Chapter 15

Mike was saying, “I don’t want to go back to that pub tonight, it's way too gloomy. Let’s make it a good one. We’re at the seaside and I fancy fish. And a decent white wine. A nice cool white wine. That place near the front we saw, you know opposite the ice cream place you fell in love with. The Kings something. They do fish.”

“They do steak and beer? I'm not eating fish.”

“What about fish pie? They do that.”

“That’s not a pie. A pie’s got meat and pastry and nice thick gravy and a proper great pie smell and of course chips. Loads of nice crispy chips. Those fish pies are covered with mash that’s all sticky.”

“That’s the cheese that makes it sticky. A great taste fish and cheese, don’t you think?”

“Nope. And I don’t want to drink white wine either.”

“OK…. they’ll do steak. All places do steak. I’ll call them and book.”

“You’d better check. If there’s no steak I’m not watching you eat fish and I don’t want pasta in case you’re thinking of suggesting it.”

“OK OK I’ll sort it out. You know your problem: you’ve got a narrow mind. You need to branch out as far as food is concerned. When we open our hotel we’re doing food in that dining room when it’s all smartened up and the menu will be eclectic.”

“Eclectic is it. That’s a smart word. You know my mind’s like a chicane. It bends and twists where it’s narrow and is a bit slow then widens out as I zoom away full of great ideas.”

“Bullshit more like.”

“Yeah whatever. At least I don’t drink white wine. So, now you’re wanting to be a hotelier, are you? That’s a sharp turnaround. And you’ve taken a liking to my bright ideas, haven’t you? See I do have 'em when I’m zooming away.”

“Just been thinking is all. Thinking that maybe you’re right and we do need a break. Take your opportunities and all that. The right thing to do etc….”

“OK I’ve got the message. Don’t go on. Just nice to hear you say I’m right. I’m going to savour that for a while. Maybe remind you now and again. Maybe even a lot so you don’t become too overbearing. So….you sort out our dinner table and I’ll track down Gary and have a word.”

Eddie said, “What is that thing you’ve got there? It’s all flat and it’s not a plaice.”

“Brill. Locally caught and just the best. You’d love it.”

“Don’t say that you know I wouldn’t. What are those brown things floating about in that sauce?”

“Brown shrimp in a Beurre Blanc sauce. Real tasty.”

“At least you’ve got chips. That’s something I suppose.”

“How’s the steak?”

“Big, thick, juicy and meaty. Well meaty. Smell it? Real good eh. Not at all fishy. And the sauce is a nice hot pepper one. Very good. Great in fact. It takes no chewing. Real quality.”

“That’s good. So we're all happy then. Tomorrow we’ve got to get hold of Jane Somerton. That’s a must. What we do is go up there at 8.30. Breakfast is always at nine. Doesn’t matter where you stay, the breakfast is full at nine. That’s the best time to catch her I’m sure. Going into breakfast.”

“What do we do? That doorman has our number and the reception is sure to be suspicious.”

“We flash our ICO cards and say we’re investigators investigating and we need to speak to Jane Somerton urgently.”

“Will that work?”

“Why not. Investigators needing to speak about personal urgent matters. Should do it.”

“Why did we not do that earlier then?”

“Because I thought we could simply lift the package from her room and be gone without any identities being given. The simple, clean way.”

“Yeah I can understand that. So we get up there and speak with her and she’ll just hand it over. Is that it?”

“Hopefully. We explain what happened. With the pickpocket and dropping the packet in her bag. You seeing him do it. How it’s really important and her having it puts her in danger. That should do it. The danger part. Don’t forget that pickpocket’s lurking around. We need to warn her of him.”

“Should we not be doing that now?”

“Don’t think so. She’ll be safe in the hotel. No, he’s a daytime operator. Scared of the dark. A slippery guy that doesn’t like aggravation too much. He’ll be around soon enough. He’s on his own so maybe he’ll try her room. That’s his bag. Pickpocket and breaking in. Non-personal. Maybe tomorrow. Which is why we get there early.”

“I had a word with Gary and he’s up for a sale. Can’t wait to get out in fact. He hates the place and it sure shows. He’s up for negotiation but suggested about a quarter of a mill might do it. You know I don't even know him but I worry about him. The way he beat up his son on the phone. I’m sure that was not him talking. That was the stress. I might have a drink with him sometime. Try to smooth him out a bit. If we’re going to buy the place he might just start to relax.”

“That’s a smart idea. The quarter of a mill - We’ll have that if we can get our deal done and enough extra to do the refurb. Maybe even some float money. You're right….hang on I know what you’re going to say and you’ve already said it. And you can beat me with it when you want. But you are. It makes sense. We can do it all with no loans and we’ll have somewhere to live. We each save our rent and we can dump that pit of a stinking office. If needs be we can still take the snaps. They must cheat heaps in the country. What d’you think?”

“You know what I think and I’m already zoom, zooming away.”

Andy Cronin had already drunk a quarter of the bottle by the time he found out Jane Somerton was staying at The Grand. That was enough to make him cap the bottle and hide it back in his bag. If that dragon Mavis found it he felt sure he would be out. And anyway from now on he needed to be right on it. No foggy brain. Those two detectives were way too slick and he’ll need all the advantage he can get if he’s to pull this off. He would have to remember to uncover that scent bottle in the morning to mask any lingering smell of booze.

He was thinking how best to get that packet. He didn’t fancy just approaching her. That was not his style and what if she refused. What would he do then? No, the best way would be to try and pinch it. Get it from her room. To do that he needed a key….or for her to let him in. Yes that would work, he thought. If he could manoeuvre things so that she let him in when he was inside he could do anything to make her hand it over. She’d give it to him alright. Why wouldn’t she? It meant nothing to her.

Andy thought he needed to get to The Grand early. 8.30 would do it. Not too early though. Lingering would raise suspicion. Yes 8.30 then he could catch Jane Somerton coming out of breakfast and follow her to her room. As she opened the door he would just push her in. Simple as that. He could be close to her coming up the stairs. She did not know him. She had no idea who he was. She would think he was just another guest. Small talk. That was it. That would help. Chat with her on the stairs. Isn’t it a nice day and nice hotel this. I’m on the same floor as you. Yeah all that sort of crap. Easy. That would be good. He would not need to mess with any deception at reception. He laughed out loud then put his hand over his mouth and looked at the door and giggled like a kid. He liked that. Deception at reception, what a laugh. If it all went sweet he would only need George to keep those detectives away until he got back to Mr Bennet. 

He thought if George got an early train he would arrive about eleven allowing a bit of waiting time for a cab. He could get to the hotel and back and with luck George would be just checking into the B&B. Then he could just check straight out again and he would have great pleasure telling the old goat exactly what he thought of her rules. The place was nice enough but her rules. They stank. He would be with Mr Bennet by the evening and ten grand richer. Less George’s chunk. Perfect. And he grinned.

He ran down the stairs and out of the front door with Mavis shouting she locked up at 10.30. He’d seen a chippy down the road and that would do for tonight. Tomorrow night he would make up for it. Find Peta see if she was around on a Monday and have a slap up meal and two days of fun. Maybe lobster and champagne. That would surprise her and he would like to do that; surprise her. He was feeling he took advantage of her too much. Get the cash and he’d change. Start to treat her better.