rang as we entered. The plain neatness and organization we had
seen in the window was maintained inside. There were tidy
racks and shelves and bins. A wide-plank wooden floor. There
was a faint smell of machine oil. The place was quiet. No
customers. There was a guy behind the counter, maybe sixty
years old, maybe seventy. He was looking at us, alerted by the
bell. He was medium height and slender and a little stooped. He
wore round eyeglasses and a grey cardigan sweater. They made
him look intelligent, but they also made him look like he wasn’t
accustomed to handling anything bigger than a small screwdriver.
They made him look like selling tools was a definite
second best to being at a university, teaching a course about
their design and their history and their development.
‘May I help you?’ he asked.
‘We’re here about the stolen wrecking bar,’ I said. ‘Or the
stolen crowbar, if that’s what you prefer to call it.’
He nodded.
‘Crowbar,’ he said. ‘Wrecking bar is a little uncouth, in my
opinion.’
‘OK, we’re here about the stolen crowbar,’ I said.
He smiled, briefly. ‘You’re the army. Has martial law been
declared?’
‘We have a parallel inquiry,’ Summer said.
‘Are you military police?’
‘Yes,’ Summer said. She told him our names and ranks. He
reciprocated with his own name, which matched the sign above
his door.
‘We need some background,’ I said. ‘About the crowbar
market.’
He made a face like he was interested, but not very excited.
It was like asking a forensics guy about fingerprinting instead
of DNA. I got the impression that crowbar development had
slowed to a halt a long time ago.
252
‘Where can I start?’ he said.
‘How many different sorts are there?’
‘Dozens,’ he said. ‘There are at least six manufacturers that
I would consider dealing with myself. And plenty of others I
wouldn’t.’
I looked around the store. ‘Because you only carry quality
stuff.’
‘Exactly,’ he said. ‘I can’t compete with the big chains on price
alone. So I have to offer absolutely top quality and service.’
‘Niche marketing,’! said.
He nodded again.
‘Low-end crowbars would come from China,’ he said. ‘Mass
produced, cast iron, wrought iron, low-grade forged steel. I
wouldn’t be interested.’
‘So what do you carry?’
‘I import a few titanium crowbars from Europe,’ he said. ‘Very
expensive, but very strong. More importantly, very light. They
were designed for police and firefighters. Or for underwater
work, where corrosion would otherwise be an issue. Or for
anyone else that needs something small and durable and easily
portable.’
‘But it wasn’t one of those that was stolen.’
The old guy shook his head. ‘No, the titanium bars are
specialist items. The others I offer are slightly more mainstream.’
‘And what are those?’
‘This is a small store,’ he said. ‘I have to choose what I carry
very carefully. Which in some ways is a burden, but which
is also a delight, because choice is very liberating. These
decisions are mine, and mine alone. So obviously, for a crowbar,
I would choose high carbon chromium steel. Then the
question is, should it be single-tempered or double-tempered?
My honest preference would always be double-tempered, for
strength. And I would want the claws to be very slim, for utility,
and therefore case-hardened, for safety. That could be a lifesaver,
in some situations. Imagine a man on a high roof beam,
whose claw shattered. He’d fall off.’
‘I guess he would,’ I said. ‘So, the right steel, double-tempered,
with the hard claws. What did you pick?’
253
‘Well, actually I compromised with one of the items I carry.
My preferred manufacturer won’t make anything shorter than
eighteen inches. But I needed a twelve-inch, obviously.’
I must have looked blank.
‘For studs and joists,’ the old guy said. ‘If you’re working
inside sixteen-inch centres, you can’t use an eighteen-inch bar,
can you?’
‘I guess not,’ I said.
‘So I take a twelve-inch with a half-inch section from one
source, even though it’s only single-tempered. I think it’s
satisfactory., though. In terms of strength. With only twelve
inches of leverage, the force a person generates isn’t going to
overwhelm it.’
‘OK,’ I said.