Monday 9:00 am 

Romana was devastated when she learned that Sir Geoffrey had died. He had meant so much to her and he had helped free her family from misery and poverty. 

She was sad and she was angry. Why hadn’t he heeded her warning and how dare he let himself get murdered! She relalised that she had been more in love with him than she allowed herself to admit. She felt that he had shared that love. 

Romana was in her late twenties but had never freely and unconditionally made love to anyone. In her first attempts to get work she had been subjected to all kinds of sexual abuse. 

Her father found it difficult to support his family. He had worked all his life in the mines, some days as much as sixteen hours a day—seven days a week. That was when the work had been available. When he was fifty, his lungs and overall health had taken a toll. His health meant he couldn’t work and he had been virtually bed-ridden for ten years. Her mother had tried to get work, but she was also fragile. She made meals which she sold to her neighbours who were equally poor but glad to be able to get something to put on the table for their children. Romana was forced into doing things she regretted in order to feed the family.

 Romana was determined to avenge Geoffrey’s murder. She knew that he had been innocently implicated in the cocaine dealing of her boss.

 When Sir Geoffrey was in St. Petersburg, they had shared magical evenings together. They had confided in each other. She loved Geoffrey. She was not going to let his death go unpunished. 

She knew that her boss was indirectly responsible for his death. However, she had discovered that the person directly responsible for his murder was Carlos, and it was he that she was out to get. 

She couldn’t sleep at night. The only thing on her mind was formulating a plan. Her first instincts had been to knock on Carlos’s door and shoot him in cold blood. She wanted to watch him die. However, she realized that she was not capable of doing such a thing. She considered poison, but again ruled that out—it would be difficult to create an opportunity to slip something in his drink. No, it needed something more subtle than that!

She took holiday leave saying that she wanted to see Britain. This was partly true and she made her way to London. She went straight to Geoffrey’s office and spoke to his partner stating that Geoffrey had confided certain personal belongings to her which she was give to his chauffeur. The partner gladly gave her Mike’s phone number and she set up a meeting.

As soon as Romana left the law offices, Sir Geoffrey’s partner called Scotland Yard, to tell Bill Slade about the visit from the mysterious Russian woman.

Romana met Mike in the lobby of her hotel at Charing Cross and Mike suggested that they go somewhere less public.

”I’ll take you to a nice little pub in Covent Garden,” said Mike. “We can talk freely there. It’s just a ten minute walk.”

As they walked past Trafalgar Square, Mike pointed out The National Gallery, which he recommended that she visit. They walked up St. Martins Lane and then into Covent Garden. He showed her the famous opera house—another place she should visit. Although sight-seeing wasn’t on her mind, although he was excited to be in this historic city. Mike explained that Covent Garden was once a huge vegetable and flower market, which she found hard to believe looking at the crowds of tourists and the trendy stores that lined the streets. 

On entering the White lion, Mike was warmly greeted by the attractive woman behind the bar and several of the customers.

“Okay if I use the back room, Sally?”

“Fine, but don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” answered Sally.

Mike ordered a couple of coffees which he carried into the back room.

She began by saying, “Obviously, I want to talk to you about Geoff. He was conned into getting cocaine into Russia.”

“I know,” said Mike. “And when the deal went bad, he got the blame.”

 “You are right. My boss arranged for Geoff’s murder, and I found out who did it. It was a man with the name Carlos Olivera,” said Romana.

“Carlos didn’t do it himself, he hired a professional to do the job,” said Mike.

“I want Carlos to be killed. Will you help me? You are the only one I know in England. Could you arrange for me to meet this Carlos?” she asked. 

Mike was silent for a while, and then said, “I have to make a phone call before I can agree to anything.”

Mike left the room to make the call. When he returned, he said that he was prepared to help, but they need to make a plan before rushing into anything. 

On their way back to her hotel, Mike went into the O2 phone shop on the Strand. He bought two phones and handed one to her. 

“We’ll communicate only using these phones. Don’t call my other number and I will not call your hotel. I will call you Anna and you will call me Olaf. We can’t be too careful,” said Mike. “Go to the National Gallery this afternoon at two o’ clock, and wait near Van Gough’s Sunflowers.”