Page 43 of Too Busy for Love

‘Very good, Detective. I could have been a local returning home, though. Did you think of that?’

‘I did, but I ruled it out almost straight away.’

‘Why?’

‘Don’t take this the wrong way, but you don’t give off a Hispanic vibe. What do you do, by the way?’

‘I’m sorry?’

‘I was just wondering how someone like you could be too busy for love. I would have thought you would have men queueing round the block.’

‘Flatterer. I’m in construction. I spend most of my time either stuck in an office or dressed in safety gear on site, and that’s not a look that most men are going to queue up for.’

‘Sounds intriguing.’

Abby laughs. ‘It really isn’t. What about you, what do you do?’

‘I’m in the wine trade.’

‘What, like an off-licence?’

‘Not exactly. My customers are not the kind of people who would buy wine from the off-licence. They’re connoisseurs who expect the very best and are prepared to pay handsomely for it. My job is to find exceptional wines for them.’

‘When you say “pay handsomely”…’

‘I’ll give you an example. One of my clients asked me to track down a case of 1998 Château Petrus for him last week. It wasn’t a hard wine to find, but it is at the upper end, price wise. Do you know much about wine?’

‘I know I like a good Shiraz, but I don’t normally spend more than a tenner on a bottle of wine. How much is Petrus?’

‘Four and a half thousand pounds a bottle for the 1998.’

‘Fuck me.’

‘That’s not the best bit. My client bought six for a dinner party he was hosting. He described it to me as “nothing outlandish, just a few close friends coming round for the evening”. It’s a different world, but it makes life interesting. What sort of construction do you do?’

‘Residential.’

Although I did find James’s wine story moderately interesting, construction totally isn’t my thing so I tune them out and chat to Flo until Abby suddenly leans forward. ‘Beatrice, did you know you’re famous back home?’

‘Really?’ I try to keep my voice neutral.

‘Yeah. I’ve been watching the show and following it on social media, obviously, and you’ve got a lot of fans, particularly among the female viewers. You and Flo are like the poster girls of the anti-misogyny revolution.’ I glance across at Flo, who beams at me.

‘The woman you worked for, what was her name?’ Abby continues after a moment.

‘I knew her as Madame Dufour, but I think her real name is Eileen Strickland.’

‘That’s the one. She just got sent to prison, did you see?’

‘No. We can get UK news at the villa, but I haven’t been following it.’

‘There’s bound to be something online. Have a look.’

As soon as we get to the villa, Flo dashes off to find Rob while Gus talks Abby and James through the arrivals process, so I take the opportunity to check the internet. It takes a little while as it’s buried in the minor news and the article is short, but I read it with interest.

Eileen Strickland, the owner of the notorious brothel Hotel Dufour, was today sentenced to 14 years imprisonment at the central criminal court after being found guilty under section 33 of the Sexual Offences Act for keeping a brothel, section 53 of the same act for controlling prostitution for gain, and sections 2 and 3 of the Modern Slavery Act for trafficking and sexual exploitation. Her daughter, Maria Strickland, was also sentenced to 7 years for controlling prostitution for gain. In his summing up, Richard Stevens KC described them as ‘depraved individuals who remorselessly preyed on vulnerable young women with the sole intention of lining their own pockets,’ adding, ‘society will be much improved without you in it.’

I’m assuming Jock hasn’t seen it either as I’m sure he would have told me, so I screenshot it and send it to him. He must be working as he doesn’t reply, so I go to help Rosa with the dinner. As I’m carrying the trays out to the date-night tables, I notice that Abby and James are sitting opposite each other at the main table, deep in conversation. I can’t help smiling as I contemplate the physical differences between them. If they become a couple, she’s either going to have to saw his legs off at the knees or get a stool, otherwise kissing is going to be very challenging. Flo andRob are also having a heart to heart and, by the eager look on his face, I’m surmising that Flo has decided to take things to the next level, even if her mum is watching.

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