Read Online Peter Diamond - 09 - The Secret Hangman by Peter Lovesey - Free Book Online Page A

Labrador.’
    ‘Right, very appealing. But the collar must have been loose because it pulled away from her and slipped its head free. It was off straight away and the child burst into tears. I saw this and put down my bags and set off in pursuit. A puppy running free in a busy car park isn’t going to last long. I wish I could say I caught it.’
    ‘You mean this has a sad ending?’
    ‘No, someone else picked up the pup. At least I was able to say whose it was and return it to the little girl. I met the mother and we tightened the collar a notch and all was well again. Happy ending.’
    ‘Depends what you mean by happy. In the meantime I’d destroyed your shopping.’
    She gave the sort of smile that forgives without a word being spoken.
    ‘It wasn’t a pretty sight,’ he added.
    He collected a trolley and they started shopping. She said she couldn’t remember what she’d bought.
    ‘Don’t you have a list?’
    ‘In my head usually,’ she said. ‘All this has played havoc with my concentration.’
    He named the free-range eggs and the minestrone and told her about the dispute with the woman who could smell garlic. She laughed and said she hadn’t realised what a rough time he’d had. They walked the aisles trying to refresh her memory. A few items went into the trolley, but not enough to fill two bags. He suspected she was keeping the bill down.
    At the checkout he gave his credit card to the cashier.
    ‘You said help with the bill, not pay it all.’
    ‘It’s OK.’ He had already keyed in his pin number.
    On the way out she said with more seriousness, ‘It isn’t OK. I’m sorry, but I’m uncomfortable with this.’
    ‘Don’t be. I drove over two of your bags. This is only one.’
    ‘At least let me buy you a drink.’
    ‘Now? I’ll be driving home and so will you, I expect.’
    ‘Later, then.’
    He was unprepared. He didn’t know how to respond.
    She said, ‘My treat.’
    ‘Tonight, you mean?’
    ‘Say about eight thirty. Are you local?’
    ‘Not far.’ This had thrown him. He’d turned down her offer of a drink more sharply than he intended. She was insistent that she wanted to square things. She couldn’t have been more reasonable about losing her shopping. To walk away now would sour a pleasant encounter. ‘All right. You’re on.’
    ‘How about meeting here?’
    ‘The scene of the crime.’

7
    I n his own house with all its memories he was less comfortable about what he had agreed. He hadn’t gone out for a drink with a woman in years, except for police colleagues when there was some work topic to be discussed. If he was going to take the plunge he’d have preferred not to be pulled in. ‘You won’t believe this, Raffles,’ he said as he opened a tin and forked tuna flakes onto the cat’s plate. ‘I’m going for a drink with a woman and I don’t even know her name.’
    It wasn’t in his make-up to break a date with a lady, so he showered and thought about what to wear. He decided his daytime suit wasn’t right for this adventure. So what did he have in the wardrobe that was more relaxed and didn’t look as if it came out of a charity shop? Leather jackets had never gone out of fashion and they were safe from moths. He took his off the hanger for the first time in a couple of years and decided it would fit the occasion even if it didn’t fit the body. He wouldn’t button it up. Under it he’d wear a check shirt, jeans and trainers. He looked in the mirror to see if he needed another shave. Stubble was sexy these days, wasn’t it? Man, oh man, you’re acting like a sixteen-year-old, he told himself.
    He drove back to the car park where all this had been set in motion and chose a slot at the opposite end from where he’d been before. Early as always, he sat listening to a football commentary without caring who the teams were. At eight thirty he got out and looked across the roofs of the parked cars to see who was about. Nobody he recognised. He locked up and