Mark Hennessy had nothing against Richard Curtis. In many ways, he liked and admired the man. He certainly was grateful for the job he had. As for the extracurricular activities he’d engaged in over the years, well, his goal wasn’t to hurt the man seriously, just to do his part in a small way to provide some checks and balances. Left to his own devices, Curtis would do things from time to time that could to some extent be harmful to the environment, so keeping Jerry and Planetwatch on his case was probably doing the world some good. But it wouldn’t actually hurt Curtis — it would just keep him honest, or a tiny bit more honest. The man would no doubt be angry if he ever found out, and would probably fire Mark on the spot, but his business wouldn’t be crippled or anything.
But—
But Mark thought it was probably time to stop. Jerry had made himself just a little too irritatingly known to Richard Curtis, just a little too annoying all around, and coming here to Singapore was maybe not the smartest thing he’d ever done. Curtis had set that fellow on Jerry’s trail, and was taking it all quite seriously, so it was surely time for Mark to hang up his espionage gloves.
Particularly with this new level of responsibility and trust that had suddenly come his way. Curtis was taking him along on this trip because he trusted Mark. Which meant, from now on, it would be a good idea if Curtis actually could trust Mark.
The phone rang. His immediate thought, staring across the room at where the phone was mounted on the wall beside the fridge, was that Curtis had changed his mind. He’d be taking someone else on the trip, after all.
Mark rose and crossed to pick up the phone, and was both relieved and troubled to recognize Luther’s voice. Troubled, of course, because Luther was part of the conspiracy he’d just foresworn.
What Luther had to say, though, was worse than he’d anticipated: “Mark, Jerry has disappeared, and we’re talking to the police.”
“What? You mean he just wandered off?”
“We think he was kidnapped. We think the man you told us about did something.”
“Good God, Luther, what do you mean did something? Kidnapped? People don’t kidnap people.”
“Well, they do,” Luther said. “And Jerry’s disappeared, yesterday, while we were having a beer, after he talked to you.”
Mark didn’t know what to think. This wasn’t the way he’d visualized what they were doing, with disappearances and police and accusations of kidnapping. There had to be some explanation. He said, “Maybe he’s following a lead.”
“No, Mark.”
“Well...” He didn’t want this phone call, he didn’t want any of this. He said, “Thank you for the warning, Luther, and I certainly hope Jerry turns up very soon.”
“I need to give the police your name,” Luther said.
“My name? For heaven’s sake, why?”
“You’re the only link between that man and Richard Curtis. You saw him with Curtis, you saw Curtis give him money, you saw him following us, you told us about him.”
“Oh, Luther, no,” Mark said. “You’ve got to leave me out of this.”
“I can’t,” Luther said. “The police have to find Jerry, and they can’t find him unless they go to Curtis, and they won’t go to Curtis just on what Kim and I tell them. You’re the only link to Richard Curtis.”
“Luther, no, it’s just — it’s just not possible. I’m going to—”
“Mark, we have to—”
“It’s Sydney, Luther.”
A stunned little silence, and then: “What?”
“Luther, the big secret trip Curtis is taking, he’s going to Sydney! I just found out this morning. And he’s taking me.”
“Mark, I don’t understand.”
“Yes, you do,” Mark insisted. “Curtis is going on this trip, you remember I told you I knew he wasn’t really going to Manila, and this morning he told me the truth. He’s going to Sydney, and he wants me to go with him because he trusts me. Don’t you see? I’m going to find out what he’s doing, Luther.”
“Jerry is more important,” Luther said.
“Jerry is fine,” Mark assured him. “This is what you’ve been wanting to find out, all this time. I still don’t know what he’s up to, but at least now I know where. Sydney. And I’m going with him.”
“Jerry—”
“Luther, if you tell the police I’m the one who’s been spying for you, and if they tell Curtis, he won’t take me with him. He’ll fire me instead, and then where are you? Where am I? Where is anybody?”
“Where is Jerry, that’s the point,” Luther said.
“Jerry’s fine.” Mark felt frantic, felt it all slipping away. Everything was perfect, and now this had to happen. “Luther,” he said, being very firm, “don’t tell the police it was me.”
“I have to—”
“Don’t use my name, Luther.”
“Mark, I’m very worried about Jerry.”
“I understand that, I know you are, but this just ruins everything, destroys everything. Don’t use my name.”
Sounding unhappy and conflicted, Luther said, “I may have to, Mark.”
“If you do,” Mark told him, “I’ll deny it. You won’t gain anything, because I’ll just deny the whole thing.”
“You can’t.”
“I can. And I will. And if you give the police my name, and I say I have no idea who you are or what you’re talking about, where’s your credibility then? Eh? Luther?”
“You haven’t listened to me, Mark.”
“I have listened to you, and I—”
“Jerry is missing.”
“He’ll come back! But this chance won’t come back! You are not going to spoil this, Luther.”
“Don’t you care about Jerry?”
“Of course I do. Luther, I have to hang up now, I have to pack,” Mark said, and cradled the phone before Luther could say anything more.
22
Walking back to police headquarters after Luther’s unsatisfactory phone call to Mark Hennessy, and after a pair of heated exchanges over a bolted lunch, Kim kept insisting they should give Mark’s name to the police anyway and Luther kept explaining that that would be worse than no help, because Mark would deny it and Inspector Wai Fung was just looking for an excuse to do nothing.
Well, of course he’ll do nothing, Manville thought. If Mark had been willing to come forward, it would have been a bit harder for Wai Fung to do nothing, but he still would have managed it.
What was there for the Singapore police to do, anyway? Manville and Kim had sworn out their complaints against the unknown assailant, and if the police found the man no doubt they’d be happy to put him in jail, but what would they do, or what could they do, about Richard Curtis? Unless they themselves tied Curtis to the assailant, the Singapore police would have nothing to make them at all interested in going after the man, and given Curtis’s influence locally they weren’t likely to try very hard to find something to make them interested.
In any event, Curtis’s main crime wasn’t that he was behind the assaults. His main crime he hadn’t even committed yet: mass destruction of some sort while stealing a large quantity of gold.
When Luther had come back from his phone call to Mark, he’d brought one piece of news with him, which Manville still couldn’t quite figure out. Curtis was going to Sydney. That was the secret behind the false destination of Manila.