| For these were the informational printouts of every guest currently at
the hotel, including those who had checked out within the past twenty-four hoursEach printout
was supplemented by whatever additional information was found in the data banks of the CIA,
Army G-2 and naval intelligenceThere could be a score of reasons why it might all be useless, but
it was a place to start
Five hundred miles north, in another hotel suite, this on the third floor of Boston?s Ritz-Carlton,
there was another tapping on another hotel doorInside, an immensely tall man, whose welltailored
pin-striped suit made him appear even larger than his nearly six feet five inches of height,
came rushing out of the bedroomHis bald head, fringed by perfectly groomed gray hair above his
temples, was like the skull of an anointed ?minence grise of some royal court where kings, princes
and fake chanel handbags pretenders deferred to his wisdom, delivered no doubt with the eyes of an eagle and the soaring
voice of a prophetAlthough his rushing figure revealed a vulnerable anxiety, even that did not
diminish his image of dominanceHe was important and powerful and he knew itAll this was in
contrast to the older man he admitted through the doorThere was little that was distinguished
about this short, gaunt, elderly visitor; instead, he conveyed the look of defeatQuickly! Did you bring the information??
?Oh, yes, yes, indeed,? answered the gray-faced man whose rumpled suit and ill-fitting collar
had both seen better days perhaps a decade ago?How grand you look, Randolph,? he continued in
a thin voice while studying his host and glancing around at the opulent suite?And how grand a
place this is, so proper for such a distinguished professor
?The information, please,? chanel cabas python bag insisted DrRandolph Gates of Harvard, expert in antitrust law and
highly paid consultant to numerous industries
Robert Ludlum ?? THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
48
?Oh, give me a moment, my old friendIt?s been a long time since I?ve been near a hotel suite,
much less stayed in oneOh, how things have changed for us over the yearsI read about you
frequently and I?ve watched you on televisionYou?re so?erudite, Randolph, that?s the word, but
it?s not enoughIt?s what I said before??grand,? that?s what you are, grand and eruditeSo tall and
imperious
?You might have been in the same position, you know,? broke in the impatient Gates
?Unfortunately, you looked for shortcuts where there weren?t any
?Oh, there were lots of themI just chose the wrong ones
?I gather things haven?t gone well for you??
?You don?t ?gather,? Randy, you knowIf your spies didn?t inform you, certainly you omega automatic seamaster watch can tell
?I was simply trying to find you
?Yes, that?s what you said on the phone, what a number of people said to me in the street?
people who had been asked a number of questions having nothing to do with my residence, such as
it is
?I had to know if you were capableYou can?t fault me for thatNot considering what you had me do, what I think you had me do
?Merely act as a confidential messenger, that?s allYou certainly can?t object to the money
?Object?? said the visitor, with a high-pitched and tremulous laugh?Let me tell you something,
RandyYou can be disbarred at thirty or thirty-five and still get by, but when you?re disbarred at
fifty and your trial is given national press along with a jail sentence, you?d be shocked at how your
options disappear?even for a learned manYou become an untouchable, and I was never much
good at selling anything but my witsI female silver cartier watch proved that, too, over the last twenty-odd years,
incidentallyAlger Hiss did better with greeting cards
?I haven?t time to reminisceThe information, please
?Oh, yes, of courseWell, first the money was delivered to me on the corner of
Commonwealth and Dartmouth, and naturally I wrote down the names and the specifics you gave
me over the phone??
?Wrote down?? asked Gates sharply
?Burned as soon as I?d committed them to memory?I did learn a few things from my
difficultiesI reached the engineer at the telephone company, who was overjoyed with your?
excuse me?my largess, and took his information to that repulsive private detective, a sleaze if I
ever saw one, Randy, and considering his methods, someone who could really use my talents
?Please,? interrupted the renowned legal scholar?The facts, not your appraisals
?Appraisals often contain germane facts, quilted chanel bag Professo |
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