It was a cold, wet Monday morning in late October, two weeks
after Colin had taught the training course at Sutton
Chemicals. The trees that lined the streets of Bath were bare.
Dead leaves lay on the pavements. Colin shivered as he got
into his car. He picked a cassette from a pile on the passenger's
seat, put it into the player, and started the car engine. A
moment later, an old blues song was coming from the stereo.
Colin and Julie always went to, work in separate cars. They
left home at different times in the mornings and arrived home
at different times in the evenings. During the day, they hardly
saw each other. They were busy with their own jobs. Both of
them regularly travelled to see clients - Julie to sort out3 their
technical problems, Colin to sell the software and teach training
courses. But they rarely travelled together.
Today was one of the rare days when they were both going
to be in Bath all day. But before he went to the office, Colin
had an appointment that he wasn't looking forward to.
He drove to the eastern side of the city, parked his BMW,
and hurried through the rain to a low office block. Outside
one of the ground floor offices was a brass sign with the words,
D.S.T. Booker - Accountant.
Colin opened the door and walked in. A girl was working at
a desk with six filing trays, a computer and two telephones on
it. 'Mr Booker's expecting me,' Colin told her.
'Yes, that's fine,' the girl replied. 'Please go through.'
Colin went through a door into another room. Mr Booker
was bent over his desk, reading some papers. He wore very
thick glasses and he held the papers close to his pale face.