Chapter 5
The Meeting
Part 5
The Meeting
Part 5
As Dr.Hodgkins entered the room the first thing he noticed was that the walnut desk was pretty bare, except for a small pile of papers in an in-tray next to an empty out-tray & a single silver pen neatly placed to one side.
Governor Wilson glanced up at Hodgkins from behind a copy of the Times & as the doctor inched forward, closer to the desk, he could clearly see the anger in his eyes.
The Governor of Prince Town Prison was a thin, tall man with green eyes & reptilian features. In his late fifties, dressed in a business-like suit, with blue tie & white shirt, he started.
“Can you believe the fucking news? Rolls Royce is likely to be sold to the Germans!
How can this be?.. My father would turn over in his grave, if he bloody had one,” barked Wilson as he looked up again. “You see... he was shot down over the channel during the Battle of Britain,” he continued forcibly.
Hodgkins was taken aback by the nature of this initial outburst, for this was their first real meeting, face to face. There had been no pre-warning of this during their brief telephone conversations. In fact Wilson’s larger than life aggression had surpassed Hodgkins’s expectations, considering his less than impressive physique.
Uhhmm ..a fiery bugger, thought Hodgkins. Good character material.
Patriotically speaking, Hodgkins, in truth, was also aggrieved by the prospect of losing one of Britain’s national treasures & he was drawn to the framed photographs that adorned the wall directly behind the angry Governor. It was only really then that he noticed that the room was more of a study than an office.
Three in all, they hung in a line. To the left was a large black & white photo, which must have been taken from the cockpit of another plane, for it was in mid-flight & showed
..”A MKXVIII Spitfire complete with a two stage super charged Merlin Engine. And that’s a Firefly also built with Rolls Royce Merlin Engines, I believe,” Hodgkins remarked as he turned to the central framed photograph.
“Yes, doesn’t it make you proud?” Wilson’s response being more controlled, as he rotated his swivel chair to face it.
“Are you an enthusiast?”
Dr. Hodgkins pulled a chair as he moved in for the kill; geared to extract just the right amount of information needed, so as to build a mental picture of the character’s profile. Perhaps he would use it for his next novel....Perhaps?
Eventually after this topic of conversation, along with the Governors family history had been exhausted, the subject turned to the reason behind his visit to the prison. Hodgkins, when challenged, expertly avoided the main point & dismissed it as research for a forth coming publication, “..although further visits would be necessary,” he added. He also portrayed Stark as “an accompanying friend”, managing, in the process, to omit his true involvement.
Wilson opened the walnut desk drawer in front of him & removed the dog-eared paperbacks, proudly placing them in front of his visitor. Copies of Hodgkins own novels, they were displayed whilst Wilson, an avid fan, proceeded to question the author regarding the next book’s subject matter. It was now apparent why the governor had been so accommodating concerning the visit in the first place. Taken by surprise but, nevertheless, asked this question countless times a week, when confronted by strangers in the street, he had, by now, learnt how to “decline to elaborate”, stating that it was “too early to be certain”. Besides, there were numerous alternative central & sub-plots that he was currently considering,” he would say. In this particular instant, Hodgkins did however; go on to mention that it was highly possible that this visit could form the basis of the eventual central plot. Wilson could hardly contain his excitement & after signing the paperbacks & promising to send a signed copy of his next novel, after publication, Hodgkins said goodbye & left.
Stark had been patiently waiting in his car, in the visitor’s car park. Hodgkins walked to the Jag & opened the passenger door.
“I do believe that it went reasonably well. What do you think?” remarked Hodgkins as he jumped in before fastening his seat belt.
“Yes,.. in the end it went ok, but you really had me worried when you threatened to leave. -Shit.”
“Higgins was testing us. He wanted to see how far we’d go, so I bluffed. ”-Got to show them
who’s in control...” Hodgkins half joked, as he looked ahead, “...they respect that; and generally speaking, respect leads to trust.”
There was no arguing with that Stark decided- even though he considered that the method applied could be regarded by some to be flying by the seat of one’s pants to a certain extent, as he started the car; but then again it fitted with Hodgkins’s flamboyant character.
“Do you think that it’s possible to arrange further meetings & if so will you be able to find the time?”
“I’m sure that it could be arranged,” winked Hodgkins, as they pulled off.
The initial meeting had begun to build the bridge of trust that was needed in order to progress. It also allowed Stark the chance to meet Jenkins for the first time. Both Hodgkins & Stark were able to analyze the subjects enough to establish that they were genuine, although cautiously untrusting, even though things had started badly.
The man in black watched from the safety of the overlooking telephone box, as the Jaguar headed up the main street. He quickly jumped into the Vauxhall Vectra & continued to tail the car, but only as far as the edge of town.
Written by T.R.Vinnicombe (aka Dr. Peter Hodgkins) ©2009 all rights reserved & none of the contents of this site can be copied or used in any way without the written consent of the author. Published online by MicroHotStar 2009.
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