Le sourire du pianiste n'a pas fléchi un instant.
"Je crois que ça marcherait, M. Cole, si vous vous méfiez de signer. J'ai le dossier ici" et elle a tiré un petit dossier brun avec une poignée de feuilles de papier blanc enfermées à l'intérieur.
« Vous accomplissez cette tâche modeste, je parle à notre Bienfaiteur, et nous nous réunissons de nouveau dans quelques jours pour réévaluer les perspectives de nous signer. » Un geste vers le papier a laissé entendre une teinte de sa propre insatisfaction, mais même son dégoût au document ne s'est pas révélé comme quelque chose d'élégant, son geste fluide et plutôt attrayant.
À condition qu'il n'y ait pas d'objection à ce nouvel accord, qu'elle demandera silencieusement avec un regard implicite de derrière ses spectacles de pitch-black, elle continue et ouvre le dossier, en jouant le contenu à travers la petite table.
"Récemment, un cambriolage s'est produit dans le Flit. Ce ne serait pas surprenant pour aucun Londonien, bien sûr: Flit est un refuge sur le toit pour toutes sortes de personnages peu savores, composé principalement de ponts abrupts et d'établissements de ramshakle au sommet des établissements réputés de Lower Flit et Doubt Street. Le Bienfaiteur, et d'autres parties d'importation dans la ville, ont pris un intérêt particulier à ce vol particulier, le vol d'une grande boîte de fer, un carré avec un côté de deux ou trois pieds, apparemment verrouillé plus serré que n'importe lequel des nombreux serruriers irréputables contactés ont été en mesure d'ouvrir." Elle fait un geste à une image en noir et blanc d'une grande boîte de fer, son avant doublé de cadenas encastrés, assis sur une table plutôt ornée. « La propriété, qui a été volée pendant un certain temps, est dans une zone légale plus grise que d'habitude dans la ville, et notre Bienfaiteur espère que vous serez prêt à la récupérer, auquel moment on m'a informé qu'il la retournera à ses propriétaires légitimes, probablement en échange d'articles ou de services auxquels je ne suis pas en mesure d'avoir accès. Nous espérons que vous trouverez cette mission moralement concionable, ainsi que particulièrement facile. » La pianiste riait de son rire sonoreux, la gaieté haut de gamme remplissant brièvement la pièce. « Comme je l'ai appris, il est assez difficile de cacher un objet aussi grand et lourd au sommet des toits des voleurs. Si vous avez besoin d'une motivation supplémentaire, j'ai été informé que le voleur inconnu est particulièrement accompli, et qu'il a en sa possession des objets volés de grande valeur, ce qui serait à vous de prendre, soit pour vous-même, soit de les revendre au constabulaire, comme c'est leur politique. »
Sa proposition s'est terminée à sa satisfaction, elle a coulé dans son siège, les documents et les photographies toujours assis sur la table. Elle a attendu avec un intérêt rapace pour une réponse, espérant clairement que ses nouvelles connaissances accepteraient.
Name: Spencer Cole
Age: 55
Physical Description: Exquisitely dressed in grey pin striped 3 piece suit, a perfectly tailored Egyptian cotton shirt and a Jaxon English bowler perched on his head, he is the epitome of style. Turning to fat in older age is a dominant gene in Spencer's family and combat this, he keeps a strict regime of running to giving him a taut sleek form which he moves with smooth purpose. Boots made of soft, velvet like leather clad his feet, a long chain leading to an elegant pocket watch mark and the mole skin briefcase mark him as a man of distinction.
Its often said that people dress to hide their flaws or accentuate their more desirable attributes and Spencer was no exception to this rule. He was by no means a hansom man, dour in expression, weak chin and a nose that was almost, but not entirely the wrong size for his face. Still, he was not without some positive physical attributes, he had been involved with several high profile women in his life, one of whom was a well know actress, none of them had ever lasted more then a year or more. They could never offer him what he really wanted.
Personality: Petty, ruthless and uncompromising, are some of the nicer adjectives used to describe Spencer. Most who have worked with him describe him as narcissistic, manipulative and abhorrent. Spencer's better personality traits were never encouraged to come out. A ruthless attitude were cultivated as a child and a cool intellect was nurtured. This upbringing has left Spencer some what distant and disinterested in others, that is unless he considers you of value. Accustomed to being deferred to he makes a difficult travelling companion and a formidably enemy.
Given his affluent family circumstances Spencer has never been require to do manual labour and Tabour, his equerry has always dealt with the more physical side of Spencer's business, not that there is a vast amount of that kind of work with the lifestyle he leads.
Ethics/Beliefs: Morality was never much of an issue for Spencer, in as much as he had never really had it instilled in him. Ruthlessness was an attribute that was nurtured, developed and grown , this ruthlessness which, today, Spencer wields like a weapon. At a very early age all of the Spencer children were encouraged to cheat, to be manipulative, to win at all costs. Winning, of course to most people, is a subjective matter, to Spencer it was his life force. Anything could be 'Won', people, property, favours, money, import rights, conversations. Wining is what drives him and the only unfair game that you ever play in life, is the game you lose....
Occupation/Talents: 30 years with the British Diplomatic Service has left Spencer jaded, frustrated and angry. He had been, what many would call lucky in his postings. Lucky in the first instance that his father purchased his commission with the Diplomatic Service and in the second instance that all his postings had given him unrestricted access to business leaders, politicians and affluent people who could ensure the ships from British Tobacco Ltd were not subjected to any formal inspections. Of course the fact that the Spencer family were the majority share holders in British Tobacco Ltd and subsidiaries were purely coincidental. Spencer always wanted to be more hands on with his family’s businesses but destroyed all chance of that after the accident.
His real talents lay with people, he could manipulate them and bend them to his will, subtly of course, none of this crass violence that people seem to revile in these days. Far from disliking people who resisted him, he respected them for it, he even liked some of them. Not that it would stop him trying to use them to his advantage in one way or another.
Heart's Desire: A child. A male heir to carry on his work and his genes to the next generation. There really isn't much more to it, he does not need anything material, he has no need of a wife or friends, nothing more than a son.
History: Spencer is the eldest of 3 brothers, and there fore, as is right, the next in line to take up a position on the board of directors for the family’s business, except that to be a board member you first must have provided a male heir to the family, which for Spencer was an impossibility.
Growing up on the family estate as the eldest brother should have been relatively easy for Spencer, he had a full 16 months on his twin brothers and he exploited this age gap for many years. The twins grew fast and being twins, did everything together. It was a cause for concern with the family heads when Spencer's mother produced twins, the family had experienced problems in the past with twins, they had found it difficult to sever that unseen bond twins have. The Family heads decided on a different course of action with Twain and Evans, their tutors encouraged this bond and strengthened it over the years.
On the Twins 12th birthday the day was to be celebrated with a shoot. The preparations had taken weeks and the twins had each been presented with a brace of identical smooth bore shot guns. Shooting was a part of life at the family’s estate and by this age each of the children were proficient in handling guns.
Nobody knew how Twain managed to get separated from the group, and neither Spencer or Twain could remember exact details of the incident. Even today, when he thinks back on the weeks that followed a dull pain builds between his legs. When the doctor had made it clear that nothing could be done to rebuild the parts that were destroyed, Spencer was moved from the family estate into the town house. He was kept separate from the rest of the children and purchased a Commission in the Diplomatic Service.