PASCAL PASSION by Andrea Frazer

Author:Andrea Frazer [Frazer, Andrea]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781783751570
Published: 2015-01-06T05:00:00+00:00

[1] For more on Richard and Virginia Grainger, see Choral Mayhem

Chapter Six

Saturday 2nd April – lunchtime and afternoon

I

They settled for the Temporary Sign for their lunch, for no better reason than that the car was parked at the rear, in its car park. Robbie Greenslade immediately left his post behind the bar to welcome them, his antennae aquiver, having instantly identified them for who they were.

‘What can I get you two gentlemen? Something to drink, or will you be eating as well?’ He looked like nothing more than a shrew, scenting the air with its whiffling long nose – which his own organ of scent somewhat resembled.

‘A couple of halves of lager,’ intoned Falconer, receiving a nod of agreement from his sergeant, ‘and a look at the menu, if you have such a thing.’

‘I’ll get you the menus now, and I’ll be back in a jiffy with the drinks,’ he chirped.

They were served within ten minutes with their food, Carmichael choosing fish, chips, and mushy peas, with an extra three slices of bread and butter and a big bottle of ketchup. Looking up from his plate, after he had beeped the proverbial wolf on the snout with a metaphorical newspaper, he asked Falconer what he was eating.

‘Gesiers salad,’ he replied, ‘done nice and crispy, the way I like it.’

‘What’s ‘jesseeay’, sir?’ and then wished he hadn’t asked. The very thought of what the inspector was putting into his mouth made his complexion turn slightly green, and he reinvested his attention in the good old British fare on his own plate.

After a good few minutes of steady gastronomic enjoyment on the part of both diners, Carmichael felt comfortable enough with his calorific intake to attempt a little light conversation. ‘I went to a school just like the one here, when I was little. But the seniors’ was a nightmare.’

‘Why was that?’ Falconer was beginning to feel well-fed and contented as well, and thought he might as well join in.

‘My family, as you know, sir, live in Market Darley, and the comp there was full of thugs and villains – and that was just the girls!’

‘Oh, nice one, Carmichael! However did a delicate little flower like you survive in such a harsh environment?’

‘I’m a big lad, if you hadn’t noticed, sir, and I had brothers already at the school, so no one messed with me. They didn’t want the Carmichael brothers on their backs. We look like a bunch of giants, as you found out at the wedding.’

‘True. I’d forgotten how many of you there were.’

After a silence of perhaps half a minute, Carmichael chanced a personal question. ‘Where did you go to school, sir? I know you’ve been in the army, but I don’t really know anything about you,’ crossing his fingers that this impertinence wouldn’t earn him a verbal bollocking.

‘Quick version, Carmichael. There’s no need for me to go into any great detail: prep school as a weekly border from the age of seven, then on to a school not too distant from here as a full boarder.

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