Chapter 18: Setting the Bait

After breakfast the next morning, Mr. Blaine invited Mr. Hallett into his office.  “I’ve got some stuff I want to talk to you about in connection with the golf course,” he said.

“Certainly,” said Hallett.  “I’d be happy to.”

“May I watch, Dad?” asked Drew.  “I’d like to see how you do your work.”

“Why, sure,” said Mr. Hallett.  “I don’t know how exciting it’ll be—”

“That’s alright,” said Drew.  “I’m sure it’ll be very interesting.”

The three stepped into Mr. Blaine’s office; their host closed and locked his office door.  He motioned for Drew and his “father” to be seated, then went around to his desk and sat down himself.

“I’ve got the papers right here,” he said, reaching into a drawer.  “By the way, I hope you slept well the rest of the night.”

“Oh, yes, we were fine,” said Mr. Hallett.  “Don’t worry about it.  I know that snake wasn’t your fault.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any less responsible,” said Blaine, “and I hope you don’t have anything else like that to deal with on this trip.”  He noticed that Drew had grabbed a notepad and started writing.  Drew looked up, winked, and went back to what he was doing.  Mr. Hallett continued.

“So, here’s the status of the property in 1948,” said Blaine.  “It wasn’t all one spot back then.  There was a landfill over here, in the largest chunk,” he said, pointing to a spot on the map.  “Right here, there was a row of houses, and this was a laundromat.  These railroad tracks running through the land have since been rerouted.”

Drew finished what he was writing, ripped off the piece of paper, and handed it to Blaine, who took it and continued talking.

“By 1972, the landfill was complete, and the golf course had been developed.  It opened that year, but it only covered the landfill part.  The houses and the laundromat—”

Meanwhile, as he spoke, Blaine read the paper.  Want to test something.  Tell Hodgson you’ve finished your project.  Also tell Bourdon, but mention that you’ve hidden it in the grand piano in the music room for safekeeping.  Be subtle.  Do this today.

“—were torn down in 1989,” said Blaine, nodding at Drew.  “All clear so far?” he asked Hallett.

“Uh, yes—yes, I think so,” said Hallett.

“Good!  Then let’s continue.”

The conversation lasted another hour, but it wasn’t particularly interesting.  Drew had no more secret messages for Blaine, and the same went from Blaine to Drew.  Mr. Hallett still wasn’t sure what was going on, so he wasn’t even trying to figure it out.  He played his part until they finally finished the conversation.”

“That’s why this’ll be tough,” said Blaine.  “Because of the last owner dying intestate.  I’m sure you can work this out, though.”

“It shouldn’t be too hard,” said Hallett.  “I’ll review the California laws today, and maybe tomorrow I’ll head into town.”

“Fine, fine,” said Blaine, winking at his “friend.”  “Thanks for the help!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first person to hear that the plans were finished was Jean-Luc Bourdon.  “Jean-Luc, you old son of a gun!” Mr. Blaine exclaimed, upon running into the French spy in the hall.  “Congratulate me on my success.”

“What success?” asked Bourdon, looking confused.

“My project,” said Blaine.  “It’s finally done.”

“Oh—oh, that!” said Bourdon.  “It’s done?”

“Finished this morning,” said Blaine.

“Well, congratulations!” said Bourdon.  “It’s terrific!”

“It is, isn’t it?” said Blaine.  “I’ll send it in tomorrow.  In the meantime, I’ve got it hidden in a very safe place.”  He laughed.  “If anyone’s interested in stealing it, I don’t think they’d think of looking in the grand piano in the music room, do you?”

Bourdon laughed.  “Of course not,” he said.  “No one would look there—except the piano tuner.”

“That’s the beauty of it,” said Blaine.  “The piano was tuned last week!”  He started down the hall, a big smile on his face.  “Oh, by the way,” he said, turning.  “You won’t mention this to anyone else, will you?  I’m only telling people I trust.”

“I understand,” said Bourdon.  But once his host was out of sight, Bourdon yanked a notebook from his pocket and wrote something in it.  Something that had to do with a grand piano and a music room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hodgson stayed in his room all morning, not coming down until 1:00 for lunch.  That made him easy, though.  Everyone else had already eaten, and the room was empty except for him.

Blaine walked in, pretending to be carrying on a phone conversation.

“Just finished last night,” he was saying.  “What?  Yes.  Yes, the plans.  I checked them over and everything.  It’s kind of a relief to get done.  One more night, and they’ll be gone.  What’s that?  [Pause.]  Sure.  Sure.  I know.  Well, I just wanted to let you know.  No sense keeping you in suspense.”

Hanging up, he turned to Hodgson.  “Oh, good day, Walt.  I thought you’d never get up?”

“Huh?”  Hodgson just kept eating, as if he hadn’t heard.  Mr. Blaine couldn’t tell whether he was acting or not.  Had he been hiding in the library the other day, he would have been in a better position to guess.