THE SHADOW

Cavalier arrived in Melbourne with his usual meticulous planning well in place. But, as with all such assignments, he had learnt to expect the unexpected. He was still in the plane’s aisle waiting to disembark when his phone rang. It was Haut telling him his offices had been broken into again two nights earlier.

‘They did the same thing to my associate, the day before that,’ Haut said, his voice calm but concern still evident.

‘What did they take?’

‘Computers, tape recorders, books. Even some kids’ books that happened to be in the bookshelves were scooped up.’

‘What did the police say?’

‘Ask a silly question …’

‘But you called them?’

‘Oh, yeah. Had a former copper mate liaise for me. He reckons that there must have been about a dozen people involved in the break-ins. The places were done over thoroughly.’

‘I’m in Melbourne, I’m going to wait for our visitors. I’ll track them if I can.’

Cavalier walked down the airport’s corridors through the perfume and alcohol counters, and used an automatic passport machine. He passed through but was then beckoned to a passport desk by a uniformed woman of about fifty-five with short blonde hair. She examined his photo and looked him up and down. He smiled, trying to appear relaxed. He submerged an urge to ask why he had been singled out when he had already gone through the automatic control.

‘Mr Waugh,’ she said, her face expressive, ‘did anyone ever tell you that you look like that British actor?’

A male officer leant across and intervened, saying, ‘Michael Caine.’

‘No, I’ve not been told that before.’

‘Yes, that’s the one,’ the woman said. ‘He wore those thick-framed glasses in … I saw it on TV a week ago.’

‘The Ipcress File,’ the male officer said, ‘from fifty-odd years ago.’

‘I read the book it was based on,’ Cavalier said, keeping the conversation pleasant and chatty ‘a Len Deighton novel.’

‘You even sound like him,’ the female officer said.

‘Yes, well I believe we are boaf Cockneys, aren’t we? But I am many decades younger! E’s a very old geezer now, in’e?’

With smiles all round, Cavalier was handed back his passport. All that effort not to look like Caine and both he and Wombat had forgotten about the way the actor looked in The Ipcress File. It explained why he had been asked to the desk for questioning, not because he was in any way suspect, but as a result of looking like someone famous. He cursed inwardly but was always relieved when he passed through any border, even into his own country.