Anyhow, I finished, paid up, and started for the door. But I noticed a woman at one of the tables who jarred my memory. She was tall, thin, serious-looking, not the kind of person, probably, who’d break you up with a funny line. She was eating alone and never looked my way.
I was still thinking about her when I went out the door into the parking lot. Tardy’s had its own, but it was small, and you had to come early to get a space. They had a larger area, across the river, connected to the island by a long, covered viaduct. If you chose, or were forced, to use the viaduct, you could walk or ride on the glideway. I usually parked in the big lot because I enjoyed riding across the river, especially in the late autumn. It was beautiful at that time of year, filled with gulls and galians and all kinds of birds that hung around the restaurant, hoping for a handout. I just made myself comfortable on the glideway and watched the river go past.
The Melony narrowed at that point, so the current moved right along. About a kilometer downriver, it would squeeze into the Chambourg Canyon, accelerate to a roar, blast through a lot of very large rocks, and plunge twenty meters over the Chambourg Falls. The owners of Tardy’s had been trying for years to move the restaurant onto the rocks just above the falls, but fortunately the effort always caused such outrage that the politicians didn’t dare approve it.
I was halfway across when I realized where I’d seen the woman at the table before. She’d been on the train to Carnaiva. She was the one who’d gotten on at Cremation Station. The Mortician.
I looked back at Tardy’s. The place had a ramshackle, boathouse feel. Part of its charm. A bunch of gulls went squawking past. I thought about going back. But coincidences happen.
An hour after I’d returned to the office, Jacob informed me we had a call from Brian Lewis. “He wants to talk to Alex.”
“I’ll take it,” I said.
I’d been trying to track down the whereabouts of the Steven Silver copy of the Confederate Constitution. At the time of the signing, 326 copies were made. One had eventually gotten into the hands of Silver, a world-famous collector. He’d died, and it had disappeared. The thing was worth a fortune. Alex had been tracking it for two years, but the trail had gone cold. So I needed a minute to concentrate on the figure materializing in the middle of my office. My first thought was that he wanted to take advantage of the cash offer we’d made for a chance to inspect the tablet. “Hello, Brian,” I said. “How are you doing?”
He did not look happy. “I’ve been better, Chase. Is Alex there somewhere?”
I think I’ve mentioned that Brian was a big guy. When I’d seen him earlier, at the Conneltown field, and out over the ocean, he’d seemed hostile and annoyed. That was gone. He waited in front of me with his guard down. “I’m sorry, Brian, but he’s out with a client. Can I help you?”
“Could you contact him?” He was dressed casually, and appeared to be in the front seat of a parked skimmer. The door was open, and his legs hung out over the edge of the vehicle. I had the distinct sense that he’d been about to go somewhere but had stopped on sudden impulse to make the call.
“I can’t, Brian. He shuts down when he’s out with somebody.”
He wiped his hand against his mouth. Chewed on his lip. “Okay,” he said. He was about to disconnect.
“Brian, what can we do for you?”
He hesitated. Then: “Not a thing, Chase. Sorry to take your time.”
“Must be something,” I said.
“I need to talk to him.”
“About the tablet?”
He climbed down out of the skimmer. It was the Sentinel. “I guess.”
“Brian, is it okay with you if I record this conversation? That way I can pass it on verbatim to Alex.”
“Sure. I don’t care. Record whatever you like.”
“Okay. We are now on record.”
“Fine.”
“Our offer still stands, Brian.”
“I don’t really want your money. That isn’t what this is about.”
“Okay.” Long pause, while we stared at each other. “What is it about?”
“Rachel.”
“I’m listening.”
“Look, let me tell you up front that I have no idea what’s going on here. Why she is the way she is. But she’s a good woman—”
“Okay.”
“Anyhow, I wanted you to know that you and Benedict have turned her into a nervous wreck. I’m scared something will happen.”
“Why is she nervous, Brian?”
“I just told you, I don’t know. I have no idea what any of this is about. What I do know is that she means a lot to me. She’s one of the best people I’ve ever known. And you two are ruining her. I don’t know what you’re after, and I don’t know what the problem is, but I wanted to ask you to stop. Please.”
“Brian, the tablet might be an artifact from an alien civilization.”
“I’m sure you know how crazy that sounds, Chase. Anyhow, I don’t really care. I just don’t. Nothing is worth what you’re putting her through.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. I’m sure Alex isn’t happy about any of this either.”
“Yeah. That’s fine. You and he are sorry you’re turning her life upside down.”
“Have you asked her why she’s so upset?”
“Once.”
“What did she say?”
He closed the door. “She just shakes her head. No. Won’t talk about it. Can’t talk about it.”
“Does Doug know what it’s about?”
“No.”
“Aren’t you curious, Brian?”
“Yeah, I’m curious. Of course I am. But she doesn’t want to tell me. That’s good enough.”
“Okay.”
“Look.” He was having a problem with his voice. He started to say more, stopped, took a deep breath. Then: “I wish I could buy you guys off.” Another pause. “I’m not in a position to do that. But I would consider it a personal favor if you and your boss would just back away. Please.”
“Okay.”
“Does that mean you will?”
I hadn’t been able to get Rachel out of my mind. She’d lied to us, and played mind games with us, and maybe had hired someone to get rid of us. Still, her plea that we leave her alone had contained a note of desperation. If that, too, had been an act, she should have been on the stage. I wanted to tell Bryan yes, that we’d back off. That it was over. But I couldn’t speak for Alex. “It means,” I said, “that I’ll show him the record and have him get in touch with you. He’ll be in later this afternoon.”
I was feeling increasingly uncomfortable. I had no idea what Rachel was hiding, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. I couldn’t bring myself to believe she was actually behind the attempt to kill us although no one else I could think of was likely to want us dead. I was becoming more convinced that the entire business was going to end badly for everyone involved. And I decided to make an effort to persuade Alex to drop the investigation.