Read Tamar for Free Online Page B

up.”
    Dart put the heavy key into the lock. There was some resistance, but eventually the door swung open.
    “This is the old dispensary, where they doled out whatever weird and wonderful potions they hoped might do some good a hundred years ago. It hasn’t been used for God knows how long.”
    The room, with its counter, resembled a shop. An elaborate set of scales had gathered equal amounts of dust in its tarnished brass pans. Behind the counter, along two walls, were many rows of small drawers, each labelled with flaking gold lettering. Along the third wall, dusty-shouldered flasks of coloured glass sat on shelves. Next to these shelves was a door, its varnish like diseased skin. Veening lifted a hinged section of the counter, and Dart followed him through it. Veening opened the scabby door to reveal a walk-in cupboard. Dart’s two black suitcases sat on the floor next to a rusty bucket and a broom. Four iron hooks were screwed to the back wall.
    “Now then,” Veening said. “Watch.” He went into the cupboard and tugged the third hook from the left. It came away from the wall, attached to a short length of cord. He leaned his shoulder against the wall and it swung open. “Voilà!” he said, unable to keep the pride from his voice. “Do come in.”
    It was a room about three metres square, containing an ancient bureau, a chair, and a sort of couch covered in a green blanket. In one corner, close to a small leaded window, stood a gadget that looked like a bicycle converted into a device for torture. It had neither wheels nor handlebars; the saddle was perched on top of a triangular metal frame. The chain connected the pedals to a dynamo, from which dangled two electrical cables with crocodile clips at their ends.
    “A battery recharger,” Dart murmured. “My God.” He raised the lamp and looked around the room. “This is fantastic, Albert.”
    “It’s acceptable, is it? This used to be the dispenser’s office. The fake cupboard is something Sister Agatha and I cobbled together. Carpentry is one of her many skills, I’ve discovered.”
    “You must have worked incredibly fast. I’m amazed.”
    Albert Veening looked slightly embarrassed. “Actually,” he said, “we did most of this six months ago. For another young man like you. But he didn’t make it.”
    “What happened to him?”
    “I’ve no idea. Now then, there’s a battery under the bureau, see? And just outside that window there’s a lightning conductor. I understand that the kind of antenna you’ll be using can be hooked up to it.”
    “You seem well up on these technical matters, Albert.”
    “Not at all. I had a call from a mutual friend the other day. We discussed what you would need. I’m glad that it’s suitable.”
    Dart fetched in the two suitcases. He lifted one onto the bureau and opened it. From the left-hand compartment he took out the headset, the Morse key, and the leads. He looked at his watch again.
    “Albert, I don’t want to seem rude, but it’s probably best if you’re not here when I do this.”
    “Of course. I’ll wait outside. I imagine you’ll want me to guide you back.”
    “God, yes.”
    “Fine,” Veening said. “I’ll take the lamp. There are two just like it in the right-hand bottom drawer of the desk, along with notepads and pencils.” He turned to go.
    Dart said, “Albert? You said just now you’d had a call from a mutual friend. Do you mean a telephone call?”
    “Yes.”
    “You’ve got a phone here? One that works?”
    Veening grinned. “Oh, yes. I’ll show you tomorrow. It’s a work of art.” He closed the concealed door behind him.
    Dart found the lamps and lit them both, placing one either side of the transceiver. He connected the Morse key and the battery leads and clipped the antenna to the lightning conductor. He switched the set on. The voltage meter lit up, its needle swinging across the dial all the way to fifteen. From his coat pocket he took a crystal disguised as an