Anthony Horowitz - South by South East

“That’s very neat,” I said. “But what do you do if the place catches fire?”

We stepped through the wall. And suddenly we were surrounded.

There were people everywhere. In front of the entrance there was a pretty receptionist taking calls on an even prettier telephone system. I hadn’t seen so many flashing lights since Christmas. There were five or six offices on either side and the central area was being criss-crossed by suits with men inside. You could hear the jangle of telephones from every direction and voices talking softly like they were frightened of being overheard or even, for that matter, heard.

“Tim…!”

I nudged Tim and pointed. Another door had opened and I could see into what looked like a fully working laboratory with its own collection of technicians in white coats. But you didn’t need a microscope to see what they were working on. They had the telephone box from the alley. And they were taking it apart piece by piece. I watched as one man sprayed the glass with some sort of powder while another unscrewed the telephone receiver. But then the taxi driver prodded me with his gun and gestured at the door nearest the receptionist. “In there,” he said.

We went in. It was an office like any other with a desk, a computer screen, a few leather chairs and lighting as soft as the executive carpet. Sitting behind the desk was an elderly man with grey hair that had probably come with the job. He was a black man, dressed in a three-piece suit and an old school tie. His movements were slow, but his narrow, grey eyes seemed to move fast.

“Please sit down,” he said. “I’ll be with you in a minute.” He punched a few letters on his keyboard but the screen was turned towards him so I couldn’t see what he was writing. Meanwhile, Tim had shifted onto the edge of his seat and was craning to look over the top of the desk. The man noticed him and stopped typing. “Is there something wrong?” he enquired.

Tim coughed. “You’re only using two fingers,” he said.

“Yes.” The man smiled and held up his hands. “But I do have a complete set.” He pushed the keyboard away. “So you know about Charon?”

“Maybe…”

“Of course you do, Mr Diamond. You are Tim Diamond, I presume?”

Tim stared. “How do you know that?”

“I was guessing. We found a name tag in the coat that McGuffin was wearing when he… left the company.” I couldn’t help smiling at that. “I presume he exchanged coats with you in an attempt to escape from Charon. That was the sort of thing McGuffin would have tried. And you must have found the hotel key in his coat. Am I correct?”

“Keep talking,” Tim muttered.

“I have your details here on the computer,” the old man went on. He glanced at the screen. “Tim Diamond Inc. Detective Agency. Camden Town.” He turned to me. “You’re not on my file.”

“I’m his brother,” I said.

“Ah.” He typed a few words onto the screen.

“Nick Diamond. Want me to spell it?”

“I think I can manage.”

“And what exactly is it that you do manage, Mr…” Tim began.

“My name is Mr Waverly.” He smiled. “I am the chief executive of this organization.”

“And what organization is that?”

Waverly lowered his voice. “I take it you’ve heard of MI6.”

“I’ve driven up it,” Tim said.

“No,” Waverly corrected him. “You’re thinking of the M6 motorway to Birmingham. I’m talking about intelligence.”

Tim’s face brightened. “Then you’re talking to the right person!” he announced.

“Military intelligence!” Waverly explained.

“Spies,” I added.

“McGuffin was an agent working for me,” Waverly went on. “He was pursuing a killer known only as Charon. I don’t know how much he had told you, but Charon has a contract on a Russian diplomat by the name of Boris Kusenov.”

“How do you know that?” I asked. I didn’t think it was an important question when I asked it. It was just something I wanted to know. But it seemed I’d touched on a sore point because suddenly he looked less like the head of the British Secret Service and more like a used car salesman with a second-hand secret.

“It doesn’t matter how,” he said and I realized that it did matter a lot. “All that matters is that he doesn’t kill Kusenov on British soil.”

“Suppose he stays on the pavement?” Tim asked.

Mr Waverly swallowed hard. “I mean, we have to ensure that Kusenov is not killed while he is anywhere in Britain,” he explained, choosing his words carefully. “It would have huge international repercussions. That is why it is essential that you tell me everything McGuffin told you.”

“But he didn’t tell us anything,” I said.

“That’s right,” Tim agreed. “He wanted to use a telephone but we haven’t got one. So he went out to use the one in the alley.” He jerked a thumb in the direction of the laboratory. “He was lucky you hadn’t taken it before he got there.”

“We took the call box after he was killed, Mr Diamond,” Waverly said. “McGuffin got through to this office. He told us where he was. Then he was shot. So we took the telephone box to search it for clues.”

“Did you find any?” I asked.

“Not yet. But he must have left something. McGuffin was a resourceful operative. He was secretive. A loner. But he’ll have done everything he can to get a message to us.”

There was a pause.

Tim and I glanced at each other. Waverly may have been hiding something, but we had to tell him everything we knew. After all, he was the head of MI6. And that meant he was on our side.

“How about ‘south by south east’?” I said.

“What?”

“They were his last words,” Tim explained.

“Just that? South by south east?” Waverly tapped the words into the computer then pressed the button that would send them hurtling into the data bank. The screen bleeped a few times. He pressed another button. “Nothing,” he muttered.

Tim got to his feet. “Well, there’s nothing more we can do for you…” he began.

“Please sit down, Mr Diamond!”

There was a silence of about thirty seconds as he sat there, calculating. He had plans for us. I could see them forming — faster than the computer signals — in those soft, grey eyes. At last he stretched out a hand and pressed a button on his intercom.

“Miss Jones,” he said. “Could you get a drink for our guests?” Then he turned back to us. “I have a proposition for you,” he said. “I want you to work for me. We have to find Charon and you can help.”

“Now wait a minute…” Tim began.

Waverly ignored him. “We’re running out of time, Mr Diamond. Boris Kusenov arrives in England in just a few days’ time. But we no longer have any leads. We have no connection with Charon.” He took a deep breath. “Except you.”

“Me?” Tim squeaked.

“Charon knows that McGuffin spoke to you before he died. When he discovers that you’re working for MI6, maybe he’ll get worried.”

“How will he discover that?” I asked.

“We’ll make sure he finds out.”

I couldn’t believe it. I played back the sentence in my head and realized that was just what it was. A death sentence. We were going to be the bait in a trap for Charon. And if we got wiped out along the way, I don’t think Waverly would even send flowers to the funeral.

Even Tim seemed to have come to the same conclusion. “You can’t do it!” he exclaimed. “I’m not a secret agent…”

“You are now,” Waverly replied.

The door opened and Miss Jones came in, carrying a tray. She was a short, dumpy woman with hair tied up in a bun — but I hardly noticed her. She had two glasses on the tray. They were filled with a green liquid that was almost luminous. Somehow I didn’t think it was apple juice.