‘What’s on your mind, Thomas? It’s unlike you not to be moaning like a girl about the heat.’
Cooper stayed silent, prompting Maddie to join in the conversation, making him feel worse than he did already about the way he’d behaved. Though that wasn’t entirely the reason why he’d been quiet.
‘You alright Tom? You haven’t said anything since we left the plant… Tom?’
Without warning, Cooper pulled the Toyota up. Hard. He leant on the steering wheel before banging and shaking it and speaking out loud to himself. ‘That’s it.’
‘What’s it, Thomas?’
Turning to look at Rosedale but staring through him rather than at him, Cooper’s thoughts stayed elsewhere. Without answering Rosedale’s question he jumped out of the car. Raced round to the back to open the trunk.
He pulled out the heavy green canvas bag, stuffed with radio and phone equipment. Pulled out Maddie’s suitcase as well as his own. He flicked the locks on the luggage. Opened hurriedly. Dragged out clothes to the sound of Maddie’s exasperated proclamations.
‘Tom, what the hell are you doing? Can you not throw my clean stuff on the ground… You’ve got mud all over my pants. Tom! Stop!’
Ignoring her plea, Cooper continued to rummage through the case which was heaving to capacity. ‘Jesus, who packed this?’
‘You did…Tom, just tell me what you’re looking for…? Tom!’
Giving up with a loud sigh, she stood back on the sludgy side of the road. Watching and glaring and staring with folded arms as Cooper hauled both clean and dirty clothes out of all their cases. Rosedale said nothing and Cooper suspected his curiosity was stronger than the want for laundered clothes.
*
A couple of silent minutes passed. Then a couple more. And having searched through the bags with passionate intensity, Cooper’s words surfed off his wave of excitement, though it did nothing to alleviate the look on Maddie’s face. ‘Yes! Got them! Here… Guys, did you notice the names in the visitors’ book?’
Maddie shook her head but Rosedale nodded. Lit a cigar as if he was standing in the Carnegie Club in New York. He looked at Cooper with interest. ‘I did, and they were a whole heap of names I didn’t recognize.’
‘Exactly… But did you notice the last two people’s names written in the book? The ones who came on the same day in May this year? Edward Wynne and Phillip Holt?’
‘Okay.’
‘It was obvious those two names were written by two different people.’
Rosedale squinted through the chamber of smoke around him. ‘Yeah, so? That’s what usually happens but go on.’
‘Well the person who wrote the name Edward Wynne had identical handwriting to the previous visitor who came in January, but back in January they’d used a different name, Roger Stevenson… People don’t have the same handwriting, especially when it’s so distinct. It’s got to be the same person.’
Maddie shrugged. ‘Maybe the receptionist signed them in and it’s her writing. Anyway how can you be so sure it’s the same? And what’s the big deal anyway?’
‘Look at this.’
He handed Maddie and Rosedale the documents he’d recovered from the luggage.
‘They’re Emmanuel’s loan papers from the bank for the plane. Look at the writing…’
‘...then look at the names in the visitor’s book…’
Cooper paused for a moment, flicking out his phone. Showed her a photo of the handwriting in the visitors’ book he’d taken when he’d signed out of Lemon water plant.
‘Here… The writing’s the same.’
Rosedale gave a surprised raise of his eyebrows whilst taking a deep, long drag on his cigar. ‘How did you remember what his writing looked like?’
‘I didn’t. It wasn’t the writing which struck me, it was the letter, E, and the way it’s written. Remember the backwards E that Granger was bitching about? Moaning he couldn’t read the signature, and I had to read it for him? Well there it is. The backward E on both the document and in the visitor’s book…’
… and
Rosedale took the phone from Cooper. He nodded. Then nodded some more. Compared the writing and said, ‘I’m impressed, I think you may be right. Though I must say I’m a bit disappointed, Thomas, I would’ve thought you’d have taken the photo with your hidden tie camera.’
Maddie laughed, turning her gaze away from the photo to look at Cooper. Her face was a picture of delight. He had to admit, she looked real pretty. ‘A tie camera! As in a camera hidden in a tie? Tell me he’s kidding.’
Cooper didn’t know why the hell he blushed. He didn’t even know he had it in him anymore to blush. But he did. One big red ass of a flaming blush. ‘No… well, sort of. Granger gave Levi and I one, but you may as well have worn a sleuth sign round your neck. That would’ve been less obvious. I don’t know what Granger was thinking. I should’ve brought it home. Cora would’ve loved it. It’s hanging up in my closet at the ranch. I’ll show it you next time you’re over.’
‘I’d like that.’ Maddie’s reply was warm and sensual. Like a static shock to Cooper, making him back off and refocus on the photo of the handwriting.
‘So anyway, you can see for yourself the writing’s identical.’
Maddie could feel Cooper’s emotional retreat, and she answered coolly.
‘Maybe. In fact, I don’t think it looks the same at all.’
Cooper sighed. Making damn sure Maddie heard it. ‘Okay, well for the time being let’s just say it is Emmanuel’s handwriting. So the question is why is Emmanuel visiting the water treatment plant using two different names? Both of which aren’t his own.’
Rosedale sucked on the end of his cigar. ‘I have no idea, but I do know that from what very little we know of Emmanuel, I have a strong suspicion he couldn’t possibly afford to take out a loan on a plane by himself. So someone else was bankrolling him, allowing him to be able to get that kind of credit. But why? And it also makes me ask the question: why would a man need to give false names to visit a water company but have a plane registered in his own name?’
Maddie nodded. Smiled at Rosedale. Scowled at Cooper. ‘Well Tom, what do you think? Because you seem to have all the answers.’
Kneeling down, and feeling it was best to ignore Maddie right now, Cooper somewhat obsessively begun to place various pieces of plants and tiny stones into one of his collecting bags. ‘No Maddie, I think the one with all the answers is Papa Bemba. And that’s who we need to go and find.’