Sonia came to the door in the striped pinafore she always wore when she was cooking. “Oh, I thought we might go to Carlo’s round the corner, for a treat.”
“Well, no, Frank, I am cooking as you can see.”
He leaned down to kiss her. “Is there enough for two?”
She pushed him away laughing. “Of course, you idiot Mr Policeman.”
“I called, but, of course, you were working. I had to pop out for a meeting and then I thought I’d try pot luck.”
“Well, your luck is in the pot, if that’s how you say it.”
He laughingly attempted to grab her and she pulled away. “I must see to the food. If you want a drink, there is a bottle of beer in the kitchen.”
Merlin followed her into the tiny kitchen, found the bottle of Bass and opened it. “Can I help?”
“Yes, by getting out.”
“What are we having?”
“My special Polish goulash. Don’t ask what’s in it. I won’t claim to have the perfect ingredients, but given the way things are, I don’t think I have done too badly.”
“When did you manage to shop?”
“Between our going to the park and starting back at Swan and Edgar. They have some good food shops in Soho, you know.”
“I’ll take your word for it, darling.” Merlin sat himself down on a sofa and enjoyed the beer. It managed to remove the taste of the sherry, which had lingered unpleasantly in his mouth on his long walk from Pall Mall.
The goulash was wonderful. He hadn’t been able to work out exactly what he was eating, but he didn’t care. For once his belt was straining to contain his belly. He sat down on the sofa and put the radio on.
Having decided that they would try and go to the Handel concert on Sunday, they were snuggling up together listening to the radio on which the Bert Ambrose Band were just starting to play a medley of dance tunes when the telephone rang. Merlin had pulled a few strings at the GPO to get Sonia a telephone ahead of the long queue. He felt a little guilty about using his position to get favours, but it had certainly made his life much easier. Sonia jumped up to answer the call, still excited with her new toy, but her excitement was soon dampened by the person on the other end of the line.
“Can I see him? No. But surely… Very well. What number do I call? Wait, let me get a pen and paper.” Merlin rummaged in his discarded jacket and handed her his notebook and pencil. She wrote down the number. “And you are sure he will be alright? Yes. Thank you, doctor. Goodbye.”
Sonia sat down by Merlin and started to cry. Merlin put his arms around her and hugged her tight. Between sobs she told him about Jan’s injuries. “I really should go and see him now. There don’t seem to be any bombers around tonight. Can we go and get your car and—”
“The doctor said he was sedated and that there was no need to worry, didn’t he?”
Sonia nodded meekly.
“Well, let’s wait until tomorrow and then you can ring them. If he’s asleep and under medication, there’s nothing to be achieved tonight.”
Sonia’s sobbing gradually subsided. “You are right, Frank. Of course. I think we can forget the concert though. Come on, let’s go to bed. The washing up can wait until tomorrow.”
As Frank lay with Sonia in his arms, her now calm and serene face lit up by the shaft of moonlight that shone through the half-closed curtains of the bedroom, he couldn’t help thinking about Ziggy Kilinski and his cruel death. Someone in the Polish squadron must know something that would help in the investigation. He must have confided in someone about his past. If he drove Sonia up to the base tomorrow, he could do some poking around. Maybe Kellett had some more papers on the man. He had been given a very basic personnel sheet, but maybe there was more information in the files.
Sonia stirred, an eye opened and her hand played around Merlin’s bare stomach. He forgot about Kilinski.
Chapter 14
Sunday, September 15