“David, will you listen? Do you want to know what the model’s of, or not?”
“OK. Go ahead. Surprise me. But I bet it can’t beat what the Regurgitator did with a goldfish and a cigarette.”
“I think it’s the Sears Tower.”
“Oh well. I was right again. Never mind.”
“What do you mean, you were right?”
“About the Regurgitator. He was far more entertaining. I thought so, anyway. The goldfish would probably have been in your camp, though.”
Fothergill didn’t reply.
“And you should have seen his outfit,” I said. “Yellow spandex. Very tight. You’re a bit of a fashionista. You’d have loved it.”
He didn’t respond. I thought perhaps he was sulking a little bit.
“And if you want to be pedantic, it’s the Willis Tower, now, apparently,” I said.
“No one in Chicago will ever call it that,” he said.
“If you’re even right about it being the Sears Tower, of course.”
“I am. It has to be that. The glass boxes are the clue. They were added to the observation level a little while back. They’re pretty cool, actually.”
“And they’re broken, I heard. Or the mechanism is, at least. The magazine in my hotel said the whole of that level was closed again while they were being fixed.”
“That’s right. I’d forgotten. I wonder—David, stay on the line a moment, will you please?”
I heard some rapid typing from Fothergill’s end; then everything was quiet for a moment.
“Listen to this,” he said, when he returned. “Guess which structural engineer is involved in the repair project?”
“Can I go for best of three?” I said. “OK. I’m going right out on a limb, here. Is it Pascoe?”
“No.”
“Kershaw?”
“No.”
“OK. Reith?”
“Yes. It’s Reith. And guess what? There’s more. He’s not charging a dime for the work.”
“What a public-spirited kind of guy. Sounds like the city could use more people like him.”
Fothergill sighed.
“You don’t understand,” he said. “I think we’re onto something here. Think about it. Everything fits.”
“What fits?” I said. “I don’t see it.”
“You’ve got the tallest building in the United States. It’s taller than the World Trade Center was. Goodness knows how many people work in it. And there are all the tourists. Talk about a juicy target. Now here’s a guy, trying to buy poison gas, with engineering knowledge, bending over backward to get access to the inner workings of the place.”
“You seriously think there’s a genuine terrorist threat against the Sears Tower?”
“It’s possible.”
“Then why are we even messing around? You should kick it to Homeland Security, right away.”
“I don’t know about that. If we’re wrong, we could cause a panic. People could be killed. And we would expose everything to do with McIntyre and the missing Spektra gas, which is just what London doesn’t want to happen.”
“I think you’re jumping the gun. We don’t know it was Reith who was chumming up to McIntyre. Any one of their staff could have been using that dating service. Or someone entirely unrelated could have been piggybacking off their wireless, even.”
“You’re reaching, David. It’s just too big a coincidence.”
“Maybe. But I’m not convinced. And I still want those guys’ home addresses.”
“Yes, we’ll get them for you. But in the meantime, do any of their other projects honestly seem like a hotter target?”
“No. But we don’t know the target has anything to do with their work.”
“True. But think about it. Right now, this minute, have we got anything better to go on?”
I didn’t answer.
“I think you should head over there and take a look,” he said. “Will you go?”
I didn’t reply.
“I’ll meet you there, if you like,” he said. “We’ll check the place together.”
“I’d like you to check their home addresses,” I said. “That’s how we’ll move this forward. Not by replacing one wild-goose chase with another.”
“I’ll get the analysts on it. Straightaway. All of them. But while they’re doing that, what else are you going to do? Sit around in your hotel? See a movie? Go shopping? Get a pedicure?”
I didn’t want to wait, at all. I didn’t see why finding three addresses had to be so time-consuming. None of Fothergill’s suggestions had even crossed my mind. I was just going to tell him to turn the heat up under the IT guys when my eyes fell on a flyer pinned to a notice board near the photocopier. It was advertising Richard III at one of the local theaters. That was Tanya’s favorite play. We’d seen it together, years ago, in Madrid. I could almost feel her head on my shoulder, and the tension building in her body as we waited for the curtain to go up. And I knew that memory would only grow on me, if I allowed any time to hang on my hands.
“How are you helping anyone, just spinning your wheels?” he said. “Maybe it is an old-timer’s hunch. Maybe we’re stretching logic a little, here. But if a building full of people get killed because of this, how are you going to feel? Knowing that’s all on you? Or if Tony escapes permanently this time?”
“I’ll have a look at the place,” I said. “But I’ll take my phone. And I’ll expect a call the second you get an address. Preferably Reith’s.”
“Perfect. You have my word. I’ll sit on it, all the way. You’ll hear the second I do.”
“I better.”
“You will. And there’s something else I can do to help. Could you find your way to the Quincy El stop?”
“If I needed to. Why?”
“It’s only a stone’s throw from the Sears Tower. Wait there, and I’ll get the plans of the building biked over to you. If someone’s planning to gas everyone inside, they’ll need access to the ventilation system. And this way, you’ll know where to look for them. If you think that’s a good idea.”
“It’s definitely a good idea. As long they’re up to date. If we’re going to take potshots at a place, it’s better not to do it completely in the dark.”
“OK, then. Why not head over there now? I’ll try not to keep you waiting for the messenger. It’s good you’re going, David. I’ll sleep a lot better, knowing we’ve left no stone unturned.”
NINETEEN
When I was in school, I had a teacher who liked to crack people’s heads together.
That certainly grabbed their attention, but I can’t honestly say it helped them to learn anything. In the navy, we had an instructor who used a different approach. He used to crash different quotations together to make his points. Or his own versions of quotations, anyway. For example, when it came to teamwork he liked to tell us—
Lads, remember this. No man is an island.
Followed by—
Be not afraid of helpfulness. Some men are born helpful. Some achieve helpfulness. And some have helpfulness thrust upon them.
I did remember what he said. I agreed with it. And I came across all three types of people, over the years.
I found the first group is always the easiest to work with.
But the last group is a whole lot more fun.
The Sears Tower completely dominates West Quincy Street between the El stop and its east facade. It’s unmissable, but its black frame, dark glass, and irregular profile make it seem moody rather than magnificent. It may be taller than the World Trade Center used to be, but to look at, I’d never have guessed. It just doesn’t have the same brutal, uncompromising presence of the Twin Towers. Or the elegance of the Empire State Building. The exuberance of the Chrysler. Or even the symmetry of the Hancock Center, a few blocks away. But as I stood and stared up at the tips of its antennas, a hundred-plus stories above me, I couldn’t help feeling a sense of awe. It was still the tallest building in the United States. It had been the tallest in the world for over twenty years. And that was without any shenanigans over the way it was measured, which in itself demands respect. It would be a shame for something bad to happen to it. I was pretty sure Fothergill was just seeing ghosts in the shadows, but making completely sure no longer felt like such a waste of time.