The Troika Dolls - Miranda Darling [129]
‘Oh Herr Doktor, thank you,’ Stevie said quickly. ‘I rather had my heart set on Hoffenschaffen . . . I think it’s in the mountains above Sargans . . . A friend of mine was a patient there for a month and emerged transformed and with the highest regard for the staff.’
‘I know it by reputation.’ There followed a somewhat terse silence. The doctor cleared his throat. ‘I do not feel confident I can be responsible for recommending Hoffenschaffen to you.’
‘Oh I quite understand, Herr Doktor. However, I have the utmost confidence in my friend’s opinion. I would just need a note of referral from you . . .’
Stevie held her breath.
‘That I would be willing to provide.’
‘Thank you.’ Stevie’s relief was real. ‘I hate to impose but it’s rather urgent. You know how full these places get. Time is of the essence.’
‘Of course, Fräulein. I will leave a referral at the front desk for you on my way home.’
Stevie hung up and bit her lower lip. Step one of the plan was in place.
She dialled Josie in London and told her she had been overcome with exhaustion and probably some horrible bug. She was going to rest at a sanatorium for a few days. Would she please reassure David . . .
‘I absolutely will not reassure him, Stevie. I can guess exactly which sanatorium you have in mind and it’s a stupendously bad idea.’
‘It’s not what you think, Josie.’
‘Of course it is. I’m not stupid. David doesn’t want any heroes around here.’
‘Well, I’m certainly not that,’ Stevie replied quietly. ‘It’s just a few days and I’m only looking.’
There was a very long silence.
‘Josie?’
‘I’ll pass on the message.’ And she hung up the telephone.
14
Where guests of the Suvretta might once have stopped at the sight of a man carrying an enormous red-brown fur coat through the foyer, extravagant behaviour on the part of those who could afford it was back in fashion and Henning’s passage went unremarked.
The coat had been purchased on impulse the evening before. Henning had just finished loading the two policemen with a nightmarishly detailed account of the fateful coffee—including particulars such as the size of the cake slices and the colour of the cups—when he had spotted the coat in one of the lobby shops.
It was enormous, made to fit an Atlas of a man, and particularly hideous. The sort of thing King Henry VIII might have chosen for himself. Henning had thought it perfect.
It was snowing heavily that morning. Henning’s Jaguar was parked right outside the entrance, under cover, boot open. The XK8 didn’t have a great deal of trunk space and so the fur was deposited in the passenger seat. The car, midnight blue with ivory leather seats, had been fitted with fat snow tyres for the mountain roads.
All this was duly noted by the concierge, who had strict instructions from the police that Stevie Duveen was not to leave the hotel. She was urgently wanted for further questioning. Her companion was free to go. In any case, thought the concierge, he had her passport in the safe and she could hardly leave without that.
Henning had paid both his bill and Stevie’s earlier that morning, leaving a very large tip for the concierge. Had the man been a little less preoccupied with how he would spend his windfall he might have noticed, as Henning strode past with the horrible fur in his arms, the tiny tip of a ballerina slipper—singed at the toe—protruding from one end.
The Jaguar purred through the hotel gates and began to gather speed on the road that wound past the frozen lake. The snow was falling thick and heavy, veiling the grey light of early morning.
‘Iii ifff waaahf,’ said the fur.
‘Stevie, I can’t understand you.’
After a brief, furry struggle, Stevie’s head emerged from the depths of the fur.
‘I was asking if it was safe.’
‘Oh. Yes, I think so. Not many people about on a morning like this.’
A snow plough, its huge lights almost blinding them, crawled past on the other side of the road, shovel raised like a prehistoric jawbone. A coach full of teenagers puttered along behind it, belching smoke in frustration. No one else seemed to be about.
Stevie