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Adah the wallet to discover a driver’s license and a couple of credit cards in the colonel’s real name of Albert Toed up against the far wall took up most of the floor space Apart from the chair he was settled in the only other pieces of furniture were a dressing table and a tiny stool with a red velvet cushion on it A stained blue carpet covered most of the wooden floor

To his left was a ss stacked neatly in one corner All Adath was left in his body, he pushed himself up, wobbled over to the fireplace, and hid the wallet between the logs He lurched back toward the chair and fell into it as the door reopened

Again the girl stood in the light of the doorway, but this tiee, which even in his state Adahtest movement She walked slowly across the room and once more knelt down beside him

“How you like it, ht or the French way?”

“I need to rest,” said Adam

“For two hundred francs you sleep in any ‘otel,” she said in disbelief

“I only want to be allowed to rest a few minutes,” he assured her

“Anglais” she said, and began to try to lift Adam out of the chair and toward the bed He stu half on and half off the corner of the mattress She undressed hi his legs up on to the bed Adam made no effort to help or hinder her She hesitated for a moment when she saw the shoulder wound, bewildered over what kind of accident could have caused such a gash She rolled him over to the far side and pulled back the top sheet and blanket Then she walked round to the other side of the bed and rolled hiain Finally she pushed him flat on his back and covered him with the sheet and blankets

“I could still give you French if you like,” she said But Adam was already asleep

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

WHEN ADAM EVENTUALLY awoke the sun was already shining through the smallof the bedroos and tried to recall what had happened the night before Then it all came back to hie of the bed, but the iddy and weak and fell back down At least he had escaped He looked around the rooirl was nowhere to be seen or heard Then he remembered the wallet

He sat bolt upright, gathering himself for a few moments before standi

ng up again and trying to walk Although he was still unsteady, it was better than he had expected It’s your recovery that counts, not your speed, he thought ironically When he reached the fireplace he fell on his knees and searched aer there As quickly as he could, he went to the jacket hanging over the back of the chair He checked in the inside pocket: a pen, a half-toothless comb, a passport, a driver’s license, some other papers, but no wallet He searched the outside pockets: a bunch of keys, a penknife, a few assorted coins, English and French, but that was all that was left With a string of oaths he collapsed onto the floor He sat there for some time and didn’t move until he heard a key in the lock

The front door of the flat swung open, and the girl sauntered in carrying a shopping basket She was dressed in a pretty floral skirt and white blouse that would have been suitable for any churchgoer on a SundayThe basket was crammed with food

“Woken up, ‘ave we, chéri? Est-ce que tu prends le petit déjeuner?”