Chapter 44
James
My mobile flashes a message.
Kirstie….
"Think I got sumtng"
My stomach rolls. I'm about to call her when, almost immediately, Francis buzzes me. "I have Kirstie on for you, James."
"Put her through, please…."
"…. Hello, Kirstie. What can I do for you? Is this connected to the message that just came to my phone?"
"Yes, there's a man in the cafe over the road, and he's watching this building; everyone that comes in and out. I thought it was my imagination at first, but he's definitely watching."
"I'm on my way."
Klempner's spy….
In the descending elevator, I have about a minute to turn the scenario over in my head….
The cafe over the road….
So he can see in….
He will see me….
Easy does it….
Despite my gut instinct to dash across the lobby, I force myself to stroll, taking my time, as though stopping for a casual chat.
Kirstie is sitting at her desk. I park a hip by her, my back to the glass frontage.
"Can you point him out to me, please."
"He's just left, while you were coming down…."
Fuck!
"…. But I caught him on my phone camera."
Clever girl….
I'll see you alright for this….
"Let me see."
She produces a mobile from her bag, scuffed at the corners, the screen scratched. The screen is tiny, the image grainy. She pulls a face. "I'm sorry it's not very good. I was trying not to be conspicuous about it and I couldn't hold the phone still very easily."
"Don't worry about that, Kirstie. Email it to me and I'll take a proper look at it."
"Can you do anything with it? I don't know much about this image-enhancing stuff."
"No, but I do."
"You do?"
I keep my voice dry. "There's a reason that I'm the Technical Director here, you know." Then she winces as I shout out to the back office. "Mrs Gillis, can you man the front desk, please. I need Kirstie upstairs."
*****
It's a terrible image. Blown up on my laptop screen it's horribly pixilated and badly out of focus….
Got to do something about that phone of hers….
Kirstie stands beside me, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. Snapping my fingers, I point to another chair with a 'bring it here' motion. She grimaces but pulls it over to sit by me while I work the image to produce something usable. It's still not great but I can make out at least some detail.
"Can you point him out to me, Kirstie."
She points to a figure by the cafe window, barely recognisable as male and fairish. By the time I've enhanced it to something that clearly has a face, I'm at the limits of where image-enhancement will go, at least without a lot more time and more elaborate tools.
Still, it's good enough to make out the face…. Sort-of….
"Do you know him?" she asks.
"No. How long was he watching?"
"A good ten minutes that I noticed. I thought I was imagining things at first, but after a while I was sure, and I called you."
"You've done well, Kirstie; very well. May I see your phone, please."
"My phone?"
"Yes, your phone." She seems unsettled by the request but passes me her mobile.
"Unlock it please."
She hesitates
Oh, for pity's sake….
"I don't want to spy on your photo collection. I need to check the model and spec."
Kirstie flushes and taps in a code. It only takes a minute to scour the menus to find that the model was obsolete a couple of years ago and even in its heyday was a low-end spec. "Mmmm, not a fantastic model, is it?"
A touch of grit in her voice, "I think your pockets are a bit deeper than mine, sir. I bought the phone I could afford."
My bloody mouth….
And subs who don't behave like subs….
"My apologies, Kirstie. I meant no offence. Of course, you buy what you can afford, but in this case, given the excellent work you did this morning, I want you to have the equipment to match the job. I assume you have no objection to a phone upgrade?"
"Er, no…."
"I didn't think so. I'll get something ordered for you with a decent camera and a lot more memory. I'd like to look at the laptop you're using too. What model is it?"
*****