11: Nothing Like The Truth
THE Victoria traffic rumbling past the Hotel Excelsis (Family and Commercial: Bed and Breakfast 4/6) awakened Callaghan.
He opened his eyes, closed them again wearily, concentrated on the business of opening them again; finally, with a groan, sat up and rang the bell.
When the slatternly chambermaid— wide-eyed at the sight of Callaghan's face— had brought his tea, he sat on the edge of the bed and drank it. This done, he walked over to the mirror on the dressing-table and looked at himself.
Both his eyes were badly discoloured. His right jaw-socket had a lump on it as big as a walnut. One eyebrow, badly cut, was beginning to heal, and there was a two-inch laceration on the left-hand side of his throat.
Every inch of his body possessed its own particular ache
