Chapter 15 Two Appointments After five hours at sea in the small, fast boat, every bone in Matthew Barr's body was aching, and he was wet and cold. His only companion had been a man called Larry, who was extremely tall and looked very strong. Larry had met him in Fort Lauderdale and had not said a word to him since then. They landed in a country Barr believed was the Bahamas. A car took them to a small airfield, where a Lear jet was waiting. The flight took about forty-five minutes. Another car took them to a large house. Barr had no idea where they were. Barr was met by a man who called himself Emil, who led him round the outside of the house to a sun-room. 'I'm afraid you must take off your shoes,' Emil said with a polite smile, 'and be careful not to step on the towels.' Inside, Barr saw that towels were lying on the floor of the sunroom, making paths around the room. A door on the other side of the room opened, and Victor Mattiece came in. Barr stared. Mattiece was an extraordinary sight. He was extremely thin, and had long grey hair and a beard. He wore only a pair of black sports shorts. His toenails were yellow and very long. He looked completely crazy. 'Sit over there,' he said, pointing at a chair. 'Don't step on the towels.' When Barr was seated, Mattiece asked, 'What do you want?' He was staring out of a window. 'The President sent me,' Barr began. 'He did not. Fletcher Coal sent you.' 'All right. We need to know whether the Pelican Brief is true. Have you read it?' 'Have you?' 'Yes.' 'Does Mr Coal believe it to be true?' 'I don't know. He's very worried. That's why I'm here, Mr Mattiece. We have to know.' 'What if it is true?' 'Then we have problems.' Mattiece turned away from the window, looked at Barr and said, 'Do you know what I think? I think Coal is the problem. He let too many people see the brief Barr could not believe what he was hearing. The man who had ordered so many deaths was blaming someone else for the situation. 'Is it true, Mr Mattiece? That's all I want to know.' Behind Barr, a door opened without a sound. Larry, in his socks and avoiding the towels, stepped silently into the room. Mattiece walked over to the door and said softly, 'Of course it's true.' He left the sun-room and went into the garden. Now what? Barr thought. Larry put the rope round Barr's neck, and Barr did not hear or feel anything until it was too late. Mattiece did not want blood on the floor, so Larry simply broke his neck. ♦ They reached the building where White and Blazevich's offices were before five o'clock. She was wearing a dress, and Gray said she looked just right. She could tell that he liked the way she looked, and she found to her surprise that it didn't make her angry, just a little sad about Thomas.