Amberville - By Tim Davys Page 0,39
daily rhythms. Eric returned the cars he’d borrowed, but kept the gray Combi. It was perfect to use for surveillance work, neutral and boring beyond recognition. They parked the car kitty-corner from the camouflaged garage door and took turns spending hours in the driver’s seat, making note of every observation.
But nothing happened.
In the twilight, the door to the secret garage was opened and the Chauffeurs drove the red pickup out. Right before dawn, they returned after completion of duty. In between: nothing.
Before the third night, Eric acquired a camera with a massive zoom and a lens that worked in the dark.
“Let’s find out who they are, these Chauffeurs,” the bear said to his friends. “Tom-Tom says that they’re stuffed animals just like us. Perhaps we can find them in one of the windows? If nothing else, we ought to be able to get a picture of them as they drive in and out of the garage.”
“Okay,” said Sam, shrugging his shoulders. “But why?”
They sat, having breakfast at the kitchen table. A crumb from a piece of toast with orange marmalade was stuck to the corner of Sam’s mouth, and his long, red tongue captured it and made it disappear.
“I don’t have a real plan,” Eric admitted. “But the more we know, the better, right?”
“Maybe,” said Snake. “Maybe not. There are occasions when a lack of information can be the thing that—”
“Besides, I’m damned tired of just sitting and staring at that wall,” Eric interrupted with irritation. “But anyone who feels he’s so occupied with other important matters that he doesn’t have time to deal with the camera can just let it be.”
“You have a point there, darling,” giggled Sam.
Snake sighed. He knew that he was the one who would be forced to process the photographs; only he could do that sort of thing.
The following morning they had the first—and as it turned out only—razor-sharp visual portrayal of ChauffeurTiger. It was a fortunate chance, light reflected toward the hood of a car, lighting up the driver’s seat of the pickup at the same moment that Snake happened to snap the picture. He’d set the camera on the dashboard above the steering wheel. But it wasn’t until he developed the picture the following evening that he realized what he’d photographed.
The image that slowly appeared in the developer bath became sharper and sharper. He took the photo paper from the solution and hung it up to dry, but couldn’t continue with the rest of the roll. From the drying line ChauffeurTiger was staring right into Snake’s narrow eyes and beyond, into his soul. Tiger’s face was enormous, his fur gray and battered but his gaze hard and cold. It was a gaze that could kill; these were eyes that had seen everything. During his entire adult life, Snake Marek had struggled with doubt about his own artistic abilities. Faced with ChauffeurTiger’s unmerciful gaze, he could hide nothing.
Snake recoiled, shocked and afraid, and wriggled out of the bathroom which he’d turned into a darkroom. During the ensuing night, the friends determined that there were apparently only three Chauffeurs, the tiger and two wolves. They probably went in shifts, and these three would be replaced by three others at some later time.
The wolves were no charmers, either, but despite their sharp, yellow teeth and their scornfully pulled-back upper lips, it was still ChauffeurTiger who gave Sam, Eric, Snake, and Tom-Tom nightmares.
And it was the thought of being caught by ChauffeurTiger that meant that they hesitated another few days before they dared break into Hotel Esplanade.
They came into a kind of all-purpose room which was large, dark, and deserted.
“Snake and Sam, you take the right side, we’ll take the left,” whispered Eric, making a gesture.
They didn’t know what they were looking for. The Death List could be a coffee-stained scrap of paper on a nightstand, but just as likely a document in a leather folder locked up in a safe. They had also discussed the risk that the Chauffeurs took the list with them in the red pickup.
Eric took a few steps toward the door to the left. He heard Tom-Tom directly behind him. The snake and the gazelle were still standing beside him.
“We’ll do this as fast as hell,” hissed Eric. “Then we’ll get out of here.”
They worked efficiently for the next few minutes. The bear side by side with the crow. It was easier to search through the premises than Eric had thought. The Chauffeurs had hardly any furniture and very few personal effects.