husband, thought Avedissian.
Avedissian ordered gin and tonic for Kathleen and himself and five minutes later they were joined by Paul Jarvis.
Avedissian had deliberately picked a table well away from the crowd so that they could talk without being overheard. 'Does the team have the boy?' he asked.
'Not yet,’ replied Jarvis.
'But you know where he is?'
'Not exactly.'
'But…'
'I understand from Bryant that the plan is to take the boy from the IRA after the exchange has taken place. He thinks it will be easier than dealing, with both the kidnappers and the Irish at the same time. There's also the question of NORAID. We don't know what kind of a presence they are going to put up. There's a lot of money involved.'
'What do you want us to do?' asked Avedissian.
'First I've to give you these.' Jarvis handed Avedissian a sealed envelope and said that it contained airline tickets for the two of them and the boy. Avedissian put them safely away in an inside pocket.
'What about the kidnappers?' asked Avedissian. 'Do you know who they are?'
'Every lead has petered out into nothing as if a whole bunch of red herrings had been prepared in advance. Whoever they are, they are certainly no amateurs. They are almost too good to be true.'
'What about the Irish?' asked Avedissian.
That's our trump card,’ replied Jarvis. 'We know who their contact man is and we know where he is. If we stick with him he is going to lead us to the child. His name is Innes and he is staying at the Stamford.'
'How did you get on to him?'
'Intelligence from Bryant in London.'
'Then you have been in contact with London?'
'Of course,' said Jarvis. 'Nothing is done without Bryant's say so.' He turned to Kathleen and asked, 'Have you ever heard of this man Innes?'
Kathleen nodded. 'Malcolm Innes. They call him the Tally Man. He looks as if he wouldn't harm a fly, but he's dangerous.'
'Can you describe him?'
Kathleen gave Jarvis a description.
‘That's the man all right,' agreed Jarvis. 'Is there anything else you can tell us about him?'
Kathleen shook her head and said not.
'Are there any more IRA here?' asked Avedissian.
'Not overtly,' said Jarvis with plain meaning.
'But you think there might be?'
'What do you think?' said Jarvis.
Avedissian nodded then asked, 'Has Innes been contacted by the kidnappers yet?'
'Yes, that's why I called you. He was contacted by phone this afternoon and told to attend a baseball game this evening.'
Then the exchange could take place tonight?' said Kathleen.
'I don't think so,' replied Jarvis. There hasn't been time to finalise the ransom details. It's my guess that NORAID or the Irish have asked to see the goods before they do business.'
'So the child could be at the stadium?'
'Perhaps, or maybe it is just being used as a crowded meeting place. Innes may be taken somewhere else after contact is made.'
'Are you going to be there?' asked Kathleen.
'We all are,' said Jarvis. 'We know where Innes will be sitting but we don't know who will be with him. I want you, Miss O'Neill, to have a look at the faces round about. Tell me if you recognise any of them.'
Kathleen nodded and Avedissian asked what he was supposed to do.
'Just be on hand,' replied Jarvis.
Under instruction from the NORAID man, Roker, not to do anything without keeping NORAID informed, Malcolm Innes had gone to a pay-phone in the street and called the number that he had been given. He told Roker of the contact that had been made and gave him details of his seat ticket for the game.
'Nothing else?' asked Roker.
'Nothing,’ confirmed Innes.
It was true when he made the call but, as he left the hotel to attend the game, a bellboy handed him a pair of binoculars and an envelope. Innes opened it in the cab. It contained a piece of white card with a code on it. It said 'Section J, Seat L-17'. He examined his own ticket and saw that it was in a different part of the stadium. So that was it, he would be allowed to see the boy across the stadium using binoculars.
Innes edged his way through a crowd at a popcorn stand and climbed the steep banking to reach his row. He excused himself and a line of knees turned to the left to let him past. He had just settled into his seat when he felt a hand on his shoulder and a voice said in his ear, 'You came well equipped.' It was Roker.
Innes half turned and saw that Roker was referring to the binoculars. He told him how he had come by them.
'Did they give you anything else?'
Innes showed him the card.
Roker whispered, 'Let us deal with this.'
'Don't interfere!' hissed Innes. The last thing that he needed was the antics of bungling amateurs.
Roker gripped his shoulder more tightly and leaned close to his ear. 'Now get this, Innes! It's our money! A lot of our people have gone into hock over this. If there is the slightest chance that we can get the boy without paying through the nose for him we are going to go for it!'
'These people are not amateurs!' insisted Innes. 'You could ruin the whole thing!'
'Just sit on your butt and wait!' hissed Roker, getting up and leaving his seat.
Innes looked to his neighbours to see if his whispered altercation with Roker had attracted attention. There was no sign that it had. A family of four occupied the seats to his left and a teenage boy and girl sat to his right. In front two middle-aged couples shared out food and drink while behind him a man was explaining loudly to his wife or girlfriend exactly why he thought that Johnson was a better pitcher than Schwarz.
The steepness of the stadium made Innes uneasy for he had never been at peace with heights and he was sitting on the top deck of a series of steeply banked tiers. It seemed a very long way down to the brightly lit diamond where the players were now being introduced.
A roar from the crowd followed every announcement of a name and each player ran on individually to. acknowledge the cheers with a raise of his arm. Innes put the glasses to his eyes and focused on one of them as he stood in line, shuffling nervously and chewing gum with monotonous regularity. He picked out the chain round his neck and could see that it carried a St Christopher medallion.
Out of the corner of both eyes Innes could see that all attention was now being concentrated on the diamond. He put the glasses back to his eyes and raised them slowly to section 'J'. Seat L-17 was unoccupied as were the two seats on either side. Four or five rows behind the empty seats and slightly to the right three men were moving along the row. Innes could see that one of them was Shelby, the man who had led the NORAID delegation in Belfast. He cursed under his breath, then he became aware of someone entering the row behind him and glanced back. It was Roker returning. Almost imperceptibly, darkness had closed in on the stadium, shutting out the world in the interests of the game. The crack of the bat sent a ripple of excitement round the tiers and set the tiny, bright figures down on the diamond into motion. The hitter, running at full tilt, slid safely into second base and the ball slammed into the catcher's mitt to kill the moment. The ball was returned to the mound in a lazy arc where the pitcher snatched it from the air and spat out a stream of tobacco juice into the dirt. He adjusted his cap and prepared to throw again.
From a position well behind Innes, Jarvis was watching him intently. Avedissian and Kathleen sat beside him. 'Do you recognise the man sitting behind Innes?' Jarvis asked Kathleen.
'I've never seen him before,' she replied.
