She could be staying there – in which case she might have fled to her room, or even hidden out in the Ladies’. He increased his pace, taking long wide strides until he was back at the Lumière again. Harry hurried over to the reception desk and leaned on the counter. ‘Hi,’ he said giving a friendly smile to a willowy redhead with a nametag that said KIM. ‘I was wondering if you could help? I’m here to see a friend of mine called Ellen Shaw. Do you know if she’s booked in yet?’ Kim, who had probably witnessed his hasty exit from the hotel, gave him a dubious look. ‘Ellen Shaw?’ ‘That’s right.’ Kim paused, staring at him for a few seconds before eventually tapping a few keys on the computer. ‘Sorry, we’ve got no one by that name staying here.’ Harry pulled a face, realising that even if Ellen had got a room she could be using an alias. ‘Did you see a girl walk through here about five minutes ago? In her early thirties, slim, short blonde hair, wearing a blue dress?’ Kim didn’t even pretend to think about it.
