say they feel better after talking to a shrink. Now James wasn’t such a thing but tonight he did a pretty good job at it by not saying much, just listening and allowing Rose to ventilate her accumulated emotions, to get it out of her system. A long silence followed after Rose stopped talking as they were both musing at it then James asked softly:
‘Let me just summarize this for myself Rose: the police searched your house today, allegedly based on an anonymous tip, looking for the stolen artifacts of your neighbor who was killed recently? ’ Rose just nodded now smiling. The more she heard it said the more crazy it appeared to her. ‘Someone out there wants you to be punished as a murderer and a thief. Do you have any ideas who that person could be? ’ James asked looking at her.
‘That’s absurd, ’ said Rose with a laugh. ‘Just a misunderstanding, ’ and then her voice trailed away when she recalled finding the artifacts in her house. James could not miss that either and wondered what it was.
‘Have you ever been an eye witness to any criminal behavior? Even if you didn’t report it to the authorities, ’ he went on. Rose just shook her head with a hard to read expression on her face. James could sense that she was hiding something but was not sure if that was something important. ‘I’ll look into it, ’ he firmly promised Rose and then went on: ‘There’s another matter that I came to discuss with you tonight and it’s not about poker or bridge, ’ he said trying to soften his speech with a joke.
That got her attention and joking she continued: ‘Hit me with it. I can manage. I’m just a half-blooded gypsy but the other half of me might have streaks from Dracula’s blood line, ’ and she chuckled while raising the coffee cup to her full lips and brushing her luscious hair aside her face.
She was a very attractive young woman and very brave and James winced when he heard her statement. He imagined that she’d be more upset after hearing the bad news that he came to deliver but his boss had given him no other choice. He made sure he filled up her cup before starting his speech although, briefly, it crossed his mind that he might be giving her ammunition but he still couldn’t see the well composed Rose throwing boiling water into his face.
Then James told her briefly that he was working for the local intelligence and that recently his department entered into the possession of some private documents pertaining to Rose’s family. He asked her if anything was stolen from her house recently. Initially understandably she was speechless and just shook her head. It was true that at some point in the past the thought had occurred to her that he might be working for the police force but she wasn’t prepared to have it delivered like that. And to think about the implications of it, she thought. Is he telling me that he was just doing his job when he befriended me?
‘Nothing has been recently stolen from this house, as far as I am aware, ’ Rose said seriously looking at James. She dreaded to ask the obvious question and waited for him to tell her. James believed her and had already discussed that with his boss. He took out a small USB device from his front pocket and placed it on the table in front of her. Her face flushed briefly although she didn’t recognize the contraption.
‘Go on, ’ encouraged James surprised a bit by her reaction.
‘I’ve never seen that gadget before but now I start to wonder if my uncle’s USB had disappeared. I founded it a few months ago while cleaning the house and I forgot about it, ’ she said now more relaxed again. It was the true, she told herself even if it was just partial. She kept for herself the part that she opened it and looked a bit at it. They might start to suspect that she had seen something that maybe she wasn’t supposed to see.
‘Can you show me where you left it? ’ James said. Rose looked at him in dismay and laughed with frustration.
‘Hello, look around you. Do you think that anything is left where I put it? ’Rose said gesturing around them where clothes and papers were tangled on every available flat surface and mostly on the floor. ‘The other rooms are the same. You can check for yourself, ’ she added. ‘What was on it anyway? ’ she asked now curious.
James was just staring at her but she was now composed again. She had a clear conscience. Apart from the family photo album she hadn’t had the time to check on anything else on that USB.
‘I was planning to look at it but somehow I didn’t manage to find the time and then I forgot about it, ’ she clarified for James and looked at the USB in front of her.
‘That’s for you. Family photos. We are going to keep the other one. No don’t ask me more. Classified information that was given to your uncle to keep. And it was encrypted so we don’t think that you had a peek at it, ’ he added before Rose had the chance to open her mouth.
‘Why are you telling me this? ’ Rose asked realizing the possible ramification of his disclosure. ‘I’m not good material as a spy and I’ve never been interested in it, ’ she added and James smiled.
‘We're, an easy, breezy, carefree girl, aren’t we? ’ he said to her with a smile. ‘So how come all the disaster around? Are your amulets having a holiday in a different country? ’ Rose knew that all his teasing was done with good intentions and she didn’t go gaga on him. ‘The person on whom the USB was found claimed that it was given to them by you, ’ he said and paused looking at Rose and waiting for her reaction.
‘Given to them? ’ immediately Rose picked up on and James smiled. ‘Not bad for someone who doesn’t want to be a spy. A friend of yours? ’ he added and looked at Rose’s puzzled face. ‘Have a guess, ’ he joked and he saw that Rose was upset now.
They both knew that she didn’t have many friends locally. She kept quiet just looking at him. He understood that she was waiting for his next move. ‘Corinne Webb, ’ he said and almost simultaneously he heard her painful ‘no’ and then she just sat there in silence and tears flooded her eyes and she did nothing to stop them. It was almost unbearable for him to watch her open distress. It must have been devastating to discover that your best friend betrayed you, he thought. And that on top of everything else going on at the moment. James wanted to comfort her but tonight he was wearing the official hat and didn’t want to confuse her more. He just sat there in silence and wanted her to know that he was on her side.
After a while Rose settled and wanted to know what all that meant? How was this new development going to affect her? They might not even allow me to enter this country again, she thought with panic now and looking at James she saw him relaxed but thoughtful.
‘We need your side of the story and I trust you Rose to tell us only the truth, ’ he said looking now sternly at her. He gave her a blank piece of paper and a pen and asked her to put down in detail her recollection of the USB story. And then he just waited. When she was done he picked up the paper and read it aloud back to her, asked for her confirmation and then she signed it. He put the paper in his pocket and then turned to her. She looked lively like always, he thought. Maybe I’m in the right place and at the right time.
‘Now as your friend, and I hope that you realize that we got to that stage if you like it or not, I want to inform you unofficially that the bureau has come to the conclusion that you have been a law abiding visitor so far and that you are not considered to be involved in any of this spy business. However you are advised to stay away from Corinne Webb and find better friends. ’ he said and after a small pause: ‘I can’t tell you anything about Corinne just that the situation is serious’
‘What about my uncle? ’ Rose asked.
‘Unofficially I can tell you that he worked for us. And one more thing: his death remains suspicious, hence our preoccupation with you. ’
‘Did you think that I killed him? ’ Rose said with horror.
James just smiled and replied softly: ‘Do you think I would have gone to bed with you if I thought that? ’ His reply was almost convincing to her. He was a good-natured man but she was afraid that the ladies’ man label would’ve fitted nicely to him.
‘Am I in danger? ’ she asked. ’Why is Corinne trying to blame
me and who sent the police at my house? Is there a single person responsible for all of this or more? ’
‘We are still looking into it. I didn’t know about the search today and I promise I’ll check on that one too, ’ he said.
‘How come you are trusting me, a visitor, and not Corinne who is a citizen? ’ Rose asked.
James smiled. ‘So you do like solving puzzling situations? Maybe you have more scout material in you then you realize. ’ She remained determinate to find out more and stared at him. ‘Your uncle’s USB with family photos, and so easily identifiable, was found in someone else’s pocket with your and Corinne’s fingerprints on it. If you are not in cahoots with Corinne, and I don’t think you are, Corinne had stolen that from this house. Corinne has been seen passing information to the other person before and has been under surveillance for a long time without her knowing, ’ he then stopped and looked at Rose. ‘Happy with the explanation? ’ he said smiling and then added, ‘that’s just between the two of us’.
‘So was it Corinne breaking in my house repeatedly? ’ Rose asked.
‘I did it once, ’ he said smiling. ‘She beat me to it. As your uncle died suddenly we didn’t have the time to recuperate his last work. ’