Clifton Chronicles 02 - The Sins of the Father Read Online Free PDF Page B

dragged on, each day seeming longer than the one before. Harry visited the library every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday between six and seven, but Max Lloyd, the senior librarian, gave him no reason to believe he was being considered for the post. Savatori, his deputy, remained tight-lipped, although he clearly knew something.
    ‘I don’t think Lloyd wants me to be his deputy,’ said Harry after lights out one evening.
    ‘Lloyd won’t have a say about it,’ said Quinn. ‘That’s the warden’s decision.’
    But Harry wasn’t convinced. ‘I suspect Hessler and Lloyd are working together to make sure I don’t get the job.’
    ‘You’re becoming para— what’s the word?’ said Quinn.
    ‘Paranoid.’
    ‘Yeah, that’s what you’re becoming, not that I’m sure what it means.’
    ‘Suffering from unfounded suspicions,’ said Harry.
    ‘Couldn’t have put it better myself!’
    Harry wasn’t convinced that his suspicions were unfounded and, a week later, Savatori took him to one side and confirmed his worst fears.
    ‘Hessler’s put up three cons for the warden’s consideration, and your name isn’t on the list.’
    ‘Then that’s that,’ said Harry, thumping the side of his leg. ‘I’m going to be a wing cleaner for the rest of my days.’
    ‘Not necessarily,’ said Savatori. ‘Come and see me the day before I’m due to be discharged.’
    ‘But by then it will be too late.’
    ‘I don’t think so,’ said Savatori, without explanation. ‘Meanwhile, study every page of this very carefully.’ He handed Harry a heavy, leather-bound tome that rarely left the library.

    Harry sat on the top bunk and opened the cover of the 273-page prison handbook. Before he’d reached page 6, he began to make notes. Long before he’d started reading the book a second time, a plan had begun to form in his mind.
    He knew his timing would be critical, and both acts would have to be rehearsed, particularly as he would be on stage when the curtain went up. He accepted that he couldn’t go ahead with his plan until after Savatori had been released, even though a new deputy librarian had already been appointed.
    When Harry carried out a dress rehearsal in the privacy of their cell, Quinn told him that he was not only paranoid, but crazy, because, he assured him, his second performance would be in solitary.

    The warden made his monthly rounds of each block on a Monday morning, so Harry knew that he’d have to wait for three weeks after Savatori had been discharged, before he would reappear on A block. Swanson always took the same route, and prisoners knew that if they valued their skin, they disappeared out of sight the moment he came into view.
    When Swanson stepped on to the top floor of A block that Monday morning, Harry was waiting to greet him, mop in hand. Hessler slipped in behind the warden, and waved his truncheon to indicate that if Bradshaw valued his life, he should step aside. Harry didn’t budge, leaving the warden with no choice but to stop in his tracks.
    ‘Good morning, warden,’ said Harry, as if they bumped into each other regularly.
    Swanson was surprised to come face-to-face with a prisoner on his rounds, and even more surprised when one spoke to him. He looked more closely at Harry. ‘Bradshaw, isn’t it?’
    ‘You have a good memory, sir.’
    ‘I also remember your interest in literature. I was surprised when you turned down the job as deputy librarian.’
    ‘I was never offered the job,’ said Harry. ‘If I had been, I would have accepted it with alacrity,’ he added, which clearly took the warden by surprise.
    Turning to Hessler, Swanson said, ‘You told me Bradshaw didn’t want the job.’
    Harry jumped in before Hessler could reply. ‘Probably my fault, sir. I didn’t realize I had to apply for the position.’
    ‘I see,’ said the warden. ‘Well, that would explain it. And I can tell you, Bradshaw, that the new man doesn’t know the difference between Plato and Pluto.’