Blue with Black Dots (The Caprice Trilogy Book 2) (18 page)

“Did you guys know each other before you came?” asked Georgia.

“No,” said Evie, “But we clicked.  It was just the two of us and neither one of us is from Glasgow so we found a few places together.”

“Sounds good,” said Georgia, “I’m caught up on everything for my courses so I could definitely use the break.”

              “Nice,” said Evie, “Just give us a knock.”

              “I will,” said Georgia.  Georgia retreated to her room with thoughts to organize.  She had left Owen with the idea that she was intending to leave the following semester.  It was a double-edged sword.  It had the intended consequence of giving the professor a redhot deadline.  Knowing that she might be leaving was meant to create a sense of urgency and accelerate the process.  But it had the potential to backfire.  If she was leaving, Owen might ask himself
why bother
?  Georgia comforted herself with the thought that the document might not even exist.  It was comforting because it meant if she failed, the Agency couldn’t send someone behind her who would succeed.  There was no success to be had.

Georgia thought of an idea as she lied down.  The girls were given some different training than the boys.  They were taught a different type of offense.  She relied on a learned technique.  She would make it more or less clear to the professor that they both wanted the same thing. 

She was told to be aware of solutions presenting themselves.  She saw one.  Evie invited her out with Dierdre.  She was of the idea that mingling with other students wasn’t productive to further her interests on campus.  She changed her mind.  Flying solo was too obvious.  She wanted to put the period on the sentence, before it ran on.  She had to do more recon and find out where Owen spent his time, when he wasn’t on campus.  Then she had to get Evie and Deirdre to go with her.  It was the training that Georgia and the other girls had received individually.  They were all taught to manipulate scenarios on top of other scenarios.  If Georgia bumped into Owen off campus with friends, it was coincidence.  If she bumped into Owen by herself, it was curious.  Everything had to be undercover.  Like any camouflage, it had to fit the surroundings.  Georgia always alone, always running into Owen, was no cover at all. 

A week and a half later, Georgia had a new way of life.  Thursday was her second lecture of the week with Owen.  She had been out with Evie and Deirdre twice, spending less time in the library.    The plan had a lot of moving parts.  But it was the best way to move forward, as far ahead as Georgia could think.  And there was one other thing she was thinking; she needed help.  It was part of training.  They were taught that ego could not be a part of the equation when planning.  There were already enough variables in fieldwork.  Ego would just be another one.  For sake of simplicity, ego had to be taken out.  She decided to call Mark Miller and offer up a proposal.  She still hadn’t told him about the plan to discontinue her studies for the following semester.  In fact, she had talked to him since she made the decision.  She just hadn’t made the decision to talk to him about it.  It would have to wait.  She had her early morning class with Owen.  The class was non-standard, in the sense that Georgia didn’t say a word.  She could have.  But she was shifting tactics.  She didn’t want to give Owen any interaction during the lecture.  In theory, it would make him more willing to stop and chat if he ran into her outside of the usually campus setting.  Georgia wanted to ensure they would meet somewhere on the outside.  After the lecture, she didn’t stand, wait and smoke outside the entrance.  Even if Owen was there, she didn’t want to be.  She went to find a new phone box.  She had to cycle.  She couldn’t use the same phone box to call in.  And she couldn’t have a phone in her room to make things more simple.  There was a risk in using the same line to communicate.  If it could be discovered, it could be patched, hijacked.  But Georgia didn’t know which phone box she would use to call Mark Miller.  She had exploited so many phone boxes near the river, she decided to marched east, away from the river.  She found an empty phone box on Duke Street east of Glasgow’s Necropolis. 

“Hello,” said Mark.

              “It’s me Dad,” said Georgia. 

              “How are you Sweetheart?” asked Mark.

              “Good,” said Georgia.

              “Any news?” said Mark.

              “Class is going well,” said Georgia.

              “Are you making an impression?” asked Mark.

              “That’s what I wanted to talk about,” said Georgia.

              “Tell me,” said Mark.

              “Do we have any family here in Glasgow?” asked Georgia.

              “We do,” said Mark, “But I thought you wanted to be left alone while you study.”

              “I do,” said Georgia, “But if I needed a small favor, would it be too much to ask.”

              “Course not,” said Mark, “What do you need?”

              “I need someone to help with a report,” said Georgia, “It’s for one of my professors.”

              “Ok,” said Mark, “What kind of report are you working on?”

              “Geography,” said Georgia, “I would like to know some locations within the city.”

“What types of locations?” asked Mark.

              “Ones that professors enjoy,” said Georgia, “I’m planning a visit.”

              “I see,” said Mark, “I think I can find someone in the family who knows the city quite well.”

              “If they could find the best place to meet with my professor that would great,” said Georgia.

“Understood,” said Mark, “Is there anything else you want to talk to me about?”

              “I want to leave school next semester,” said Georgia.

              “You’re joking,” said Mark.

              “No,” said Georgia, “I’m not.”

              “Can you furnish your Dad with an explanation?” said Mark.

              “We talked before about going to Leeds,” said Georgia.

              “Right,” said Mark, “We did.”

              “Well I’m thinking about coming back to London to work,” said Georgia.

              “Why?” asked Mark.

              “Think about the geography then think about the landscape,” said Georgia, “If I make friends here in Glasgow, but move back to London, where is the halfway point between London and Glasgow?”  There was a short pause.

“Leeds,” said Mark.

              “If I want to meet my friends from Glasgow and they want to meet me,” said Georgia, “I think Leeds would be the best destination.  And relatives told me to check out Leeds.  Do you remember?”

“I do remember,” said Mark, “It seems you’ve been doing a lot of thinking.”

              “I’m supposed to,” said Georgia, “I’m a post-graduate.”

              “Indeed,” said Mark, “Call me back on Monday.  I should have something for you.”

              “Thanks, Dad,” said Georgia.

“You’re welcome, Dear,” said Mark.

On Monday, Georgia made sure to say a few sentences in her lecture with Owen.  She thought her progress was suffering from lack of interaction, so she waited after class to talk over a
Pall Mall
.  The professor didn’t show but Russell did.  She said hi to him.  He said hi but kept going.  Georgia didn’t show it but she was disheartened.  Maybe she was playing too hard-to-get.  She had no interest in Russell or his study group.  But his early attention gave her the idea that she was off to a good start.  She was a late register, which meant a lot of early emotions had thawed, while she was still in London.  She expected to have to overcome a cold reaction.  Russell was an annoyance, but his awkward flirting was a boost to Georgia’s morale.  She smoked her cigarette alone at the entrance.  It was the only time she found herself smoking alone at the entrance, when she really didn’t want to be.  She smoked out her cigarette and threw it down.  She walked around the city center looking for a phone box that had gone unused during the prior weeks.  She walked further away this time and found an empty phone box on St Mungo Avenue.  Her mood changed as she looked at the empty phone box.  She realized she didn’t know how she would shake a tick if it were attached to her.  If Russell or Owen wanted to walk with her on her way to find a phone box, she didn’t think she would be able to get rid of them without dinting the relationship.  Being alone made it easy.  She called Mark and he told her that a member of the family had information for her.  He gave her the date, time and location. 

  The date was the following day, Tuesday.  The time was 1:30pm and the location was the Necropolis.  It took Georgia less than ten minutes to walk to the Necropolis.  It was a few minutes after 1pm, when she arrived at the cemetery.  The sky was overcast which gave the series of gothic gravestones a very dreary quality.  If the sun was shining, the Necropolis would have taken on the atmosphere of a resting place.  But with gray clouds above, it was a graveyard, nothing more romantic.  Georgia found the right plot in the cemetery where she was supposed to meet her contact.  The cemetery was mostly empty and she felt agitated by it.  It echoed her currently lifestyle.  Aside from two nights bar-hopping with Evie and Deirdre, she didn’t have much of a life.  But she wasn’t meant to.  She went up to stand over a grave with no stone, pretending to pay respects to an unnamed person.  She stood alone for a good seven minutes before she heard feet disturbing the grass behind her, coming uphill.  She didn’t look in the direction of the footsteps.  That was unprofessional.  A man in a long navy-colored coat moved toward the unmarked grave and stood for two, maybe three, seconds.  He reached in his coat for an envelope.  He knelt down and left the envelope atop the grave.  Then he left.  Georgia waited for the man to retreat from earshot, before she touched her right hand to her mouth and knelt down to leave a kiss on the unmarked grave.  She scooped up the envelope with her left hand and stuffed it in her purse as she left the graveyard.

Georgia didn’t open the envelope until she got home.  She didn’t see Evie or Deirdre but she heard music playing in Deirdre’s room.  The music was soft and low but audible.  She must have been sleeping.  Deirdre slept a lot, a side effect of staying out late.  She wasn’t a party animal.  She just wasn’t a shut-in.  Georgia went to her room locked the door and drew the shades.  She opened the envelope.  It had been typed on a typewriter.  There wasn’t much written.  At the top was written
1976 October 26 – October 31
.  What followed was a list of three locations.  One had the number three typed next to it and three times listed under it.  The other two locations had only one number next to them and one time listed underneath.  There was nothing cryptic about the note.  Mark Miller had put a shadow on Professor Owen Spice, from the past Tuesday to Sunday.  The shadow had recorded all public places the professor visited during that window and at what time.  The number three was next to one place because Owen had gone there three times in the six days he was shadowed.  It was called
Duster Salute
, a classic sitdown bar and restaurant inside the
Alt Clut Argyle Hotel
. 

Georgia went down to the first floor of her building and knocked on the door of the building’s management office.  The door opened and a woman showed her face.  Georgia identified herself, saying she lived on the third floor.  She then asked to use the phonebook and the office phone.  She called the
Duster Salute Bar
and asked for the menu.  The bar had a set menu of sandwiches, soups and cuts of meat.  The prices were a bit higher than surrounding restaurants but only because the restaurant was in the hotel.  Georgia made a reservation for three, without asking Evie or Deirdre if they would join her.  She thanked the woman in the office and went upstairs.  Georgia knocked on Deirdre’s door.  The music stopped and Deirdre came to the door.

“Hey,” said Deirdre, “What’s going on?”

              “Nothing much,” said Georgia, “I wanted to invite you and Evie out this weekend.”

              “Where do you want to go?” asked Deirdre.