Smile and be a Villain by Jeanne M. Dams Page B

‘We have to sign off now, Jane. Thanks for the info, and for looking after our menagerie. We’ll let you know if anything exciting happens.’
    â€˜Better,’ she said, and we rang off.
    â€˜She’ll be exploring connections between Abercrombie and Alderney gambling before we finish our nap,’ I said, putting the phone away.
    â€˜I hope so. It’ll save us some legwork. If that woman had lived in America, the FBI and the CIA would have been battling to obtain her services.’
    â€˜They’re not half so efficient,’ I said, yawning. ‘The tea and coffee don’t seem to have done much. But wake me in an hour. I want to try to find Alice. She might know how much Abercrombie was supposed to have stolen. I can’t imagine that it’s cheap to set up a gambling operation.’
    It was an hour and a half before I came back to full consciousness. Alan and I had both been doing too much intensive thinking, and we fell into a heavy sleep. I actually woke first (all that tea and coffee), and felt logy and unrefreshed, even after I’d splashed cold water on my face.
    â€˜All right,’ I said to Alan when he was awake and functioning, ‘where shall we try to find Alice?’
    â€˜Do you have any idea where she lives? Or works?’
    â€˜Not a clue.’
    â€˜Then our only contact is the church. Where, late on a Friday afternoon, there’s not likely to be anyone around.’
    But we were lucky. A middle-aged woman was working with flowers at the font, an apron tied around her sturdy waist. ‘There’s a christening tomorrow,’ she explained. ‘Can I help you at all?’
    â€˜We’re trying to find Alice Small, and we don’t know where she lives,’ said Alan. ‘We met her at Morning Prayer, and we’d like to – er – invite her to tea.’
    â€˜She’s not at home. I know because she had said she’d help me with the flowers today, so when she didn’t turn up, I phoned her. No answer. I can’t imagine where she’s gone. It’s not like her to be irresponsible, but she has been acting a bit odd lately.’
    â€˜Oh, what a pity,’ I said. ‘I wonder – do you think it would be all right if you gave me her phone number? We could try later.’
    â€˜Oh, well, if you met at church, I suppose it wouldn’t matter.’ She pulled out her own phone, found the number and read it off to me while I entered it in mine. ‘You’re that couple who found Mr Abercrombie, aren’t you?’
    We were becoming used to this. ‘Yes,’ said Alan, ‘and please accept our condolences. It appears that this congregation will miss him very much.’
    â€˜Hmph. That’s as may be. He was a charmer, but there was something about him … however. If you do manage to talk to Alice, you might remind her about the flowers. There’ll still be plenty to do tomorrow morning.’
    â€˜Well, there’s another one in the negative column,’ said Alan as we walked back to our room.
    â€˜Or at least not one of the walked-on-water crowd. Alan, what are you going to do about following up on your gambling idea?’
    â€˜First, I’m going to find a computer somewhere and see what I can find there. If I still have questions I’m going to the Commission in the morning. Meanwhile, it’s too late for tea and far too early for dinner. Why don’t you come with me to the library? They’re sure to have at least one computer for public use, and I’m sure you can find something of interest while I surf.’
    â€˜I didn’t even know there was a library. Lead the way, great explorer.’
    It wasn’t far away. Nothing is very far away from anything else in Alderney. It was small, as one might expect, but new and clean and well-stocked. An assistant showed Alan the somewhat antiquated computer he could use, and helped him to log