In High Places

The deputy wondered if heroism were the kind of thing he would remember a son of his own by. But the Minister had said much the same thing before, to others as well as himself, seeming unaware of repetition. Sometimes Harvey Warrender would describe in graphic detail the blazing air battle in which his son had died until it was hard to be sure where sorrow ended and hero worship began. At times there had been comments around Ottawa on the subject, though most of them charitable. Grief did strange things, Claude Hess thought, even sometimes producing a parody of grief. He was glad when his superior’s tone became more businesslike.

‘All right,’ Warrender said, ‘let’s talk about this Vancouver thing. One thing I want to be sure of is that we’re absolutely in the clear legally. That’s important.’

‘Yes, I know.’ Hess nodded sagely, then touched the file he had brought in. ‘I’ve gone over the reports again, sir, and I’m sure there’s nothing you need worry about. Only one thing concerns me a little.’

‘The publicity?’

‘No; I think you’ll have to expect that.’ Actually the publicity had bothered Hess, who had been convinced that political pressure would cause the Government to back down on enforcement of the Immigration Act, as had happened many times before. Apparently, though, he had been wrong. Now he continued, ‘What I was thinking is that we don’t have a senior man in Vancouver right now. Williamson, our district superintendent, is on sick leave and it may be several months before he’s back, if at all.’

‘Yes,’ Warrender said. He lit a cigarette, offering one to the deputy minister, who accepted it. ‘I remember now.’

‘In the ordinary way I wouldn’t get concerned; but if the pressure builds up, as it may, I’d like to have someone out there I can rely on personally, and who can handle the Press.’

‘I presume you’ve something in mind.’

‘Yes.’ Hess had been thinking quickly. The decision to stand firm had pleased him. Warrender was eccentric at times, but Hess believed in loyalty, and now he must protect his Minister’s position in every way possible. He said thoughtfully, ‘I could shuffle some responsibilities here and relieve one of my deputy directors. Then he could take charge in Vancouver -ostensibly until we know about Williamson, but actually to handle this specific case.’

‘I agree.’ Warrender nodded vigorously. ‘Who do you think should go?’

The deputy minister exhaled cigarette smoke. He was smiling slightly. ‘Kramer,’ he said slowly. ‘With your approval, sir, I’ll send Edgar Kramer.’

Chapter 4

In her apartment, restlessly, Milly Freedeman reviewed once more the events of the day. Why had she copied the photostat? What could she do with it, if anything? Where did her loyalty really lie?

She wished there could be an end to the conniving and manoeuvres in which she was obliged to share. As she had a day or two before, she considered leaving politics, abandoning James Howden, and beginning something new. She wondered if somewhere, anywhere, among any group of people, there was a sanctuary where intrigue never happened. On the whole, she doubted it.

The telephone’s ringing was an interruption. ‘Milly,’ Brian Richardson’s voice said briskly, ‘Raoul Lemieux – he’s a deputy in Trade and Commerce and a friend of mine – is starting a party. We’re both invited. How about it?’ ‘

Milly’s heart leapt. She asked impulsively, ‘Will it be gay?’ The party director chuckled. ‘Raoul’s parties usually get that way.’ ‘Noisy?’

‘Last time,’ Richardson said, ‘the neighbours called the police.’

‘Does he have music? Can we dance?’

‘There’s a stack of records; at Raoul’s, anything goes.’

‘I’ll come,’ Milly said. ‘Oh, please; I’ll come.’ ‘I’ll pick you up in half an hour.’ His voice sounded amused. She said impetuously, ‘Thank you, Brian; thank you.’ ‘You can thank me later.’ There was a click as the line went dead.

She knew just the dress that she would wear; it was crimson chiffon, a low-cut neck. Excitedly, with a feeling of release, she kicked her shoes across the living-room.

Part 8 Edgar Kramer

Chapter 1

In the thirty-six hours during which Edgar S. Kramer had been in Vancouver, he had come to two conclusions. First, he had decided there was no problem in the West Coast Headquarters of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration which he could not handle with ease. Second, he was dismally aware that a personal and embarrassing physical disability was steadily becoming worse.

In a square, functionally furnished office on the second storey of the department’s water-front Immigration Building, Edgar Kramer mentally debated both matters.

Kramer was a grey-eyed, spare man in his late forties, with wavy brown hair parted in the middle, rimless glasses, and an agile logician’s mind which had already taken him a long way, from a modest beginning, in government service. He was industrious, undeviatingly honest, and impartial in administering official regulations to the letter. He disliked sentiment, ‘inefficiency, and disrespect for rules and order. A colleague had once observed that, ‘Edgar would cut off his own mother’s pension if there was a comma out of place in the application.’ While exaggerated, the charge held a basis of truth, though it could equally well be said that Kramer would help his greatest enemy unstintingly if the regulations of his job required it.

He was married, without children, to a plain woman who ordered their home with a kind of colourless efficiency. She was already apartment hunting in sections of the city which she had decided were respectable and therefore suited to her husband’s government position.

In the higher civil service Edgar S. Kramer had become one of a few marked men, picked out – largely through ability, and partly by a knack of getting noticed – for advancement to higher things. In the Department of Immigration he was looked on as a dependable troubleshooter and it was a safe prediction that within a few years, allowing for promotions and retirements, he would be eligible for appointment as deputy minister.

Fully aware of this favoured position, and also exceedingly ambitious, Edgar Kramer sought constantly to safeguard and improve it. He had been delighted by the assignment to take charge temporarily in Vancouver, especially since learning that the Minister himself had approved his selection and would be watching results. For this reason alone, the personal problem which currently plagued him could not have been more untimely.

Stated simply, the problem was this: Edgar Kramer was obliged to urinate with annoying and humiliating frequency.

The urologist to whom his private physician had sent him a few weeks earlier had summed up the situation. ‘You are suffering from prostatism, Mr Kramer, and before it gets better it will have to get worse.’ The specialist had described the distressing symptoms: frequent daytime urination, a weakened stream, and, at night, nocturia – the need to relieve himself, interrupting sleep and leaving him tired and irritable next day.

He had asked how long it must go on, and the urologist had said sympathetically, ‘I’m afraid you must expect another two or three years until you reach the point where surgery is practical. When that happens we’ll do a resection which should make things more comfortable.’

It had been small consolation. Even more depressing was the thought that his superiors should leam he had contracted, prematurely, an old man’s disease. After all his efforts – the years of work and application, with reward finally in sight – he dreaded what such knowledge might do.

Trying to forget for a while, he returned to several ruled sheets of paper spread over the desk before him. On them, in a neat, precise hand, he had tabulated actions taken so far since his arrival in Vancouver, and those planned next. On the whole he had found the district headquarters well run and in good order. A few procedures, though, needed revision, including some tightening of discipline, and there was one other change he had made already.

It had occurred yesterday at lunchtime when he had sampled the meal distributed to prisoners in detention cells -the captured illegal entrants, dejectedly awaiting deportation overseas. To his annoyance, the food, though palatable, was neither hot nor of the same quality as served to himself earlier in the staff cafeteria. The fact that some of the deportees were living better than at any other time in their lives, and others might possibly be starving a few weeks hence, mattered not at all. Regulations on the treatment of prisoners were specific, and Edgar Kramer had sent for the senior cook, who proved to be a huge man, towering over the slight, spare superintendent. Kramer – never impressed by other people’s size – had administered a sharply severe reprimand and from now on, he was sure, any food for prisoners would be carefully prepared, and hot when they received it.

Now he began considering discipline. There had been some unpunctuality this morning in the general offices and he had noticed, too, a certain slackness in appearance of the uniformed officers. A careful dresser himself – his dark pinstriped suits were always well-pressed, with a folded white handkerchief in the breast pocket – he expected subordinates to maintain a similar standard. He began a notation, then uncomfortably became aware of the need, once again, to relieve himself. A glance at his watch revealed that it was barely fifteen minutes since the last time. He decided he would not… he would force himself to wait… He tried concentrating. Then, after a moment, sighing dispiritedly, he rose and left the office.

When he returned, the young stenographer who was serving as his secretary for the time being, was waiting in his office. Kramer wondered if the girl had noticed how many times he had been in and out, even though he had used a direct door to the corridor. Of course, he could always make excuses that he was going somewhere in the building… It might be necessary to do that soon… He must devise ways of escaping notice.

‘There’s a gentleman to see you, Mr Kramer,’ the girl announced. ‘A Mr Alan Maitland; he says he’s a lawyer.’

‘All right,’ Kramer said. He took off his rimless glasses to wipe them. ‘Bring him in, please.’

Alan Maitland had walked the half-mile from his office to the waterfront and his cheeks were flushed and ruddy from the cold wind outside. He wore no hat, only a\ light topcoat which he shrugged off as he entered. In one hand he carried a briefcase. ‘Good morning, Mr Kramer,’ Alan said. ‘It was good of you to see me without an appointment.’

‘I’m a public servant, Mr Maitland,’ Kramer said in his precise, punctilious voice. With a polite, formal smile he gestured Alan to a chair and sat down at the desk himself. ‘My office door is always open – within reason. What can I do for you?’

‘Perhaps your secretary told you,’ Alan said, ‘I’m a lawyer.’ Kramer nodded. ‘Yes.’ A young and inexperienced one, he thought. Edgar Kramer had seen many lawyers in his time and crossed swords with a few. Most had not impressed him.

‘I read about your assignment here a couple of days ago and decided to wait until you arrived.’ Alan was aware of feeling his way carefully, not wanting to antagonize this small man facing him, whose goodwill could be important. He had intended, at first, to approach the Immigration Department on behalf of Henri Duval as soon as possible following Christmas. But then, after he had spent an entire day reading immigration law and legal precedents, the evening papers of the twenty-sixth had carried a brief announcement that the Department of Immigration had named a new head to its Vancouver district. After talking it over with his partner Tom Lewis, who had also made a few discreet inquiries, they had decided – even at the loss of several precious days – to wait for the new appointee.