“Um, so what does that consist of, for you?” “Well, of course, aren’t we all?” Sam laughed, a little strained. “I’m Oliver,” he said, holding out his hand. He wore a grey duffle coat and carried a well-worn canvas satchel, distended with the shape of large books. Oliver approached with a friendly grin, brushing his hair away from his face as it tangled in the wind. The sky was beginning to clear, the clouds underlit by orange sodium light dispersing slowly as he watched, revealing the monolithic blackness of the night sky.Ī few minutes before eight, a young man, a little older than Oliver, walked into the gardens and stopped beside the statue, checking his watch. He had arrived in the park half-expecting to witness a drug deal, but when he got there, he’d realised that the location was far too open for that, especially in the early evening.Ī sudden breeze tugged at his long hair and beard. Oliver settled into a comfortable lean against the tree and folded his arms. He’d put that particular curiosity out of his mind, dismissing it as simply due to a freak, transitory reflection of signal down the tunnel, but it still nagged at him. He’d been reading an article he’d saved on his phone and noted with surprise the symbol for a new message appearing next to the symbol telling him he had no service. He’d been on a train that was waiting in the tunnel outside Exeter Central. The manner in which he’d received the message was puzzling too. Worded like a command, it read:Ĭome to Northernhay Gardens at 8pm tomorrow evening. He had first assumed that it was meant for someone else, but his phone wouldn’t show him the number that had sent the text, so he couldn’t reply to it. He saw no-one suspicious just office workers taking a short cut, glancing in passing at the well-maintained flower beds gangs of students making their rowdy way from their halls to the city centre, and himself.
Northernhay Gardens, a small arc of green space and stillness in the middle of the city, was quiet.
Oliver arrived early to stand behind a tree a couple of dozen paces from the statue, hoping to catch someone setting up some equipment or concealed cameras.
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