Dangers in the Dark

He Knows Us, He Knows You 21.2

Everything was now relying on Selina and her key copying skills. While we waited, Bruce and I had been researching everything and anything we could find on Bunderslaw before we somehow infiltrated our way into the office.

After a couple of hours had passed, Alfred entered the room with a beige envelope that had Bruce's name scribbled on the front.

"This just, uh ... came for you by messenger, Master Bruce," Alfred said, placing the envelope in front of us.

"Thank you," Bruce said simply as I tried to contain my excitement.

"Right, well, I'll ... I'll just be off," Alfred replied, hands clasped behind his back as he went to turn to leave the room.

"Do you want company?" Bruce offered, making my head snap up. This whole situation was just getting riskier and riskier. "To identify Reggie."

"No, I don't think so. Best done alone," Alfred forced a wry smile.

"I'm sorry, Alfred," Bruce said quietly.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, too," I agreed, putting down the document I'd been reading. "It must be tough considering he was your friend."

"Just doesn't make sense," Alfred admitted. "Reggie topping himself like that."

"You said he fell out of a window," Bruce stated. "He might have been drinking, lost his balance."

"That is what the police have said," I added my two cents.

"No," Alfred shook his head instantly. "Reggie, he was a legend. He could be blind drunk and walk a tightrope. Doesn't matter what he was like in the end. I want to see he gets the proper send off."

Subtly, I glanced over at Bruce to see he looked just as guilty as I felt.

"I'll see you this evening, sir, miss," Alfred then excused himself with a solemn look on his face.

When I was sure that Alfred had left the house, the front leaving a resounding slam, I turned to Bruce.

"We have to tell him. He deserves to know the truth, Bruce," I said.

"I know," Bruce nodded, surprising me. I'd expected him to argue me on this. "I'll tell him soon. Let me find the right moment and let's find out more about the people that hired him."

"You sure you want to be the one to do this?" I asked.

"Yes. I should do it alone. This is my responsibility, Holly. You've got enough to worry about as it is," Bruce replied, bringing my thoughts back to the Ogre.

"If you change your mind, let me know," I offered a weak smile before getting up and stretching my arms above my head. "That from Selina?"

Bruce was silent for a moment as he opened the envelope and as he did so, a bronze key dropped out of it, a note attached to it.

"Hope you and Holly find what you need. Be careful – Selina," Bruce read.

"We should get going soon if we're going to make it to your company tour on time," I suggested, not prepared to waste much more time.

"You think we can pull this off?" Bruce asked, as he also got up from the sofa, pushing his papers back into a pile.

"We managed to get the key from the guy and he was wearing it," I reminded Bruce. "I doubt we'll get in and out without them realising what we're doing but I know that we can distract them long enough to get into the safe and see if there's anything worth knowing."

My words didn't come across as encouraging in the slightest, but we needed a sense of reality if we were going to pull this off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~