by Jim Jennings
***
Whilst Brigitte returned to her mid-town apartment to collect a few belongings for the next few days, Laurence went to a nearby café called ‘A Load of Crepe’ and duly ordered a huge plate that was stacked with crepes coated in chocolate sauce. Laurence licked his lips in anticipation of the taste. As he assembled his knife and fork, a dark figure sat down across from him. Laurence bit into the delicious pancakes and looked up in surprise to see a familiar face; it was Giorgio Carraciolo. He looked quite unrecognisable from the debonair playboy Laurence had had lunch with earlier in the day. He wore a Paris Saint Germain Football Club baseball cap, dark sunglasses that covered up most of his face and a plain white t-shirt and jeans. The unmistakeable moustache was still to be seen however, and the pristine white teeth smiled brightly at Laurence, so brightly in fact that he thought he was staring directly into the sun.
‘Mr Swift, how goes our investigation? Where is Mr Gilliand?’ Giorgio questioned quite calmly, though Laurence really suspected that inside he was a volcano of impatience waiting to erupt. In his eagerness to stop the captors of the Box, he had quite forgotten about his original mission of finding Wesley and in doing so, saving Ruby. He took a deep breath and proceeded to tell Giorgio all that had transpired during the day since they had parted company; his run in with Michele Vivant, his interruption of the theft of Pandora’s Box, the pursuit and eventual loss of the robbers and his plan to follow the Box to Greece. He told Giorgio all, except of course his encounter with the charming Brigitte. He did not much fancy his chances of wooing her if Giorgio, so famed for his womanising, had the chance of meeting her. As he contemplated what Laurence had told him, the exhausted former tour guide continued to munch into his food. It was truly the finest meal he remembered having and it truly lived up to the advertisement outside that billed this restaurant as having ‘the finest pancakes in Europe’. After a while, Giorgio spoke to Laurence with encouraging words,
‘Laurence, you have done well. You may not have actually found Wesley, like I asked you, but you have stumbled upon something of far greater importance.’
‘You’re right, these crepes are the best things I’ve ever tasted, you’re welcome to try some if you like.’
‘No you idiot! You have discovered that Pandora’s Box is under threat! You must carry on in your search for it!’ Giorgio rose from his seat and took his phone from his pocket. ‘I will book you some first class tickets on the train there and on the ferry itself. But hasten, Laurence, and be careful!’
This turnaround was quite remarkable and seemed to clear Giorgio of any suspicion of taking the Box himself. Maybe, Laurence thought, that was exactly what he wanted, but he wasn’t going to complain. ‘What about Ruby? I won’t pursue Pandora’s Box if you don’t release her immediately.’ Laurence sounded fierce, but it was hard to take him seriously with chocolate sauce dripping onto his shirt.
‘I will release her of course, I promise on my life.’ And Laurence believed him. There was a truth in his eyes that was beyond all doubt. He offered his hand to Giorgio and the two of them shared a hearty shake. Laurence checked his watch and in a moment the dashing man was quite literally dashing out of the exit of the café, leaving Giorgio to pay the bill.
