He picked up a telephone and spoke into it. Then he said, ‘There’s just one thing I must ask. There was some talk of a fire down in the Murderers’ Room earlier this evening. I don’t know who said there was a fire but it seems it was a mistake. So please don’t smoke. Now if you’re ready, let’s make a move.
Hewson followed Marriner through five or six rooms where his men were at work covering up the kings of England and other famous people. Marriner spoke to one of the men, asking him to bring an armchair to the Murderers’ Room.
‘I’m sorry but that’s the best we can do,’ he said. ‘Perhaps if you sit in the chair, you can get some sleep.’
He took the writer down to the Murderers’ Room. It was a big room without much light. Hewson thought of a church: you felt you had to speak very quietly in here. But this was not a good place. It was a place to remember wrongdoers, murderers and the bad things that made them famous.
