12 CHARLES STREET
MAYFAIR
LONDON
2135 HOURS
"Good evening, sir." Edmond accepted Sir William's overcoat as he attempted to sidestep the thumping tail of the brown Newfoundland dog. "Sit, Kitten!"
"It's fine, Edmond. It is good to see a friendly face. And how's my bowsy-wowsy?" William knelt and ruffled the large dog's jowls. "Did you have a nice walkies? Apologies for the short notice, Edmond. You can retire for the evening, if you'd like."
"Thank you, sir. Commander Hawthorne is in the library and Mrs. Higgins has left your dinner on the warming plate."
"Please tell me that dinner is not one of those spinach concoctions that she's dreamed up recently. Come, Kitten."
The wizened face of the manservant illuminated into a grin. "No, sir. Commander Hawthorne instructed her to cook you something more substantial."
**
"There you are, William. Sit. I'll pour you a Balvenie Doublewood." Ronan moved to the bar and poured two fingers of single malt scotch into a tumbler. "You can do the damage." He placed a water carafe next to the glass.
"I need some food." William kicked off his shoes and divested himself of his jacket and waistcoat. "That's better." He shuffled across the polished oak floors in his socks to the sideboard and the warming trays.
Bong, Bong, Bong!
The doorbell's tomes and several booming barks from Kitten interrupted his dinner quest.
"Who is calling at this ungodly hour?"
**
A flustered Edmond entered the dining room. "Excuse me, sir. There's an Inspector Russell to see you and the Commander on an urgent matter."
William scrambled for the library and his discarded shoes and waistcoat. "Please put her in the sitting room while I get dressed."
**
"There you are, William. The Inspector has discovered some additional information. What's the matter?" He stared as Sir William sidled behind an armchair.
"Please excuse my attire, my dear." Sir William ignored his roommate as he buttoned his waistcoat. "I'm sorry that your overseer has you working at these uncivilized hours. Can I offer you a drink? You certainly can't be on duty at this time and the overseer will have to make amends for keeping you to the grindstone for all these hours."
**
"Some red wine, please." The reference to her 'overseer' caused Alexandra to glance away as she suppressed a smile.
"Ronan, open some Chateau Beauséjour for the Inspector. The Duffau-Lagarrosse '79 – not that other plonk. Have you had dinner, my dear?"
With arched eyebrows, Ronan opened the treasured bottle of wine.
"I had a sandwich at my desk, sir. I've found ..."
William extended his hand. "Come share some dinner with me. We can discuss all that over dinner in a civilized manner. Edmond, please set a place for the Inspector. Kitten, get off!" He attempted to order the huge dog to remove its massive paw from the Inspector's foot. "Lovely shoes. I was always partial to a well-turned ankle."
"William ..." Ronan's warning growl startled Kitten and was completed ignored by an unrepentant Sir William.
"Thank you." Alexandra suppressed a smile as she watched the three bachelors scrambling to prepare the dining table. "It's all right, sir. I like dogs. How are you, boy?" She tickled the dog behind its right ear.
KAMU SEDANG MEMBACA
The Shaddad Conspiracy
Pertualangan“Your murder victim was not an innocent, naive woman. She was on our terrorist watch list. The fact that she escaped from Basra and lived a normal life in London buggers belief, but she was planted here by a foreign government to wreck the Taliban p...
