Lord Oliver Branfoot agrees to meet with Strike and Robin and offers to buy them dinner at The Goring Hotel. When Strike tells Robin this, she says ‘The Goring… isn’t that where royalty always stays in London?’ Strike replies ‘I think we’re supposed to be immensely impressed.’ (Chapter 106)
The Goring is a 5 star hotel located a few minutes away from Buckingham Palace. It opened in 1910 and is still owned and run by the family that built it. It is indeed frequented by the royal family and Catherine, Princess of Wales, stayed there with her family in the days leading up to her wedding to Prince William.
On Friday 10th March 2017, Strike gets a cab to the hotel. ‘Upon arrival in the Goring’s cocktail bar he found Robin already seated at a small, round table beside the marble fireplace, framed botanical prints on gold paper on the wall behind her, and looking (which made nothing any easier) as good as he’d ever seen her, with her strawberry blonde hair clean and loose and wearing a high-necked, form-fitting dress of dusky pink, which Strike found sexy in its ostensible demureness.’ (Chapter 107)
Strike pulls up a velvet chair and says to Robin ‘You look great.’ She tells him she had to buy the dress to cover up marks on her neck.
‘‘Trust me, you don’t want to see what’s under here.’
Try me, thought Strike.’ (Chapter 107)
Strike orders a whisky and Robin a mocktail. They discuss Murphy and househunting until Lord Oliver Branfoot arrives, accompanied by Kim Cochrane.
They head for the dining room, passing through the lobby, ‘with its wallpaper painted with palms’ (Chapter 108).
‘The three detectives and Branfoot entered the large, grand, white-walled dining room complete with chandeliers and a crimson carpet’ (Chapter 108).
Strike leaves the group to make a strategic phone call to Wardle on the pavement outside the hotel, watched by the bowler-hatted doorman.
Robin, Branfoot and Kim sit down at a ‘round corner table with a snow-white cloth.’
Strike rejoins them, they order food and wine, and then the conversation descends rapidly into animosity. Their starters arrive – Branfoot has ordered caviar, Strike the Cornish Mackerel. Kim picks up her fork to start on her spiced duck liver terrine but drops it with a clatter when Strike drops a bombshell about Branfoot’s covert filming activities.
After Branfoot storms out, Strike hails a waiter to cancel Branfoot and Kim’s main courses. Strike then proceeds to tell Kim exactly how it will go for her unless she keeps her mouth shut about certain things going forward.
After Kim leaves Robin says ‘Is it wrong,’ said Robin quietly, ‘that I really, really enjoyed that?’ (Chapter 108).
Us too, Robin, us too.
Find The Goring hotel on the map below.