Missing

and rosemary absorb her mind fully.
    When her plate was empty and she looked up at him again, she realised he had stopped talking. Now he was watching her. High time to start with stage two. She had half a glass of wine waiting, but it couldn’t be helped.
    ‘That was wonderful. Thank you so much.’
    ‘You were quite hungry after all, weren’t you?’
    She put her knife and fork down on the plate. At least someone at this table had been taught how to signal the end of a meal correctly. He seemed ridiculously pleased with himself, smiling contentedly.
    ‘Working out what a woman really needs is one of my specialities.’
    She wondered if that held true for his wife as well. Then she folded her napkin.
    ‘It’s a shame, but now it’s definitely time for me to say goodnight. Thank you again, both for the pleasant company and the nice meal.’
    ‘I’d like to tempt you to share a little night-cap upstairs.’
    His eyes met hers over the edge of the glass.
    ‘I appreciate the offer, but no, I can’t. I’ve got a long day ahead tomorrow.’ Before he could stop her she waved to the waiter, who responded instantly.
    ‘My bill, please,’ she said.
    The waiter bowed politely and began clearing the table. He eyed Grundberg’s crossed knife and fork.
    ‘Have you finished, sir?’
    The barely audible irony in his voice made her hide a smile in her wine glass, but it was lost on Grundberg, who merely nodded without spotting the barb.
    ‘Now, you must let me pay for this. That’s what we agreed.’
    He tried to put his hand over hers but she pulled it away in time.
    ‘I must pay for my wine, though.’
    The waiter left. She took hold of her handbag, which had been hanging over the back of her chair.
    He didn’t want to back down.
    ‘No, don’t think of it. No arguments now.’
    ‘Thank you – but you can’t really stop me, you know.’
    He had begun to irritate her and she had sounded more aloof than she intended. Grundberg was smiling at her. This was the wrong time to cool his ardour and so she smiled back at him. She put her handbag on her knees and opened it to find her wallet. It didn’t take long to search the two compartments.
    ‘Oh God, no!’
    ‘What’s the matter?’
    ‘My wallet’s gone.’
    She rooted in her handbag again, frantically. Then she hid her face in her left hand and sighed deeply.
    ‘Take it easy now. Are you sure it couldn’t be in your briefcase?’
    She allowed this suggestion to sink in, giving both of them, especially him, new hope. Then she put the briefcase on her lap. He couldn’t see what was inside, which was just as well. He might have been troubled to find that Caroline Fors had nothing in her briefcase except her diary, a pack of frankfurters and a Swiss army knife.
    ‘No, it isn’t here either. Oh God! Someone must have stolen it.’
    ‘Now, now. You must take it easy. I’m sure all this can be fixed easily enough.’
    The waiter returned with two bills on a small silver tray, and Grundberg hurriedly produced his American Express card.
    ‘Take both off this.’
    The waiter looked at her to get permission and she nodded briefly. He turned and left.
    ‘I’ll pay you back as soon as I …’
    ‘No problem. Don’t worry about a thing.’
    She hid her face behind her hand again.
    ‘And I had my hotel voucher in the wallet. Dear God, I haven’t even got a room. This is terrible.’ She placed a lot of emphasis on the last bit. Abjectly, she shook her head.
    ‘You must let me help. Just you stay here and I’ll have a word with the reception people.’
    ‘But I couldn’t possibly ask you to…’
    ‘Of course you can. We’ll deal with anything that needs settling once you’ve sorted out the business with your lost wallet. No hurry at all. Now, you just sit back and relax. I’ll see to this.’
    He got up and went off to the reception desk.
    She drank some wine. Cheers!

    In the lift, and then all the way to her room, she almost went over the top with gratitude. He had brought two shots of whisky and, outside her door, made one final attempt.
    ‘Sure you haven’t regretted saying no to that night-cap?’
    This time he even winked at her.
    ‘It’s sweet of you, but I must get on the phone at once. I’ve got to cancel my cards and put a stop on the accounts.’
    Even to him, this was an acceptable reason. He gave her one of the glasses of whisky and sighed.
    ‘What a shame.’
    ‘Some other time, perhaps.’
    He sniffed a little and produced