The Order of Things Read Online Free

Centre.
    ‘NCAR?’
    ‘National Centre for Atmospheric Research. It’s the top institute for climate research in the States. Boulder, Colorado. Up among the ski slopes. Lucky Alois.’
    ‘And the Hadley Centre? How do you rate?’
    ‘We’re good, as good as NCAR. In fact in some respects we’re probably better. World class, whichever way you cut it.’
    ‘Is that why Bentner came on board?’
    ‘Partly, I guess so. The other reason was much simpler. The States had started to piss him off. These are his words, not mine. He thought it was a country full of kids. Press the right button and he’d bang on about them for hours. How greedy they were, how wasteful they were, how they never spared a thought for tomorrow. Huge cars, vast fridges, everyone grossly overweight. Before the drinking got out of hand, some of this stuff could be quite amusing, though we had to be careful about who was listening.’
    The Met Office, she said, attracted climatologists from every corner of the planet. Many of them were visiting Americans, aware of the Hadley Centre’s reputation and wanting to find out more. In the early days on the new Exeter site, Bentner would never pass up an opportunity to berate his ex-colleagues. As a nation, he was convinced they’d converted a crisis into a disaster, partly by hogging way more than their fair share of resources and partly by frustrating other countries’ attempts to rein in global warming.
    ‘He was right, of course,’ she said, ‘but that wasn’t the point. There was always something very biblical about Alois. He wasn’t just a climatologist, he was a prophet. One day, when he was being particularly obnoxious, I told him he belonged in the Old Testament. He loved that. It was one of the few times I heard him laugh.’
    ‘So what does this guy actually do ?’
    ‘He analyses climate impacts. His big speciality has always been trees. Forest ecosystems are often where you look first if you want to figure out what we’re doing to the planet. Every tree tells you a story, and I guess Alois made a friend of the trees pretty early on. He certainly prefers them to people.’
    Suttle smiled. He liked this woman. He liked her easy intelligence, her candour about Alois Bentner and the way the jargon of her trade, lightly Americanised, sat so sweetly on her lips.
    ‘But Bentner’s good?’
    ‘The best. That’s partly an issue of standards. He never puts up with bullshit. He can smell a half-baked theory within seconds. He’s truly rigorous, and in our business that matters. In the end we’re scientists not tree-huggers, though Alois always lays claim to both.’
    It was a neat phrase. Suttle wondered how many other times she’d used it.
    ‘And you’re his boss? Have I got that right?’
    ‘I run his team. Though Alois is a bit of a stranger to the team idea.’
    ‘So you indulge him?’
    ‘I cut him lots of slack. Always have done. There aren’t too many Alois Bentners in the world, and that’s maybe a good thing, but we’d struggle to replace him.’
    ‘And he knows that?’
    ‘Of course he does. In fact he was probably the first to tell me.’
    ‘A bully, then?’
    ‘Without question. With people like Alois you fight or flee. The ones who flee are off his radar. He likes the ones who fight.’
    ‘And you?’
    ‘I’m his boss. That’s supposed to make a difference.’
    ‘But you stand up to him?’
    ‘When it truly matters. Because that’s the only option. Otherwise I’d be the punchbag.’
    Suttle was thinking about the body on the bed.
    ‘Does he ever talk to you about his private life?’
    ‘Never. There’d be no point. In his view it wouldn’t be relevant.’
    ‘He never mentioned a girlfriend?’
    ‘Never.’
    ‘A woman called Harriet? Harriet Reilly?’
    A shake of the head this time. And then something close to a frown.
    ‘This is the woman I saw at his place?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘And you’re telling me they were friends?’
    ‘I’m asking you whether