An Expensive Place to Die by Len Deighton

Author:Len Deighton
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Intelligence service, Great Britain, Spy Stories, Fiction
ISBN: 9780399102707
Publisher: Putnam Pub Group (T)
Published: 2010-01-14T23:00:00+00:00

33

The Fleming owned an hotel not far from Ostend. The car turned into a covered alley that led to a cobbled courtyard. A couple of hens squawked as we parked and a dog howled. 'It's difficult,'

said the man, 'to do anything clandestine around here.'

He was a small broad man with a sallow skin that would always look dirty no matter what he did to it. The bridge of his nose was large and formed a straight line with his forehead, like the nose metal of a medieval helmet. His mouth was small and he held his lips tight to conceal his bad teeth. Around his mouth were scars of the sort that you get when thrown through a windscreen. He smiled to show me it was a joke rather than an apology, and the scars made a pattern round his mouth like a tightened hairnet.

The door from the side entrance of the hotel opened and a woman in a black dress and white apron stared at us.

'They have come,' said the man.

'So I see,' she said. 'No luggage?'

'No luggage,' said the man. She seemed to need some explanation, as though we were a man and girl trying to book a double room.

'They need to rest, ma jolie mome,' said the man. She was no one's pretty child, but the compliment appeased her for a moment.

'Room four,' she said.

'The police have been?'

'Yes,' she said.

'They won't be back until night,' said the man to us. 'Perhaps not then even. They check the book. It's for the taxes more than to find criminals.'

'Don't use all the hot water,' said the woman. We followed her through the yellow peeling side door into the hotel entrance hall. There was a counter made of carelessly painted hardboard and a rack with eight keys hanging from it. The lino had the large square pattern that's supposed to look like inlaid marble; it curled at the edges and something hot had indented a perfect circle near the door.

'Name?' said the woman grimly as though she was about to enter us hi the register.

'Don't ask,' said the man. 'And they won't ask our name.' He smiled as though he had made a joke and looked anxiously at his wife, hoping that she would join in. She shrugged and reached behind her for the key. She put it down on the counter very gently so she could not be accused of anger.

'They'll need two keys, Sybil.'

She scowled at bom. 'They'll pay for the rooms,' he said.

'We'll pay,' I said. Outside the rain began. It bombarded the window and rattled the door as though anxious to get in.

She slammed the second key down upon the counter.' You should have taken it and dumped it,'

said the woman angrily. 'Rik could have driven these two back here.'

'This is the important stage,' said the man.

'You lazy pig,' said the woman. 'If the alarm is out for the car and Rik gets stopped driving it, then we'll see which is the important stage.'

The man didn't answer, nor did he look at me.

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