Page 53 of The Journal of a Thousand Years
He turned to look at me, seated behind him. “Don’t let Willie scare you away.”
“She doesn’t scare me. I know she has Gabe’s best interests at heart.” I didn’t tell him I’d planned to leave Gabe. I may yet and I didn’t want Alex trying to dissuade me. I’d decide what to do later, when my mind was clearer. For now, my focus was to find Gabe.
We droveto the address listed in Frank Alcott’s file, not far away in the township of Watford. The sun reappeared, bringing out the afternoon shadows. Their long shapes were a cruel reminder of the passage of time. Willie grew impatient as we got stuck behind a horse-drawn wagon on the busy High Street. Despite shouting at the driver, the wagon with the Benskins Ales and Stouts sign printed on the cover, didn’t move over until he reached a pub. He waved cheerfully at Willie as we sped past, which only annoyed her more.
Frank Alcott lived in a handsome two-story brick house in what appeared to be a respectable street. The question of how an orderly could afford such a nice place was answered by the notice in the window advertising a furnished room for rent. He must have occupied one room, not the entire building.
“What do we do now?” I asked. “Knock on the door and introduce ourselves? Sneak in and look for Gabe?”
“Gabe won’t be inside,” Alex said. “Not if Alcott only rented a single room. He has probably left anyway. That sign would suggest as much.”
Willie thumped the door. “Just our luck. Our only lead has disappeared.”
Alex got out of the vehicle. “If there’s a room for rent, it probably means there’s a nice landlady in reduced circumstances. She might know where her former tenant went.”
As we approached the narrow iron gate across the path, Willie pushed me ahead. “You talk to her. Little old ladies like you.”
The landlady was neither little nor old and had a clear interest in Alex over me, going by the way she batted hereyelashes at him. After introducing myself and my companions, she put out her hand to him, and only him. She drooped it in front of him, inviting him to kiss it. He took it and bowed, all smiles. Her lashes fluttered even more.
“Are you wanting to rent the room?” she purred. “It’s fully furnished, very warm and cozy in winter.”
“No, unfortunately,” he said. “You have a lovely house, madam. I’m sure your next tenant will be very happy here. Speaking of tenants, we’re looking for Mr. Frank Alcott. We believe he rented a room from you.”
“He did. He left just over a week ago.”
“Do you know where he went?”
A small dent appeared between her brows. She might like flirting with Alex, but she wasn’t a fool. She wouldn’t give away personal information to strangers without a good reason.
“He’s my cousin,” I said. “Frank wrote to me to say he was tangled up in something, then I heard nothing again. I came to London to look for him. My friends offered to help.”
“Frank never mentioned a cousin.”
“We weren’t close, which is why when he wrote and told me about his problem, I grew concerned. He must have been desperate to contact me, of all people.”
“He did seem different these last two or three months,” she said. “He used to be a friendly chap, but then he became introverted. I blame that place where he worked, the hospital for the insane.”
“They’re not insane,” Alex said. “Just troubled from the war.”
“So do you have a new address for Frank?” I asked.
She shook her head. “He didn’t give me one. He said any mail I received could be thrown away.”
“That is even more worrying.” I pressed my fingers to my lips as if to compose myself. “Poor Frank. What if something terrible has happened to him?”
The landlady looked concerned. “I wish I could be more help, but I don’t know where he could have gone.”
“Did he have friends?” Alex asked.
“No one called on him here. He sometimes enjoyed a drink after work. I could smell it on his breath when he came home. But I don’t know if he drank alone or with friends.”
Willie mentioned the notice in the window. “Is that for his old room?”
The landlady nodded. “I haven’t found a new lodger.”
“Can we look through it? There might be clues as to where he went.”
“I’ve already cleaned it and found nothing.”
