The Crystal Code Read Online Free PDF Page B

Sam had said. ‘We just saw a couple of movies together,’ Gerald said in a flat voice. ‘She’s not really my girlfriend.’
    â€˜Oh really?’ Ruby said. ‘Well you better let her know that, because that’s exactly what she thinks she is.’ Ruby flared her nostrils and moved in closer. ‘I don’t get it, Gerald. Is it a billionaire thing? Why settle with having one girlfriend when you can have two?’
    â€˜That’s not fair,’ Gerald mumbled.
    â€˜Or is it like all those houses you own? One for the country and one for town? Well, guess what, Mister Billionaire, Felicity is a really nice person. I like her, despite you and everything you’ve done. And neither of us is some piece of property that you can jet between on holidays.’ She jabbed a finger into Gerald’s chest. ‘You need to sort this before Felicity finds out the type of person you really are. I don’t want her thinking I’m so shallow that I once had someone like you as a friend.’
    The cable car hauled to a stop.
    â€˜Mason and Green!’ the brakeman called.
    Gerald’s fist slid down the pole and brushed Ruby’s glove. She snatched her hand away. ‘This is where we get off,’ she said. She jumped onto the road and jogged to the opposite footpath.
    Gerald sighed. How had he managed to stuff things up so royally? He was tempted to stay onboard and ride the cable car into the sunset. Or, preferably, the bay. He looked up to see that Felicity was already by Ruby’s side and was beckoning him across. He stepped off as the cable car lurched down the hill.
    They stood at the crossroads.
    A street sign showed Mason and Green.
    â€˜So our man is on the loose again,’ Sam said. ‘Do you really think Mason Green is a fake name?’
    Gerald had lost all enthusiasm for the expedition. He looked across the intersection to a green shopfront with ‘Dry Cleaner’ painted above the door. ‘Come on,’ he said. ‘Let’s see what dirty laundry we can find.’
    A fug of cleaning fumes assaulted them as they walked inside. Suits and dresses in clear plastic bags hung from a conveyor system that disappeared into a dark back room. Price lists, yellowed with age, were pinned to the walls. A woman sat at a counter, sewing a button onto a shirt.
    â€˜Hello,’ Gerald said, holding out the dry-cleaning ticket. ‘I’m just collecting this.’ He was surprised to find that his hand was shaking. What if the cleaner knew Green by sight? How would Gerald explain his way around that? Or worse, the woman knew where Green was hiding and alerted him that Gerald was trying to steal his cleaning. He wished he’d thought it through properly, but the whole Ruby disaster meant he couldn’t think straight.
    The woman looked closely at the four faces on the other side of the counter, and took the ticket. ‘This has been a long time,’ she said. ‘Another week and I would have sent it to charity.’
    She turned in her seat and flicked a switch, sending the racks of garments along the track suspended from the ceiling. She switched the conveyor off and removed a black dinner jacket covered in its thin plastic bag. She laid it across the counter and nodded at the hanger. ‘Some things were left in the pockets. They’re in that envelope.’
    Gerald went to pick up the jacket. The woman clamped a heavy hand over his, pinning it to the counter.
    â€˜I think you’ve forgotten something,’ she said, staring hard into Gerald’s eyes.
    Gerald’s pulse tripled. What was she talking about? Was there some sort of code word?
    â€˜Uh, Mason Green,’ Gerald babbled. ‘Oracle. Delphi. Rattigan.’
    The woman’s face creased into a scowl. ‘What are you talking about? Twenty-five dollars.’
    â€˜Huh?’
    â€˜Twenty-five dollars. For the cleaning.’
    â€˜Oh, right. Of