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"I daresay that was unpleasant"

"It was," I said, "so I ood idea, I’d say What’s the name of it? I alant hotels to recoht now," I said, "and I’m damned if I can remember the naether, and it sounds like a dish you’d order in a Chinese restaurant Wan hung lo? Hu flung dung? I don’t know, so like that"

He chuckled "But you’re co, isn’t it?"

"It is," I agreed

"And I’ for hours," I said "I gather there’s been a problem with the phones"

"Ah, well," he said " Burma, you know"

"I thought perhaps we could s over"

"Yes"

"See where we stand"

"Exactly"

"Good idea," he said "Should we meet at your hotel, do you think?"

"I don’t even know the na back"

"Of course Iback," I said " Burma, you know"

"Quite Would you want to come here?"

"The Strand, do you oda," he said

"At least we can wear shoes"

"We can I’d tell you to pop by right away, but I’m afraid I have an appointment Do you want to co on," he said "I’ve a better idea They do an English tea here better than you could get at hoet at hoet at hos," I said, "but not lish tea"

"Four o’clock, then," he said "Just say you’ve coo Until then, Tanner"

I can’t say lish tea, atercress sandwiches with the crusts cut off and similar dubious delicacies But the Strand also boasted a proper Aot off the phone with Spurgeon I went and drew oing to stay put until tea ti out in air-conditioned co downstairs when four o’clock rolled around

But would the sweet young thing at the desk lether a passport and a credit card? I had both, but they were in istration I could coet around showing her Gordon Edmonds’s Canadian passport?

I lowered myself into the deep claw-footed tub and decided I could jue when I came to it The hot water was just what my shoulder needed, and wouldn’t do my sore ankle any harm, either And, in combination with soap, it was just the ticket for the rest of ladly stayed in that tub until it was tieon for tea, but I knew I couldn’t do that I soaked for as long as I dared, hopped out, toweled dry, and had a quick shave I looked a lot less grubby, and God knows I felt a lot less grubby Insos considered, doesn’t save the traveler as h you don’t need a bed to sleep in, you still have to have a place to wash up

I got my backpack from the chair where I’d left it and du out clean clothes to wear Clean undershorts, clean socks, a clean shirt, clean khakis – I was going to be clean from head to toe, and God knehen I’d be able to ain, since the chance I’d be able to wash anything out between now and my return home struck me as remote

Well, what better venue for cleanliness than tea at the Strand?

I laid out what I was going to wear and put everything else back in et dressed, and then-

Hello!

What had we here? It was a parcel about the size and shape of a brick, although it didn’t seeuess, a pound or two I hefted it in my hand and decided it was closer to two pounds than one

Maybe just a little ra metric

All wrapped in foil and neatly sealed with tape

Nohere had this coht it withI’d re

And it certainly hadn’t been in on Airport It was the sort of thing the inspector would have noticed, and I had a feeling he’d have made a fuss about it

From then on the pack had stayed on my back, the zipper zipped shut Until I set it down on a chair at the Char Win, where it stayed until Katya shifted it to the floor And that’s where I found it when I returned to eonesque whitened temples – but it appeared undisturbed

Yet, when I picked it up, it had seerown in weight to the tune of a kilo

A kilo of what? Well, I didn’t know But I could all too easily guess

I stood there, stark naked, and decided I would have to do so or other But I wasn’t sure what to do, and whatever it was could probably wait until I had clothes on

I put down the package and picked up a pair of undershorts And soon the door

Not my name, actually

Gordon Ed

"Just a minute!" I shouted, and ran to the door and ht with you!"

"Mr Ed if that was soht it mattered "Just out of the tub!" I added "Be with you in a jiffy!"

I’d dived out a carand dropped frouest-house , but this time, damn it to hell, I’d taken a room on the fifth floor Was there, by so to?