chapter 3 part 6
Geraldine noticed that the clock on the cooker was flashing, indicating that there had been a power cut. Whilst they had happened a lot a couple of years before, the electricity had been very reliable of late. She reset her cooker from her watch and then checked that the other clocks in the Mews were showing the right time. Fortunately they had all survived the cut and had maintained the correct time. As she was about to think about lunch, the phone rang. It was her father.
“Hi Geri. So an interesting man you’ve found.”
“In what way Daddy? Should I walk a mile?”
“As I said, Interesting, No bad news, no record or even information file darling, he has a totally clean file.”
“Sorry Daddy, if clean why is that interesting?”
“Yes dear. It would seem that our man has never ever put a foot wrong. No parking tickets or driving summons, not an issue anywhere I can find. That is slightly unusual these days. The only time I have come across a file like that in terms of the job was when someone was about to enter a high profile public life and their history had been apparently cleaned to purge unwanted items. And that someone was, to use your terms, a ‘goody’, but someone for whom it was important that there was nothing in history that could be used against him. And believe me I was quietly encouraged to stop digging. There was nothing really to find, I suspect I will never know. I guess that your man is in the same position. His life is either spotless and naturally so, or has been bleached – all the stains removed.”
“Oh.” Geraldine paused and thought about what her father had said. There were quite a few ‘Government employment opportunities’ locally, and even if she thought about the military, Hereford was not far away. “C’est la vie Daddy, c’est la vie. He could always just be a stain free man who has never needed a spot of bleach. I shall set out to find out I think. Yes definitely, it shall be fun to find out. Thanks Daddy.”
“There’s some other news…”
Geraldine noticed that the clock on the cooker was flashing, indicating that there had been a power cut. Whilst they had happened a lot a couple of years before, the electricity had been very reliable of late. She reset her cooker from her watch and then checked that the other clocks in the Mews were showing the right time. Fortunately they had all survived the cut and had maintained the correct time. As she was about to think about lunch, the phone rang. It was her father.
“Hi Geri. So an interesting man you’ve found.”
“In what way Daddy? Should I walk a mile?”
“As I said, Interesting, No bad news, no record or even information file darling, he has a totally clean file.”
“Sorry Daddy, if clean why is that interesting?”
“Yes dear. It would seem that our man has never ever put a foot wrong. No parking tickets or driving summons, not an issue anywhere I can find. That is slightly unusual these days. The only time I have come across a file like that in terms of the job was when someone was about to enter a high profile public life and their history had been apparently cleaned to purge unwanted items. And that someone was, to use your terms, a ‘goody’, but someone for whom it was important that there was nothing in history that could be used against him. And believe me I was quietly encouraged to stop digging. There was nothing really to find, I suspect I will never know. I guess that your man is in the same position. His life is either spotless and naturally so, or has been bleached – all the stains removed.”
“Oh.” Geraldine paused and thought about what her father had said. There were quite a few ‘Government employment opportunities’ locally, and even if she thought about the military, Hereford was not far away. “C’est la vie Daddy, c’est la vie. He could always just be a stain free man who has never needed a spot of bleach. I shall set out to find out I think. Yes definitely, it shall be fun to find out. Thanks Daddy.”
“There’s some other news…”