(Jonathan Roper Investigates Boxset by Michael Leese

Author:Michael Leese [Leese, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mike Leese Communications
Published: 2019-02-17T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 27

As he downed his pint he admitted to himself that if he was going to talk to Roper about sex he definitely needed a drink. He had hoped the pub would work as a place to discuss the momentous event, but there was a loud, and raucous, hen evening getting under way. Hooley shuddered to think how it would go if the women heard Roper talking about his private life.

Roper was still sipping at his own half-pint of lager so he might as well use the delay to his advantage and order another one. Out into the harsh light of the real world, his plan to talk to Roper was looking less straightforward. He decided it was down to fate. If they got to the restaurant and found it full he would have to leave it for another day: if not, well there was always lager to soothe the way.

Arriving at the curry house the manager welcomed them with a warm smile. It didn’t look like he was going to be saved by circumstances.

“It’s so good to see you. Most of our regulars are staying at home tonight. I don’t know why. We are only normally empty like this in the week before race week when everyone is keen to save up a bit of money.

Since neither Hooley nor Roper was a betting man, they looked blank. Realising they hadn’t followed what he was talking about the manager said. “It’s the big racing festival. Most of Ireland comes here for it, the Gold Cup is the main race of the event. I’m sure you’ve heard of that. Even I go and place a bet. Once it gets going we get all sorts in here, especially people from the bigger stables who usually have a tip for us.”

He realised what he had said. “A tip and a tip, don’t you see?”

Hooley nodded vigorously. He thought he did but also suspected that Roper was a tip short of comprehension and about to start asking questions that no one would be able to answer. He gestured for Roper to sit down and said. “I doubt we’re going to need the menus since we both know what we want to eat.”

“Of course,” said the manager. “I’ll bring your order over when it’s ready.” He stepped back as a waiter glided up with Hooley’s beer and a water for Roper. He placed both drinks and left them to it. The DCI took a gulp of his beer and then decided to slow down: he was already two pints in credit, this needed to be his last.

He looked around and saw there was no one nearby. Taking a breath, he asked. “This afternoon, at GCHQ, did you tell me that you’ve had sex?”

Roper nodded.

“I know these things are private but I wanted to tell someone and you are the only person I can tell. She’s a very nice girl and works at GCHQ. She came up one day and told me to look at SpyBook. It’s a sort of GCHQ version of Facebook for people like me.

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