Red Notice

32

Laszlo crouched over the body.

The trousers of the grey suit were a little short, particularly when his knees were bent, but that didn’t bother him. The uniform suited his purpose. He slipped the attendant’s keys into his pocket, then straightened up.

He stepped over to the mirror and examined himself and his new disguise. Satisfied, he listened at the door for a few moments, then opened it and stepped outside.

As he looked up, he saw a couple hurrying towards him. Their urgency, the deathly pallor of the woman’s face and the fact that she was totally unaware of anything but her own discomfort left him in no doubt about where she was heading.

He stepped in front of them. ‘Sorry,’ he said, with an ingratiating smile. ‘This toilet is flooded. Please use the one in the next coach.’ He turned his back on them, fumbled with the keys and locked the door.

As the attendant turned back, Tom held his gaze.

Delphine shuddered, covering her mouth with her hand, and walked on. Tom stared at him for a few more moments, frowning, then hurried after her. When he got there, the toilet door at the far end of the aisle was already locked.

‘Are you all right?’

He was answered by a groan, the sound of retching and vomiting and, finally, the flushing of the toilet.

The train swept into Ebbsfleet station. The doors opened, a handful of passengers got off and many more boarded. Tom rapped on the toilet door. ‘Delphine? If we hurry we can get off here.’

Even as he said it, he heard the beeps signalling that the doors were about to close. By the time Delphine emerged, dabbing at the corners of her mouth with a tissue, they were already picking up speed.

‘Looks like I’m going to Paris after all.’ Tom helped her clean herself up.

But by then it wasn’t Delphine who had kept him on the train.