Chapter 9

Tuesday morning, Charlie and I drove over to the uni and I took him upstairs. I wasn't prepared for what awaited me. As we got off the elevator, we were greeted by a sign hung from the ceiling: CSIRO Western Australia. My office door bore "CSIRO / Dr. Gordon Hollister / Perth Bureau Chief" and "Enquiries next door" in neat lettering. I unlocked the door. The shelving and the file cabinet were all that looked familiar. There was a large new wooden desk with an upholstered chair behind it, four matching "guest" chairs, a large table, a smaller table, and a computer table. And a carpet on the floor. The place was really clean. And neat.

"Snazzy, Gordy; very snazzy," said Charlie.

"I'd like to see the other office."

"So?"

"I don't have the key. We'll have to wait for Des and Shirl to arrive."

I sat behind my desk. Charlie pulled over a chair. Then I noticed a neat pile of "While You Were Out" slips under the corner of the phone. I pulled them out. On top was a note: "In reverse chronological order. Newest on top. See you around 9. Shirl." So I turned them over and started with the oldest.

There was a departmental meeting Friday at 11. 'Charles Stuart' had called twice: Friday and Monday. I laughed to myself. Shirl hadn't picked up on the last name. Dr. Friedel would like to "come by" on Thursday at 10. Someone whose name I didn't recognize would call Tuesday at 10. The rest looked like junk.

"Friedel wants to come visit Thursday morning," I told Charlie. "And I've got to return a call." He waved his hand. I called Chuck at the CSIRO.

"CSIRO. Eyre."

"Hi, Chuck. Gordy Hollister."

"Morning. I guess my messages caught up with you."

"Sort of. The young woman wrote you down as Charles Stuart. So I guess you've been dead for over a century."

"She'll learn. Anyway. We were wondering what you were doing for the holiday."

"We hadn't anything planned. Why don't you come to us. We'll throw stuff on the barbie and you can both meet Weena. We've got friends from the Petermann, but I don't know what they've got scheduled."

"Sounds okay. But I'll have to confirm with my boss."

"Naturally."

"What can we bring?"

"Wine or beer. Sweets. We'll take care of the rest." I gave him our address and the home phone number. "Come anytime after, say, two."

"Right."

When I got off, I looked at Charlie. "He's the head of a part of the CSIRO up the hill from here."

"What do they do?"

"Water and resource management. But he's an interesting guy. We met because he's got a nut case working for him." And I told his about Watkins' call and my lunch with Chuck. I was just finishing when Shirl arrived.

"Hi! How do you like it?"

"It looks great. You kids must've worked like hell."

"Not too bad. Do you like the other office?"

"Not seen it yet. No key."

"In your desk drawer, Gordy."

"Oops. I never even opened the drawers. Anyway, this is Charlie – Charles Grant – he's a CSIRO grantee from the Petermann."

"Where?"

"Southern part of the Northern Territory."

"Howdy. You must be Shirl."

"Yes. Des is male."

"I do believe I can tell the difference." They both laughed.

I found the neatly tagged keys in my desk. We went out into the hall and I unlocked the next door. Its sign read: "CSIRO Reception / Research."

"Spiffy," I said. I was amazed at what had been done. The room had been cleared and the old chalkboards removed. They must have painted with an acrylic, as I could still smell it. There was an entry space with two chairs and a small table and a desk with a nice chair behind it. A two-meter high partition wall ran most of the width of the room, with a space – but no door – near the far end. I walked over and looked. There was a wall-to-wall bookshelf with some extra-deep shelves, a large worktable, and two chairs. Des had put a few books on one shelf.

"Wow! How'd you get it done?"

"Actually, it wasn't as hard as I thought it might be. Des spoke to the building maintenance guy and showed him the letter. The maintenance guy came back after lunch with a phone guy, the locksmith, and two workmen. The workmen just moved everything except your file cabinet and your shelving into the lumber room and then took down the chalkboards. Des spackled the screw holes and I had a guy just put a single coat of acrylic all over. Then the maintenance guy took out a tape and marked the floor in here and told the workmen to get some two-by-fours and four panels and put a footer where the line was and to frame the panels on both sides. I sent Des off for a dozen doughnuts and six coffees and when he got back, the guys took a break."