After 15 minutes of stair climbing, he came to the door of the manager's office. He knocked. He was allowed to enter, and was greeted by a secretary. The secretary asked him if he had an appointment, and Taylor told her that he did not, but that he was one of the musicians performing that day and needed to ask the manager a question immediately. She called into the main office and quickly got the boy approved. Taylor was allowed to enter.
The manager was a man with silver hair and dark eyes. He sat at his desk scribbling away furiously on a legal pad, and then turning to check something with whatever was on his computer screen. He stopped, however, when he saw Taylor. In a beautifully accented voice, he asked, "Yes, young man?"
"Yes, I was wondering if you knew the names of the people who are in your janitorial service?" Taylor asked.
The manager looked at him strangely. "Why, um, yes I do, but…why do you want to know those names?"
"Oh, well, it's kind of like I met this nice lady in the janitorial service and she helped me out a lot and I was sort of wanting her name so that I could give her a thank-you card," Taylor said.
The manager smiled. "It's always nice to know that you young people of today still know the meaning of gratitude. But, it may be a little difficult to do so considering I don't know exactly who you are talking about…"
"Her last name is 'Wilcombe'. W-I-L-C-O-M-B-E. Do you suppose you could find that for me?" Taylor asked.
The manager confirmed that he could, and turned to his computer. He clicked on a few different buttons and then typed in a keyname. Suddenly a screenful of names came up. He scrolled until he was nearly to the bottom of the list when he found Wilcombe. "Her name is Rosalie Wilcombe. What exactly did she do for you?"
"She helped me find a place that I didn't know how to get to," Taylor said, smiling sweetly.
The manager smiled. "Of course. This is a big place, no?"
"Very big," Taylor agreed. "And very nice."
"Thank you," the manager agreed.
"Well, then, I best be off," Taylor said, standing. "Thank you, sir."
"You are very welcome." He stood up, shook Taylor's hand, and then dismissed him. After Taylor got back into the main office, he looked to the secretary.
"Excuse me, but do you know where I can go to page someone?" he asked.
"I do from here," she said in a heavily accented voice. "Who?"
"Um, Rosalie Wilcombe?"
"Okay," she said. She picked up the phone on her desk and said into the microphone, "Will Rosalie Wilcombe come to main office please? Rosalie Wilcombe, please come to main office."
She hung up. "Is that good?"
"That's fine. Thank you," Taylor said.
"You have seat to wait," she said, gesturing to a seat by the wall. He took it. A few minutes later, there was a knock.
The secretary said something in Austrian that Taylor supposed was 'Come in'. A woman stepped into the room, her graying dark hair pulled back in a bun and her clothes mussed. "Did someone page me?" she asked in a small voice.
"Yes. This boy page you," the secretary said. Taylor stood up.
"Hello, Mrs. Wilcombe. I've come to speak to you about something very important…"