Felix looked at her and grinned. ‘Good idea. Who’s paying? I bought a new suit and some shirts this afternoon – I’m skint.’ ‘I’m paying,’ Julia said. ‘And you’d better put on the new suit. We’re going to Mario’s.’ ‘We are?’ he stared at her. ‘Sweetheart, you are paying – it’s ten quid for an orange juice … Are we celebrating something?’ ‘No,’ Julia answered. ‘It’s down to expenses. I just want to go there and see the place. I’ve booked a table for nine o’clock. I’m going to change.’ The head waiter at Mario’s was a friend of Ben Harris. Julia was discovering that there were unexpected facets to his character. He knew a lot of unlikely people, and he could call in favours when he needed information. Like which evening this week Harold King was dining at Mario’s with his family. He always took his wife and daughter out to dinner at Mario’s; it was a weekly ritual. He had a special table which was always reserved in case he called up at the last minute, and Harris said he always ordered the same menu.
