Goldfinger beckoned. The man came back across the floor. Goldfinger said, ‘His feet are the same, the outside edges of them. Oddjob, the mantelpiece.’ Goldfinger pointed at the heavy shelf of carved wood above the fireplace. It was about seven feet off the ground-six inches higher than the top of the Korean’s bowler hat.
‘Garch a har?’
‘Yes, take off your coat and hat.’ Goldfinger turned to Bond. ‘Poor chap’s got a cleft palate. I shouldn’t think there are many people who understand him beside me.’
Bond reflected how useful that would be, a slave who could only communicate with the world through his interpreter – better even than the deaf mutes of the harems, more tightly bound to his master, more secure.
Oddjob had taken off his coat and hat and placed them neatly on the floor. Now he rolled his trouser legs up to the knee and stood back in the wide well-planted stance of the judo expert. He looked as if a charging elephant wouldn’t put him off balance.
‘Better stand back, Mr Bond.’ The teeth glittered in the wide mouth. ‘This blow snaps a man’s neck like a daffodil.” Goldfinger drew aside the low settee with the drink tray. Now the Korean had a clear run. But he was only three long steps away. How could he possibly reach the high mantelpiece?
Bond watched, fascinated. Now the slanting eyes in the flat yellow mask were glinting with a fierce intentness. Faced by such a man, thought Bond, one could only go down on one’s knees and wait for death.
Goldfinger lifted his hand. The bunched toes in the polished soft leather shoes seemed to grip the ground. The Korean took one long crouching stride with knees well bent and then whirled off the ground. In mid-air his feet slapped together like a ballet dancer’s, but higher than a ballet dancer’s have ever reached, and then the body bent sideways and downwards and the right foot shot out like a piston. There came a crashing thud. Gracefully the body settled back down on the hands, now splayed on the floor, the elbows bent to take the weight and then straightened sharply to throw the man up and back on his feet.
Oddjob stood to attention. This time there was a gleam of triumph in his flat eyes as he looked at the three-inch jagged bite the edge of his foot had taken out of the mantelpiece.
Bond looked at the man in deep awe. And only two nights ago, he, Bond, had been working on his manual of unarmed combat! There was nothing, absolutely nothing, in all his reading, all his experience, to approach what he had just witnessed. This was not a man of flesh and blood. This was a living club, perhaps the most dangerous animal on the face of the earth. Bond had to do it, had to give homage to this uniquely dreadful person. He held out his hand.
‘Softly, Oddjob.’ Goldfinger’s voice was the crack of a whip.
The Korean bowed his head and took Bond’s hand in his. He kept his fingers straight and merely bent his thumb in a light clasp. It was like holding a piece of board. He released Bond’s hand and went to his neat pile of clothes.
‘Forgive me, Mr Bond, and I appreciate your gesture.’ Goldfinger’s face showed his approval. ‘But Oddjob doesn’t know his own strength – particularly when he is keyed up. And those hands are like machine-tools. He could have crushed your hand to pulp without meaning to. Now then,’ Oddjob had dressed and was standing respectfully at attention, ‘you did well, Oddjob. I’m glad to see you are in training. Here’ – Goldfinger took the cat from under his arm and tossed it to the Korean who caught it eagerly-‘I am tired of seeing this animal around. You may have it for dinner.’ The Korean’s eyes gleamed. ‘And tell them in the kitchen that we will have our own dinner at once.’
The Korean inclined his head sharply and turned away.
Bond hid his disgust. He realized that all this exhibition was simply a message to him, a warning, a light rap on the knuckles. It said, ‘You see my power, Mr Bond. I could easily have killed you or maimed you. Oddjob was giving an exhibition and you got in the way. I would certainly be innocent, and Oddjob would get off with a light sentence. Instead, the cat will be punished in your place. Bad luck on the cat, of course.’
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