The Darkfall Switch Read Online Free Page B

She looked at him over the rim of her glass and asked, ‘About you. That scandal—?’
    ‘Sorry,’ Foster cut her short. If they talked about the Chinese episode, the conversation would sooner or later be bound to drift on to the subject of Fiona, and that was a pain he would rather not be forced to endure. Not yet anyway. ‘It’s off limits,’ he said quietly. ‘Hope you don’t mind.’
    There was a moment’s awkward silence. Tina scowled into her glass while her husband seemed to be taking great interest in the plaster mouldings edging the ceiling.
    It was Janet who broke the spell. ‘No, of course not,’ she saidpleasantly, without any sign of rancour at being rebuffed. ‘What shall we talk about instead?’
    They ended up discussing the current scandal that had rocked the showbiz world – an opera singer had split from his beautiful and successful wife, the mother of two bright boys aged under ten, and taken up with another man, a famous ballet-dancer. The matter had greatly exercised the redtops of late.
    ‘This is one of the many times I say I’m switching to the FT ,’ Cooper said. ‘They’ve scarcely mentioned it.’
    ‘Why does anyone think we have the slightest interest?’ Janet asked. ‘It isn’t as if there weren’t much more relevant and important things going on.’
    Foster decided he liked her even more.
    The conversation continued for a while, and then Tina stood up. ‘I’ll see how the dinner’s going,’ she said. ‘Alex, why don’t you show Dan your model now, before we eat?’ Her tone was dismissive, slightly patronizing: You big boys and your toys , it hinted.
    ‘Can I take a look?’ Janet said quickly as they all rose to their feet. ‘I’ve heard so much about it from Tina.’
    Cooper looked at his wife. An annoyed frown crossed her face but then she nodded acceptance. ‘Of course,’ she said to Janet. ‘You can stop the boys getting overly bogged down and spoiling the meal by being late.’ There was acid in her tone.
    And with that she almost flounced out of the room.
    Janet’s eyebrows rose almost imperceptibly. ‘Oh dear,’ she said under her breath, and the two men briefly exchanged conspiratorial grins.
    Cooper led the way to the back door and the three of them walked through the fading light along a paved path leading towards a long brick building at the end of the garden. Janet was still wearing the Pashmina and, as he followed her along the path, Foster saw her pull it further over her shoulders against the chill of the evening air.
    As they reached the outbuilding Cooper opened the door and switched on the light inside. Foster had moved alongside Janet and they now both gasped. A pool of intense white light illuminated a work-table in the centre of the room on which stood a beautiful model boat, its deep-blue hull surmounted by a bright orange superstructure. High-gloss paintwork glistened under the glare of the overhead lights. Emblazoned on the side of the hull, in stark white lettering, were the numbers 17-21and under the wheelhouse windows a plate bore the name RNLB David and Elizabeth Ackland .
    ‘She’s a model of the latest Newhaven boat,’ Cooper explained. ‘A Severn class.’
    ‘She’s beautiful,’ Janet breathed and Foster took a sideways look at her. Her eyes were shining in genuine admiration. ‘How long did it take you to build?’
    ‘Best part of two years. Keeps me out of mischief. She’s a fully working model. Radio controlled. She’s pretty well finished now; only a few small finishing touches, and then I’ll be able to take her out and show her off.’
    Foster took reading glasses from his shirt pocket and put them on to peer at the model. He wondered about the logistics of taking it out of this building and down to somewhere that could provide enough room for it to sail; the model was nearly five feet long and almost two feet wide and bristling with whip aerials. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what it weighed.
    He