Agent Delaware.
‘You think I had a choice?’ said Ruby, aware that there was an edge to her voice. Keep cool Redfort.
‘But you did see him take it?’ said Delaware.
There were a whole bunch of sarcastic replies coming to mind, but in the end Ruby opted for silence. Sometimes silence was the only option, or as Ruby’s RULE 4 had it: IF IN DOUBT, SAY NOTHING.
Agent Delaware gently tapped his pen on the page of his notebook and asked, ‘So what do you think is going on here?’
‘I think we have to assume that there is something much bigger at stake,’ said Ruby, ‘that this – everything I mean: the cyan scent, the truth serum, the Jade Buddha, the 8 key – is not the end of it. But I have no idea where it’s leading us.’
Agent Delaware gave her that same look, like he was trying to fathom her mind.
‘Do you have a question for me?’ he asked.
She did actually, what she really wanted to ask was, ‘Why do I feel like I am under suspicion?’ but instead she said, ‘Agent Delaware, do you think the threat is coming from within or without?’
‘That is the million dollar question, Agent Redfort,’ he replied.
‘And if you decide it’s from within, do you think you’ll find the mole?’ she asked.
‘The difficulty with moles, or double agents as I prefer to call them, is that they are always very smart. I could be staring into the eyes of a traitor right this very moment and not know it,’ said Delaware, not shifting his eyes from Ruby’s.
‘Do you ever consider that when you look in the bathroom mirror?’ asked Ruby.
He smiled very slightly. ‘I’m pretty sure it’s not me, if that’s what you’re getting at, but to take your question less literally, seeking the truth can lead you to some uncomfortable places and searching for answers often sends you down blind alleys.’ He closed his notebook and replaced the lid on his fountain pen.
The interview-stroke-grilling at an end, Ruby stood, shook hands with all present, and with much relief left the room. She took some bubblegum from her pocket and popped it in her mouth. The taste of strawberry reminded her reassuringly of less complicated days. She was looking forward to getting back home – it had been a long Saturday and she was tired.
She blew a bubblegum bubble as she walked to the exit, but leaving wasn’t going to be so easy.
‘Agent Redfort.’ The voice of the administrator came across the Spectrum intercom system. ‘Agent Redfort, please report to Dr Selgood.’
Pop went the gum.
‘You have to be kidding,’ muttered Ruby.
Ruby walked over to Buzz’s desk. ‘How about we do this some other time?’ she suggested.
‘The psychiatrist will see you now,’ said Buzz.
RUBY HAD ALREADY HAD THE DUBIOUS PLEASURE OF MEETING THE SPECTRUM PSYCHIATRIST NOT SO LONG AGO, when she had been suffering from a bad case of fearlessness.
What Ruby thought of as ‘doing what it takes’ Selgood had called ‘the miracle complex’ – a syndrome that prevented fear from kicking in since the sufferer could or would not accept that death was even a possibility. The result was that those afflicted put themselves in unnecessary danger. Ruby had seen risk and danger as all part of the job.
Interestingly, she had changed her tune since her little encounter with LvL. It still didn’t mean she was thrilled to be here.
DR SELGOOD: ‘Good to see you in one piece.’
RUBY: ‘How many pieces were you expecting me to be in?’
DR SELGOOD: ‘It says in this report that you fell from a hotel rooftop.’
RUBY: ‘Can I just say that was not down to me.’
DR SELGOOD: ‘You were pushed?’
RUBY: ‘I was dropped, but technically it amounts to the same thing.’
DR SELGOOD: ‘But you climbed up to the top of that building yourself?’
RUBY: ‘It wasn’t so hard, I took the stairs most of the way.’
DR SELGOOD: ‘And found yourself on a rooftop with a dangerous and unstable felon.’
RUBY: ‘I wasn’t exactly planning on her being up there.’
DR SELGOOD: ‘So what was the plan?’
RUBY: ‘To stop an actress being dropped from a great height.’
DR SELGOOD: ‘You knew this was going to happen?’
RUBY: ‘I was fairly convinced.’
DR SELGOOD: ‘And there was no one else who could have prevented this?’
RUBY: ‘No.’
DR SELGOOD: ‘And did you succeed?’
RUBY: ‘Yes.’
DR SELGOOD: ‘You prevented the actress from being dropped and killed?’
RUBY: ‘No, but yes.’
DR SELGOOD: ‘Meaning?’
RUBY: ‘No, she wasn’t killed, but yes, she fell anyway.’
DR SELGOOD: ‘But she didn’t die?’
RUBY: ‘No.’
DR SELGOOD: ‘And why was that?’
RUBY: ‘Hitch caught her.’
DR SELGOOD: ‘So did you in fact need to be up there on that roof to prevent her from dying?’
RUBY: ‘Look Doc, I am hearing you, and I do get where we are going with this,
