I was just as pleased. Gerry is apt to be a bit too buoyant and talkative in the morning. I just wanted a bit of silence and the opportunity to clear my mind of cats and cat-lovers. I made a good start with a hot shower. The place ran to a few such luxuries now, thanks to a generous – and, I might say, well-earned – bonus from our last job. I had shaved, dressed, and was browsing through a moderately well-stocked cupboard trying to decide what I fancied for breakfast when the telephone rang. Like a trusting fool, I ambled over and answered it. Some people never learn. ‘Hello, Doug?’ The urgency in the voice alerted me. I wasn’t going to like what followed. ‘Douglas Perkins, here,’ I admitted, waiting for the bad news. ‘Thank heavens! Look, Doug, it’s Dave Prendergast here –’ I felt an immediate rush of guilt. He’d discovered I’d filched that trial packet of Pussy No-Poo.
