pretty bad from what I’m told.’
‘Yes.’ She lifted her hair off her shoulders with a quick, two-handed movement. Her breasts lifted as she raised her arms. ‘I’m so sorry for Mrs. Lamb.’
‘I’ve just come from seeing her… it’s tough.’
‘You must be tired. Come upstairs and I’ll show you the rooms. I have two vacant rooms. You can choose which one you like best.’
He followed her up the stairs. She held herself well and she moved gracefully. He watched the movement of her hips under the creased material of her skirt. He wondered how old she was… thirty-five or -six, perhaps even more: an age he appreciated. He saw the wedding ring. So she was married.
They reached the head of the stairs, and she led him down a passage with doors either side. She paused outside a door at the end of the passage, opened it and flicked on the light.
‘Pretty nice,’ he said, ‘but what’s it going to cost? Bank managers have to struggle these days to live.’
‘This is forty a week including breakfast and dinner,’ she told him. ‘The room upstairs is smaller but, of course, it is cheaper.’
‘May I see it?’ he asked and smiled at her. ‘How much cheaper?’
She looked steadily at him for a brief moment. He felt a strange creepy sensation crawl up his spine. It was something he couldn’t explain to himself.
‘Thirty,’ she said. ‘If you are going to stay some time, I could make a slight reduction.’
‘May I see it?’
The room was smaller, but as comfortably furnished as the room he had already seen. There was a double bed instead of a single one and to its right was a door. Facing the bed was a wide, curtained window.
He pointed a thick finger at the door by the bed.
‘Does that lead to the bathroom?’
‘The bathroom is the second door down the passage. This door isn’t used.’ He was aware she was now looking intently at him. ‘It communicates with my room. This is really my floor, but sometimes I don’t mind someone being up here.’
He was suddenly aware that his heart was beating slightly faster than normal.
‘I prefer this room if it’s all right with you,’ he said.
She smiled: the amused expression in her eyes wasn’t lost on him.
‘Have it by all means,’ she said, and then she looked at her wrist watch. ‘I must start dinner. I’ll tell Flo to bring up your bags.’
‘That’s okay,’ Calvin said. ‘I have only one and I’ll bring it up myself. Can I leave my car in the drive?’
‘There’s a garage around the back. Dinner is at eight. If there is anything you want, please ask.’ She smiled at him, then moving to the door, she was gone.
Calvin remained motionless for some seconds, then he walked deliberately to the communicating door and turned the handle. The door was locked.
He rubbed the side of his jaw with a thick finger as he stared at the door, then he went out of the room, humming tunelessly under his breath, and descended the stairs to collect his bag.
CHAPTER TWO
1
There were only two other guests besides Alice Craig staying at the rooming-house: a Miss Pearson and a Major Hardy. Miss Pearson, a bright, bird-like little woman in her late sixties was in charge of the local Welfare Clinic. Major Hardy, in his early seventies, was the secretary of the Downside Golf Club.
Calvin met them when he went downstairs for dinner.
The talk centred around Joe Lamb and his stroke. Calvin listened while Alice described how she had found the old man on the floor of his office. From time to time, Calvin said the right thing at the right moment, and wondered irritably when they were going to eat.
When the topic of Mr. Lamb was finally exhausted, they sat down to an excellent dinner, served by Flo, a large, cheerful coloured woman. Calvin was vaguely disappointed that Kit Loring didn’t eat with them. With his ready charm and his confident manner, he easily won over the two old people who hung on his every word. Even Alice
