by John Schou
interruption.
We took the elevator upwards, but George suddenly announced that he would go to the room and did not want any coffee, so we let him out at the 25th floor. Then I had occasion to practise my French but soon understood that linguistic knowledge alone did not suffice as sole criteria for joining this conversation.
Yes, it really was a beautiful panorama from here, and I had plenty of time to enjoy it.
3 – George Departs
Around four o’clock in the afternoon, the lights were all turned on in the streets of Copenhagen. We were approaching the shortest day of the year, and Christmas took care of additional lightning, although details were hardly visible from this high altitude.
After having had a wake-up coffee, I had left the girls alone – I am not sure, if they even noticed it – while I tried to find out, what was going on here in this hotel – actually the reason for being here. The easiest manoeuvre was to get away from the roof-top bar, where only regular staff was employed. I knew I should avoid the lobby where the security check was at its highest. Instead, it was at the time to test Sam’s newest device.
This was a small battery driven radio-receiver, but not meant for listening to music. The idea was, that others had probably installed bugs here and there, possibly also cameras. Both were now constructed so small, that you could never be absolutely sure to have found them all. It was practically impossible to avoid them. Cameras were omnipresent in bigger rooms – the bigger, the more there would be – but a small toilet was comparatively ‘clean.’ This was where I would take the device out of my inner pocket. It should certainly not be found among the luggage in the room, should somebody look after. The device itself was small, the biggest parts consisting of battery and earphone, which could be attached separately, after having been taken out of various pockets. The best was, that you did not need to install bugs yourself but just tapped the ones somebody else had installed.
So much for the theory. I had never used the device before and therefore had no practical experience with it. The debut should be made nearby, in my room at 25th stock. Foreseeing the possibility of video surveillance of the room, I escaped to the toilet. There were only a few bugs active. The first gave a very clear-cut transmission of the conversation between Jeannine and Alice – fortunately, I had warned Alice specifically concerning this possibility but I could only hope that Mrs. Dumont would also consider her words and the subjects discussed. In that case, I could only feel pity for the poor spy who had to listen to the heated French conversation.
Then there were some frequencies indicating that a bug was active but had nothing to report. The last frequency then brought me a familiar voice. It was George.
“… but who can guarantee me that?”
“Why do you want a guarantee?” an unknown male said in Oxford-style English. “You just come along and we shall arrange for your departure. The money will be in your account when you return to London. I shall give you no written guarantee; you shall just have to trust me. I could, of course, ascribe you the consequences, in case that you refuse the cooperation. Only, such a paper tends to be binding.”
“All right, I rely on you. Let us get it done immediately.”
I heard the door to the neighbouring room be opened and closed. I waited for them – George and his anonymous guest – to take the elevator, up or down, how could I know? Yes, if I rapidly went out to the elevator after they had left, I might see on which floor it stopped. But was it that important? I gathered not, by then, so I stayed in the room for another 5 minutes before seeking another accommodation.
The big conspiracy lunch was still carried out at the second floor, far below my room. Hoping for single information, what was actually going on here, I needed to approach that arrangement without being seen. So I took the elevator down to the third floor, which was deserted for the moment, and locked myself up at a toilet. I collected my ‘debug-device’ again and started screening the frequencies. There were several active bugs but, unfortunately, all were over tuned by an electronic noise. It only permitted one conclusion: there was something important brewing, which called for an extraordinary disguise.
It seemed like a vast of time, but I had no other plans, so I made a similar attempt from a toilet at the first floor. This was integrated as a gallery for the lobby and it was rather by chance that I managed to get down the stairs and into a toilet without being observed. Again, I made ready for collecting my ‘debug-device’ – but then, I received visitors. The new intruders thought they were alone and did not care to investigate the cabins – perhaps a dozen in all – in one of which I had sought my refuge.
“Is everything ready for our big project?” one deep voice asked in English.
“Precisely at 8:41 on Monday,” a high-pitched voice answered in some dialectical English. Both were unknown to me.
“Shhh, no details, and don’t talk so loud,” the bass replied. Fortunately, the acoustic in this place, all walls covered with flagging, was so miserable that I could hear many words, even though the conversation was lowered considerably. In particular, the descriptions of ‘two bombs,’ ‘above and below,’ ‘metro,’ ‘C-Train,’ ‘simultaneously’ and ‘Nørreport.’ From that, it was obvious what was planned – and that in a few days.
The conspirators disappeared while I decided to wait stiff 10 min after the watch before emerging myself. This gave me time to consider the circumstances. What were the connections between the international meeting and the coming terrorist attack? There must be a connection, I deduced, since the hotel was currently only open to this strange agenda. However, it could not be the main purpose of this meeting, with people like George from the British Ministry of the Interior, whose purpose first of all was to prevent this sort of things from happening. Could I prevent it by reporting it to the Danish police? There was a risk that this would leak to the conspirators, possibly resulting in a postponement, rather than prevention. This was indeed complicated; I should gladly leave it to Mr. Smith to consider.
I emerged undetected from the lobby; there were nobody here on the first floor. I looked at the watch again: five p.m., now I had been nearly one hour away from the girls, so it was time to return.
It was just at the time. They were about to break up. “Can you take us into the city? We want to look at clothes in the big stores.”
“Nope. I was happy to get the car into the garage, I don’t know if I shall succeed again. It is going to stay there. You must take a taxi, and please excuse that I am not accompanying you, I have work to do.”
“No problem,” Jeannine said but Alice looked sour. “By the way, did you see George anywhere?” I denied. “Then I have a problem, getting my coat. George has the key to the room.”
“It is really a small problem,” I said and called the reception. “Let’s go down to the rooms, we should meet a man with a general key there.”
So we had the knowledge that at 17:18, room 2541 was empty.
I left the hotel with the ladies, but while they took a taxi, I just proceeded on feet to an old-fashioned telephone booth. In the age of mobile phones, they are getting rare but today I did not want to send any messages outside a fixed line network.
“Yes?” Mr. Smith answered. For years, I had tried in vain to instruct him, how to answer the telephone and how to end it. I told him what I had experienced. He concluded, “So Item 1 is, that we still don’t know the purpose of the meeting and George Osborne’s role in it, which is what we should find out for our client. Item 2 is that a terror attack is scheduled for Monday morning, carried out – or at least arranged – from circles in the meeting. My instruction for you is, to concentrate on Item 1 and leave it to me to make preparations for item 2. First of all, find Mr. Osborne, I have an odd feeling that his life is in danger.”
“Why?”
“The artist does not explain. Intuition is the opposite of logic. Do not try to understand, just do as I said. And then call me back when you found him.” He hung up – the audience h
ad ended.
I went back to the hotel, took our electronic key at the reception and went back to our room. Not knowing what I could else do, I went to the toilet and activated the debugging device. I steered to the frequency of the bug that had proven active from the neighbouring room – and indeed, there was noise coming from the room, though no talking. ‘Of course,’ I thought, why would George talk to himself if alone?’ Then the door snatched and silence prevailed. I took off my earphone, dismantled fast the device and hurried out, aiming to catch George at the elevator. I was too late. A man was just entering the opened elevator. He had dark hair and a dark suit. He did not turn around before the elevator door closed, so I could not see any further details, but it certainly was not George. The display above the closed elevator door revealed that it went all the way down to the lobby.
I went back to my room and looked at the watch: ten to six p.m. Then I went back to the toilet, listening for another five minutes, but everything was silent in 2541. I had no formal occasion for entering the room and decided to transfer my basis to the lobby, hoping that I might get a closer look at someone who could be the unknown visitor. It proved to be a vast of time. There was not a single guest appearing for the two hours I sat there.
“Where is everybody?” I finally asked at the reception.
“They have left in four buses at half past five for the official welcome dinner. Have you forgotten?”
“Unfortunately, yes. Where is it taking place?”
He named a famous restaurant. “Shall I call a taxi?”
“No, thanks, it’s too late. Besides, I am waiting for the others, Mr. Osborne and the ladies. The latter went to the city. Have you seen Mr. Osborne?”
“No, I don’t even know what he looks like,” the friendly clerk answered.
I went back to my chair in the curiously empty lobby. Now I took the risk of calling Mr. Smith with my mobile. I informed him about the welcome dinner and that I was possibly the only guest present in the huge hotel. “It must be immensely expensive to keep it that empty.”
“That reveals something about the economic power of those behind. The other issues are taken care about. Please stay in the hotel.” He obviously wanted me to confirm my understanding the message. Maybe my undisturbed, lengthy fight to improve his rough habits was finally showing effects?
“Roger, over and …”
He brusquely hung up. “Out,” I completed myself.
I was still sitting in the lobby when the ladies returned around eight with a bundle of packages. The shops had closed and they thought that we, George and I, would perhaps join them to the evening life of Copenhagen.
“Let’s get away from this boring hotel,” Alice exclaimed. She had already forgotten why we were here.
“I am not really hungry after this excellent lunch and the cookies in the bar,” Jeannine said.
“Great, because I’m slowly getting nervous on George’s behalf. He doesn’t open the door to your room, the key is not at the reception and he has made no attempt to call me during the stiff two hours I have been sitting here.”
Answering the last item of my speech, Alice mentioned “which is still much better than standing two hours behind us when we make small supplements in our wardrobes.” I had on an earlier occasion mentioned, that if the luxurious women’s manufacturing houses would arrange a ‘Men’s Corner’ to keep impatient husbands away from their wives’ hunting area until confronting them with the bill, they might multiply the sale.
“I want to look for myself in the room,” Jeannine nervously said.
“Then we must ask for a general key. It would anyhow be good to have
