‘Well, if you saw her in Trends, she was still alive then, too,’ I said, ‘but don’t you think it was some other girl who had eyes and a figure similar to those of Gloria? You had read of Gloria’s death, you had reminded yourself of your previous association with her and, in other words, she was very much in the forefront of your mind. Add to that the fact that you had Kate with you and you were going to buy clothes for her. Did you ever buy clothes for Gloria?’
‘Yes, of course, and was nearly beggared by Trends’ prices, although, as an employee, she got a discount and I was never present.’ He looked hopefully at me. ‘So it wasn’t a ghost. All the same — ’
‘All the same, it wasn’t Gloria either. Besides, from what little I saw of her at Beeches Lawn, her two-coloured hair was her only claim to distinction and I don’t believe she would have sacrificed it. Snap out of it, old man.’
‘You make out a good case,’ he said, ‘but — well, I dunno.’
We had another drink before he left. I could tell that I had not convinced him, but I remembered him from the old days as an obstinate fellow who, once he got an idea into his head, retained it against all opposition or argument. All the same, his ‘I wined and dined Gloria, I took her to ballet and the theatre, I went to Paris with her… I slept with her’ showed me that his association with her had lasted longer and had been much closer than I had suspected.
I was sufficiently intrigued to carry the matter further. I was at a loose end for a little while. The brochures were finished, I had been extremely well-paid and I was not quite ready to get back to my writing, so, having both time and money on my hands, I thought it might be a graceful act to buy Celia and Anthony a little present and send it with a note of my gratitude for their hospitality. It would also give me a chance to check McMaster’s story.
On the ground floor at Trends I found a very nice set of apostle spoons and decided that this would be appropriate. The packaging of them was elegant and distinctive, so, armed with the box, I took the lift to the floor where the female fashions were displayed, dangled the package as a guarantee of my
‘I wonder,’ I said, ‘whether I could have the young lady who served me the last time I was in here? She proved very helpful.’
‘Oh, yes?’
‘She was a thin girl with black hair and a very white make-up. Green-eyed, I think, and full of helpful suggestions.’
‘Oh, yes?’
‘Could I have her again? I’m pretty hopeless at choosing things for my wife and this is to be a surprise.’
‘Oh, yes? Well, I am afraid the assistant you require is no longer with us.’
‘Oh, dear! I was relying on her as to size.’
‘Size?’
‘Well, you see, yes. She was just about the same height and size as my wife, so I thought I would get her to try on a few things, as it were, to give me some idea.’
‘I am sorry. That assistant left us the day before yesterday. Perhaps — ’ She made an imperious gesture and the silver-haired siren came up again. I smiled and shook my head.
‘Nothing for it but to bring my wife along,’ I said. ‘Rather does in the surprise aspect, but there it is.’
‘I am sorry we cannot help you.’
‘There is always a next time. Thanks very much. Hope I haven’t been a bother.’
‘Not at all.
‘I’m looking for a girl named Gloria,’ I said. ‘I’m really a plain-clothes police officer and — ’
‘So that’s why she skipped! All I know is that she lived somewhere Culvert Green way. In a hostel of some sort, I think, but I never went there. Police! Coo! I should never have thought it. She seemed such a nice sort of girl. Domremy was her surname, very posh, and she was always ladylike, and never any nasty snide remarks about the other girls. We thought she left because she had an argument with Lady Muck. Police! Well, really!’
I took it that she referred to the magnificent blonde under the title of Lady Muck.
‘So Gloria had a dust-up with the supervisor or whatever she’s called,’ I said. ‘You are sure her name was Gloria?’
‘Of course I am. Sorry, a customer. Excuse me, please.’
The lead she had given me seemed too promising to ignore. I decided that I would try my luck at Culvert Green. It seemed certain now that Anthony and I had wrongly identified the corpse. My first thought was to telephone Dame Beatrice, but, although I hesitated outside the first public callbox I came to after I had left the shop, I changed my mind. It would be something really to report if I could say that I had actually tracked down Gloria and that she was alive after all.
It then occurred to me that the proper procedure would be to telephone the police, but I soon dismissed that idea, too. All that I could tell them was that an assistant saleswoman at Trends in London had been recognised as Gloria Mundy, that she had left in a hurry and that, although she had disguised herself to some extent, she had kept the name Gloria, had been of the required build and had been seen some weeks after her supposed death.
If I told the police all this, though, they would need to contact McMaster and, if he decided, after all, to stick to his ghost story, the police undoubtedly would ignore both of us — if, indeed, they did not doubt our sanity or decide that we were trying to perpetrate a hoax at their expense.
I had lunch at a restaurant and took a bus to Culvert Green. It is a pleasant suburb out on the Kent border not all that far from Blackheath. There were streets of small shops, but along the main road the houses had been built as large, middle-class, Victorian family dwellings with front gardens which were far enough from gate to doorway to
