him.’
Around the racecourse, set back from the track and behind the seats, were stalls where quick food and drink could be purchased, and around the stalls, particularly around the ones selling beer, was a seething mass of people. Finding anyone in the mass seemed impossible but Sophia wormed her way through to the counter in each case and looked around. Felix saw her arm wave and there, yes, was her father talking earnestly.
‘Dad, you’ve got to come back to the hotel.’
‘Sure, sure,’ said Dr Wynne-Gurr, and went on talking.
‘This is the first time of asking,’ said Sophia. ‘We’ll go away and come back in ten minutes. And then five. And then we’ll keep coming until we’re such a nuisance that you’ll have to come with us.’
‘This girl knows how to get what she wants,’ said the man Felix’s father was talking to. ‘Hello, Sophia!’
‘Hello, Dr Cassar,’ said Sophia. ‘And you’d better come away, too, or Anna will get very fed up with you.’
‘One last drink,’ stipulated Dr Cassar.
‘I think I’ve had enough,’ said Felix’s father.
‘So have I,’ said Dr Cassar. ‘So we’ll make this the last one. One for you, Melinda?’
‘I’m back on duty in three-quarters of an hour, so I’d better not,’ said Melinda. ‘I saw your Uncle Paolo, Sophia. Is he back on shore?’
‘For a bit,’ said Sophia.
‘I wanted to catch him, but he disappeared.’
‘He was going to see how Luigi was.’
‘Luigi?’
‘A friend of his. In the band. He got knifed.’
‘Badly?’
‘Badly enough for him to go home.’
‘That band is the cause of a lot of trouble,’ said Melinda. ‘Or, at least, it attracts trouble. A pity, because it’s not at all bad. And better still when your uncle is playing.’
‘He ought to stick to that,’ said Sophia.
Felix had seen Dr Malia, not in the crowd around the beer stall, but by the mquaret stall. He went across to him.
‘Hello, Dr Malia,’ he said. ‘I didn’t realize you were one for the races.’
‘I like to see them occasionally,’ said Dr Malia. ‘And on a Sunday you can’t get into a lot of the places I want to go to.’
‘Nor me,’ said Felix.
‘The Armouries won’t be open for a long time yet,’ said Dr Malia.
‘I know. So maybe I ought to change my project. Sophia says so. She says I ought to do so anyway. She says I ought to be looking at anti-weaponry.
‘Anti-weaponry?’
‘Medicine. Hospitals. And such.’
‘Well, now, that’s not a bad idea.’
‘Yes, but that’s your project, not mine.’
‘I could share it,’ said Dr Malia.
Sophia came through the crowd. ‘Dr Malia, you’re needed over by the bandstand. Someone’s got hurt.’
‘Another one?’ said Felix.
‘It happens all the time,’ said Sophia, dismissively.
‘What’s wrong with him?’ asked Dr Malia.
Sophia shrugged. ‘There was some fighting. Cuts and bruises, I think.’
‘If it’s more than that, they ought to go to the hospital.’
‘They don’t want to go to the hospital.’
‘In case too many questions get asked?’
Sophia kissed him.
‘Got it in one,’ she said. ‘You’re the man they want.’
‘Yes, but they don’t want me for the right reasons,’ said Dr Malia. ‘Anyway, I’m not really up to it these days.’
‘You’re the one everyone wants.’
‘I haven’t got my bag,’ Dr Malia objected weakly.
‘If you need it, they’d send someone to fetch it.’
‘I suppose I ought to go,’ said Dr Malia. ‘Where, exactly—’
‘By the bandstand. The Three Cities bandstand.’
‘There always trouble there!’
‘Yes. Luigi got stabbed there earlier this afternoon.’
‘Where is he?’
‘Someone took him home. Uncle Paolo has gone to see him. I think you ought to go and see him, too. You’d be much more use.’
Dr Wynne-Gurr was extricated and delivered. Mrs Wynne-Gurr meanwhile had been reviewing the day with the ladies of the Ambulance and pronounced herself satisfied. That she
Around the racecourse, set back from the track and behind the seats, were stalls where quick food and drink could be purchased, and around the stalls, particularly around the ones selling beer, was a seething mass of people. Finding anyone in the mass seemed impossible but Sophia wormed her way through to the counter in each case and looked around. Felix saw her arm wave and there, yes, was her father talking earnestly.
‘Dad, you’ve got to come back to the hotel.’
‘Sure, sure,’ said Dr Wynne-Gurr, and went on talking.
‘This is the first time of asking,’ said Sophia. ‘We’ll go away and come back in ten minutes. And then five. And then we’ll keep coming until we’re such a nuisance that you’ll have to come with us.’
‘This girl knows how to get what she wants,’ said the man Felix’s father was talking to. ‘Hello, Sophia!’
‘Hello, Dr Cassar,’ said Sophia. ‘And you’d better come away, too, or Anna will get very fed up with you.’
‘One last drink,’ stipulated Dr Cassar.
‘I think I’ve had enough,’ said Felix’s father.
‘So have I,’ said Dr Cassar. ‘So we’ll make this the last one. One for you, Melinda?’
‘I’m back on duty in three-quarters of an hour, so I’d better not,’ said Melinda. ‘I saw your Uncle Paolo, Sophia. Is he back on shore?’
‘For a bit,’ said Sophia.
‘I wanted to catch him, but he disappeared.’
‘He was going to see how Luigi was.’
‘Luigi?’
‘A friend of his. In the band. He got knifed.’
‘Badly?’
‘Badly enough for him to go home.’
‘That band is the cause of a lot of trouble,’ said Melinda. ‘Or, at least, it attracts trouble. A pity, because it’s not at all bad. And better still when your uncle is playing.’
‘He ought to stick to that,’ said Sophia.
Felix had seen Dr Malia, not in the crowd around the beer stall, but by the mquaret stall. He went across to him.
‘Hello, Dr Malia,’ he said. ‘I didn’t realize you were one for the races.’
‘I like to see them occasionally,’ said Dr Malia. ‘And on a Sunday you can’t get into a lot of the places I want to go to.’
‘Nor me,’ said Felix.
‘The Armouries won’t be open for a long time yet,’ said Dr Malia.
‘I know. So maybe I ought to change my project. Sophia says so. She says I ought to do so anyway. She says I ought to be looking at anti-weaponry.
‘Anti-weaponry?’
‘Medicine. Hospitals. And such.’
‘Well, now, that’s not a bad idea.’
‘Yes, but that’s your project, not mine.’
‘I could share it,’ said Dr Malia.
Sophia came through the crowd. ‘Dr Malia, you’re needed over by the bandstand. Someone’s got hurt.’
‘Another one?’ said Felix.
‘It happens all the time,’ said Sophia, dismissively.
‘What’s wrong with him?’ asked Dr Malia.
Sophia shrugged. ‘There was some fighting. Cuts and bruises, I think.’
‘If it’s more than that, they ought to go to the hospital.’
‘They don’t want to go to the hospital.’
‘In case too many questions get asked?’
Sophia kissed him.
‘Got it in one,’ she said. ‘You’re the man they want.’
‘Yes, but they don’t want me for the right reasons,’ said Dr Malia. ‘Anyway, I’m not really up to it these days.’
‘You’re the one everyone wants.’
‘I haven’t got my bag,’ Dr Malia objected weakly.
‘If you need it, they’d send someone to fetch it.’
‘I suppose I ought to go,’ said Dr Malia. ‘Where, exactly—’
‘By the bandstand. The Three Cities bandstand.’
‘There always trouble there!’
‘Yes. Luigi got stabbed there earlier this afternoon.’
‘Where is he?’
‘Someone took him home. Uncle Paolo has gone to see him. I think you ought to go and see him, too. You’d be much more use.’
Dr Wynne-Gurr was extricated and delivered. Mrs Wynne-Gurr meanwhile had been reviewing the day with the ladies of the Ambulance and pronounced herself satisfied. That she
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