Tomorrow's ghost

And not a moment too soon, decided Frances as she smiled at them both. 'I don't think I'm on their list, or something like that,' she said vaguely.

'Really...' Julian grimaced at the Professor. 'You know, Hugo, if we had a proper trade union this sort of thing wouldn't happen, you realise that?'

'Dear boy - if we had a proper union we should probably be out of a job by now. Or reduced to time-serving impotence by the National Union of Students under a closed shop agreement, which would be well enough for me, at my age, but which you would find altogether insupportable - off you go, my dear.'

'Well, I think that's damned unchivalrous of you, Hugo - '

Frances ducked away from them as they started to chase this new hare.

As before. Sergeant Ballard held the door open for her.

'Yes, Mr Ballard?' As he squared up to her she sensed that the civilian 'mister' was no more to his liking than his formal 'madam' was to her. So they were both equally disadvantaged by protocol.

'Madam...' The Sergeant focused on her. 'Two faculty members have left the building in the last half hour. Dr Penrose and Mr Brunton.'

The names meant nothing to her, so that when he showed no sign of elaborating on this information she was unable to decide whether Messrs Penrose and Brunton were exhibiting behavioural deviations, or whether Sergeant Ballard was a .man of few words.

'You were expecting them to stay?'

'They were both on the invitation list for the unveiling, madam.'

The unveiling. At her back Frances could hear the noise of scrambled conversation in the crowded Common Room. In a few minutes' time they would all troop down dutifully to witness the Minister unveil the marble plaque in the foyer which declared the building open; that ceremony, together with his acceptance of the honorary degree, was the main event of his visit. But as the building had actually been in use for more than a month this hardly rated as an earth-shaking occasion in the brief annals of North Yorks University; so that, short of Comrade O'Leary adding his own brand of excitement, Messrs Penrose and Brunton were not passing up anything interesting by absenting themselves.

On the other hand, if O'Leary had somehow managed to outsmart the computer then any departures from potential target areas were highly suspicious.

'Anything else of significance?'

'One of the university staff on the desk in the foyer received a rather curious phone call, madam.'

He was overdoing the 'madam' bit. 'What sort of phone call, Mr Ballard? How was it curious?'

'It was on the pay box in the foyer, not to the desk. But that's happened several times before - the numbers are similar. Only, when he took the call he was cut off before the caller could say anything.'

'You mean he never established the origin of the call?'

'That's correct, madam. The telephonist at the other end said 'I have a call for you, Mr Dickson - I'm trying to connect you'. So he waited, and the telephonist repeated that she was trying to connect him. And then finally the line went dead.'

'He wasn't expecting a call - this Mr Dickson?'

'No, madam. He phoned his wife to check, but she said she hadn't phoned him.'

Frances bit her lip. Knowing the Post Office, she could not see anything particularly curious in an abortive phone call. But it would be better to be safe than sorry.

'How many university staff are there on the desk?'

'Two madam. Mr Dickson and Mr Collins.'

'What's their job - today?'

'They are checking coats and belongings into the cloakroom, madam. No coats, or briefcases and hand-luggage is allowed beyond the foyer today - it's all being checked into the cloakroom.' The Sergeant spoke as though he was reciting a brief he had learnt by heart. 'And of course they're also doing their usual duties, running the information desk and working the switchboard.'

'You mean - they are searching people?'

He gave her a long-suffering look. 'No, madam. All the search procedures are being carried out by our personnel at the entrances.' He paused. 'But the advantage of having university staff on the foyer desk is that between them they know everyone on the invitation list personally, by sight and voice. And they also know the building - Mr Collins has accompanied me on each of my security checks. If there had been anything odd, he'd have spotted it.'

That made sense, thought Frances. But she had to do something.

'Well ... we'd better inform Control about Penrose and Brunton.' If there was a behavioural deviation there, maybe the computer could spot it. 'Did they have any hand-luggage?'

'One briefcase each.' Sergeant Ballard forgot the 'madam' for once. 'Searched at the door, checked in by Mr Collins and Mr Dickson respectively. Checked out by Mr Dickson, searched at the door again on leaving.'

Everything would have been listed, naturally.

Today no absentminded professors were permitted in the new English Faculty Library Building, searched and scanned and sniffed as they had been by the Special Branch, and booked in and out by Mr Dickson and Mr Collins, vigilant of eye and ear-Respectively. Respectively? 'But if Mr Collins was doing the rounds with you, Mr Ballard - 'Yes, madam?' '- then Mr Dickson was on the desk alone for a time.'

'Yes, madam.' Sergeant Ballard looked down on her as from a great height.