Read Peter Diamond - 09 - The Secret Hangman for Free Online

left?’
    ‘Twenty minutes before she did.’
    ‘What sort of evening had it been?’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘Customers.’
    ‘I get you.’ The shift away from him personally came as obvious relief . ‘A quiet night. Party of four. Two couples. One man dining alone.’
    ‘Regulars?’
    ‘Yes, the four have a regular booking. Retired people. And one of the couples comes often. The others were new to me.’
    ‘Do you happen to remember who Delia was serving?’
    ‘That couple I just told you about. And the single man.’
    ‘Who you hadn’t seen before? What was he like?’
    ‘I didn’t speak to him. A businessman maybe, visiting the city. Suit and tie. Twenty-five, twenty-six.’
    ‘Why do you say he was visiting?’
    ‘Guy on his own. You get to recognise them. They’re stuck overnight in some hotel, so they look for a place to eat out. Most guys don’t eat alone if they live just up the street.’
    ‘Would he have booked?’
    ‘No, but I have his name, if that’s what you’re asking. When I heard you were coming, I looked through the credit-card slips for that evening. He was Mr D. Monnington.’
    It was a long time since Diamond had carried a notebook. He helped himself to a paper napkin from the nearest table and scribbled the name. ‘Did you notice if he was trying to chat her up?’
    ‘Hard to tell. Delia always talked to customers, ’specially if they were alone. I saw her at his table towards the end of the evening, after the coffee was served.’
    ‘What – just talking?’
    ‘I thought she was working for her tip, that’s all. We do if we think there’s a chance.’
    ‘She was no more friendly than you’d have expected?’
    ‘I didn’t hear what was being said.’
    ‘And Mr Monnington left when?’
    ‘Towards the end. Say about ten minutes before we closed.’
    ‘Ten to midnight?’
    He looked towards the kitchen, to make sure the manager couldn’t hear. ‘Actually, it was earlier. We had no more customers, so I closed at eleven.’
    ‘Tell me some more about Delia. Did she talk to you about her life at all?’
    ‘Not much. She once said she had kids. She lived with someone in the music business.’
    ‘Was she acting normally on that last evening?’
    ‘I thought so.’
    ‘Was anyone waiting for her when she finished work?’
    ‘She didn’t say.’
    ‘What was she wearing?’
    ‘Same as usual. Jeans and a top. I can’t remember what colour.
    Trainers.’
    ‘She’d worn those things while she was working?’
    ‘No. We have lockers for our working clothes. We change into our own things when we leave.’
    ‘Changing rooms?’
    ‘One, the size of a cupboard.’
    ‘Unisex?’
    ‘One person at a time. You’d have a job getting two in there.’
    ‘In a minute you can show me. Who changed first?’
    ‘Delia did. When she came out I said goodnight and that was the last I saw of her. I changed into my day clothes and locked up and left.’
    ‘What, a few minutes after Delia? Didn’t you catch up with her?’
    ‘She goes a different way.’
    ‘I was going to ask about you,’ Diamond said. ‘Do you live alone?’
    Luigi blinked nervously now the focus was back on him. ‘Yes.’
    ‘So do I,’ Diamond said. ‘It’s not a crime. Where’s home, then?’
    ‘I have a flat in Twerton.’
    ‘I know Twerton. Which street?’
    ‘Innox Road.’
    ‘D’you walk it?’
    ‘Bike.’
    ‘Pushbike?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Good man. No petrol fumes. Where do you keep the bike?’
    ‘Under the stairs you just came down.’
    ‘Do you have a car as well?’
    He hesitated. It was obvious what the question was really about. Delia’s killer had probably used transport. He said, ‘An old Honda, but I don’t use it for coming into work.’
    Carlo the cook was next up for questioning. His English wasn’t so fluent as Luigi’s, but he was better than Signor Tosi. In his kitchen, he continued peeling and chopping vegetables with a rapid movement that spoke of long experience.