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4 An Incident in the Car Park
Estrella de mar was coming out to play. From the balcony of Frank's apartment, three floors above the swimming pool, I watched the members of the Club Nautico take their places in the sun. Te
To David He
'Absolutely, dear chap. Come to Estrella de Mar and throw away the calendar.' He joined me at the rail, sighing audibly. 'Aren't they a magnificent sight? Never fail to make the balls tingle.'
'Sad, though, in a way. While they're showing their nipples to the waiters their host is sitting in a cell in Zarzuella jail.'
He
Believe me, we've all been hoisting our pina coladas to him.'
I waited for He
'I'm glad Frank was happy here. Estrella de Mar is the prettiest spot that I've seen on the coast. Still, I would have thought Palm Beach or Nassau more your style.'
He
'Unlike the retirement complexes along the coast – Calahonda and so on?'
'Absolutely. The people of the pueblos…' He
'I'm impressed. But what's the secret?'
'Let's say…' He
'I should have done. But those tower blocks at Torremolinos throw long shadows. Without being snobbish, I assumed it was fish and chips, bingo and cheap sun-oil, all floating on a lake of lager. Not the sort of thing people want to read about in The New Yorker.'
'I dare say. Perhaps you'll write a friendly article about us?'
He
'A friendly article?' I stepped over the scattered seat cushions. 'Perhaps… when Frank comes out. I need time to get my bearings.'
'Very sensible. You can't guess what you might find. Now, I'll drive you to the Hollingers'. I know you want to see the house. Be warned, though, you'll need to keep a strong grip on yourself He
On the sitting-room mantelpiece I recognized a childhood photograph of Frank and myself in Riyadh, standing with Mother outside our house in the residential compound. Frank's sly smile, and my owlish seriousness as the older brother, contrasted with our mother's troubled gaze as she strained to be cheerful for Father's camera. Curiously, the background of white villas, palms and apartment houses reminded me of Estrella de Mar.
Beside the row of te
Sitting beside Frank, hands clasped behind his head, was the fair-haired man I had seen on the te
'Your brother in jollier times,' He
'And who's the brooding chap beside him? The club's leading Hamlet?'
'Far from it. Bobby Crawford, our te
'I did this afternoon.' I showed He
'It slows down his game.' He
'Not with me. Though he was up against someone he couldn't quite beat.'
'Really? He's awfully good. Remarkable fellow in all sorts of ways. He's actually our entertainments officer, and the absolute life and soul of the Club Nautico. It was a brilliant coup of Frank's to bring him here – young Crawford's totally transformed the place. To be honest, before he came the club was pretty well dead. Like Estrella de Mar in many ways – we were turning into another dozy pueblo. Bobby threw himself into everything: fencing, drama, squash. He opened the disco downstairs, and he and Frank set up the Admiral Drake regatta. Forty years ago he'd have been ru
'Perhaps he still is – he's certainly preoccupied with something. Yet he looks so young.'
'Ex-army man. The best junior officers stay young for ever. Strange about that splinter of yours I was still trying to prise the splinter from my hand as I stared at the charred timbers of the Hollinger house. While He