For a minute or two some noise rose up - "shit, that's us finished, we'll have to go back", "what else was in the bag?", "what are we gonna do now?"... as it disappeared back into nothingness very quickly they found themselves feeling unusually calm with a peaceful feeling in the background and the words "this is all good" ringing out inside them.
They didn't have much time to dwell on it anyway. They had to be at the apartment at 6pm to meet the cleaner and check-in. She was having trouble opening the gate to the terrace when they arrived and a phone call had to be made to Susanna to sort it out. As Susanna told Kate the wi-fi details, Kate told her it was no longer necessary.
With no insurance and almost zero chance of getting the laptop back, they reluctantly made the trip to the police station to report it but the police were as useless as police always are.
Clearly, this Europe journey was going to take a new direction from this moment and everything from now on would have to be organised via internet cafes like the old days.
The apartment itself was great and provided everything they needed to sink themselves into Barcelona. As well as Susanna's certificate in accountancy on display, there were Vogue images around the flat and two little paintings of Parisian street scenes in the kitchen. The only book Dave picked up and flicked through amongst Susanna's many travel books was a guide to Amsterdam.
Paris had already been showing itself as the most likely contender for next destination. Just down the road from Citadines they had spotted the Paris Hotel a few times and during their time in Barcelona Paris would present itself in many forms on many different occasions.
