Sixteen
Mark Easterbrook’s Narrative¹
I felt absolutely no nervousness on my second visit to Bradley. In fact, I en-joyed it.
“Think yourself into the part,” Ginger² urged me, before I set off, and thatwas exactly what I tried to do.
Mr. Bradley greeted me with a welcoming smile.
“Very pleased to see you,” he said, advancing a podgy hand. “So you’vebeen thinking your little problem over, have you? Well, as I said, no hurry.
Take your time.”
I said, “That’s just what I can’t do. It’s—well—it’s rather urgent….”
Bradley looked me over. He noted³ my nervous manner, the way Iavoided his eyes, the clumsiness of my hands as I dropped my hat.
“Well, well,” he said. “Let’s see what we can do about things. You wantto have a little bet on something, is that it? Nothing like a sporting flutterto take one’s mind off one’s—er—troubles.”
“It’s like this—” I said, and came to a dead stop.
I left it to Bradley to do his stuff. He did it.
“I see you’re a bit nervous,” he said. “Cautious. I approve of caution.
Never say anything your mother shouldn’t hear about! Now, perhaps youhave some idea that this office of mine might have a bug⁴ in it?”
I didn’t understand and my face showed it.
“Slang term for a microphone,” he explained. “Tape recorders. All thatsort of thing. No, I give you my personal word of honour that there’s noth-ing of that sort here. Our conversation will not be recorded in any way.
And if you don’t believe me,” his candour was quite engaging—“and whyshould you?—you’ve a perfect right to name a place of your own, a res-taurant, the waiting room in one of our dear English railway stations; andwe’ll discuss the matter there instead.”
I said that I was sure it was quite all right here.
“Sensible! That sort of thing wouldn’t pay us, I assure you. Neither younor I is going to say a word that, in legal parlance⁵, could be ‘used againstus.’ Now let’s start this way. There’s something worrying you. You find mesympathetic and you feel you’d like to tell me about it. I’m a man of exper-ience and I might be able to advise you. A trouble shared is a troublehalved, as they say. Suppose we put it like that?”

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