Thursday

by David Ridgway

  Hmm, she thought. I wonder what’s going on there.

  She was fully aware that Mr Chao sailed very close to the wind and she now had her suspicions about Sebastian. All the instincts of a police officer now took over, except that she decided not to report the chance sighting. Instead, she decided to watch and wait and to see whether anything would develop.

  Several weeks went by, until she saw Sebastian once again, walking towards Mr Chao’s office. This time, she walked over and stepped in front of him.

  “Hello! Aren’t you that chap from the Gloucester Palace Hotel?”

  Sebastian stopped and looked at the short, pretty and well-dressed young lady in front of him, wondering who on earth she might be.

  “And who might you be? I don’t think we’ve met before.”

  “There’s really no reason why you should remember. After all, it was a very confusing evening. But I shall never forget your generosity when you opened the doors of your hotel on the night of the flood.”

  “My word!” Sebastian exclaimed. “I do remember! You came in with the injured passengers from the crashed bus. I remember thinking that you controlled the situation and the other passengers admirably.” He smiled amiably at her and looked at his watch. “I’m so sorry, but I do have an appointment.”

  “I’m keeping you! Perhaps we could meet up on another occasion. Would it be possible to visit you in Kensington?” Elizabeth turned her head very slightly and, with a slight smile on her lips, she looked up at him with eyes full of promise.

  “That would be lovely. Please get in touch.”

  And following that chance encounter, Elizabeth and Sebastian met several times during that summer, but at no time did she reveal that she worked at Scotland Yard, nor that she collected a mysterious briefcase for her boss from Soho on a regular basis.

  London had definitely returned to normal.