8 September 2027
Wednesday. A gentleman with a dinner booking at nine asked me exactly how long the hotel would keep him. I took out my watch. It is what it is for.
A quarter of an hour before, at the desk, for belongings and the briefing. One hour in the hotel, from the lift to the moment I arrive. Then a quarter of an hour or so afterwards, to collect oneself and hear how it all went. An hour and a half, all told. He could make his dinner if he did not dawdle on the stairs.
He asked whether people usually took the whole hour. Many do, I said, and some are still talking when I reach the top of the stairs. The register has the averages. I have only my knees, which feel each step.
He made his dinner with four minutes to spare. I know because he telephoned to tell me. I had not asked. But I wrote it down.
— Insp. A. Brochard, Gendarmerie
