For Christ’s sake, get a grip!

It took him a minute or two, but everything was tidied away at last. The bell was still ringing every now and then, but Richard still didn’t want to answer. He wanted to get away from the flat, but there wasn’t a practical exit apart from the front door. He could sneak out the kitchen window onto the emergency exit. He considered that for a moment. What if he just didn’t answer?

The damned bell shrieked at him again. Finally he gave up. He decided it would be better to see who it was. Anyone that persistent would keep trying, and it would better to meet them at the front door rather than clambering down the fire exit. He pressed the intercom. “Who is it?”

“Zima.”

The reply startled Richard. This was not on! No one knew; no one should know!

“Mister Zima? I don’t know you. You have the wrong apartment.”

“No, Mr Slater, I am not Mr Zima. I am Mr Weber. I need to talk to you about Zima.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Please, Mr Slater, I do not wish to intrude. Meet me in five minutes in the café on the corner of Melcome Street and Baker Street.”

Richard felt a wave of relief and gratitude sweep over him. At least the stranger was not trying to get into the flat.

“OK. In five minutes. I think there is some mistake though. I don’t know you.”

“You will remember me again when we meet one day, though we have not met.”

Those words! Those words were quite exact – exactly like the second cipher Richard was supposed to remember. But Richard already knew there was something wrong. The ciphers were supposed to be delivered in order: Identification; Instructions; then possibly Discuss or Suspend, Resume or Abort. He was relieved he did not have to invite the stranger into the apartment, but still it meant he had to go out, leaving all the stuff he had just acquired inside the apartment. What if the person ringing the bell was trying to lure him outside so someone else could search the flat?

The memory stick was still lying on the desk! He snatched it up and dashed around in an almost comical hurry, trying to think of a good hiding place. What about inside the coffee jar? That would have to do. He poked it down into the middle of a half-full jar of instant coffee. The paperwork went into the middle of a pile of other paperwork and then he headed out to the café.

“Klaus Weber.”

“Richard Slater. Pleased to meet you.”

Weber took a sip of his coffee before replying, as though he needed the time to consider his response.

“Well, I’m glad that you say you’re pleased. Though I don’t believe you. In fact, neither of us believes anything about the other. So, how are we going to do this when neither of us are to be trusted?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Of course not. But we have some mutual friends. Do you remember Stuart Douglas?”

Richard wished he had learnt how to play poker, or at least how to keep a poker face when required. He had no idea if his face had given away any clues, but he did indeed remember Stuart Douglas.

Back in the day, they had spent many hours arguing about dialectical materialism and stuff like that.

“I know him pretty well. I imagine he’ll be retiring soon,” Weber stated, not bothering to wait for confirmation of whether Richard knew him before continuing. “I expect that, after all this time, you might be wondering if it’s worth the effort? You probably even changed your mind about your belief system…”

“A man may not know his own mind,” Richard replied dryly, but when Weber showed him an annoyed face, he felt obliged to explain. “It’s a quote from The Egyptian by Mika Waltari.”