Goodbye, Mr Hollywood (IV)by John Escott

林雪

Tsawwassen was about twenty-three miles south of Vancouver. Nick drove there in his car the next morning for the one o

At Tsawwassen Nick drove his car on to the ferry. There were a lot of cars and crowds of people. Nick got out of his car and walked up and down the ship. He looked for a man with white hair but he didn

Soon the ferry began to move and Nick felt better. He found the ferry restaurant and got something to eat. More people came in. Nick looked at the faces of all the older men. Some had hats on， so he looked for somebody tall and thin， but there was nobody.

“Maybe he

Later， Nick walked around the ship again. Once， he thought he saw the man with white hair in the crowds， but he could not be sure.

Ninety minutes after leaving Tsawwassen， the ferry arrived at Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island， and Nick went back down to his car.

Swartz Bay was twenty miles north of Victoria. Nick drove quickly， and again， looked behind him every four or five minutes. Once， he saw a red car about two hundred yards behind him.

“Did I see that car on the road from Vancouver to Tsawwassen？” he thought.

He drove more slowly， but the red car still stayed two hundred yards behind him， and Nick couldn

Soon he was in the busy streets of Victoria， and Nick didn

behind him again.

Victoria was a city of gardens and beautiful old buildings. Nick likes Victoria very much， but today he wasn

He found the Empress Hotel， went inside and walked across to the desk.

“Can I help you？” a young man asked Nick.

“I

“Hutson？” said the young man. “Wait a minute.” He went away and came back. “Sorry， but there

Nick took something from his pocket. It was the photograph of Meg and her father， from the magazine. “This is her，” he said.

The young man looked at the picture. “Oh， right. You mean Howard Huston

“The tea room？” said Nick. “Where

The man with short white hair was tired. He couldn

When he drove into Victoria， the streets were busy， and suddenly he lost the blue car in front of him. Angrily， he drove around the city， past all the big hotels. “I must find him，” he said. “I must do it today.”

Then he saw the Empress Hotel， and in the street outside it， a blue car.

He drove past the hotel， left his car， and ran back down the street. He went across the road and walked past the downstairs windows. There was a big room with tables and chairs， and a lot of people. He looked carefully at all the faces.

“There she is！” he said suddenly.

There were two men with the girl. He couldn

“Mr Hollywood，” the man said， and smiled. “Goodbye， Mr Hollywood.” People in the street turned to look at him， but the man did not see them.

He walked up to the doors of the hotel and put a hand into his pocket. Inside， the gun was cold and hard.

（To be continued）

Think about the question：

Where did the man with short white hair see Meg Huston this time？

（吉林長(zhǎng)春 林 雪 選編）