you’re not wrong my friend,’ said Ruby. These highbrow pizza discussions could go on for some time, but today something else had caught Clancy’s attention. As he ate he was watching a red-haired woman taking photographs of the Square – it was a nice spring evening and the Square was looking particularly pretty but this woman was taking a lot of photographs and they weren’t just of the trees and the flowers. She had a camera with a long lens and she was slowly moving around photographing every single building in the Square – almost like she was documenting them.
‘Hey Rube, that lady with the red hair – the one taking pictures – I swear I’ve seen her somewhere before.’
‘Yeah, you could have seen her anywhere, lot a people in Twinford, Clance.’
‘Yeah but Rube this is different, I’ve seen her before but not in Twinford.’
‘So? You saw her somewhere else.’ Ruby was concentrating on getting a piece of stringy melted cheese into her mouth.
Clancy didn’t take his eyes off the woman. ‘She’s taking an awful lot of pictures.’
‘No law against it,’ said Ruby.
‘I’ve seen her with a camera before – I know I have. There’s something about her that’s giving me a funny feeling.’
Ruby gave him one of her sideways stares. ‘You sure Clance?’
‘Yeah, I got one of my hunches Rube, trust me on this.’
‘I trust you Clance – never doubt the Clancy Crew funny feeling is what I always say.’
Clancy nodded. ‘You think we should follow her?’
‘Why not?’ said Ruby, flicking crumbs from her jeans.
They waited until the woman had got halfway across the tree filled square before they began to tail her. It wasn’t difficult because it was a sunny day and there were lots of people out strolling with their dogs and this provided good cover.
They followed the woman until she disappeared into the revolving doors of the Grand Twin Hotel, and sneaked in behind a young couple and their four arguing children. Ruby noticed the concierge give the redhead a key to room 524 and watched as she made her way to the elevators. As she disappeared from view Ruby spied an unattended room service trolley in the corridor – it looked like it was on its way to someone’s suite, though the waiter was nowhere to be seen. Without saying a word Ruby walked over to it and pushed it towards an open elevator. Clancy followed nervously.
‘Stop twitching, Clance, you’ll get us caught – confidence is everything.’ She pressed the button for the fifth floor.
‘Now what?’ said Clancy.
‘Now, take off your sweater.’
‘Why?’ asked Clancy.
‘Because you got a white shirt on that’s why and if you wrap this tablecloth around your waist you’ll look like a waiter – see?’
‘I’m thirteen years old Ruby, and skinny as a string bean, nobody’s gonna mistake me for a hotel waiter.’
‘Will you just believe me!’ hissed Ruby.
‘OK, I’ll believe you Rube, but I don’t think anyone else will.’
They wheeled the trolley along the fifth floor corridor until they got to room 524. At which point Ruby crawled under the trolley and hid herself beneath the tablecloth.
‘Now what?’ whispered Clancy.
‘Knock,’ hissed Ruby.
‘I was afraid you were gonna say that,’ said Clancy, before knocking so quietly that it was a wonder anyone heard.
The door was opened by the redhead, holding a telephone and deep in conversation with the person on the other end.
‘Sorry Bobby – someone’s at the door,’ she said into the receiver. ‘Yes?’ She was looking hard at Clancy.
‘Room service,’ said Clancy doubtfully.
‘I didn’t order room service,’ said the woman, fumbling for her glasses.
Clancy didn’t say anything until he felt a sharp pinch to his right leg.
‘Compliments of the hotel,’ he blurted.
‘OK, put it over there,’ the woman said, gesturing over to the far side of the room. She squinted. ‘pretty young for a waiter aren’t you?’
‘I’m older than I look,’ Clancy assured her.
‘You better be because you look about nine.’
Clancy decided he did not like this woman.
She resumed her telephone conversation. ‘Look, I’m going to have to go in a minute Bobby, I need to wash this tint out before my hair turns scarlet.’
While Clancy was pretending he knew how to set up a room service trolley, the woman disappeared into the bathroom. Ruby hearing the door close and the sound of the shower being turned on stuck her nose out from under the tablecloth.
‘All clear,’ said Clancy.
Ruby looked around. ‘So what are we searching for?’ asked Clancy.
‘I don’t know, evidence.’
‘Of what?’
‘How should I know Clance, you’re the one with the hunch – would you stop asking questions and get looking.’
Ruby was by now rifling through papers and notebooks while Clancy tried on some overly large tinted glasses he had found lying on the table. There were several pairs, all equally huge but in different shapes and colours.
‘Cool,’ said Clancy.
After about five and a half minutes Ruby came to a pile of photographs scattered on the desk – they were pretty boring and they appeared to have been taken in some sort of bar or lounge which looked to be part of an airport. She flicked through them quickly until she came to a picture of some people she recognised standing in a crowd at the bar – even though it was a back view and even though one could only see part of their heads, there was no mistaking that the people in the photograph were her parents.
It was perfectly obvious that the photographer had not intended to snap the Redforts, they had just gotten in the way. No, the subject was someone else some distance away from the photographer. A small man with a huge grey moustache was staring straight into the camera and when Ruby looked into his eyes she felt a cold shiver shoot up her spine – she had no idea who the man was but the look on his face was one of pure terror. The following pictures showed the man turning, pushing through the crowd, knocking into a woman – her mother? Making for the doors, disappearing from view – and two men in dark suits – were they tailing him?
‘Look at this Clance.’ Ruby was holding the photo, the one of her parents. ‘Recognise anyone you know?’
Clancy
