Casanova Read Online Free PDF Page A

happened.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘Casanova has disappeared.’
    ‘Casanova has disappeared?’ I said, repeating Meriwether’s words.
    ‘Yes, damned inconvenient of the man. I’m beginning to dislike this whole business. It has the whiff of defeat, and I don’t like to lose.’
    I wasn’t sure what Meriwether meant by that but I didn’t question him on it. Instead, I asked, ‘What do we know about his disappearance?’
    ‘He hasn’t been at work or at home. Both his work colleagues and his wife have reported him missing. He lives and works in the centre of town so the City of London police are investigating, not our young Miss Marple though, fortunately.’
    Young Miss Marple was the name Meriwether had given Detective Superintendent Hannah Foley.
    ‘He was last seen leaving his office at around ten o’clock yesterday morning. Nobody seems to know where he was going. If he did kill the girl and has now done something stupid then politically we’re buggered.’
    The wind-propelled snow was stinging my face so I turned away and found shelter in a doorway.
    ‘I still don’t think he killed the girl.’
    ‘No. Let’s hope you’re right.’
    There was a pause and then Meriwether asked, ‘Is it snowing again?’
    I imagined he had caught sight of the snow through the window from inside the warmth and dry of his club.
    I didn’t respond to his weather question and instead said, ‘There are only two reasons a man like Casanova would disappear; one, he’s running away from something too big for him to cope with or two, he’s been taken against his own will.’
    ‘Are you out in this dreadful weather? Dear boy, do try and find some shelter.’
    ‘He could be scared; the girl’s murder may have spooked him or, whoever did kill the girl, may now have grabbed him.’
    ‘Do you think he’s dead?’ Meriwether asked.
    ‘It’s possible.’
    ‘Hmm,’ he said. He sounded like a discontented lama. ‘Well there’s nothing more we can do until we hear something. In the meantime I should get indoors out of this dreadful weather.’
    I went home. By the time I got there, the snow had stopped again. I made a coffee and decided to call Charlotte.
    ‘Have you heard?’
    ‘Yes, I got a call, and no, my grandfather doesn’t know where he is.’
    ‘Do you know where he is?’
    ‘Me?’
    ‘You know him. If he’s run away where would he go?’
    ‘I don’t know him that well.’
    ‘You could ask his wife.’
    ‘I already did.’
    This conversation wasn’t going to get me anywhere so I changed the subject.
    ‘My new watch keeps good time,’ I said. I could hear Charlotte’s mood lighten.
    ‘Did you get home safely from the ball?
    ‘Why doesn’t your grandfather like me?’
    ‘He thinks you’re a thug. Apparently, soldiers from twenty-two regiment aren’t gentlemen.’
    I laughed and Charlotte laughed too.
    ‘Do you want to have dinner with me tonight?’
    ‘...where?’
    ‘You choose.’
    ‘Wear your dark blue suit with a light blue shirt.’
    The restaurant Charlotte chose was off the Bayswater Road. I collected her in a cab and wore a grey suit with a black shirt.
    ‘You look nice,’ she said. ‘Not a bit like a thug.’
    ‘...like a gentleman?’
    ‘Yes, very nearly,’ she said.
    As Charlotte walked, her long cashmere coat swayed around her ankles. It was a stylish way to fight off the cold between the open doors of her apartment, the cab and the restaurant. Underneath she wore a low-cut dress that shone in the candlelight like polished silver.
    ‘Meriwether told me your parents were killed when you were young.’
    ‘Yes, they were. My grandfather brought me up.’
    I was interested to know how they had died and hoped Charlotte would tell me but she didn’t. She changed the subject with a question about me.
    ‘Any regrets about taking the job?’
    ‘Not so far.’
    She smiled and said, ‘It’s early days.’
    ‘Did you really select me from a possible one hundred and sixteen?’
    ‘Yes,