Dark Eyes of London by Philip Cox Read Free Book Online Page A

the corridor, past the row of office doors.
    As he made his way down the corridor, a young woman smartly dressed in a navy blue suit greeted him.
    ‘Good morning, Mr Fleming,’ she said. Fleming replied with a grunt.
    At the end of the corridor a middle-aged woman was working on a computer keyboard. When she saw Fleming she stood up.
    ‘Good morning, sir,’ she said.
    ‘Good morning, Carol,’ Fleming replied. ‘Come in in three minutes.’
    He opened the dark oak door behind Carol’s desk, and went, in closing the door behind. There was engraved in gold lettering: Sebastian Fleming, Chief Executive Officer.
    Three minutes later, Carol knocked softly on the door.
    ‘Come,’ Fleming’s nasal voice called out.
    She stepped in, carrying a china cup and saucer. She was carrying a small notepad under her left arm. She walked over to the heavy wooden desk and put the cup and saucer on the desk, next to a pile of thick folders.
    Fleming was not sitting at the desk; he was standing with his back to Carol, looking out of the huge windows which dominated his office.  His overcoat was on a coat stand in the corner of the office, and his suit jacket was draped over the padded leather chair behind the desk. With his jacket off, Carol could see his waistcoat had a bright blue back.
    He turned round when he heard Carol put the cup and saucer on the desk. He glanced at Carol, and then his eyes went to the cup and saucer.
    He gave Carol a smile; not a smile in the conventional sense, but a kind of twisted grimace.  Some of the muscles in his face seemed to be partially paralysed, which left him unable to show the same facial expressions as other men.
    ‘Thank you very much,’ he said, returning to the desk.  He turned his head round back to the window for a moment. ‘Lovely view today isn’t it?’ he said as he sat down in the leather chair.
    ‘Yes, sir,’ Carol replied. ‘Very nice today.’
    Fleming looked back at the window. ‘You know,’ he said, looking back at Carol. ‘The view of the city I get from here is second to none. Forget Venice, Rio de Janeiro.  Forget Paris, forget - I can’t remember what the damned place is called - down in South America, Machu Pinchu or something?’
    ‘Not sure, sir.’
    ‘Well, anyway; not a patch on the vista out there.  In every season.  In winter, when the sky’s clear, the harsh sunlight on the office blocks.  In spring, one can tell the air is warming up.  In summer, the sight of the sunset on the buildings.  In the autumn - my favourite season - the colours of the leaves in the parks down there.’
    ‘Very picturesque, sir.’
    Fleming made a strange throaty noise, the nearest he could get to a chuckle. ‘Carol, I do believe you’re teasing me.’
    ‘No, sir, it’s just -’
    Fleming held up his hand. ‘It’s perfectly all right, Carol.  Just humour me.’
    He picked up the china cup and saucer.  First blowing on the surface of the tea to cool it, he took a sip. He savoured it a moment, then put the cup and saucer down. ‘So, what do we have on today?’ he asked.
    Carol consulted her notebook. ‘You have a meeting at eleven with the Heads of Department, to discuss last quarter’s drop in penetration. Lunch at your Club at one, then Jon Adams from Legal is booked in to see you at three-thirty.’
    ‘What does he want?’
    ‘He wasn’t very specific when he called, sir, but he said it’s about an urgent matter you need to be involved with.  He did say you would know what it’s about.’
    Fleming sat back in the chair, rubbing his forehead. ‘Oh, yes,’ he said after thinking for a moment. ‘I think I do.’
    ‘And just before you arrived,’ Carol continued, ‘Ashley Merchant called.  She said she needs to speak with you, preferably in person, as a matter of great urgency.’
    ‘Really?’ Fleming looked up. ‘What time is she coming in?’
    Carol looked at her watch. ‘In about ten minutes, sir.  If you like I can tell her you -’
    ‘No