Tin by Padraig Kenny

Author:Padraig Kenny
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chicken House

The lift doors were dark and baroque and covered in an ornate tracery of varnished briars and branches. Cormier pressed a brass button and the doors parted to reveal a small boy standing inside the lift wearing a brown uniform and a bellboy’s cap.

They entered the lift, and the boy piped up:

‘Where to, sir?’

‘Top floor, please,’ said Cormier.

The boy pressed a button and the doors rolled shut. There was a pause, then a clacking sound, a quick jolt, a sensation of rising, and they were off.

There was silence in the lift for a few moments. Cormier cleared his throat and tried to stare straight ahead, but something was nagging him. He looked at the boy, then looked away. Then, as if he couldn’t fight it any more, he looked at him again.

‘Pilkington, eh?’ he said.

‘That’s right, sir,’ said the boy.

‘Grade four. Am I right?’ said Cormier.

‘You are, sir. Grade four and proud of it, sir.’

There was another moment’s silence, broken only by the sound of the lift’s cogs and pulleys. Cormier lowered his head and sighed. He reached inside his coat and took out a spanner, and knelt beside the boy.

‘May I?’

‘Of course, sir,’ said the boy.

Cormier took the boy’s right arm and raised it. He gave it a quick up and down motion and grunted, ‘Knew it.’

He unbuttoned the boy’s jacket and took out his right arm and tightened a nut on his left shoulder. Throughout all of this the boy just looked straight ahead. When he seemed satisfied, Cormier told the boy to lift his arm up and down. The boy did as he was told, and Cormier took a small can from inside his jacket and oiled the boy’s shoulder and elbow.

‘Now,’ said Cormier. The boy lifted his arm up and down without looking at him.

‘Spotted it as soon as I came in,’ muttered Cormier, looking at the floor. He seemed almost embarrassed. The boy simply blinked and looked vacantly straight ahead as Cormier buttoned his jacket back up.

The lift shuddered to a halt, and the doors opened.

‘Fifth floor,’ announced the boy.

They all stepped out of the lift, and Cormier gave a quick sharp bow and thanked the boy. As they walked along the hallway, Rob leant into Jack and whispered, ‘Did you see that boy’s eyebrows? They were well proper.’

A small girl in a pale-grey dress glided past them carrying a tray filled with envelopes. Rob watched her go. Jack had to turn him around and gently nudge him along the corridor. They hadn’t gone far when Cormier took a swift right to face a wooden door. There was a gold plaque on the door with the name EDGAR HIBBERT, CHIEF COMMISSIONER.

Cormier hammered the door with the heel of his fist, then, without waiting for a reply, he stormed straight in.

They entered the room to find a man sitting behind a large desk in front of a window. The man looked to be in his fifties. He was small, grey and balding. He wore spectacles and a dark grey suit, and he blinked at them in utter astonishment.

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