"Fear a Painted Devil"
Prologue
Which V? Movie V. Action V.
Rated G
V and Evey team up to solve a mystery.
V sat at his piano. She was not speaking to him tonight. He rested his gloved fingers on her keys, but she did not respond to his caress. Tonight her silence suggested that this was a greater problem than he thought. Behind him he heard a door open. Evey. He sighed, pulled the piano cover over the silent keys, and then turned to acknowledge her.
"V. Are you going out tonight?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Well, you are wearing your hat and cape, and I can see knives on your belt. I didn't figure you were wearing them for me. Will you be gone all night?"
He sighed again. "Evey. I can't stay home with you every night. There are important things that must be done. Some of them only I can do. Tonight, though…" He was unable to keep the trouble out of his voice.
"You can tell me," Evey said. "Let me help."
Let her help? The thought had not crossed his mind, yet…now that she had offered, a myriad of possibilities opened up. V stood and pushed the bench back under the piano. Later. There will be time for music later. "Perhaps you can help. There is a good man who may be suffering right now. His name is Desmond Abernathy and he is the curator of the British Museum. I must go there tonight."
"Isn't it after hours? Will he be there? Does he know you?" this last question was asked with widened eyes.
"No. He doesn't know me, but I know him. I have been watching him now for several years. Last night he discovered that some of the men on his security team have been lifting artifacts. He went downtown this morning to file a report. Within hours Peter Creedy was at the museum, in his office."
"Oh, so there will be an investigation."
V paused; he wondered if he told her the truth she might become too frightened to help. Part of him just wanted to send her to bed like a child, but that would not be fair to her. She must be given the opportunity to get over her fears. Face them. And I need her. It was hard to admit, for he prided himself on his proficiency. She can help me do what is impossible by myself. "No, Evey. I believe that Mr. Creedy paid Mr. Abernathy a visit to threaten him. I can't be sure. My video is perfect from all angles, but Mr. Creedy used a scrambler for the audio and it appears to have not merely scrambled my bug, but destroyed its circuits. I have to go back and place another one."
"Oh. That will be dangerous," she said.
"It's always dangerous, Evey, but I have been in and out of the British Museum many more times than I can count," he said, lifting the mask to gaze pointedly around the Gallery, "And I can assure you I am competent in this area."
"Will you be gone long?"
"Probably. If you want to help me, you are welcome to watch in the surveillance room. In two hours I will look up at the camera, and wave to you."
She gasped. "You will? You will let me go in there? Use your cameras?"
V nodded, suppressed a twinge of doubt. I'm doing the right thing. Even if she sees me captured, injured, or worse, she will know why I have not returned. That must be better than not knowing, waiting for my return, wondering what has happened to me, thinking I have abandoned her. "Come with me and I will show you how to use the cameras and the screens."
He led her down to the surveillance room, gave her several minutes to examine the screens. When she had taken in the array, he showed her the computer, sat her down in his chair, and gave her his password.
"Your password, V?" She shook her head, incredulous. "I can't believe I am doing this."
"With this password you can access any camera in London." He typed it in. "Don't spend too much time watching bedrooms," he teased.
"Ach! Really! Is that what you do? Watch the bedrooms of the party members?" She laughed uncomfortably.
"Not too much time. Really." He typed in the code for the Museum. "Now, Evey I do not give you this responsibility lightly. I need you to understand that I want you to listen to me on this." He handed her a tiny earpiece. She stared at it in her hand.
"I put this in my ear, and I can hear you with it?"
"Exactly. I will be asking you to switch camera views and tell me what you see. Together we can discover what is going on at the museum. I will be listening on mine. Here is your microphone." He picked up a small electronic microphone and placed it on top of the monitor.
"I must go now. Watch the clock. I should be in his office in two hours. The cameras for the museum are," he checked the list on the screen, "numbers 1296 to 1445. You can go here," he tapped a key," and each camera has a name related to the different areas of the museum. I will ask you to switch by category, not by their numbers. I know you can do this, Eve. It will help me immensely." He bent down to see her face, was relieved to see that she did not appear uneasy. She looked determined, engaged. Good.
"Good luck, V. Be careful." She seemed fascinated by the screens; she didn't even look up at him.
He smiled under the mask. "I always am," he said and turned on his heel.
