Page 4 of Too Busy for Love

‘And when you say regular, how regular? Once a week? Once a month?’

‘It varies. Some guests are members of our subscription plan, and they might stay several times a week. Others are less frequent. They also divide between those who stay with us overnight and those who use the siesta service.’

‘OK, there’s a lot of information in there that I’d like to unpack, if you don’t mind. What is the subscription plan?’

‘The best way of describing it is like being a member of a gym. You pay a subscription, and that entitles you to a number of stays each month. It works out cheaper than if you were just to book the room and, if you subscribe to the overnight package, you get dinner and breakfast included.’

‘And, like the gym, a good workout is guaranteed,’ DS Hollis observes wryly.

‘Thank you, DS Hollis,’ DI Winter says firmly before turning back to me. ‘And what is the siesta service?’

‘That’s our afternoon package, for people who just need to catch a few hours of sleep in the middle of the day. A lot of our guests have demanding jobs where they need to be in the office at antisocial hours, so an afternoon kip keeps their energy levels up.’

‘And are these things normal for a hotel to offer?’ DS Hollis asks.

‘Many hotels have loyalty schemes and, although the siesta service is unusual, we’re not unique in offering it. It’s a way to maximise the revenue from each room and the entire hospitality industry is looking for innovative ways to make the most of their assets these days. Margins are tight, so every little helps.’

‘I think there’s a considerable difference between, say, a Hilton Honours card and the kind of loyalty scheme you were offering,’ DS Hollis challenges. I can see he’s playing the bad cop to DI Winter’s good cop, and I decide I don’t like him at all.

‘I don’t think that’s a fair comparison,’ I reply, trying to keep my voice light. ‘Our offering would be better compared to being a member of one of the London clubs.’

This is obviously too much for DS Hollis. ‘Are you seriously trying to compare your squalid little brothel to the RAC club, or the Garrick?’

‘Why are you so convinced that Hotel Dufour is a brothel?’ I ask.

‘We’ll come to that,’ DI Winter says, shooting her colleague a warning look. ‘Tell me a little bit more about your guests. Is there an equal split of men and women, or does one gender feature more prominently?’

‘It’s almost exclusively men,’ I tell her.

‘Doesn’t that strike you as odd?’

‘Not really. Madame Dufour has been targeting a specific demographic.’

‘Which is?’

‘We’re in the heart of the City. We have investment banks, stockbrokers, law firms and the like on our doorstep. They’re our target market.’

‘And don’t women work in any of those industries?’

‘They do, but they’re still dominated by men.’

‘So it doesn’t seem unusual to you that your clientele is exclusively male.’

‘It isn’texclusivelymale. I just said it was mainly men.’

‘You said, and I quote, “It’s almost exclusively men”,’ DS Hollis challenges.

‘That’s right, but I think that probably reflects the demographic of our target market.’

‘Fine.’ DI Winters takes over again. ‘Let’s move on to your domestic arrangements. You said accommodation was included?’

‘That’s right. The top floor is set aside for staff, and I have a room there.’

‘Is that usual?’

‘It’s not unusual.’

‘Who else lives onsite?’

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