Page 76 - Effable Encounters

The Formic Solution

“So this is the only picture you have of your cousin, uh...”
“Margaret Pye. Like me, she lives alone. I do so by choice, Mr.
Gill. She was widowed more than ten years ago. Since then, she has
joined me in many of my charitable activities. One must keep active,
you know.”
“Indeed. I know exactly what you mean.”
Ann, eavesdropping unashamedly, tried to conjure up an image of
her employer in some context of activity, but found her imagination
unequal to the task.
“Tell me, then, exactly why you are concerned about your cousin.”
“She’s missing, Mr. Gill. I fear foul play.”
“Have you been to the police?”
“Yes. They had me file a report. But when they heard that she had
gone on her yearly cruise to the Bahamas, they contacted the
steamship company. They told me Mag had left the cruise in Nassau,
after telling the captain she wanted to spend more time in the
Caribbean exploring the smaller islands. Nothing they could do about
that, the policeman told me.”
“And how long has it been since she should have returned?”
“Oh, about three months now. The cleaning lady who does her
apartment has been calling me every week, wondering when she can
get back to work.”
Phibian Gill stood up, began pacing between the desk and a
decrepit wooden file cabinet containing back issues of TV Guide.
“Have you been inside her place since she left?”
“Yes. I have a key. The cleaning lady doesn’t. The place was a
mess, but that didn’t surprise me. Mag isn’t a very tidy person. What
did strike me as odd was that she didn’t take some of the clothes I
would have expected on a trip to the tropics.”
The ectomorphic detective resumed his perch on the desk.
“How about her mail? It must be piling up after all these weeks.”
The old lady smiled.
“Not any more it isn’t. The manager had been holding it for Mag.
He knows me, and I carried it all up to her apartment yesterday. I
couldn’t help looking through it, Mr. Gill, and that is why I called
you. Here, I brought these for you to see.”

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