4:15 AM
TONI called Stanley at home as soon as she had a spare moment. There was nothing he could do, but he would want to know what was happening. And she did not want him to learn about the break-in from the news.
It was a conversation she dreaded1. She had to tell him that she was responsible for a catastrophe2 that could ruin his life. How would he feel about her after that?
She dialed his number and got the "disconnected" tone. His phone must be out of order. Perhaps the snow had brought down the lines. She was relieved not to have to give him the dreadful news.
He did not carry a mobile, but there was a phone in his Ferrari. She dialed that and left a message. "Stanley, this is Toni. Bad news—a break-in at the lab. Please call my mobile as soon as you can." He might not get the message until it was too late, but at least she had tried.
She stared impatiently out of the windows of the Great Hall. Where were the police with their snowplow? They would be coming from the south, from Inverburn, on the main road. She guessed that the plow3 traveled at about fifteen miles per hour, depending on the depth of snow it had to clear. The trip should take twenty or thirty minutes. It should be here by now. Come on, come on!
She hoped it would leave here almost immediately, and get on the northward4 track of the Hibernian Telecom van. The van would be easy to spot, with the name in large white letters on a dark background.
But the thieves might have thought of that, she realized suddenly. They had probably planned to switch vehicles soon after leaving the Kremlin. That was how she would have done it. She would have picked a nondescript car, something like a Ford5 Fiesta that looked like a dozen other models, and left it in a car park, outside a supermarket or a railway station. The thieves would drive straight to the car park and be in a completely different vehicle a few minutes after leaving the scene of the crime.
The thought dismayed her. How then would the police identify the thieves? They would have to check every car and see whether the occupants were three men and a woman.
She wondered agitatedly6 whether there was anything she could do to hurry the process. Assuming the gang had switched vehicles somewhere near here, what were the possibilities? They needed a location where a vehicle might be parked for several hours without attracting attention. There were no railway stations or supermarkets in the vicinity. What was there? She went to the reception desk and got a notepad and ballpoint pen. She made a list:
Inverburn Golf Club
Dew Drop Inn ' Happy Eater
Greenfingers Garden Centre
Scottish Smoked Fish Products
Williams Press (Printing & Publishing)
She did not want Carl Osborne to know what she was doing. Carl had returned from his car to the warmth of the hall, and was listening to everything. Unknown to him, he could no longer phone from the car— Steve had sneaked7 out and taken the keys from the ignition—but all the same, Toni was taking no chances.
She spoke8 quietly to Steve. "We're going to do some detective work." She tore her sheet of paper into two and gave half to Steve. "Ring these places. Everything's closed, of course, but you should find a caretaker or security guard. Tell them we've had a robbery, but don't say what's missing. Say the getaway vehicle may have been abandoned on their premises9. Ask if they can see a Hibernian Telecom van outside."
Steve nodded. "Smart thinking—maybe we can get on their trail and give the police a head start."
"Exactly. But don't use the desk phone, I don't want Carl to hear. Go to the far end of the hall, where he can't eavesdrop10. Use the mobile you took from him."
Toni moved well away from Carl and took out her mobile. She called information and got the number for the golf club. She dialed and waited. The phone rang for more than a minute, then a sleepy voice answered: "Yes? Golf club. Hello?"
Toni introduced herself and told the story. "I'm trying to locate a van with 'Hibernian Telecom' on its side. Is it in your car park?"
"Oh, I get you, the getaway vehicle, aye."
Her heart missed a beat. "It's there?"
"No, at least it wasn't when I came on duty. There's a couple of cars here, mind you, left by gentlemen who found themselves reluctant to drive by the end of lunch yesterday, do you know what I mean?"
"When did you come on duty?"
"Seven o'clock in the evening."
"Could a van have parked there since then? Perhaps at about two o'clock this morning?"
"Well, maybe . . . I've no way of telling."
"Could you have a look?"
"Aye, I could look!" He spoke as if it were an idea of startling originality11. "Hold the line, I'll just be a minute." There was a knock as he put the phone down.
Toni waited. Footsteps receded12 and returned.
"No, I don't think there's a van out there."
"Okay."
"The cars are all covered in snow, mind you, so you can't see them properly. I'm not even sure which is mine!"
"Yes, thank you."
"But a van, you see, would be higher than the rest, wouldn't it? So it would stand out. No, there's no van there."
"You've been very helpful. I appreciate it."
"What did they steal?"
Toni pretended not to hear the question, and hung up. Steve was talking and clearly had not yet struck gold. She dialed the Dew Drop Inn.
The phone was answered by a cheerful young man. "Vincent speaking, how may I help you?"
Toni thought he sounded like the kind of hotel employee who seems eager to please until you actually ask for something. She went through her routine again.
"There are lots of vehicles in our car park—we're open over Christmas," Vincent told her. "I'm looking at the closed-circuit television monitor, but I don't see a van. Unfortunately, the camera doesn't cover the entire car park."
"Would you mind going to the window and having a good look? It's really important."
"I'm quite busy, actually."
At this time of night? Toni did not voice the thought. She adopted a sweetly considerate tone and said, "It will save the police making a trip to interview you, you see."
That worked. He did not want his quiet night shift disrupted by squad13 cars and detectives. "Just hold on." He went away and came back.
"Yes, it's here," he said.
"Really?" Toni was incredulous. It seemed a long time since she had enjoyed a piece of luck.
"Ford Transit14 van, blue, with 'Hibernian Telecom' in large white letters on the side. It can't have been there long, because it's not under as much snow as the rest of the cars—that's how come I can see the lettering."
"That's tremendously helpful, thank you. I don't suppose you noticed whether another car is missing—possibly the car they left in?"
"No, sorry."
"Okay—thanks again!" She hung up and looked across at Steve. "I've found the getaway vehicle!"
He nodded toward the window. "And the snowplow's here."
收听单词发音 |
1
dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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2
catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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3
plow
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| n.犁，耕地，犁过的地；v.犁，费力地前进[英]plough | |
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4
northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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Ford
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| n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过 | |
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6
agitatedly
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| 动摇，兴奋； 勃然 | |
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7
sneaked
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| v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状 | |
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8
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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9
premises
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| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
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10
eavesdrop
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| v.偷听，倾听 | |
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11
originality
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| n.创造力，独创性；新颖 | |
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12
receded
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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13
squad
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| n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组 | |
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14
transit
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| n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过 | |
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