The next morning, Lewis found himself whistling while he put the kettle on and prepared his breakfast. The smell of the previous evening's dinner still lingered in his flat and made his mouth water. Morse had been right, he really was a good cook.
Around eleven he set off in direction of the canal where he was supposed to meet up with Morse. When he approached their meeting point, he could see the other man standing bent over a banister, looking down at the water. He casually walked up to him and stood there, sharing the view. "Hello, Sir," he greeted Morse, not realizing his mistake until Morse turned to look at him.
"Who, Sir? Me, Sir?" There was a childlike amusement in Morse's eyes that Lewis had not seen before but definitely liked.
"Yes, Sir, you, Sir."
Morse laughed openly. "Oh Robbie. You have no idea what memories that brings up. Houseboat - Carlotta loved that film. She knew most of it by heart."
Lewis cocked his head and studied Morse, smiling in return. The other man had changed more than he had realized the previous evening. Morse seemed a lot more relaxed than he had been as his boss. That certainly was a change for the better.
"You know, as beautiful as Verona may be, I really missed this," Morse said, gesturing over the canal and the area beyond.
"Wait until Wednesday. Forecast says rain and cold temperatures. You'll wish you were back in warm and sunny Verona then!"
"I suppose I should put a rain coat on my shopping list, too." Morse smiled at him. "Shall we walk?"
Lewis easily fell into step with him, he didn't even need to think about it. Years of accompanying Morse had made sure he did it instinctively.
They walked in silence for a couple of minutes until curiosity got the better of Lewis. "Are those glasses for real or... cover?"
Morse seemed amused by the idea. "They're 'for real' as you put it. My sight faded a bit over the years. Carlotta chose these frames for me. She thought they made me look elegante, distinguished."
"Well, they made me take you for an old fellow of one of the colleges the other night."
"Oh, did they?"
"Yeah. The glasses and the beard. Carlotta again?"
"Yes and no. I was lazy with shaving the first month or so at the sanatorium. I didn't see the point in it. But when Carlotta told me she liked bearded men, I trimmed it into shape and it stayed."
Lewis nodded. "The things we do for love."
Morse smiled. "We do, indeed."
They stopped for a light lunch at a pub further down the canal.
"Why did you make it sound like such a bad thing that Laura was with me the other evening?"
It took Morse a moment to sort out what Lewis's mind had jumped to now, as he had been thinking of something completely different.
"Oh, well, she knows me, obviously. Or rather, knew me. If she had recognized me there and then, I would have had a hard time, explaining that I am not... him. And with the two of you... I stayed at the bar all evening until you were gone, hoping that if I didn't come into her sight, it wouldn't get to it. I nearly held my breath when you appeared at my side."
Lewis smiled. "That look you gave me across the mirror followed me home and into my dreams. Which reminds me – were you at the supermarket yesterday morning?"
"Supermarket? What supermarket? I live at a pub, I don't need to go grocery shopping."
Lewis shook his head. "Then I was seeing ghosts."
"The ghost of Morse?"
He nodded, laughing. "Yeah, that must be it." He turned serious again. "We'll have to tell Laura. If you stay in Oxford – and we stay in touch – chances are you'll bump into her at one point or another."
Morse looked over the canal for a long moment. "Yes, I suppose we will have to let her in on our little secret."
"You really can trust her."
Morse looked back at him. "I hadn't expected her to still be here, still doing that grisly job."
"I'm glad she is. She's the only friend I still have from old times... well, had," he added with a smile which was mirrored. "And she's the only decent pathologist in the whole of Oxford!"
"All right. We'll tell her. But grant me a little time to settle in a bit before I have to face her. Returning to Oxford is quite a culture shock after Italy."
"Yeah, all right. I just don't want to have to lie to her."
Morse looked at him curiously. "Is there something I should know about the two of you?"
"What? No. Of course not. We're old friends, is all."
"If you say so."
"I do. You should see the people she invites round to parties. I could never compete with those."
Morse shrugged his shoulders. "There are friends and there are friends, Robbie."
"And there are dead friends and friends you didn't even know existed."
"There are, indeed. And I am glad to find that other people's friends can easily become your friends."
Lewis laughed. "God, that sounds so very cryptic."
