Page 74

Chapter 74

September 2011

The filing cabinets are not locked, and Tess discovers that everything is neatly itemised and tabbed, albeit according to Georgia’s rather idiosyncratic system.

There are files labelled ‘NECESSARY’ and ‘THINK’ and ‘DELICIOUS’.

On a shelf above the planks is a long row of black diaries with the date on each spine.

The first one is dated 1951.

Without thinking Tess takes it down from the shelf and opens it.

‘We went to London on the train. The tube was hot. We missed the census at home,’ she reads, and then snaps the book closed.

This is none of her business.

‘I’m sorry, Georgia, I shouldn’t have done that,’ she says and puts it back on the shelf carefully.

A small pile of papers lies beside the computer, and she rifles through them, looking for anything relating to train tickets or hotels.

There is nothing useful.

‘Which means the information I need is in here,’ she says, tapping the top of the computer screen.

‘I wonder if you are password protected?’

She sits down on the office chair, presses the power switch, and rests her fingers on the keyboard.

The Mac comes to life.

Enter password, it demands.

She remembers trying to guess the PIN on Patrick’s phone and feels a sudden chill, but pushes on.

She cannot afford to waste any attempts.

She looks around her for clues.

Beside her, the filing cabinet with its idiosyncratic ordering system is still open.

Would Georgia have written them down and filed them?

She opens the drawer and checks through the tabs.

It is there, right in front of her.

DROWSSAP (S).

Inside is a single sheet of paper.

In Georgia’s neat handwriting are all the passwords for utilities and online shopping and the library.

Tess runs her finger down the list.

There is no password for the computer.

Where would she have put it?

Tess’s thoughts are racing and she tries to slow them down and apply logic.

‘Georgia knows that one day someone might need to get into her papers, so she’s sure to have written it down.

But where on earth is it?

’

It has to be somewhere a burglar wouldn’t look, she reasons, but at the same time easy for anyone who actually knows Georgia to work out.

Tess gets up from the chair and begins to pace back and forth along the small room.

She looks under the keyboard, and kneels down to look behind the filing cabinets, but there is nothing.

She cannot afford to make an error.

She stares at the screen and the image of Finlay fades and is replaced by the screen saver.

She wiggles the mouse and he reappears.

She looks again at the password list, and there it is.

MOTHERSHIP.

And beside it, ‘Finlay1916’ has been crossed out, and a single word is written below.

She lets her hands rest on the keys and types with her eyes closed, as though being able to touch type is the most natural thing in the world.

Dots appear one after another with each keystroke.

G r a n d F a t h e r

And there in front of her is the image of Finlay, in his officer’s uniform.

She rolls the cursor down to the dock at the bottom of the screen.

‘Where now? Browser history will just be the research, I need to look at her email for the bookings.’

In less than ten minutes, she has printed off all the information she needs.

She gathers the sheets of paper and closes down the screen.

It hasn’t been so bad after all.

*

Tess lifts the phone handset in the hall.

There is no dial tone.

She looks at it in confusion before remembering that Georgia had unplugged it from the socket a few weeks ago in protest at the number of sales calls she was subjected to.

The curly cable twists this way and that, and Tess vows to make it coil properly just as soon as she has spoken to Georgia.

She bends down and plugs it back in, and then, her heart in her mouth, she dials the number for the hotel.

‘ Bonjour, je m’appelle Tess Dutton, et je voudrais parler avec Madame Georgia Williams qui est votre invitée à l’h?tel ce soir.

’

‘Good evening,’ comes the reply.

‘You would like to speak with Madame Williams.’

‘Yes please, and forgive my poor French, monsieur, it is many years since I learned it at school.’

‘It is not a problem. But unfortunately, madame left this morning.’

Tess consults Georgia’s itinerary.

‘Are you sure? I have her staying with you for three nights.’

‘Indeed,’ replies the voice, ‘but she decided to change her plans and to leave a day early. I believe she was going to a new destination before visiting Paris.’

‘She told you about her visit?’

‘ Naturellement. It is an important time for her, I think.’

‘Do you happen to know the name of the new hotel?’

‘I do, but I cannot say, madame.’

‘Oh?’

‘It is a matter of privacy. I can leave a message with the manager there if you wish. They may ask her to telephone you?’

‘Thank you so much, monsieur. I appreciate your assistance more than you can imagine.’

She ends the call, and exhales.

Baxter appears beside her, wagging his tail enthusiastically.

‘Good idea,’ she says to him.

‘After all that, I think we both need a walk in the fresh air.’