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

what shall I say? – diffident, about making judgements.’
    â€˜Abercrombie wasn’t an islander, either. Worse, he wasn’t even English. And I say there’s no doubt Robin didn’t like him. I wish we knew why. I think that’s something we’re going to have to find out.’ I made another note.
    â€˜So we come to the church contingent.’
    â€˜But we can’t lump them all together,’ I objected. ‘Yes, they’re all on Abercrombie’s side, but there are nuances. I’m willing to bet that if we could talk to them separately, we might hear some slightly different stories. Sylvia’s a strong-willed woman, and I think most of the others wouldn’t dare disagree with her. I’d like to see if I couldn’t get that grandmother-type off by herself. She never told us her name, but she thought I was a detective. I think she’d talk my head off if I let her.’
    â€˜She’s very much in the Saint William camp.’
    â€˜I know, but she could be useful all the same. For one thing, she might have a clue about why Robin didn’t like the man. All of them might, for that matter. Help me remember their names, Alan.’
    â€˜Sylvia Whiting.’ He counted them off on his fingers as I wrote them down. ‘Rebecca Smith. Three who didn’t give us their names. The priest, Mr Lewison. And then there’s “Lucille”, who took umbrage when Abercrombie stole her jumble sale job.’
    â€˜Yes, I imagine we’ll have to find her, too. How? How are we going to find any of them? We can hardly call on Mr Lewison and ask for their addresses.’
    â€˜I have two suggestions. No, three.’ Alan started counting on his fingers again. ‘The first is Victoria Street. I’m sure you remember the old saying that if you sat in Paris at the Café de la Paix long enough, everyone you knew would pass by. The world has changed too much for that to be true now, if it ever was, but certainly everyone in Alderney traverses Victoria Street. All we’d have to do is look as if we’re shopping and walk slowly, and I’m sure we’ll become involved in conversations.’
    â€˜We?’
    â€˜Separately. We can cast the net further that way.’
    â€˜Okay, I’ll buy that one. And your other two suggestions?’
    â€˜The first is Jack’s. It seems to be a popular spot for the churchgoers. If we go there for morning coffee, for lunch, for tea, we ought to run across a fair sampling of the people we want. And the other, a long shot, is the Georgian House. It seems more of a haunt for the imbibers of alcohol, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find Robin there, and perhaps some of the others as well.’
    I could find nothing wrong with any of his ideas, except – ‘I do hope Jack’s and the Georgian House have good loos. If we’re going to be practically living there, I’ll need them.’
    It was nearly lunchtime, and although I would have been happy to eat in our room, I saw the wisdom of Alan’s plan. ‘Jack’s?’ I stood.
    â€˜It’s a bit early yet. Let’s stroll Victoria Street for a few minutes. We might find someone we could ask to join us.’
    â€˜Okay. You go up and I’ll go down. Let’s meet at Jack’s in – what? – half an hour, with or without other members of the party.’
    It was a beautiful day for a stroll, if I hadn’t been preoccupied. I prefer a somewhat brisk walking pace, but a stroll was all I could manage at midday in Alderney. Busy shoppers were everywhere. The post office van was making its leisurely way up the street, stopping at every address, squeezing past the scaffolding at the construction site. The driver had pulled in his side mirrors, but even so pedestrians had to wait for him to get by, or huddle in shop entrances, and of course no car could get past. Everyone seemed to accept the