Avedissian found Jarvis waiting for him in the gallery behind the tier. Together they ran along it as far as they could before stopping when they came to a blank wall. There was a stairway beside it. They took the steps two at a time and descended to the tier below to look for the way ahead but there did not seem to be any. This section of the stadium appeared to be completely isolated from the next at all levels by a concrete partition.
'There's a door!' said Avedissian, pointing to a blue door set in the wall near the back edge of the gallery. They ran over to it but only to find that it was locked. Jarvis cursed and a voice behind them asked, 'What are you looking for, buddy?'
They turned to find a security man standing there.
'We've just seen an old army buddy of ours. We're trying to get to him,’ replied Jarvis with what Avedissian thought was admirable presence of mind. What was more, Jarvis had said it in a convincing American accent. Avedissian thought he understood why Jarvis had been chosen for the job.
'You'll have to go down and round the outside,’ said the guard. 'Just explain to the guy on the gate and he'll let you through if you show him your tickets.'
'Oh come on, man, that'll take forever,’ pleaded Jarvis.
The guard hesitated and rubbed his chin while Jarvis smiled disarmingly at him and then gave in. He unhooked a bunch of keys from his belt and found the one for the blue door. 'Don't you ever say I did this,’ he called after them as they passed through to the next section.
Jarvis ran up to the edge of the gallery and put the glasses to his eyes. Avedissian followed. Both men were breathing heavily. 'Are they still there?' asked Avedissian anxiously.
There was a pause then Jarvis replied. 'Still there. We can do it!'
They continued their run along the second gallery, swerving to avoid a fat woman coming towards them with a glass of beer in either hand and carrying several packets of popcorn between her teeth. She turned to protest but could say nothing for fear of losing the bags.
They made good progress, albeit in slalom style, as they weaved in and out to avoid cross traffic moving to and from the toilets and food stands. There had been no barrier between the last two sections; Jarvis prayed that there would be none between them and the final one where the boy was. His heart sank as he saw the concrete divide loom up.
'There must be a door in this one too,’ reasoned Avedissian. 'You check one level up. I'll go one down.’ He raced down the stairs to find another unbroken wall and cursed his luck before 'turning on his heel to climb back up again. He reached the level where Jarvis was and saw that Jarvis had found a door. He was trying to budge it with his shoulder.
Avedissian could see that Jarvis was attracting some attention so he hung back. He saw Jarvis put his foot to the lock in exasperation then someone said loudly, This guy's got a problem.' Jarvis threw himself against the door again but only succeeded in drawing a bigger audience. 'Somebody should call a cop,’ suggested a fat man.
The mention of police made Jarvis abandon his attack on the door and run back to the gallery where he found Avedissian. 'No luck,’ he said as they raced back down the stairs.
'I saw,’ replied Avedissian. 'We'll have to go round the outside after all.'
'There's no time,’ insisted Jarvis. 'There has to be another way.' He hurried to the back wall of the stadium and looked over. There, two metres below, projecting from the outside wall, he saw a concrete ledge. It was narrow but it was a possibility. He said so to Avedissian.
Avedissian looked over and felt unwell. At this level they were still thirty metres above the ground. One slip and they would be dead. 'I don't know…'
'We can do it!' said Jarvis, deciding the issue by getting on top of the wall and lowering himself out on to the ledge. With a quick look behind him to ensure that no one was watching from the stairs, Avedissian followed.
Both men stood on the ledge, their bodies spread-eagled against the smooth face of the stadium wall. 'All right?' asked Jarvis. Avedissian grunted in reply.
Jarvis began to move along the ledge. Avedissian waited, pressing his cheek to the rough surface and considering all the things that could go wrong. He could fall and break his neck. Someone might spot them up there and call the police. The thought of a Hollywood style drama involving police and firemen frightened him into action. He started to move.
The ledge was not smooth underfoot for, over the years, it had accumulated a heavy coating of concrete dust and debris which made Avedissian painfully unsure of his footing. He tried to clear the way ahead by brushing it lightly with his leading foot but Jarvis stopped him. 'You'll attract attention below!' he warned. Avedissian took his chances with the uncleared ledge.
The blood was pounding in Avedissian's ears by the time they had passed the extent of the concrete partition and could once more get a firm grip on the top of the gallery wall. He permitted himself a look at the ground below but immediately wished that he hadn't when his senses began to reel. He closed his eyes for a moment and once more pressed his face to the wall until he had recovered.
'Come on!' urged Jarvis, pulling himself up and over the gallery wall. He turned to offer Avedissian a hand but it was not necessary and both men dropped down into the gallery of section 'F.
'What the…?' exclaimed a voice from the shadows of the stairway and a policeman moved forward into the light. He started to draw his pistol but Jarvis was on him before he could get it clear of the holster. He floored the man with two quick blows and caught him before he touched the ground, dragging him back into shadow, where he propped him up in a corner against the wall.
'We've done it now,’ exclaimed Avedissian.
'Let's go.’
They ran to the top of the stairs then Jarvis laid a restraining hand on Avedissian's arm. 'No more running,’ he cautioned. 'From here on we melt into the crowd.’
Moving as casually as they could in the circumstances they approached the area where they had seen the woman and the boy. Jarvis stopped at a hot dog stand that had no queue beside it and bought two. He handed one to Avedissian and said, 'We are just returning to our seats.’ They approached the head of the aisle leading to row 'B' and looked down, Jarvis casually taking a bite of his hot dog and pretending to be having trouble with the contents escaping from the side into the napkin. Avedissian looked at the seats and saw that he need not have bothered. The seats were empty. They were as lifeless as tombstones. The boy had gone. They were too late.
Jarvis put the glasses slowly to his eyes and looked over to where Innes had been sitting. Innes was looking directly back at him. For a few seconds the two men looked at each other across the floodlit diamond. 'Another couple of minutes, damn you,’ Jarvis muttered under his breath.
Avedissian grew aware of some commotion behind them and knew that the policeman must have come round. He said so to Jarvis. 'Use the empty seats!' whispered Jarvis. Avedissian moved down the aisle and into the row where they had seen the woman and the boy. 'Sit apart,’ said Jarvis behind him, already in the act of removing his jacket to alter his appearance as much as possible.
Avedissian relied on munching his hot dog to create an aura of innocence but his pulse rate was topping one hundred and thirty as two policemen slowly passed the end of the row and looked along it. One was rubbing his jaw.
A home run down on the diamond helped break the spell and Avedissian leapt to his feet with those around him, uttering what he hoped was a convincing, 'All right, all right!' The policemen moved on to look at the occupants of the next row and Jarvis shot a quick glance in Avedissian's direction. Avedissian raised his eyes to the heavens in reply.
The game ended and thirty thousand people became intent on leaving the stadium, but at that moment Avedissian loved them all for they were his guarantee of anonymity. As he moved along the row to the aisle Jarvis said that they should split up, Avedissian should return to the gate where Kathleen would come out. He would make his own way out. As they parted at the top of the aisle Jarvis said, I’ll meet you in the park by the hotel. Tomorrow at ten in the morning.’