2494 Worthing walking 2013, Terrorism horror and Ed's rediscovered democratic socialism

It has been a glorious summer‘s day in late September yet I found it difficult to concentrate on the cricket with my attention divided between the horror in Kenya with its implications for all of us of the Muslim based terrorism,while this afternoon I listened on digital radio to Ed Miliband’s speech to the annual conference of the Labour Party at Brighton. I really ought to have checked the position earlier and applied for a day pass or two although had Durham needed to win the present game for the championship I would have found myself torn between the two events. Perhaps next year prior to the general election? Blackpool?

I watched the morning BBC 1 news and features programme on the wall mounted TV in the room before departing around 8.30 24^th September 2013 on what looked a great sun drenching day until hit dense sea fret reaching Lancing and the river Adur. Fortunately the fog cleared as I reached the Lighthouse Lifeboat station car park. I crossed the main road with difficulty because of the rapidly advancing traffic in both directions but did not have to wait long before the arrival of the 700 coastliner bus. My bus pass was not recognised and the driver issued me a ticket only to work out as I sat down the embarrassment that I had entered the bus before the 9.30 time when the pass became valid. I apologised as I left at the stop close to the southern region HQ building of the GMB union.

I had purchased my first day ticket in advance and arrived sufficiently early for a good explore of the developments at the ground since my last visit. There is now a tall stand to the left of the entrance with on the read underside a large club store and reception ticket/membership office. There is also a general coffee shop/restaurant with outside tables attempting to open 7 days a week 52 weeks if the year but its location is hopeless away from the long Brighton to beyond Hove shopping and restaurant street, with a popular pub at the gate and the facilities within the club Pavilion as well as the bar/snackery at the far end of the ground. I ordered a coffee to accompany reading the Times purchased at an all house local store only for the coffee to be lukewarm. Not good enough. I have not been back.

Apart from emphasising the callous brutality of these monster beings with the picture of a young couple, she in the latter stages of pregnancy and the story of a mother screaming because of the body of her child aside her, the interest has switched to the growing belief that a white woman involved in the attack is the British born and raised lay dead beside her. My sympathy is again with the Kenyan president who promised the perpetrators prolonged pain and with the relatives and everyone who fears the kind of world which will be created if these fanatics are not checked. I am tempted to join the clamour of the Dalek’s “Exterminate Them,” adding of course, according to due process of the country in which they are apprehended.

Returning to the Sussex cricket ground in addition to the new stand, a batch of at least 96 seats has been added to the roof of the media centre where it was possible to sit on fixed seats on my previous visit with an excellent view over the wicket. These seats are now restricted to those willing to offer up front £1000 and then purchase the premium membership services at £250 each year. The other significant change is a new posh entrance to the top part of the Pavilion which is side on to the wicket and where for an additional £80 to standard membership one can claim the same seat throughout the championship year.

As I had left my hat and cap in the car I went out of the sun in the shade at the top of the new stand where i chatted with some established Sussex members and also watched the arrival of at least 100 Durham supporters, many with the official supporters coach and one couple and their dog in a motor home which was allowed to park within the ground along with the team coach and the players coach. The Durham team are staying at Arundel because of the Labour Party annual conference and the Durham supporters at Eastbourne.

The other news event dominating the news programmes until this morning, Thursday September 26^th has been Ed Miliband’s speech to the Labour conference resulting in some proposals being condemned by New Labour Guru Peter Mandelson and now crossbencher business adviser Toby Jones with horror and scorn from the Tory press and a field day anticipated at next week’s Tory Party conference. I want to place on record that I thought his speech Prime Ministerial next General Election winning, probably with an coalition alliance with the Lib Dems and other parties including surprisingly as it may seem the Unionists. The speech marked a clear divide which should stem the tide of old labour to UKIP and place more pressure on Cameron to move to the right thus creating more difficulties for himself with increasing Tory moves of members and voters to UKIP.

The first measure which Ed proposed whose significance is yet to be fully understood is his firm declaration as a Unionist and opposition to an independent Scotland, thus sounding a call to arms of the traditional Labour voters, especially in Scotland and where he matched the SNP’s decision to give a referendum vote to 16 year olds by also proposing to reduce the voting age in General and Local elections to 16 years. This was only structural reform of substance I drew from the speech.

It could be argued that by also insisting on trying to carry through the proposal to disentangle the block voting Trade Union members turning a substantial proportion into active Labour party members is also a structural move but in my eyes is no more that help to separate the traditional Labour tactics and behaviour of local members from the proposed democratic socialist party of the future. This to my mind is the most adventurous of his proposals given the tenacity and resistance of the old power men to change. Reminds of the Young Socialist coup which enabled me to become an executive member of the Beddington and Wallington Labour Party when I was 21.

One major theme of his speech was standing up to the powerful whereas he rightly claimed Cameron only stood up to the weak, backing off reform of the House Lords, the banks their lending and their bonuses, the energy firms who raise but never lower charges irrespective of market conditions, Murdoch, the press and the Leveson recommendations although in fairness the Home Secretary has stood up to the Association of Chief Police Officers.

The class division between the have not’s and the very rich was also emphasised is a series of measure to try and make some impact on the widening imbalances. One proposal is to force property developers to use the land in their possession or become taxed and eventually the compulsory purchase. Which amounts to encouragement by threat with the Labour Government wanting to increase the number of new homes by 200000. Labour would also introduce several wealth taxes, one of the corporation tax for large business empires going to small business development with environment protection and alternative energy at the core. It was the big six energy companies who have become the focus of media attention with the announcement of a 20 month freeze during which time the government would attempt to reorganise the market and strengthen the regulator. This led to threats of close downs, and slow downs which the new Red Ed dismissed. He also attacked the lack of progress in male female issues from equal pay and a further move to increasing the number of female Members of parliament from 30% to 50%. There was no major socialist structuring in the rhetoric but the direction and mood was in the right one for bringing the trade unions and the lower paid back away from UKIP and sending a positive message to the beleaguered middle classes that they were significantly below the rich now in the sights of a future Labour Government. The decision not to support military intervention in Syria had played well his supporters and the electorate in general.

The new head of the Unsolved Crimes Team in New Tricks on Tuesday evening is none other than Tamzin Outhwaite who is married to an Assistant Chief Couple who jerry in particular thought must have pulled strings to get her the job. I gather next week she finds hubby in bed with another. The case of interest was an unsolved murder where the murder weapon turns up as part of an allotment clearance when a World War II unexploded bomb is discovered although there do not immediately know from which of the cleared sites the weapon had come from. I cannot remember much about the crime and its solution as the interest throughout was on Tamzin and how she was able to cope with the three men members and with Jerry( Denis Waterman) the only one of the originals remaining. I like the role of Nicholas Lyndhurst (Rodney from only Fools and Horses) who in time will make it but I am not sure about the other character with the loss of Brian almost impossible to get back from.

I have also not mentioned the very good afternoon play on Radio Four which attempted to show a young woman in a wheel chair of being a whole woman and a capable actress for more that wheel chair roles about the problems of disability. Of course being radio the unanswered question was the actress a disabled wheel chair dependent or not.

Wednesday proved a very different morning after the burning sun of Tuesday when on returning to the Travel Lodge the room was stifling despite the fan being left on by the. I had made a salad with a carton of grapes for lunch, continuing with cereal and milk mornings. At the end of the game on Tuesday and returning to the car I had driven to Tesco for milk, some chicken wings for the evening meal, lettuce, tomatoes and a small quiche. Although there was mist here when I set off taking the quiche with salad, it was brighter and still warm when I parked the car at the lighthouse car park. However it was still misty on arrival at Hove and ensuring I was OK for the 9,30 use of the bus pass I was still able to find myself a deckchair seat at the back of the area close to behind the wicket and with a perfect view of the play. I had remembered my Durham hat although it was not needed for most of the morning.

I enjoyed coffee from the kiosk type service at the back of the ground and after lunch I had another coffee with a packet of crisps. It was just after lunch that the fog came in and there was a break of play. This break lasted only five minutes when there was also a commotion in the main stand as spectators started to all move having been told to do so because an alarm had sounded below. Thus was a false alarm and they quickly returned and I wondered if this was anything to do with the four hour protest strike of the fire service over the decision that new entrants would not retire until they reach the age of 60.

The fog then came in and stayed so eventually I made my way back and invested £2 for parking an early return to the room where the fog continued for the rest of the day. I enjoyed soup a la cuppa and a hot pot noodles in the evening.

For the second week in succession there was an excellent Who Do you Think You are with John Snow whose great grand mother left her husband with three of her four children went to live with USA cowboy showman Bill Coady who then became a key figure in the development of flight for the UK, including working for the Army before World War I. At the age of four when his parent‘s divorced John chose to be brought up by his father and this led him to have little contact with his mother’s family and background. His point that one should not lose contact with kith and kin was well made,

The cricket going the way it had I was in two minds whether to go the Sussex ground this Thursday morning or go walking. There was mist out to sea and given the events of the previous day and that is was only 9,15 when i arrived at the Lighthouse, I decided to continue walking towards Southwick which also has similarities with the Southwick Sunderland alongside a river based seaport with public housing flats and an attractive air given the rest of the south coast ruritania. Across the road from Southwick Marina is Emmaus crafts and coffee shop which was tempting especially as the Pebbles on the Beach and the Schooner Inn were not yet open. It was then the Schooner Inn across the road with the adjacent bus stop where I missed a bus just before arriving to find it had been three minutes early although another was on its way. I had noted a succession of 700 coastliners going on to Chichester, Arundel, Portsmouth and Southsea as well as those going only as far as Worthing before turning around and a possible agenda for Friday commenced to emerge although earlier I had thought of Brighton Marina for a first showing of the new Woody Allen with Kate Blanchette at the Cineworld and then lunch. A 700 arrived after nine minutes but it would have been quicker to have walked because of some road works creating a single lane obstruction. I got off at the commencement of the promenade from Hove to Brighton Pier with its hundreds of small colourful painted beach huts which were covered with Daddylonglegs. There were a few joggers and one young mother with a child but with the atmosphere grey and a blustery cold wind there were few about me,

I listen to the second part of a P G Woodhouse play which involved the abduction of prize pigs, the threat of exposure via published reminisces and thwarted love affairs involving two couples. It all ended well but was not funny, barely amusing and said little about human nature or the human condition. It did pass the time of day while walked and walked and around 11 I switched over to the cricket and was depressed to learn of another early Durham collapse.

I would give the cricket a miss and headed for the Wetherspoons and an early consoling plate of sausage and mash. When I got there I did not want to be associated with the other men there. The vibes were not good. It was way too early for the 2.30 Traditional Jazz band at one Inn. The Tesco only had a Costa Coffee so I reconsidered the Wetherpoons but again rejected. I was then tempted by a two course fixed menu offer at an Italian where the Whitebait or was it sardines and the fish main course appealed, especially as I was carrying the next Montalbano to read, The Wings of the Sphinx. After finishing August Heat.

This reminds that I had invested in books by the Bedser Twins Denis Compton and Bill Edrich. John Arlot on Fred Truman and two by Bryan Johnston from the club book market for £10 to add to the never ending reading list.

I had been walking for the better part of three hours when I decided enough was enough and took the bus back to Worthing leaving my car at the Lighthouse. Derbyshire had been relegated with Notts and Somerset safe. A young man just 18 years had scored the youngest 100 for Surrey and was still batting. Durham were 44 behind with six wickets down after Ben Stokes had hit a 20 20 style 40 off runs. It was all over bar the shouting.

At Worthing I got off at M and S and purchased milk, forgetting I also needed cereal and for £6 a carton of black and green olives with Feta cheese cubes, smoked mackerel and spicy chicken wings saving around £3/ I invested £1.50 for a bottle of Pepsi only for the machine to give men £3 20 in change, amazing. It was time for a snooze and when I came too great things were happening for Durham and Friday took a different turn. The Surrey young man had hit over 200 and was still going at the close of play

Around 6 it was time to go for the car but beforehand I bought the cereal and also fancied a platter of salami cheese and cured ham. A bus was approaching the stop so I set off apace but it remained stationery only to find the driver was killing time before going off duty at the next stop. On return I had my second feast of the day in celebration with another bottle of Pepsi (no change given) and then watched the England female football team win 8.0. There are now three levels in world female football, teams from the USA, Canada and Germany with full time professional leagues, England which is in between and the rest who are poor in terms of skill and fitness. It was a very good day and I was in bed by 10 and asleep soon after

2493 Belated sport, TV and film update Sept 2013

I started to write the TV and film update on Monday 16^th September 2013 just before I set off to my GP Health Practice for a cardio vascular check up having by coincidence (I am sure) just received in the post an invitation to a scan check up £40 for one and £150 for four separate scan checks. Interesting,

The weather on Sunday was awful so I did not go out to cheer on David Weir, Mo Farah and the up to 50000 others who braved blustery cool to cold and wet conditions for the Great North Run. The level of spectators which has reduced over the years was also significantly down not surprisingly. In the event the race between David Weir and his Canadian rival ended when the latter had mechanical problems and dropped out. And Mo was beaten as much by the condition as the current Olympic and World Marathon champion with the one of the great of all time also from Ethiopia also participating thus three generations of great runners were present.

I enjoyed watching the Newcastle victory at Aston Villa by 2 goals to 1 ( Ben Arfa and Gouffron scoring) so that they are now equal second on points and eight in terms of goal difference. Newcastle should consolidate with a home win against Hull at home Saturday, a game which I may have gone to see had I not decided to attend the 40 40 final at Lords on the same day. Sunderland will struggle to gain a point at West Brom on the same day. How true this was leading to the sacking of De Canio and Newcastle lost as well, Oh Dear me.

I also watched the first part of the Chicago Bears game in the NFL which I now know they won 31 30 having previously won their first game of the regular season at home 24 to 21 two tight finishers. The other team I have supported being given a shirt one Christmas is the San Francisco 49ers who won their first game 34 to 28 against the Green Bay Packers while yesterday they were trounced at Seatle 29 to 3.Not good Seatle also won their first game away 12.3 so they have started the season looking good,

Yesterday evening I spent five hours looking at the programmes on the ITV channel commencing with Prince William demonstrating his concern and commitment to wild life conservation, primarily in Africa in recorded programme from Kensington Palace in the week when he formally left his role in the military after seven years and becomes a full time Royal devoting himself to official duties, supporting causes and being a good father. Late in the evening he was attending an event where one of five nominated wild life conservationists was to receive the first award he has set with the organisation Tusk and where he was accompanied by the Duchess on her first public function since the birth of Prince George.

This was followed by the gooee Surprise Surprise where the major story ending the programme was of a boy who survived two leukaemia outbreak where his life hung in the balance before a bone marrow donor was found and where the parent and the donor were not aware of identities for the period of two years. The man had offered to help someone he knew but did not match but was a 10/10 for the boy so went ahead. The programme was designed to encourage new donors to come forward and amen to that. It is difficult to watch ed the excruciating goeeyness at times but there are some good and moving stories in what will be a ten week series. As reported yesterday, the second episode was so much better/

Following Surprise Surprise is the penultimate double audition for the X Factor where first there are studio auditions followed by presentation to the public. A sixteen year old boy from Scotland performed better before the audience and was the headline act getting TV interviews the following morning. A group of three brothers follow in Beejee footsteps and there was also a Take That type boy band of band but no female caught my eye.

It was then time for the last in the short series of Vera Northumbria Police Detective series which included a shot of South Shields beach walking and Newcastle club land stairways different levels from the key side. The story concerns a man ex police man stabbed just before he was due to meet a young woman he had picked up in a bar although why the two did not immediately leave together is nonsense although without the follow there would have been no story. The young was as nasty piece of work so no tears over his demise however the law is the law and various people all came into the frame although the young he had met was quickly ruled out.

There was a female corporate lawyer with the additional motive of wanting him to find info which would help the take over of a local brewery by an interested company. The brewery was owned by his brother in law where later in the two hour programme she admits she also had an affair with the man. He had been investigating her father and discovered that he had served in Ireland and subsequently changed his name. The father the daughter and the sister had all been to a function at Newcastle race course at the time when the murder occurred. Photos taken at the time confirm that the daughter was present throughout but the father appeared to be missing for about half an hour. Fortunately he had gone for a smoke with the manager of the course.

The brother had also made contact with his former girl friend who had since married with two children to a nasty bit of work. A record for violence he was found to have beaten up the former boyfriend when he came a calling and had also attacked his wife. However there is no evidence although charges are brought regarding the violence and the girl is provided with witness protection although it is not needed when it is found that the young man purchased a flat for them in the girl’s name in London. She now denied the husband was home and he admitted to the theft of lad from a church.

A petty thief was found to have used the credit card of the dead man and the thief admits to stealing and using the card but to murder. The man late also admits he broke into the property of man sister looking for documents he had not been paid because he not found what was required and had stolen the credit card as a consequence.

The sister and her husband lived at a farm which had been left to the sister alone because she had looked after the parents until their death while son had been doing his thing away from the area. It is then established that the girl had made or was giving over half the value of the property but why when there was no legal need to do so,

It the emerges that the brother had wanted the total value of the farm having discovered that her husband was wanted in Ireland for the murder of his own father It was also established that the sister had gone to lie down in a room for an hour claiming a headache. She admits to killing her brother and the husband is also arrested admitting to manslaughter.

I enjoyed watching again the Freshman with Marlon Brando playing his Godfather role, sitting in a corner of New York bar but this time behind a racket to serve endangered species to those willing to pay for the experience with charges from a quarter of million to half a million dollars a plate depending on the scarcity of the creature.

The Freshman is a naive to city life young man who on arrival is hoodwinked to being given a taxi lift for $10 only for the vehicle to go off with his trunk and which amazingly also included his money. He has come to the City for University Course in media studies, cinema orientated and where the professor is singularly unimpressed by the predicament of the young man an his inability to acquire the Professors book for the course.

When the young man sees and tracks down the petty villain he finds that everything worthwhile has been sold and the money used for a bet which failed. In order to make up for his crime the thief introduces him to Brando who offers him an well paid assignment to collect something from the airport and take it to an address. This turns out to be a giant lizard taken to a restaurant. The thief explains that the Brando character in the Godfather was based on the Brando lookalike in this film The young man is introduced to Brando’s daughter who immediately wants the young man and before he knows he is engaged to be married.

The university professor is mightily impressed when the girl visits the Freshman at a lecture because she announces who her father is and that her father expects her fiancée to get top grades. The Professor assures the Freshman is his best student and asks if he could meet Brando which is declined.

The girl has called to take the young man off to attend the high society final gourmet dinner of an endangered species.

Meanwhile the young man has been picked up by two federal men who explain the racket of his employer and expect the young man to cooperate. They raid the event insisting on taking the proceeds ( which they do not know is only half ) and where the young man with the agreement of Marlon Brando has advised the employers of the behaviour of the two agents who are arrested for attempted hijacking of the funds. Moreover although the creature is shown to the guest they are provided with in effect a chicken dish and the creature is made over to the local zoo as others have been in the past. It is a great con.

The reason the Feds had become involved is because his step father had heard a telephone conversation between the young man and his mother when the Komodo Dragon creature is mentioned and he had revealed the conversation to the Justice Department. The film closes with Brando offering to help the Freshman through his contacts in Hollywood. The young man declines the offer.

A very different kind of film is The Gallant Hours which was released in 1960 and which I viewed on TV in May of this year. It purports to tell the life of Fleet Admiral William Halsey and has James Cagney playing the part of the Admiral. The film centres on the battle with the sea forces of Japan around Guadalcanal during World War II. The story of those five weeks is told in flashback as part of his retirement ceremony in 1947.

There are no battle scenes with emphasis on the battle oif wits between the two men in charge of the opposing forces. The scenes involving the Japanese are not translated with only brief notes rather than sub titles of what is being said. The film pretends that the subsequent attempt to take the life of Admiral Yamamoto takes place during the period.

Halsay 1882 to 1959 was the son of a Naval Captain who entered a med school while waiting for a place at the Navy Academy where he graduated in 1904. He served in the First World War commanding one ship and gaining the Naval Cross. He became the Naval attaché in Berlin in 1922 and various other Embassies in Northern Europe and in this respect it is interesting that “hero “ in the books and Films of the Winds of War by Herman Wouk features as the Navel attaché in Berlin in the late 1930’s.

When in 1934 he was assigned to command an aircraft carrier he elected to take the full 12 week aviator course which he successfully completed at the age of 52, the oldest individual to ever do so. By 1940 he had become a Vice Admiral and in charge of the Navy’s aircraft battle fleet. He argued that the aircraft carrier had to be used as an offensive weapon and just not as sea base for planes and he ordered the command to sink any ship they encountered and knock out any plane within range. Hit hard , hit fast and hit often became the standard for entire Navy after Pearl Harbour.

At one point he needed hospital care and missed the Battle for Midway but vowed to return even more determined that before and immediately found himself appointed the Commander of South pacific areas and its forces. In 1943 he became commander of the Third Fleet with his field operations the Central Pacific. In 1944 h provided cover for the landings of General Mac Arthur. He claimed to have worked well MacArthur. He was made Fleet Admiral after being assigned to office of the Secretary of State and this enable him to make a goodwill trip in central and south America visiting 11 nations and covering 28000 miles. After retirement he said there were no great men just great challenges which ordinary men out of necessity are forced by circumstances to meet.

A third kind of film of contrast was St Georges Day 2012 in which three cousins operate London based crime gang and lose a shipment of drugs belonging to the Russian mafia. They plan a major bank raid in Berlin coinciding with the visit of the British Football tem on St Georges Day and despite the alertness of Interpol and the local police they manage to send the forces of law order on the wrong track having worked out that one their number had become informer. The film has appeal for gangsters, men fo violence and those who wish they were criminals and men of violence. Charles Dance is among a huge cast.

2492 Arriving Worthing late summer 2013 sunshine

As I sit here at my Travel Lodge desk directly overlooking the esplanade, pebble beach, sands and seaweed before a gentle tide at Worthing I am torn between wanting to go out and further explore, despite the greyness of the weather and the wish to write up the great sporting events of the past week in which I witnessed Durham winning the County Championship and Nottingham the 40 over competition at Lords, my vehicle failing to start when commencing the journey from the Travel Lodge at Croydon to here and was then quickly sorted by roadside assistance after which I enjoyed an Indian meal in Brighton yesterday lunchtime after passing a man walking a dog with the sign No Nukes just outside the entrance to the annual conference of the Labour Party.

I have stayed at this Travel Lodge once before, over a weekend, when a traditional jazz band played in a small square outside a small shopping precinct a short distance away from here and I have previously written of my experience visiting the Museum and Art Gallery, having come by bus from a subsequent stay at Brighton. I will take the same bus to Hove cricket ground tomorrow for the start of Durham now irrelevant game against Sussex in terms of the county championship although it would be good for the standing of the county if they were to win the game and become the first to win the championship with 11 wins out of the 16 games played since either the inauguration of the 4 day game when there was just one division or since the creation of the two division competition.

Yesterday I woke after a good night, packed and prepared to motor the short distance from the Travel Lodge to the M23 and on to Brighton when the engine refused to turn. I waited for five minutes and then turned again and it failed so I contacted roadside assistance provided by the LV car and household insurance and Rescue 247 came within half an hour having said the wait could be as long as one hour. Although I was told that the problem was a simple flooding of the carburettor the action he took suggested an air lock although I know nothing about the workings of car engines, unable to grasp the basics of how any engine works.

Once started I was anxious about stopping but I did at a garage just before the motorway in order to purchase a bottle of milk for this morning‘s cereal breakfast and a cold drink which at 1.18 for a can of Pepsi was exorbitant. I also wanted to advise others that all was well after all.

After the initial shock of potentially having the vehicle out of action for a few days I quickly realised that with a little repacking I would take case, shoulder bag and Sleep Apnoea Treatment machine, selecting a hat and a coat and take the one station stop at South Croydon back into East Croydon station as I had done the previous morning and the take a fast train to Brighton and Worthing, and then a taxi from the station down to the sea front. I would then return to Croydon to collect the car when it was ready from a local garage

On the journey I remembered how close Gatwick airport is to Croydon reminding that it in effect replaced Croydon the former principal London airport once it was appreciated after the war that the site could not be expanded to cope with the transatlantic and transworld jets and their volume of flights.

Apart from a reduced speed delay for some improvements/or repair works for those travelling in the opposite direction I soon reached the outskirts of Brighton and the short stretch along the dual carriageway A 27 for the turning for Shoreham Harbour where I parked the car by the automatic lighthouse at Port Shoreham and the Lifeboat station which I shortly visited being taken round the large rescue boat with capacity to rescue a large number of people in all conditions as well being shown the inshore boats which are most used and where shortly a proud mum and two envious younger brothers watched the eldest in what appeared to be a training assessment exercise. Nearby an elder had been bathing in the harbour waters from the short pebble beach.

For lunch I went to the Chilli Pink Canteen Indian restaurant in Brighton which served authentic recipes where I added to a pork based curry upgrade with a selection of small sample dishes, savouries and a sweet called King Khali, a photo of which was posted on face book without my appreciating it was being done at the time! I had some water and also one of their fruit concoctions which was refreshing.

On my last visit to the Worthing Travel Lodge I had failed to appreciate that I had signed up for a single room, a compact bedroom overlooking the rear of the hotel whereas on this visit my room looks directly on the promenade with its single row of white lantern lights before the flat stretch of pebble beach and then a sharp incline down to the sea which is slowly drifting in and where at the waters edge a woman is walking her dog in the distance. Shortly before this a couple of Asian looking ladies were painstakingly gathering something from the pebble beach.

Although I arrived at 5pm I was able to park across the road from the Travel Lodge as on Sunday ( 22.09.2013) there are no parking fees although on other days of the week time the rate is 20p for 12 p or £1 an hour from 9am until 6 pm.

Apart from this morning when I have been down and paid for two hours with the car parked directly by the hotel I shall get myself organised well before 9 and take the car to the lifeboat parking station and then the bus to the Hove ground which is a short walk from the bus stop ( I think). Later this afternoon after lunch which I plan to have in Shoreham I will time the journey to the ground for with the 10.30 start I will aim to arrive around 9.15 to 9.30 on the first day to ensure a good seat taking account of the weather. I obtained entry on the first day for £10 online and for subsequent days I will purchase at the box office subject to weather conditions and the state of the game after the first day. There is a £2 fee for tickets bought at the box office or collected from it. I have not checked if the fourth day is free having purchased tickets for the first three days as was the position on my last visit to the ground before the County was relegated having won the championship three times in four or possibly five years.

Last evening in a dyslexic comprehension moment rather than an elderly one I went in search of a car park with a weekly season ticket rather than having to pay the £11 required for an 24 hour stay, not grasping that unless one wanted the security of a covered car park the only need in the town was to cover the period 9 until 6 and in reality there is no where free as from my two hour walk noting the car parks there is zone parked to ensure the residents do find they or their visitors cannot park in front of their houses.

My walk took me to part of the residential area behind the hotel to where there is Amelia and Victoria Parks with one merging into the other. I then found my way to the civic centre where at a local inn had a lively atmosphere with people packed inside for some live performance and outside at tables. I continued passing the Morrisons local crossing the busy East West vice versa main road to where the is a huge deserted car park at this time of night in an unpleasant almost derelict site area but did nto continue to the railway station, my original plan having opted for the slower bus which with my national pass would be free. I did note the main Morrison’s supermarket across the busy road to the right of the main junction. If necessary I am more likely to visit the two supermarkets in the Shoreham area which I know from previous visits. However at the present time I am only in need for some small waste bags which I forgot to bring and later in the week something to add to my daily salads forsaking bread until my weight get back to 6 stone and below.

Thus was my mood and inclination when just before 11 am I set off in the car having deposited £2 of small change to keep the car for two hours where it had been parked overnight.

I was going to Shoreham for lunch although at that point I was uncertain whether I would have another celebratory meal or something al fresco. Parking became the first objective and on my first entry into the town I missed the car park at the station, I missed the station in fact although I had walked through the crossing several times over the Christmas where I was last in the town. I also missed the shoppers car park and went passed the lighthouse and lifeboat station to the traffic lights and then turned left but instead of going up to the traffic lights and turning left go to the huge Tesco and M and S complex or across and then down to where I stayed at Christmas I took the first left and along a road which I assumed was parallel to the coast road. I was broadly right although it did move inland further than anticipated so that when I did turn toward the town centre I parked the car at the far end of road which brought me back to the level crossing by the railway station. By the time I had walked through the town centre debating whether to have a proper meal noting the various offers from two seafood course offer for £10.95 to a one course £8, 2 courses £11 and 3 for £15 set menu at the place where I had a meal on the last visited and noted that half a pint of Shell on prawns were available as a starter!

The sun was shining brightly and it had become warm and local residents were out everywhere sitting at pavement tables drinking coffee. I purchased a copy of the Times at W H Smiths and sat on a bench overlooking the river. The main interest as it had been over the previous 36 hours was the horrific killings by grenades and automatic weapons at the shopping mall in the capital city of Kenya within the deaths of children and a range of others who could not immediately prove they were Muslims. The president who lost relatives promised painful retaliation on those responsible, an understandable reaction in the circumstances. At least four British citizens are known to have been killed todate.

The domestic story concerns Scum Macbride who as the scum doctor for the obsessed with power Gordon Brown engaged in foul tactics which Ed Miliband states he condemned at the time and since. There are those who cannot believe that Brown and Ed Balls were not just unaware of his activities but at a minimum took no action to discourage or stop his activities. In fairness scum MacBride has not as yet condemned his former employers with his disclosures egged on and no doubt paid for by Tory mischief makers. Just as the UKIP conference has been derailed by the joking of a an MEP at a fringe meeting scum Macbride seems determined to do likewise for the Labour Party.

In Sport the big news is the sacking of Paolo Di Canio by Sunderland after they agreed to send packing a dozen players during the summer and bought another dozen with the consequence that the club has one point from the opening games with four major games coming up with little likelihood of getting a point let alone a win from any of them. Surrey tried to do the same and were relegated at the end of last week as Durham celebrated, The other football news was that Man City thrashed Manchester United 4.1 but Chelsea who had lost badly at home in their European Cup game did win while Liverpool lost and with Arsenal, Spurs and Everton winning they are all now doing better than Man U in 8^th. Newcastle also lost to Hull at home and slipped from their promising start to mid table.

There was also speculation about the Ashes Squad which was announced at midday with Ben Stokes of Durham included and is clearly favoured along with Root, Bairstow and Balance of Yorkshire, but not Onions. Durham’s Wood has joined the Development Squad although he will not travel over Winter asked to work on a special programme to build up his strength and Fitness.

After the read and a sit I went to the Coop store where I purchased some King prawns in shell for £3.50, a heated sausage roll £1 and a carton of grapes £2 £6,50 for the three courses which I enjoyed in the sun drenched churchyard where a number of others doing likewise. I needed the loo and coffee and made my way to the McDonalds situated between the Tesco and MS north of Shoreham which I enjoyed after the comfort break. I now have a free coffee having completed the card.

It was then time to park at the lighthouse where I caught the 700 almost immediately but forgot the building which to alight and in fact the bus turned towards the ground and then along the parallel to coast shopping street although I was only to find this out on the return. The consequence was a good 20 minute walk in the hot sun although I did have the radio afternoon play for company. The walk also reminded that the walk from the station would also be longer than remembered.

Not only was the ground open but the coffee tea restaurant was open with a sign encouraging passers by to come in. The great disappointment is that the park bench and deckchair area had gone and there are no seats above the media centre from which to view the cricket above the wicket. There is a good size stand now to the left at the entrance providing about the same view as the middle tier or lower upper tier at Durham but this will only be effective for wickets at the middle or to one side. The cafe restaurant is located to the rear of the new stand. I am yet to explore if the rest of the ground including the Members Pavilion is as before and hope to do so when I arrive tomorrow. Not seeing a 700 bus when I reach the shopping road again I continued to sea front and had to walk some distance to the first bus stop and it was here that I realised the bus would shorten the walking journey considerably by the route which it takes,

Arriving back at the car parking the journey through Lancing to the promenade across from the Travel Lodge was slow arriving just before four so I used up more cash for the two hours before free time.

Later after an evening meal of cuppa soup, cuppa noodles, and smoked salmon salad I went out to M and S with the aim of buying some already cooked spicy chicken for lunch tomorrow. However it closes early part of the week at six so I continued to the pier and on the picture house which was open as is the other small cinema off the high street. I will have to decide whether to go to MS in the morning when it opens at eight, make a salad up from one of the two tins of crab meat, or take pot luck when I get there. I will decide in the morning.

On return I appreciated the value of the fan which after having turned off for a brew the room is heating up and the traffic noise outside would only become worse if I am able to open the window a little. I have already been to the basement cafe of a Pepsi Cola with ice) small for £1,40 and had I the change with me I would have done better with buying from the Foyer machine at £1.50. I watched channel four on the Labour Party conference and the re-election of the party of the German Prime Minister but who will need to form a coalition which last time took 67 days. This will not affect the policies of the austerity Queen something which Ed Balls was said to have also emphasised Labour will continue if elected. On this note I end and go back tomorrow the great win of Durham and my day at Lords for 40 overs Final last Saturday.

2491 The Young Montalbano and the Paper Moon

I have had a bursting need to write all day but constrained in order to attend work and household issue so that it is approaching six thirty in the evening of 8^th September 2013 and I know I only have an hour and a half before the X factor audience show followed the third episode of a new series of North East set Police detective series which follows on the success of George Gentry and 93 degrees north or whatever the Police Detective series also set in the North East was called.

I will begin with what has been the great event of the weekend a new series of Montalbano created for Television by Andrea Camilleri and covering his arrival in Vigate as a newly promoted Police Inspector in charge at the age of 32 something of a new police station with some staff assigned and getting the establishment habitable.

The Young Montalbano series commences with him working as a Deputy Inspector located in a mountain countryside station based in a country market town. The Inspector admires Montalbano and supports his promotion and move to a district more to his liking. The Inspector is also leaving but before they both depart there the case of a body discovered by an isolated shepherd

The new series opened with a boy observing a lorry spilling a box of some fifty army mountaineering boots which he keeps and some four decades later the evidence suggests that one boot has been used to brutally stamp on the head of the victim. While the local magistrate who does not get on with Montalbano is convinced the evidence points to the shepherd. Salvo is not convinced especially after interviewing the man and hearing his story.

Salvo is having a passionate affair with a young woman and not remembering the credit or the name used in the episode I have not worked out if this is Livia who is listed as appearing in four of the six episodes when broadcast in Italy last year. When the girl friend visits and they go to the local market she is attracted to a dress but before Salvo is distracted his attend is on a pair of mountaineering boots and possibly the missing pair from those still held by the shepherd. This proves correct and is eventually traced to local gangster leader with the shepherd exonerated.

Salvo witnesses a car accident where the driver of one vehicle badly beats up the driver of the other and proves me a young member of one the major crime families in Sicily and the new Inspector is approach the thee lead lawyer in attempt to place the incident in perspective when he is called to give evidence for the prosecution. Salvo does no such thing.

At the court he notices a young woman behaving as if upset and when his car breaks down he finds that she is on the same bus taking him back to Vigate. When he approaches to ask if she needs help she pulls a gun on him, so she is arrested refusing to talk and to eat. Finding out who she is and why she has behaved in such a way in the case becomes the focus of the attention of the attention of the growing new team at the station.

This includes the arrival of the young Caterella who is overjoyed to be allocated to serve at the station and jumps at the opportunity of being in charge of the telephone switchboard and the reception desk. We also meet an older than expected Fazio, except from the Credits on the IMD database i worked out that this is the father of the Fazio of some twenty years later. Mimi Augello his deputy will appear later according to this database featuring in four of the episodes.

The story that emerges is of an attractive young woman of a hard work traditional Sicilian family who is adducted, raped by the same son of the leading mafia family involved in the court case where Salvo was the principal witness and who had passed her over to his henchmen for their pleasure before warning that if revealed his identity not only she but her family would be killed. She had therefore kept silent and born the shame and rejection of her mother when she was found to be pregnant and needed a secret abortion. She lived in an outhouse through the kindness of her father but separate from the family, an outcast.

I find that I confused about aspects of the story and although I have recording still at home. She had taken the gun from a former employer and he became a suspect after Salvo had broken into his home and found the man’s store of illegal weapons and other incriminating material about his nefarious activities. With the help of Fazio they manage to begin to get the girl to tell her story but because they do not have grounds to detain her in custody Salvo employs her has a cleaner at the station and allows her to use his flat with he going to stay at a hotel.

Told to buy the dress from the market by his girlfriend he gives this to the girl as a means of gaining her confidence but he does not then believe the story that she had been given the gun a henchman of the perpetrator after visiting the attacker in prison and told to kill and official at the court house. The official selected deals with minor civil cases and Montalbano finds him working behind a mountain of paper files and an unlikely candidate for the assassination. She had cooked up the story to incriminate her attacker, selecting the official as someone who had dealt with a land boundary case involving her father and who she would pretend was the intended victim if her plan went awry.

Having pieced together what happened and getting the girl to confirm the truth and willingness to give testimony in court if necessary he then gives the lawyer working for the crime family two options one which involves the son admitting to a different crime thus protecting the girl. The young man is also beaten up as punishment by the Mafia family and put into hospital.

The girlfriend arrives back having been delayed trying to arrange help for her mother and the victim proves an ideal solution wanting to get away from the area with a fresh start. The victim has the wit to say she bought the dress at market when the girlfriend recognises it is the one she had told Salvo to buy for her.

Thus the new series has all the successful ingredients of the originals series and the books where I am enjoying reading the paper moon. There are several reference to his penchant for good eating and in this instance for cooking but lacks all the details which makes the books that much more enjoyable. He also has an uneasy meeting with his father who comes to visit on learning he ahs moved to Vigate, finding him eating at a Trattoria and where he orders some food so to eat in silence as commanded by his some so we are introduced to his insistence of the silent eating to enjoy the textures, flavours and aromas of the dishes.

One of the reasons I returned home from Derby early is that I wanted to watched the second episode of the series during which I solved the issue of Livia as the girlfriend and confirmed my belief that this Fazio was the father of the officer in the main series and the books.

When Salvo is on the beach he notices that a door appears ajar on the veranda of the holiday corner house overlooking the beach, he investigates and catches one of boys who have broken in and whose mother I suspect becomes his housekeeper for when he returns the boy the boy without arresting him for mother to give a good physical hiding he notices that she has prepared some delicacy for the local deli as a means of improving her income to make ends meet, hence not being home to exercise ongoing control of her son/sons. He tracks down the owners who visit and check that noting is missing and then insists on viewing the beach and bay from the veranda and then makes an off screen request to the couple. We then see him moving in although it assumed he is renting rather than having purchased the property.

We had previously seen him saying goodbye to his girl friend after she had spent Christmas with him, explaining that work and having agreed to spend the New Year’s evening with colleagues prevented him joining her with her mother for the New Year. He also makes excuses to the same colleagues about not accepting the invitation of Fazio senior ho has also invited Caterella. We then see him enjoying food and wine alone in the hotel room although why he has not returned to the allocated flat is not explained.

Nor does he spend New Year evening at the home of his father who calls to wish him well and brings a case of wine which suspecting it is not of outstanding quality he distributes to his colleagues leaving only one bottle for himself later when he solves the case he drinks some of the wine and congratulates his father out loud,

We therefore learn more of his need to be alone, to enjoy good food, and wine and to think through solutions to work mysteries. The girl friend is excited by the new home and rattles off what she will bring and how she will stamp her personality on the establishment. Montalbano is clearly not impressed but it is a subsequent incident which brings the relationship to an end.

On the morning of New Year’s Day he is woken from a heavy slumber by Fazio who first quizzes him over the white lie that he had to go elsewhere the previous evening and then breaks the news that a man had been shot in the face in room 22 of the same hotel. The shot going unnoticed with the letting off of fire works and weapons into the air. One consideration is that this is the cause of the death of man, an accident.

The investigation reveals two registered nearby gun owners. The first held by an elder shows the weapon to be a souvenir from World War Two with filled barrels to prevent an accident. The second is from a couple across the way where the husband admits he fired the weapon into the air, although later the wife admits she was he one who used the riffle in celebration and does not understand how a bullet could have caused the fatality. Tests establish that a different bullet was used and fired at an angle from above. The arrest of the woman is designed to discourage the firing of weapons into the air at festivities.

The man who dies owned the hotel with his young wife but is away for the greater part of the year as a representative of a firm in Russia. He suffers from hearing sensitivity which is why he stayed in a separate bedroom to that of his wife although why not one adjacent is the flaw in the storyline, The complication is that he moved from the allotted room where he was shot to another quieter and a housemaid had moved the belongings at his request so why had he returned?

During the episode a local priest approaches the Inspector with a plea that he visit with him an old dying woman who has confessed something which she needs to also say outside the confessional so something can be put right. With great reluctance Salvo agrees to the request but the woman dies before she can provide sufficient information to understand what he needs. While he is wrestling with the problem his former school teacher makes a call and invites him to her home for a meal where he is introduced to a friend of the woman who has a fascination for murders and has become a walking encyclopaedia on the crimes. Salvo takes he opportunity to ask her about a case where he hoped there might be a connection, but she did not and he returns home late after the meal. Meantime his girl friend arrives and finds that he is not there to meet her. She takes a taxi and goes to the house waits up and eventually goes to bed. She hears him return but before he reaches the bedroom there is call from the woman he had asked about the historical crime and she says that she has lain awake thinking and realised she knew the case but the woman in question had a different name. He immediately goes back to hear at first hand what she has to say and the girl friend only hears the name of a woman who he has gone straight out to see.

When he returns he explains about the case and the woman but this only helps the girlfriend to realise that Salvo puts work before everything else and he is never going to become the kind of husband and father of her children that she wants. She leaves by taxi in the middle of the night. At one point he goes to the where she lives and waits in his car only to see her come out and becomes pillion to a young man on a scoter where they have obviously already become closely attached. He closes his involvement in the relationship. Enter Livia next ?

The story of the woman he was able to unravel over time is that she had refused to give poison to woman who she suspected wanted to use on husband. The woman had worked in pharmacy in the town and had taken over the service when her husband had died. The other woman had nevertheless been arrested and tried for murder when the husband had died from a heart attack but where the prescribed poison could have the same effect. The woman had gone to prison for 20 years, in part because of the evidence of the woman now wanting absolution. Why had she not said she had not provided the poisoned therefore the death was a natural causes one. It emerged that the woman who had gone to prison had an affair with her husband.

Salvo attempts to honour his commitment and goes to see the woman now also old but living with her daughter and grandchildren had become reconciled after release from prison. Salvo finds her asleep and looking at peace and takes the decision not to resurrect the historical experience from several decades before.

Turning to the main case there is a red herring introduced involving the mafia which appears to implicate the business owner and also the house maid who we find is having an affair with the business owner and where the owners wife is related to one of the main crime families on the Island. However the real culprits are the wife and her lover the man who manages the hotel in the absence of the owner. He had decided to leave his job and return to Vigata. The housemaid had noticed that a package, later established to contain sleeping pills and ear plugs was not with his things. Someone had taken them from the new back to the original. He had gone in search and was shot and this pointed to an “inside” job which together evidence helps to confirm.

I am also approaching the end of my reading of the Montalbano books acquired after seeing the two series of made for TV films shown on BBC4 that has established a pattern of showing the best series from Europe on Saturdays at 9pm. The latest read has been the Paper Moon although I am still working out the significance of the title.

A young woman approaches Montalbano because her brother has not responded and she persuades the Inspector to accompany her to his flat, As an after thought despite the fact that she has a key to the flat she thinks of a former laundry room on the roof which he has converted to somewhere to relax and where after breaking in the body of the man is found and with his sexual organ exposed. Later tests reveal that he had not had recent sexual activity. After the usual forensic examination of the area Montalbano who finds the woman attractive allows her to remain for the night in the flat when the body is removed. Because the Inspector is now familiar we the reader are not surprised by this break from normal police practice as we know he is a man who rarely follows convention and has survived because he always gets the right result in terms of uncovering the mystery, identifying the culprits and effecting a form of justice which is empathetic for all the parties and will be regarded fair to anyone who accompanies him on his work and in his private life experiences.

At first there is nothing to indicate why the man has been killed apart from the suggestion that because of his known relationships with women, including married women, jealousy of a husband or another woman could be the motive.

Almost from the outset the sister Michaela points Montalbano in the direction of the latest lover yet one more of the nature emancipated women who we find in the novels of Andrea Camilleri, a woman married to a much older and impotent man who nevertheless likes to enjoy a regular bed with a woman, young enough to be daughter and even grand daughter,

Towards the end of the novel the woman, Elena explains how they came to have such a unique marital relationship in which the husband not only knew about her lovers but required to provide detailed accounts of her experiences, insisting that he always knew in advance when she was to have an assignation.

She had a troubled and rebellious childhood and as an adolescent she had been placed for a year in a specialist residential establishment from which her father had brought the future husband, Emilio, on one of his visits and the man had called again on his own twice.

Because of her difficulties she had run away to Milan and there lived and been used by a large number of men being picked up for prostitution twice by the police. In the first instance she had been sent home to the father but she had run away again and on the second she had been used by the police with violence and humiliation. Between the ages of sixteen and twenty she led a life which Salvo finds difficult to hear and then on her birthday she returns to Sicily. Their relationship begins and they marry.

The evidence against her begins to stack up despite Montalbano not being convinced when he locates the man‘s garage and finds an envelop in the car which contains three letters which she subsequently admits to writing about their relationship experiences but under the direction of the murdered man and which contain a threat to the man‘s life. Elena admits that on the night of his death she had driven to see him but not getting an answer from the flat she had driven around and then home. When Montalbano fails to arrest Elena Michaela complains to his superiors and when she is arrested does she reveal that on the night in question she had an encounter with the garage attendant when she had filled the car with petrol. The reason for the previous non disclosure was that she had broken faith with her husband by not disclosing to him at the time or subsequently about the affair.

One of the reasons for the sister being so against Elena is that he brought the woman very expensive presents including a car and jewellery. Salvo wants to know how the man was able to afford these gifts given his commission based salary as an agent pharmaceutical companies. At first he can find no trace of the man’s financial circumstances and normal household expenditure, It emerges that he had a joint account with his sister and that she managed the household bills giving him the receipts when paid and which he kept in a drawer at the flat. Salvo belatedly works out, admitting that with age, in his early fifties, he is beginning not to be as thorough and as immediately perceptive as he has been throughout his career that the man must have another bank account kept secret from the sister and from the jewellery cases he traces the retailer where he finds the presents were purchased using cheques and this leads to finding the bank account and substantial funds. He also finds that the man had become a gambler at a private establishment, also allegedly unknown to his sister.

As with most if not all the Montalbano stories there is a second mystery, sometimes connected and sometimes not, In this instance there are a number of deaths from bad drugs although in several instances the individuals, well known men, some major political or social figures are said for the media attention and the attention to have died from natural causes. The drugs squad people who Montalbano is asked to cooperate with and where he uses Mimi as the link are convinced that the supplier is based in Vigata. Given the role of the murdered man in the pharmaceutical trade, the gambling debts, it does not take something of the skill of Salvo to appreciate the direction the investigation should take.

However there is also another lead which Salvo follows with his usual persistence. The murdered man had been a doctor struck off because of an involvement in an abortion. However according to the sister her brother had taken the blame for the botched up job of a colleague. The sister is friendly with one fo the young women who her brother had previously been associated and it is from this individual, secretly from the sister that the Inspector is able to locate and interview he young woman and it is what she says that confirms his growing suspicion that the sister has taken action to focus attention on Elena and away from what really happened in order protect the reputation of her brother and to some extent herself. It emerges that with the help of the sister the young woman had been drugged and an abortion carried out on her against her wishes. He also learns from the friend of Michaela that when with the brother he had also directed her to write letters abut their experience together.

Salvo had assigned Caterella in “possion” to try and unravel the three secured files in the mans lap top which eventually he had obtained the information from file one but where all three files subsequently disappeared through a timed ‘abortion’ programme. The first file yielded two sets of numbers which although coded and later established to be a code within a code when he finds the words of a song marked with numbers kept by the man at the flat and eventually this relates to over a dozen customers five of whom, if I remember correctly, have died from a bad cut of drugs and to the payments made for the supply.

Early on the Inspector also establishes that there must have been a strong box in the flat, rooftop room, garage or car and that in addition to placing the incriminating letters in the car for Montalbano to find, the sister had removed the box. This is confirmed that he finds that despite the ordering of a extra large coffin the burial had not immediately taken place because they had not been able to close the lid. Salvo does not immediately interfere with the burial deciding to give the sister the opportunity to own up that box which she was not able to open because this was the one thing where she did not have a key, contained drugs and the evidence that he had attempted to make additional funds keep half the good stuff to sell “privately” while cutting the rest for distribution to the customers arrange via the Mafia. Salvo was able to confirm from a witness that the brother had been visited on the night of his death by known Mafia operator. He was able to get the sister to admit that she had found her brother killed and had decided to incriminate the lover. Faced with the reality the situation Michaela had thrown herself from the flat to her death.

The case it would appears was solved. Livia came and went over a weekend and on the way home he had taken the road to visit the garage attendant with whom she had the affair on the evening of the fatal Monday. He found the garage closed and notes a sign which says that there is closure every Monday.

Once upon his time as a child he had believed his father when he said the Moon was made of Paper! He accuses Elena who for a time he thought had him within her sights as the next lover. She reminds that he had warned her that without an alibi she would be arrested so she had provided an alibi with the participation of the garage attendant who was her lover but not on that Monday and where they had assumed no one would bother to corroborate. While she emphasises that officially they will stick to their statements she admits that she went to flat on the Monday to state the affair was over because she had found a new man. The former lover had attempted to advise his sister not to visit but failed to make contact. They had argued over her decision to break up and she had left.

She then said she did not believe the Mafia man had killed the former lover. She believed it was the sister who had come to see him and was the flat while they were upstairs and she had overheard his begging and declarations of love. She believed the brother and sister had been lovers until her arrival on he scene and he had transferred his affections to her. The sister had committed suicide from guilt and unable to live without her brother. Montalbano believes her remembering that their had been a certificate of registration for a gun in the flat something which had not been followed up and which I now find most surprising.

There was less attention to food in this work although I had previously attempted to check on the notes for clarification only to find here were no notes as the book ended on page 322 without any. Then on reaching the conclusion of the story on page 270 I came to the translated author’s note but which only took me to page 276 so what of the remaining 550 or so pages ? None other than the opening chapters of August Heat the next novel. Wow.