geeky byway. Baron and Collingswood went to offices, community colleges, the back rooms of high-street shops. “Is there somewhere private we can talk?” Baron would say, or Collingswood would open with, “What d’you know about making big shit little?”
One name on the list was a science teacher. “Come on, boss, let’s give the class a treat, eh?” Collingswood said, and marched in past pupils gaping from behind Bunsen burners. “George Carr?” Collingswood said. “What do you know about making big shit little?”
“ENJOY THAT?” CARR SAID. THEY WERE WALKING IN THE PLAYGROUND. “What was it, some science teacher tell you you’d never amount to anything?”
“Nah,” she said. “They all knew I’d amount to fucking loads.”
“What the hell does a cult squad want with me?”
“We’re just chasing a few leads, sir,” Baron said.
“Ever flog your skills?” Collingswood said. “Shrinkage for hire?”
“No. I’m not good enough and not interested enough. I get what I need out of it.”
“Which is what?”
“Come on holiday with me one day,” he said. “Three weeks of clothes in one carry-on bag.”
“Could I bring my dog?” Baron said.
“What? No way. Condensing something that complicated’s out of my league. I might just get it in, maybe, but Fido’s not going to be fetching sticks on the beach at the other end.”
“But it’s possible.”
“Sure. There’s a few people could do it.” He stroked his stubble. “Has anyone given you Anders’s name?”
Baron and Collingswood glanced at each other. “Anders?” Baron said.
“Anders Hooper. Runs a shop in Chelsea. Funny little specialist place. He’s very good.”
“So why haven’t we heard of him?” Baron said, waving his list.
“Because he’s only just started. Been doing it about a year, professionally. Now he’s good enough and keen enough to do it for lucre.”
“So how come you’ve heard of him?” Collingswood said.
Carr smiled. “I taught him how to do it. Tell him his Mr. Miyagi says hi.”
• • •
HOOPER’S SHOP SHARED SPACE ON A TERRACE WITH A DELICATESSEN, a travel bookshop, a florist. It was called Nippon This! Characters stared from the window with manga enthusiasm beside robot kits and nunchuck tat. Inside, a third of the small shelf space was taken up with books on the philosophy, mathematics, and design of origami. There were stacks of books of fold patterns. Incredible examples—dinosaurs, fish, klein bottles, geometric intricacies, all made from single uncut sheets.
“Alright,” said Collingswood. She smiled in appreciation. “Alright, that’s quite cool.”
A young man came out from the back. “Morning,” he said. Anders Hooper was tall, mixed-race, wearing a Gundam T-shirt. “Can I …” He hesitated at sight of Collingswood’s uniform. “Help you?”
“Might be,” she said. “Sell enough to make your rent on this place?”
“Who are you?”
“Answer the question, Mr. Hooper,” said Baron.
“… Sure. There’s a lot of interest in anime and stuff. We’re one of the best suppliers …”
“You can get all this shit off the Internet,” Collingswood said. “People come here?”
“Sure. There’s …”
“What about your orifuckinggami?” she said. He blinked.
“What about it? That’s more specialist, of course …” He kept his mind pretty cloudy, but what they know? Collingswood got from him, as abruptly as if announced by a beep.
“And you’re the man, right? Shit, we’re in effing Chelsea. How d’you pay? We spoke to Mr. Carr. Says hello by the way. He told us you do custom folding. Special jobs. Sound right, Anders?”
He leaned on the counter. Looked from Baron to Collingswood. He glanced to either side as if someone might be listening.
“What is it you want to know?” he said. “I haven’t done anything illegal.”
“No one said you did,” Collingswood said. “Someone fucking did though. Why did you get into all this?”
“For minimisation,” Anders said. “It’s not just about pressure, or forcing things. It’s about topography, that sort of thing. Someone like Carr—and I’m not being disrespectful, it was him who got me started—but basically, you know, you’re sort of …” He made kneading motions. “You’re shoving stuff in. You’re stuffing a suitcase.”
“More or less what he said,” Baron said.
“If that’s what you want to do, then, you know, fine. But …” His hands tried to describe something. “What you’re trying to do with planurgy is get things into other spaces, you know? Real things, with edges and surfaces, and all that. With origami you’re still dealing with all that surface area. There’s no cutting, you know? The point is you can unfold it, too. You get it?”
“And you don’t have any problems with the fact that this is all, you know, solid,” said Collingswood.