Chapter 20 I Have a Plan

The passengers were all leaving for their hotel; I looked at the hotel list to make sure that Filmer was on it. He was bound to stay on in Vancouver for the races, but I wanted to be certain. I also persuaded George to remain in Vancouver for a couple of days, before he returned to Toronto. Аll had to do was tell him my plan, and he readily agreed to stay.

I went to my hotel — not the same one as Filmer and his fellow passengers - and telephoned to England. I found the Brigadier at his club.

'Tor!' he said. 'Where are you?' I could hear murmurs in the background and imagined the dark oak walls, the antique furniture and the pictures of famous sportsmen and former club members.

'Vancouver,' I replied. 'Can I phone you again soon when you're alone? This is going to take some time to explain.'

'Is it urgent?'

'Yes.'

'I'll have them transfer this call up to my bedroom. Just wait a couple of minutes.'

So before long, I had explained my plan to him.

'I won't say it's impossible,' he said when I had finished, 'but it's certainly not going to be easy.'

'There's a flight out of London airport tomorrow at three in the afternoon,' I replied, 'which should give you plenty of time — with a bit of luck.'

'What does Bill Baudelaire say?'

'I haven't asked him yet; I'll be ringing him next. I wanted your reaction first.'

'I'll ring you back in ten minutes, when I've had time to think it over,' Catto said. 'What's your phone number?'

'Thought before action?' I asked.

'It's always best, if there's time,' he replied.

I gave him the phone number and waited. In fact, it was twenty minutes before he rang back — twenty nervous minutes for me.

'All right,' he said. 'If Baudelaire approves, so do 1. And, of course, if we can't find the information you need in the available time, then we cannot proceed with this plan. And apart from that, Tor, well done.'

♦

I was looking forward to speaking to Mrs Baudelaire again. I dialled her number and Bill himself answered.

'Hello,' I said, surprised. 'It's Tor Kelsey. How's your mother?'

There was a long pause. 'She ... er ... died early this morning.'

I didn't know what to say. I realized how fond I had become of her. 'I can't believe it,' I said. 'I spoke to her only recently.'

'We knew, and she knew, that at the most it would only be weeks,' Bill said. 'And then yesterday evening there was a crisis.'

I was silent. I had wanted so much to meet her when all this was over. 'Your mother was great,' I said. 'I'm so sorry.'

'She thought the same about you.' Bill's voice got stronger. 'And Tor, she would have wanted us to go on. She loved horse-racing, and hated people like Filmer who tried to make it dirty. We would both fail her if we didn't go straight on. I've had hours to think this out. The last thing she would want would be for us to give up. So, we've had a letter from Filmer announcing that Laurentide Ice now belongs entirely to him, but we're going to inform him that the Canadian Jockey Club is removing his licence to own horses in Canada.'

'Er ... I'd like to do it differently,' I said.

'How do you mean?'

I sighed deeply and talked to him too for a long time. He listened as the Brigadier had, and at the end said simply, 'I do wish she'd been alive to hear all this.'

'Yes,sodo I.'

'Well,' he said, 'I'll go along with it. The real problem is time. You'd better talk to Mercer Lorrimore yourself.'

'But

'No buts. You're there. I'm not. Talk to him straight away, otherwise he might just collect Sheridan's body and return to

Toronto.'

'Yes,you're right.'

'Of course. Use all the authority you need. The Brigadier and

I will support you.'

♦

As soon as I'd finished speaking to Bill, I rang Mercer at his hotel, but it was Nell who answered the phone.

'Bambi doesn't want to speak to anyone at the moment,' she explained, 'and Mercer and Xanthe have gone to Hope to collect Sheridan's body. So all their phone calls are being sent to my room.'

'When will Mercer and Xanthe be back, do you know?'

'About six.'

'You see, the Jockey Club asked me to set up a meeting. Could you tell Mercer that when he gets back to his hotel, a car will be waiting to bring him to a brief meeting with the Jockey Club?'

'Yes, I guess I could,' she said. 'Do you want Xanthe too?'

'No, definitely not. Mercer alone.'

'Is it important? He's got enough troubles at the moment.'

'Yes, I think it is important - important for him,' I said.

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 678