as far as he was aware, neither she nor Sykes was aware of.

For the moment.

He knew he needed more information before he could go to Sykes with it.

“Something, I think, you should also take heed of.  Anything else I should know?”

“Yes.  Dad is coming to see you.  He managed to wring your office address out of me.  Sorry.”
And before he could comment she disconnected the call.

Damn.  His father was the last person he wanted to see.


© Charles Heath 2016-2019

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