Woodpecker

Chapter 10 / Ben 2 / 3 x 13 Days Left

"Yes, I've thought about that too. The only explanation that is even vaguely plausible is that they didn't know it was missing. They needed to find out what I knew so they could manage the situation. I'm pretty damn sure that now they'll be trying to find the source of the leak."

"And what about this?" Izzy says pointing to the strange handwritten code at the bottom of the leaked document.

"Well spotted. It's a GPS coordinate. It's a field down in Somerset. I've stood in that field five times in the last ten months and for the life of me I can't see what the hell it might have to do with any type of secret government project. I'm going back tomorrow with a metal detector to try again."

"Ben the detectorist," Izzy smiles, mocking him.

"Yes, well I have to do something. It's driving me crazy."

"And what about Mawson. Have you approached him since?"

"I've tried several times, but I'm persona non grata. His secretary takes my messages politely enough and then nothing. I've noticed that I'm not getting invited to press briefings as often as I used to either."

"Oh dear! That must be a blow to the Erwin ego."

"Izzy, it's not funny."

"I know. I'm sorry Ben. It's a long shot but have you checked company house for any new companies registered in the last year that are connected with the name starling?"

"Yes, I've checked everything. Starling. Sturnus vulgaris. Everything I can think of and cross checked for any links to Mawson or the government. But there's nothing. I don't think they're that stupid."

"Well, they wouldn't be the first," says Izzy, and she is right. Over the years it had amazed them both how sloppy even government officials could be in covering their trails.

"I'm at a dead-end Izzy, but somehow I can't help but plough forward. But into what?"

"Look can I take these?" she points to the copies of Ben's notes and the memo on the table. "I can take another look over them and maybe come up with some ideas."

"That would be great Izzy. Maybe I missed something." He took a long sip of his beer and his mind which had been focused on telling Izzy everything he knew about Project Starling suddenly drifts back to the solitary, lonely grief he feels for Sarah.

Izzy knows her friend too well, "Is there something else troubling you Ben?"

He thinks about the question carefully and how he might answer. Whether he would answer at all. There was something adolescent and effete about his feelings which embarrasses him. A feeling like after a fling had ended with them both agreeing never to see each other again. When explained their relationship might from the outside be judged not deep enough for sympathy. How could something so superficial carry such deep significance? He doesn't want anyone's pity anyway. No. This is a grief that Ben must face alone. A grief that even this man of words cannot easily describe or explain with lexicon. This is a solitary grief that I choose. Separate and the same as all grief. These words materialize in his mind as if spoken by another. He knows them though to be his own.

"No everything's fine", He eventually says. "Let's have another pint."

******

The next day Ben spends the morning packing his suitcase. He's due to fly to France the next morning to cover an important meeting of world leaders discussing foreign aid. It isn't the sort of job he would normally go for, but things had been lean since he started the Project Starling investigation and he needed to stay in the game. Reluctantly he'd agreed to do it. Maybe a week away in Paris might clear my mind, he thought. He never needed much for these trips and he chucked everything unfolded into his small cabin bag. His laptop, camera, and plentiful notepads and pens, he always carried separately and always about his person. This was even more important now given the strange goings on around the investigation.