she reckoned I was a beach-bum who needs to be packed off to darkest Scotland to work in the salt mines?’
The barman brought the coffees to their table.
‘I suppose it’s a horrible thing to say, Teddy, but poor Geoffrey’s death does seem to have changed things for the better. I’ve done what I could for Mabel, trying to cheer her up, and this morning she suddenly started saying how wonderful I’d been to her and how I was the only person on the island who cared anything for her . . . I tried to tell her how wrong she was. Everyone’s sorry for her.’
‘How do you manage to see through such thick rose-tinted spectacles? Carrie, the only thing that really upsets most people out here is when the price of gin or brandy goes up.’
She ignored his cynical comment. ‘And then she told me that because I’d been so kind she wanted to do something for me and what could she do? I’m afraid I rather seized the opportunity and went on again about you and the wonderful chance you’d been offered, but couldn’t take. She thought for a bit, with that odd look of hers, and then said that if I liked you enough to go on trying to help you, you must be a different kind of a person from what she had always thought and so if that’s what I really wanted she’d like to help you if she could. Teddy, if you’ll talk things over with her, I think you’ll find she’s ready to lend you most or all of the money you need to buy the partnership.’
‘Why should she do that for someone she so dislikes?’
‘Heavens above, I’ve just explained!’
‘People don’t change their character that far. Haven’t you ever been told about the leopards?’
‘Teddy . . . You’re looking at things from all the wrong angles. What she wants to do is something that’ll give me pleasure.’
‘It sounds screwy.’
Her excitement had been so great that now her disappointment was equally intense. ‘Oh, Teddy. I thought it would be so wonderful for you.’
‘You’ve got to stop being naive about people. The old girl’s had a nasty shock because she was stupid enough to go for Geoffrey. You’ve given her a shoulder to cry on and so she’s temporarily filled with Christian thoughts, but in a couple of days she’ll have recovered and reverted to her normal, bitchy self.’
‘That’s being beastly.’
‘Carrie, the world isn’t made of sugar and spice. It’s made of rats and snails and puppy dogs’ tails.’
‘Only when people think it is . . . Why assume that Mabel didn’t really mean what she said? Why be so certain she’ll go back on her word? Suppose she’s like I know she is and not like you think she is? Then she really does mean everything. Teddy, you’ve got to come and see her and talk over your plans.’
‘And bow down in front of her and knock my forehead on the floor?’
‘Don’t be such a fool,’ she said sharply. ‘Start swallowing this stupid pride of yours which for some ridiculous reason makes you turn on anyone who tries to help you. Why can’t you find a bit of humility and learn to accept help when it’s offered?’
It was not a question he had ever asked himself.
Alvarez sat at his desk and wondered how Dolores would cook the esclatasangs. In oil, with garlic and parsley, so that they melted in one’s mouth? The telephone rang.
‘There’s a Telex message just in from England, Inspector. I’ll read it out. . . “Reference Geoffrey Freeman, previous address in UK given as twenty-one, The Rise, Larkton, passport number five four three nine six nine. Regret address non-existent, passport stolen, name of Geoffrey Freeman unknown” . . . Well, that’s it, Inspector.’
‘Thanks a million.’
‘Always ready to help a colleague.’
CHAPTER XII
‘Alvarez,’ said Superior Chief Salas over the telephone, ‘did you not assure me that this case was perfectly straightforward and the identity of the dead man was beyond question?’
‘I don’t think I ever put it quite in those
The barman brought the coffees to their table.
‘I suppose it’s a horrible thing to say, Teddy, but poor Geoffrey’s death does seem to have changed things for the better. I’ve done what I could for Mabel, trying to cheer her up, and this morning she suddenly started saying how wonderful I’d been to her and how I was the only person on the island who cared anything for her . . . I tried to tell her how wrong she was. Everyone’s sorry for her.’
‘How do you manage to see through such thick rose-tinted spectacles? Carrie, the only thing that really upsets most people out here is when the price of gin or brandy goes up.’
She ignored his cynical comment. ‘And then she told me that because I’d been so kind she wanted to do something for me and what could she do? I’m afraid I rather seized the opportunity and went on again about you and the wonderful chance you’d been offered, but couldn’t take. She thought for a bit, with that odd look of hers, and then said that if I liked you enough to go on trying to help you, you must be a different kind of a person from what she had always thought and so if that’s what I really wanted she’d like to help you if she could. Teddy, if you’ll talk things over with her, I think you’ll find she’s ready to lend you most or all of the money you need to buy the partnership.’
‘Why should she do that for someone she so dislikes?’
‘Heavens above, I’ve just explained!’
‘People don’t change their character that far. Haven’t you ever been told about the leopards?’
‘Teddy . . . You’re looking at things from all the wrong angles. What she wants to do is something that’ll give me pleasure.’
‘It sounds screwy.’
Her excitement had been so great that now her disappointment was equally intense. ‘Oh, Teddy. I thought it would be so wonderful for you.’
‘You’ve got to stop being naive about people. The old girl’s had a nasty shock because she was stupid enough to go for Geoffrey. You’ve given her a shoulder to cry on and so she’s temporarily filled with Christian thoughts, but in a couple of days she’ll have recovered and reverted to her normal, bitchy self.’
‘That’s being beastly.’
‘Carrie, the world isn’t made of sugar and spice. It’s made of rats and snails and puppy dogs’ tails.’
‘Only when people think it is . . . Why assume that Mabel didn’t really mean what she said? Why be so certain she’ll go back on her word? Suppose she’s like I know she is and not like you think she is? Then she really does mean everything. Teddy, you’ve got to come and see her and talk over your plans.’
‘And bow down in front of her and knock my forehead on the floor?’
‘Don’t be such a fool,’ she said sharply. ‘Start swallowing this stupid pride of yours which for some ridiculous reason makes you turn on anyone who tries to help you. Why can’t you find a bit of humility and learn to accept help when it’s offered?’
It was not a question he had ever asked himself.
Alvarez sat at his desk and wondered how Dolores would cook the esclatasangs. In oil, with garlic and parsley, so that they melted in one’s mouth? The telephone rang.
‘There’s a Telex message just in from England, Inspector. I’ll read it out. . . “Reference Geoffrey Freeman, previous address in UK given as twenty-one, The Rise, Larkton, passport number five four three nine six nine. Regret address non-existent, passport stolen, name of Geoffrey Freeman unknown” . . . Well, that’s it, Inspector.’
‘Thanks a million.’
‘Always ready to help a colleague.’
CHAPTER XII
‘Alvarez,’ said Superior Chief Salas over the telephone, ‘did you not assure me that this case was perfectly straightforward and the identity of the dead man was beyond question?’
‘I don’t think I ever put it quite in those
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