05/A Dossier for Bond

Bond woke at around eleven the next day. He had slept the afternoon of the previous day away then spent the evening with Kate in the dinning room. The two sat in silence, Bond trying to crack a wise joke every half an hour to break Kate's ice, but, as he had told Leiter, it was too thick. She sat perfectly straight against the back of her chair in silence, her crystal eyes glaring at Bond. Kate left the dining room at around ten thirty in order to phone CSIS and get the dossiers. Bond lingered in the dinning hall for a half an hour longer then went up to his room and to bed.

As he sat up in his bed, he noticed two files lying on his nightstand. Both had names printed in block letters on their covers and both were relatively thin. He got up and went to the bathroom. He walked across the tiled floor to Kate's door. He listened first and heard nothing. He tried the handle and found the door unlocked. He opened it and stared into the dark room. From what he saw of it, the room looked like a mirror image of his. Even though it was another sunny day, Kate had closed the drapes, making the room as dark as night. Bond found no trace of the Ice Princess in the room. She must have gone out for an early lunch, Bond thought.

He closed the door and went back to his own room. He picked up the phone and called room service. "I'd like breakfast please," he said into the receiver, "Scrambled eggs, two cups of black coffee and some toast." The porter repeated his order back to him and hung up. As Bond waited for his breakfast to arrive, he took Desjardins' file and began to read. He went through the three pages of the man's life at least ten times, and by the time his breakfast arrived twenty minutes later, he decided that CSIS's file told him everything he already knew.

As Bond ate, he took Stallis' file and, with a pen resting above a napkin, began to read and take notes. Like he did with Desjardins' file, Bond went through the life of Stallis ten times. By the time he was finished his eggs and his last piece of toast, Bond had collected all he could from the file:

Name: Robert Stallis

Age:58

Birthplace: Corsica

Family-Wife, Odette de Winters (Deceased)

-Son, Michael Stallis (Deceased)

At school, proven as a brilliant scientist

Ran errands for the Bouquet Syndicate of Corsica (a crime family, so he know's the underworld, Bond thought)

Moved to Canada at the age of seventeen.

Married Odette at age 22

Started AVALANCE OILS at 32

Bought a chain of ice cream shops for his son

Bond copied down the address of the closest shops and sighed. He got up and went to the bathroom. He took a long, cold shower, thinking about SNOWBLINDE, Avalanche Oils and Stallis. Afterwards, he stood in front of the large mirror with only a towel attached around his waist. He gazed at his reflection, remembering how he got the scar on his right cheek. Yet his reverie was interrupted when Kate's door opened. She stood in the doorway wearing a pair of dirty, low cut jeans and a tight, white T-shirt. She was sweating and her skin was gleaming.

"Sorry." she said.

"I thought you went down for an early lunch." Bond said, "I didn't know that Ice Princesses liked to wear normal clothes."

"I went for an early morning hike." she said. "Did you get the files?"

"Yes." Bond said as he was leaving the bathroom. "Get cleaned up. We're going for ice cream."