Point Blanc, The Graphic Novel ( PDFDrive )

ROSCOE ELECTRONICS, NEW YORK Helen, did you remember to call L ondon? I spoke to Alan Patch it through to my car, would you? I’m Blunt’s office on my way to lunch with yesterday af ternoon, senator andrews. Mr Roscoe. He wasn’t I’ll take my priv ate av ailable, but elev ator. I’ve arranged a call f or later today. Very good, sir. Your chauffeur is waiting f or you in the lobby. great. Tell him I’ll be down as f ast as I can.



BROOKLAND SCHOOL, LONDON Hey, Alex! Hold on! are you doing Alex, are anything tonight? you ok ay? I’ve hardly seen you yeah. all week, and Double french you seem- and history. Sorry, Sab ina. I’m fine. I’m s orry. B ored, more like. It’s not being able to tell anyone, you know? Having all my friends think I was off for two weeks with flu, that I’m some pampered idiot… It’s driving You can’t wait me mad. f or your secret agent beeper to go off again, that’s your troub l e.

I told you, it’s not just you I’m not a spy. who isn’t allowed It would be more to talk about it, exciting than double remember? homework, though. I had to sign… A nyway… Sabina? What is it? That man in the Skoda’ s The drug dealer. here again. You know Lucy Stiles A nyway, was beaten up the I have to go. I’ll see you other day f or her t omorrow, lunch money? okay? And it went straight to Skoda. Hmmm… Somebody should d o something about him. Yeah. Sure. Take care! Things have been stolen, too. He’s poisoning this school.

PUTNEY BRIDGE, LONDON N ow where’s Skoda lives he going…? on a barge?

What’s he doing in there? Here goes nothing… E w.

Somebody should d o something about him. It’s a Maybe I should f loating drugs call the police. f actory…! … Or better yet…



Hey, where are you going? My D ad… Oh, right. of f you go, then. Don’t look down. Don’t look down. Don’t look down… *ulp*

Don’t look… …A -ha. Mmmf ! Thanks again, Smithers…

Well, this looks easy enough. Wow. So I said to ’im, if that’s straight I’m a D utchman… Too right.

Perf ect. Too f ast, too f ast…! Phew. All right, come on…

Steady, steady… Yes! How’d it Sold a hundred go today? quid’s worth. Mugs, B rilliant. the lot of ‘em. We’ll have the whole school- A ah! We’re sinking! What was that?

The door’ s jammed! We’re trapped! Ha ha! It’s working!

C rane operator, Who is that up there? this is base! What Identify yourself! the hell do you think you’re doing? Over! Hurry up, Alex… Yeah, yeah. Just Operator, lower let me get them to the hook! We believe the police station, there are people I’m not going- inside that boat! You are endangering their lives! I repeat, lower the hook! -A nywhere. Ulp.

…We have overlooked nothing! Thanks to my personal involvement and ef f orts, we have never been more successf ul. But we are not resting on our laurels. Oh no! A ny day now, we hope to announce another breakthrough! RIVERSIDE CONFERENCE CENTRE

*Kof! Kof!* What the…? Erm… Hello. Do you… I was just working on the c rime figures. Do you have an y I think there’s idea what you’ve been a drop. just don e?



POINT BLANC ANTHONY HOROWITZ Adapted by Antony Johnston Illustrated by Kanako Damerum & Yu z u r u Ta ka s a k i

PUTNEY POLICE STATION Good morning, Alex. Mr Crawford… Where i s everyone? Don’t ask silly Where did all the questions, Alex. I won dered why policemen go? This way, please. nobody would talk to me after they ran my name through the c omp uter. What about my Don’t worry, we’ve bike? I left it got it. And your by the bridge… sc hoolbooks. You can come with me, now. We’re leavin g.

Hang on, this isn’t the way home! Oh, well don e. With So where are observation skills like we going? that, you should be a secret agent. LIVERPOOL STREET The Royal & Only joking. Gen eral ban k… This is another secret entrance into MI6, isn’t it? If I told you, Alex, Going up. I’d have to kill you.

I hadn’t expected to see you again so soon. That’s just What on earth were The men in the boat what I was you thinking? You’ve will be in hosp ital going to say. done an en ormous amount of damage. You practically for mon ths. destroyed a two million And you c ould have pound conference killed the Home c en tre. Sec retary, Alex. It’s a mirac le *Sigh* no one was killed! They’re drug dealers. So we’ve disc overed. But the n ormal procedure is to c all 999. We were thinking of contacting you, anyway. We need you again. I couldn’t find a phone.

N o! I’m far An yway, enough behind suppose I’m not at school in terested? as it is! Tell me, Alex… How i s your housekeep er, Miss Starbright? She’s fin e. And you gave her a permanent visa, remember? R eally? Are you Of c ourse, just one quite sure? Dear me, telephone call could rectify that mistake… that sounds like a terrible mistake. All right. What is it this time? Come on, Alex. Why pretend you’re an ordin ary sc hoolboy any more?

This is Michael J. Roscoe, head of Roscoe Electronics, one of the largest companies in Americ a. Computers, videos, DVD players, mobile phones, washing machines… R oscoe was very rich, very influential- And very short-sighted, according to the news. He fell down a lift shaft a few weeks ago, didn’t he? It certainly seems to On the day R oscoe died, So why don’t have been a c areless an engineer called at you ask him? accident. The lift Roscoe Tower to check malfunctioned, R oscoe a defective cable. didn’t look where he was going, he fell into the shaft and died. But we’re not But the company that Oh, we’d like to. so sure. emp loyed him say there But he’s van ished was no defective cable without trac e. It’s and they never sent possible he was him to the tower. killed, and someone else took his place to set up R oscoe’s “ac c iden t”.

Well. I’m very The day before sorry about Mr he died, R oscoe made R oscoe. But what’s a personal call to it got to do this office, asking with me? for Mr Blunt. I met R oscoe at What did Cambridge University, he want? a long time ago. We became frien ds. Un fortun ately, I wasn’t here to take the c all. I arranged to sp eak with him the next day, but by then it was too late. I spoke to his And an only child. assistan t, and it he and R oscoe had a seems Mr R oscoe difficult relationship was very concerned after Mic hael divorc ed about his son, P aul. a few years ago. P aul is fourteen. P aul chose to P aul was doing live with his father, badly at sc hool. he was playing truant, but they didn’t hanging around with a really get on. bad c rowd, getting into trouble with I spoke to R oscoe from time to time, and the police… he was worried that P aul was getting out of c on trol. but there didn’t seem much he could d o.

So is that what This is General you want m e for? Viktor Ivan ov, To meet this boy, and talk to him about his ex-KGB. father’s death? Until last Dec ember No. he was head of the Foreign Intelligence Servic e and the second most p owerful man in R ussia, after the P resident. But something Was he a frien d happened to him, of R oscoe’s? too. A boating accident on the Blac k Sea. His boat exp loded, and nobody knows why. I doubt they ever met. But our Ivan ov c omp uters have thrown up one strange coincidence. also had a fourteen -year-old And Dimitry son, Dimitry. Ivanov definitely knew P aul R oscoe… Bec ause they went to the same sc hool. What was a They weren’t Russian boy in New York. doing at a sc hool in N ew York? Do you know what a finishing school is, Alex?

Isn’t that where rich people used to send their daughters, to learn table man n ers? That’s right. but this sc hool is for boys only, and not just ordin ary boys. The fees at It’s right on the Point Blanc F rench-Swiss border, are ten thousand in the French Alps. pounds a term. The name It’s a remarkable literally means place, as you can see. “White Point”. Built as the p rivate home of some lunatic in the Then the German s took it over in the Sec ond nineteenth century. World War, as a leisure centre for their senior When he died, staff. After that it fell it became an into disrep air… asylum. P oint Blanc takes … Until bought by in boys who have been its current owner, expelled from all the enigmatic principal their other schools. of Point Blanc There are only Ac ademy. ever six or seven pupils at a time. Dr Hugo Grief.

It’s been Of c ourse, they’ve established twenty kept the names years, and the client c on fiden tial. list is hard to But I can tell believe. you that it inc ludes the sons of an American Vice-President, a N obel Prize-winning scientist and a member of our own royal family. And Michael R oscoe Because I and General Ivanov… don’t believe in So it’s a coincidence. coincidence. Where others So what? Why are you so see coincidence, in terested? I see conspiracy. Do you really That’s my j ob. think this man Grief had something to do That’s not funny, Alex. with R oscoe and Ivanov dying? Why? Did they forget to pay the fees? R oscoe telephones me, worried about his son, and dies the next day. According to Russian N ow do you intelligence Ivanov was also see the link? worried about his son, and had a violen t argumen t with Dimitry a week before h e died.

You want me to g o His name is to this sc hool, don’t Sir David Friend. you? But how? I don’t And department have parents, and stores, art galleries, they were never ric h football teams… he’s in the same league as R osc oe. Very an yway. little happens in this country We’ve already without Sir David being arranged to give involved in some way. you a wealthy father. It won’t work. P eople must kn ow As in Friend’s that F riend doesn’t Sup ermarkets? have a son. We’ve c reated a false identity Expelled from Eton, shoplifting, for you. van dalism, drugs… Sir David simply doesn’t F rom this moment on you are Alex Friend, know what to do with you, Alex. the fourteen-year-old So he’s son of Sir David. enrolled you in Point Blanc. Not at all. he’s a very p rivate person, and you are the sort of son no father would want to talk about.

You have one week to And what do I memoriz e your c over story d o when I get and the family details. You’ll to the sc hool? be picked up next saturday from the F riend’s country estate in Lancashire. Simply find out If so, we’ll Sorry, Alex. everything you can. pull you out. they don’t allow It may be that P oint We just want games in the school. to be sure. But we’ll arran ge Blanc is perfectly all that before you ordin ary, and in go, don’t worry. fac t there was n o … connection between these deaths. In the meantime, we’ll have to do How will I get somethin g about in touch with you? your appearance. you don’t exac tly Have you made me look the p art. another Nintendo? …What?

I have dec ided I understand, to move the Gemin i Doc tor. Project into its But are you sure last phase. we’re ready? POINT BLANC ACADEMY, FRANCE With two Nevertheless, un satisfac tory the soon er we finish results in the last few months, we have this phase, the more chance of remaining… n o choice. un n otic ed. When is the final boy arrivin g? Alex Friend? I’m picking him up from England tomorrow. Besides the Exc ellen t. expense of arran gin g You will take him to P aris on the those terminations, someone may yet way here? connect the deaths of If that is your Ivanov and R oscoe… wish, Doctor. Though I doubt it. It is very muc h my wish, The CIA, MI6, even Mrs Stellenbosch. We can the KGB… Pah! They’re shadows of what they do the preliminary work there. Now, what about used to be. the Sprintz boy?

We still need a Hmmm… No, Sprintz few more days. Shall can stay with u s for I re mov e him, so that a f ew more days. it he and Alex aren’t here will be all right. at the same time? Alex Friend is Really? an excellent catch Su permarkets? f or us, you know. His f ather also has Very soon, we’ll the Prime Minister’s have Alex here at ear. I am sure his son the academy. And then, at last, the G emini will meet all our Project will be expectations. complet e.

Hello, Alex! LANCASHIRE What do you think of the cov er? I was told to blend in! Hello, There’s M r Smithers! nothing t o The combine harv est. harv ester’s great… except it’s April.

I hadn’t thought Have you of that! got me another The trouble is, Nintendo? I’m not really a field agent! Get it? *G roan* Anyway, I’m j olly No, that’s the glad to be working with problem. The Academy you again. Not of ten I get doesn’t allow games a teenager. M uch more of any sort, or even fun than the adults! M ind you, it’s compu ters. They supply been a bit tricky this time… all their ow n. Now, I’m told But not in a suit there’s a lot of snow like this. It’s highly up on P oint Blanc, so insulated, and also you’ll need this. bu llet- proof. Know what it is? Wow. I’ve been skiing bef ore, M r Smithers.

And these are ski goggles. But in case you have to be anywhere at night, they also have an inf rared mode. Just press the switch and you’ll be able to see f or twenty metres, even if there’s no moon. Now, you’re not allowed compu ters… but you are Absolu tely. allowed a Sony D iscman, M ay I suggest some provided all the CDs Beethov en? are classical. It conv erts the discman into an electric saw. The CD is diamond- edged. It’ll cut through just about anything! So while people are shooting at me in the middle of the night, I can listen to music? G reat.

There’s also a If you need help, just panic button. press fast forward three times. It will signal our Thank you, satellite, and we can come M r Smithers. and fast forward you out! Why so glum? Ah… I know what But you can’t hav e it! you want. No guns! Mr Blunt is adamant. He thinks you’re too you ng. Yes, well… Not too young I’ve given it some to get killed. thought and… They said you’d had your ear pierced, so I made Look, this is this. Be very careful just between you putting it in. and m e, Alex. I’m not sure Bringing the Mr Blunt would two pieces together approv e. activ ates the first stage. First stage of what?

The detonation. You see, it’s a small Just so long but powerful explosiv e. as it doesn’t blow Separating the pieces my ear off… again activates the second stage, Goodbye, Mr a ten-second Smithers. countdown. The blast will blow a hole in almost anything… or anyone. No, no, it’s perfectly saf e while you’re w earing it. Just don’t take it ou t until you need to destroy something. Good luck old chap! Come back in one piece. I really do enj oy having you around!

HAVERSTOCK HALL G ood morning! You must be Mr and Mrs Friend! I’m Mrs Stellenbosch, assistant director of the Academy!

Yes, well… He was expelled from E ton last year, and he’s been arrested f or shoplifting. I… I think dru gs might be involved. I’m at my wit’s end. We have a daughter, and she’s perf ect, but Alex just hangs around the house. He doesn’t read or show any interest in anything. I understand that Alex has been a great source of concern to you. I’m sure you’ve The Academy is our been great last resort. We’re parents. desperately hoping you But these can sort him out. modern children! It’s heart- breaking, What exactly the way some of do you… do? them behave! You’ve done the right thing, coming to us. The Academy has had a remarkable success rate over the past eleven years. We have our methods. When Alex comes home, he’ll be a completely dif f erent boy! Where i s Alex, by the way?

I’m here. Who wants to know? You will write to us, won’t you? D u nno. M aybe. Don’t w orry, M rs Friend. We’ll take care of him for you. Come along now, Alex! Think she f ell for it? Let’s hope so… for Alex’s sake.

We must make a refuelling stop here. PA R I S Whatev er. Welcome to P aris, Alex. This is the M arais D istrict.

And just up …The Hotel here is where Du Monde. we’re staying… The Academy ow ns it, of course. Yuck. What was that, Alex? I didn’t hear you. Nothing.

Bonsoir, I hope you are M adame Stellenbosch. not superstitious, I hope you had M onsieur Friend. a good journey No, why? f rom England. Bonsoir, Claude. Oui, a va. It is room thirteen, on the f irst f loor. I am sure you will f ind it most agreeable. The hotel has its We’ll eat at sev en. ow n restaurant, so we Why don’t you go and might as well eat here. f reshen u p af ter We don’t want to go the journey? out in the rain. And Alex… Well, if you’ll f orgive might I suggest me, you take inf ormality smarter clothes f or dinner? The French are a little f ar. inf ormal, but… …

Well, if they want a naughty boy …

…That’s what they’ll get. What? Hmmm. Dinner is in ten minutes, Alex. Don’t f orget to wear smart clothes!

Ah, Alex! Did you rest well? Come along, sit down. I’ve already Erm… No. Then you must ordered. What No, I don’t. let m e order will you have? f or you. G ar on! I’m not sure… Oh, do you speak French? Une soupe My cousin Oliv er’s a vegetarian. de moules, Well, he doesn’t et un biftek avec Some sou p know what he’s missing. pomme f rites, to start, and Would you like a drink? s’il vous pla t. then a steak. I’ve nev er met a boy who doesn’t like steak. Yeah, a coke.

So, you went to I visited Eton once. That’s Henry VI, E ton. What hou se I remember a statue… who founded Eton. were you in? of a king, perhaps. His statue’s in It was just through college yard. The Hopgarden. the main gate… But you didn’t like it there, did you? Why not? I didn’t like the u nif orm, I didn’t like the beaks and I didn’t like the ru les… always getting f ined by the pop, and- I’m af raid I don’t understand a w ord you’re saying. Beaks are the Yes, yes, No… teachers. enou gh. And is that why you set f ire to that was just P oppers are because I don’t kind of like the library? pref ects- like books.

7:05 PM What’s this? Mussel soup. Soupe I wo uld de moules. have preferred Heinz tomato. What? 7:10 PM …Lo ve abo ut the Alps is the feeling of solitude, and quiet. It’s unspo ilt by people, especially where the Academ y… …Co urse, I lo ve 7:20 PM B avaria as well, such 7:30 PM glorious fo rests and m ountains. I ski o n the Berchtesgadener o ften… …Was in Barcelona fo r the Festa de Gr cia. The deco ratio ns were - Alex, are yo u all right? You look very tired. Wo uld yo u like to go to bed?

Mm m ? o h… Yes. We do n’t need to leave No , paintings Yes, I think until midday tomorrow. are bo r- I should… Yo u’ll have tim e fo r nnh! a visit to the Louvre, if yo u’d like that. Would you like m e to come up with yo u? No … Just tired, I’ll be all right…