It would be simple enough to follow him. roger was a man of habits, and even
when his hours of work were irregular, he would still take his mid-day meal,
whenever he did take it, at percy's. miss temple found an antique bookshop across
the street where, as she was obliged to purchase something for standing so long
watching through its window, she on impulse selected a complete four-volume
illustrated lives of sea martyrs. the books were detailed enough for her to spend the
time in the window, apparently examining the books, while actually watching roger
first enter and then, after an hour, exit alone, from the heavy doors across the street.
he walked straight back to his office in the ministry courtyard. miss temple
arranged for her purchase to be delivered to the boniface, and walked back into the
street, feeling like a fool. she had re-crossed the square before she convinced herself
that she was not so much a fool as an inexperienced observer. it was pointless to
watch from outside the restaurant because only from inside could she have
discovered whether or not roger dined alone or with others, or with which particular
others - all important information.
she had a pretty good feeling that the crime she believed he had committed had
no time connection with his working hours, which meant she was likely to learn
nothing from observing his working day. it was after work that any real information
would be gathered. abruptly she entered a store whose windows were thick with all
shapes of luggage, hampers, oilskins, lanterns, telescopes, and a large assortment of
walking sticks. she left wearing a ladies' black travelling cloak, with a deep hood and
several well hidden pockets, opera glasses, a leather-bound notebook and an allweather pencil. miss temple then took her tea.
between cups of tea and two cakes, she made entries in the notebook,
summarising her plan and then describing the day's work so far. that she now had a
kind of uniform and a set of tools made everything that much easier and much less
about her particular feelings, for tasks requiring clothes and supporting equipment
seemed somehow more objective, even scientific, in nature. in keeping with this, she
made a point to write her entries in a kind of code, replacing proper names and places
with synonyms or word-play that hopefully would not be understood by anyone but
herself.
miss temple left the tea shop at four o'clock, knowing roger to leave usually at five,
and hired a carriage. she instructed her driver in a low, direct tone of voice, after
assuring him he would be well paid for his time, that they would be following a
gentleman, most likely in another carriage, and that she would knock on the roof of
the coach to indicate the man when he appeared. the driver nodded, but said nothing
else. she took his silence to mean that this was a usual enough thing, and felt all the
more sure of herself. when roger appeared, some forty minutes later, she nearly
missed him, amusing herself for the moment by peering through the opera glasses
into nearby open windows, but a sudden feeling caused her to glance back at the
courtyard gates just in time to see roger, standing in the road with an air of
confidence and purpose that took her breath away, flag down a coach of his own.
miss temple knocked sharply on the roof of the coach and they were off.
the thrill of the chase, complicated by the nervousness of seeing roger, was quickly
lost when, after the first few turns, it became obvious that roger's destination was
nowhere more interesting than his own temple thought it would be easy to follow roger because
a\\he always took a break at the same time
b\\his work shedule never changed
c\\he always ate lunch at a particular location
d\\she already knew the shedule of his working day.