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.Mike had to boot you out because you merely stood by and watched while profits vanished into losses.Not my fault.’‘Nor mine.Brother Mike was hardly businessman of the year, as I’m sure you’ve discovered.I wish Glenn joy of the place.And Fenella.Now there is someone to spread joy.’‘I wish you well there,’ Jessica said wryly.‘Thanks.I see her as an angel of mercy.’Aspiring to commercial golden wings, I thought.For all his jokey words, however, Peter seemed serious where Fenella was concerned, although whether out of true love for her or her connections I wouldn’t like to bet.‘Do you live at High House too?’ I asked him.‘No way.I’d be stark staring mad after a week.The only thing that keeps Ray going is his feud with Auntie Anna,’ he said with scorn.‘And now that she’ll be dependent on him, he’s on a winning ticket.‘I’ve a flat, Rochester way – I’m an IT consultant.I run the business with a partner.’Since Peter was lounging on a sofa at eleven thirty on a working day the partner must be very generous minded.‘Might there be a role for you back here at Old Herne’s?’ I asked casually, and saw Jessica freeze.Peter raised an eyebrow.‘Now it’s under new management, who knows? Could be some scope there, don’t you think, Jess?’He was exactly the sort to exploit any scope at all.This lazy debonair mask would slip at a moment’s notice if it suited him.I saw the future of Old Herne’s under his or Glenn’s rule in my mind’s eye.Gone would be the Tims at its core.In would come the neat display boxes, the uniform little café tables, and the layers of management.For Peter, Mike’s death could be an ill wind that blew considerable silver linings.The question was whether these silver linings had been as a result of the ill wind or whether the ill winds had been planned with them in mind.Where was he at the time of Mike’s death? I wondered.Jason, Arthur and Tim were at the track, Boadicea had been hunting for Ray who turned up at the bar.Glenn and Fenella were trying to find Arthur.But Peter? There had been almost an hour between the time Mike closed the doors to Thunderbolts Hangar for visitors and the time the concert had begun.Long enough for any of them to have entered Thunderbolts through the double doors, donned that greatcoat, picked up the axe – and dealt with the disposal of the blood-soaked greatcoat.I went on thinking about this after Jessica and Peter had gone their separate ways and I was left alone at the table, contemplating my empty coffee cup and my next move.‘Boring old place, isn’t it?’ Hedda called across to me.‘It shouldn’t be,’ I replied, getting up to return the cup.‘This place will be humming with life when the public starts pouring in again.’‘Don’t know about that,’ Hedda said, leaning over the counter to stare dreamily into my eyes.‘What say we take off to see the world, sugar daddy?’‘I’ve a better idea.How about we start our own band?’She giggled.‘I’ll have to look for a new job of some sort, if that Glenn gets his hooks into this place.’‘If he replaces you with a machine, you mean? He won’t – he’ll need staff.’‘He and Dad don’t get on.’‘That shouldn’t affect you.’‘Grow up,’ young Hedda suggested to me.‘I’m very grown up.Even the newest brooms don’t sweep everything clean, and anyway, he might want his own personal line to Jason through you.’She looked thoughtful.‘Right.But not after my spat with Flouncy Fan.’‘Who?’‘Miss Fenella.Peter fancies her you know – well, her or her money.’‘Still doesn’t affect you.’‘It does,’ she said dolefully.‘He don’t fancy me.Wish he did, though.I could make something of him, but he sees himself and Flouncy Fan as an upwardly mobile couple.Hope they didn’t knock old Mike off between them.’ She threw this out as a challenge, as if hoping I’d deny it.‘Someone did,’ I pointed out after I got my breath back.A pause.‘Time to see my dad, Jack.’‘You’re going to see him now?’She sighed [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]