It was late in the evening when the first phone call came.
He was in the ensuite bathroom brushing his teeth before going to bed, when he heard it ringing downstairs. He knew it was late. He pushed open the door and looked at the bedside clock; nearly midnight. He never received calls at this time of night and could only think it was bad news of some kind. No matter how urgent, there was no way he could get to it before it went to voicemail. He had the voicemail set to come on after thirty seconds; that was the devices maximum delay. This had been done on account of his recent fall and broken ankle. He would have to struggle back down and listen to the message, no matter how inconvenient. It really could be something serious.
He stood, biting down on his toothbrush, listening. It stopped, but no message followed. At least, he hadn’t heard one. Could he hear it from up here? He didn’t know. It had never happened before. He’d have to go down and check. He scowled at the thought. His ankle was certainly getting better, but it was still uncomfortable and slow, going up and down stairs. The doctor had suggested he take extra care on account of the fact that he lived alone. He took his time. At the machine he saw that, as he had guessed, no message had been left. He was laboriously making his way back up when it rang again. He moved back down as quickly as he could, quite convinced now that it was something that needed his attention. He picked up.
“Hello?” he said, in a whisper. Then stood wondering why he had dropped his voice. Maybe because it was now gone twelve. “Hello” he repeated, louder this time.
The voice on the other end said, “Are you there? I can hardly hear you.”
He cleared his throat, saying, “Yes I’m here, it’s just that it’s rather late and I wasn’t expecting…”
He was cut off. “Rather late? Look here, you’d better get your act together and quick smart. I’ve had to call you twice as it is. Have you got a pen and paper handy? You’d better write this down.”
“No. but…”
“Look! I’m only going to say this once. Get something to write this down and but me no buts… and be quick about it!”
“Yes. OK. I won’t be a moment.” He hobbled away and found what he needed. He came back, saying, “OK. I’m ready.”
“Good! I’ll read this out and I’ll speak slowly. Fifty thousand in used notes, all in fifties. Wrapped in newspaper and put in a black plastic rubbish bag, tied off with a double knot. Place it behind the rubbish skip at the rear of the furniture store in the high street between eleven-thirty and midnight tomorrow.” There came a slight pause. “And before you complain about the short notice, don’t bother, we know all about you. We know you can do it. Get this, don’t contact the police and come alone. We’ll be watching. Any mistakes and she dies!”
Having no idea what the caller was talking about, he said, “She dies? Did you say, she dies?”
There was a deep sigh and the phone went dead.