THE RENDEZVOUS

Episode 50 in the Lymp Duhdashian series

After a short circuitous route around beautiful Davos, Frank was satisfied that they were not being followed. He asked the driver to drop them at the Hilton Garden Inn Hotel where they gathered their belongings together and arranged for a hire car to be delivered to the discreet car park. Frank used one of his many aliases and passports, but nobody was alarmed because something very odd was happening in Davos. People were anxious to leave and the hotel lobby was full of people settling their bills and making hasty travel arrangements.

“Do you reckon they have had a bomb threat or something?” whispered Olympia when they were waiting for the elevator. “Everyone looks terrified!” Frank considered this possibility for a few seconds. “No. I would have been alerted if that were the case, Lymp.” as they waited for numerous people to vacate the lift. Everyone was leaving the hotel, but the atmosphere was strangely hushed.

The confusion was great cover. Nobody gave them a second glance as they discreetly left Davos, just as a fresh fall of snow turned that lovely Alpine village into the picture postcard place it had been all the days of its quiet history.

An era was coming to an end. You could sense it. The Emperor was naked, just as Olympia had said at the end of her speech. There was nothing left for the members of the World Economic Forum to do, except crawl away to consider how misguided and deluded the whole climate alarmist episode had been. There was news on the car radio about Jacinda Ardern’s resignation.

Nobody in the car believed a word of the reports. She has been ordered to resign, was the consensus of opinion. It was as strange as the disintegration of events at Davos.

The drive to Saint Malo in Brittany was through some of the most beautiful countryside of Europe, but sunset was soon denying them a view as they sped on through the night. “ETA around 3am!” said Frank as he set the SatNav.

“Do you think it was enough?” asked Olympia, referring to her speech at WEF Davos. Khan looked surprised for a moment. Was ‘madam’ showing signs of self-doubt? Surely not! “It was massive, Lymp!” he reassured her, “It was stunning and it hit them like a bulldozer, right in the very foundations of their lunacy!” Olympia had an expression of fragility on her face, showing how tired she really was. She settled back in the comfortable rear of the car and closed her eyes. Khan, sitting in the passenger seat, glanced at Frank who observed Olympia briefly, through the rear view mirror. He winked at Khan. “The chameleon shows her true colours very rarely, mate!” and he switched off the radio. “Let the world get by without us for a bit.” he decided.

Diamond, Pru and Dave were dining in La Dolce Vita Italian restaurant in Saint Malo around 7pm that evening when Diamond’s iPhone rang. The caller ID announced the Estate Agent and Diamond took the call.

“Hello, Ms Duhdashian!” came the greeting. “Some very strange news, I am sorry to say!” and Diamond waited, a little concerned. “Really? Like what?” and she switched the phone to speaker so that her companions could hear the conversation.

The Estate Agent recounted a very odd tale. Apparently, he had taken his potential buyers to view the town house in Kensington and they had found a strange man dozing in the lounge with a half tumbler of whisky on the coffee table and his feet up on the chaise longue. A quick call to the police had seen the man swiftly arrested and removed from the property after a brief struggle, involving brandished firearms and a tazer. Dave and Pru gasped. Diamond was absolutely incandescent! “What the fuck?” she reacted, completely stunned.
“I have just returned from giving a statement at Scotland Yard!” said the Estate Agent, “It has been most disturbing!”
”Who was he?” asked Diamond. “A burglar?” and the Estate Agent was not able to give her any further details. “The detectives at Scotland Yard will be getting in touch with you, I presume.” was all he could offer in explanation. He said that there was no sign of a break-in and the man appeared to be of eastern European extraction, well dressed and somewhat inebriated. The police had festooned the front of the property with yellow and black tape. Paparazzi had been alerted, presumably by the neighbours, and overall, the Estate Agent was glad to have finally extricated himself from the whole affair. He had locked up the house and reactivated the alarm system. He assured Diamond that nothing had been damaged, but the potential buyers had been thoroughly disenchanted with continuing to view the property and were also giving statements to the police, reluctantly.

Resuming her meal, Diamond was satisfied that her home was secure and undamaged. Undoubtedly all would be revealed in time, though she was perplexed about how this stranger had gained access to the house.

Dave and Pru changed the subject, chatting excitedly about the news from Davos. “It doesn’t look good, does it?” Pru commented. “Old Schwab all weak and fragile, no sign of Soros or Bill Gates and rumours that half the invitees failed to attend. It’s gone a bit pear-shaped, wouldn’t you think?” and Dave nodded.

Pru was scrolling through Twitter and came across some staged footage of Greta Thunberg’s arrest. “Sloppy!” she giggled and showed her companions the brief video.

For a brief moment it felt as if the wheels were coming off the Climate Alarmists’ bus, much to the delight of the little table of friends. “What time are we expecting the others to arrive?” asked Dave, consulting the tide charts. Diamond calculated that if the speech finished by 2pm that afternoon, then Khan, Frank and Olympia would be arriving in Saint Malo around 2am, Thursday at the earliest.

“Excellent!” said Dave, estimating that he could put to sea by lunchtime if all went well.

He raised his glass and they chorused “Cheers!” and began to sing: