condensed master

Will Bonner
the side of the hill, it's construction dwarfed by large thick wooden piers some
twelve feet in height supporting it's weight. Driving between the supports Margaret
parked the car under the house. Will got out and looked back through the densely
packed trees which completely screened the house from the road.
They entered the house from underneath after climbing two sets of wooden
stairs. He was beginning to see the advantages with regard to it's security. At first
glance, the inside of the house appeared much larger than he had anticipated. Most
of the doors were open revealing two bedrooms, a kitchen, a small washroom and
a large open plan dining and lounge. Glass doors opened out on to a six foot wide
balcony that spanned the length of the house looking out high into the tree tops.
"How did you manage to find this property? Is it rented?"
"No, it belongs to my father, he built it when he was a young man working up
here. My mother died a few years ago and he's lived down in the city since then,
he leaves it up to me to keep the property in liveable condition. I have a place
close to him and spend half my time there and half up here." She stopped and
turned. "Here we go again talking about personal matters, we'll have to get down
to why we came here in the first place. I've prepared something to eat, we can
start talking then."
"You mean the interrogation?" The meal left very much to be desired. She
could take a few lessons from Dorothy. "Shall we get started then?"
"No not yet, it will only take a few minutes to finish here, we can take our
coffee out on to the deck."
"But it's dark and cool out there." A sudden look of realization came over her
face. "You think that the conversation will be recorded. I can assure you that it
won't be, I can also see now why you didn't discuss anything in the car. You've
been sizing me up, trying to decide whether to trust me or not."
"I don't trust anybody. You're a government agent, worse still, an agent whose
in charge of other agents. I told you in the car when we met at Heathmont I like
to call a spade a spade, so let's use the right term shall we? You are paid to spy
and you control other spies."
"We're not going to fall out are we?"
"No, back at the coffee shop in St. Kilda we shook hands agreeing to be
straightforward with each other. I'm being just that right now, and I'd like you to
appreciate that."
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