The Stranger Came (69 page)

Doreen
turned
to
the
fat
man,
but
he
stared
fiercely
back
as
if
defying
her
to
ask
for
guidance.
It
was
that, rather
than
the
woman's
appeal
to
him,
which
put
it
into
Anne's
head
that
he
might
have
money
in
the
place.
Perhaps
he
had
set
Doreen
up
in
business.
There
was
something
in
her
tone
which
suggested
that
as
a
possibility.
'He
was
here,'
she
said,
'well,
it
wasn't
regular,
three
or
four
times
a
year.
It
was
the
last
time
he
came
I
saw
him
talking
to
Monty.
Out
in
the
hall
there.
I
didn't
even
know they
knew
one
another.’

'But
they
used
the
same
girl,'
the
fat
man
cried.
'Rintoul
and
Monty
used
the
same
girl.
How
could
I
have
been
such
a
fool
as
not
to
think
of
that?'

Remembering
afterwards,
Anne
was
never
sure
how
real
the
danger
had
been.
At
the
time,
she
was
in
no
doubt.
Later
she
changed
her
mind
one
way
and
the
other.
Certainly,
he
had
been
desperate
to
find
out
where
Monty
Norman
could
be
found.
He
kept
wiping
at
the
sweat
on
his
face,
and
it
burst
out,
shining
along
the
line
of
his
upper
lip
as
she
had
seen
it
in
a
man
recovering
from
a
heart
attack.
She
was
in
a
house
where
women
were
hurt,
he
told
her
that.
And
the
girl,
that
happened,
Doreen
bringing
her
in;
the
weals
on
her.
In
the
toilet,
sick,
Anne
about
to
sit
down
stopped
to
spread
paper
around
the
rim
under
her.
The
mirror
showed
her
face
white,
but
in
her
hurry
she
had
left
her
bag
behind
and
had
no
make-up
to
repair
her
defences.
She
splashed
water
on
her
eyes;
then
could
not
bring
herself
to
use
the
towel.
The
place
was
diseased.

Quite
soon
after
that,
however,
she
was
being
driven back
to
her
hotel.
That
it
was
still
night
disoriented
her,
so
long
a
time
seemed
to
have
passed.
'There
we
are
again,'
the
fat
man
said,
nodding
out
of
the
window.
Rain
hissed
across
the
forecourt
and
its
hunch-shouldered
pumps.
'Monty
would
come
to
the
garage
for
me
and
we'd
go
on
to
the
meetings
together.
We
were
best
mates.’
He
bent
his
head
to
squint
up
at
the
boiling
darkness
of
the
sky.
'He
told
me
the
moon
was
made
of
ice
more
likely
than
not,
though
the
scientists
wouldn't
ever
admit
it.
And
that
there
had
been
moons
before
that
one
we
have
now. Six
of
them,
I
think
it
was.
One
of
those
old
moons
came
too
near
and
that
was
when
the
dinosaurs
got
so
big.
All
the
seas
gathered
up
in
a
bunch
round
the
equator.
Drawn
by
the
moon,
you
know,
just
like
now.
And
when
it
crashed
down,
well
that
was
what
finished
off
the
dinosaurs,
wasn't
it?
And
Atlantis
as
well –
or
maybe
that
was
one
of
the
moons
before
that
one.
You're
an
educated
woman,
you'd
have
been
able
to
go
into
it
with
him.’

'If
you
were
such
friends –'
she
began,
and
stopped
in
fright.
She
had
no
doubt
the
man
beside
her
was
the
same
one
Lucy
had
described
under
hypnosis
for
Doctor
Cadell.
She
had
been
about
to
ask
how
he
had
escaped
the
punishment
Monty
Norman
had
run
from.
Had
he
promised
if
they
spared
him
he
would
find
his
friend
for
them?

'Some
of
the
best
nights
of
my
life
talking
to
Monty.’
He
sounded
wistful,
meaty
hands
clamped
on
the
wheel,
thighs
sprawling.
Then
with
a
change
of
tone,
swinging
his
head
to
look
at
her,
'Your
sort
don't
know
it
all.
Hitler
used
to
talk
about
the
ice
between
the
planets
and
how
the
Aryans
was
led
out
of
Atlantis
into
Asia
–
when
he
was
with
friends,
Monty
told
me,
when
he
was
comfortable
like
among
friends.
And
Hitler
read
the
books,
Monty
said.
Same
books
Monty
read.
He
wouldn't
talk
to
Kite
about
it,
Kite
would
just
laugh.
I'm
not
saying
I
believed
it
all.
But
I
miss
Monty.
I'll
always
miss
Monty.’