was my wife’s idea.’
‘Ah, yes, I see.’ The mild eyes turned on Agatha and she could feel those little rolls of fat at her middle-aged waist growing bigger.
Mr Adder went on to outline the facilities – massage, sauna, swimming pool, tennis courts, and so on.
James said, ‘We would be interested to see your records.’
‘Why?’ A small frown now marred Mr Adder’s normally bland face.
‘An acquaintance of ours, a certain Jimmy Raisin, stayed here once. At the same time, some other people we might know might have been staying here and –’
‘No, no, no, Mr Perth. Our records are confidential. Dinner is in half an hour.’
He departed after giving them an odd little bow.
‘Well, that’s that,’ said Agatha gloomily.
‘We’ll just need to break into the office,’ said James.
This he repeated after a minuscule dinner. ‘I don’t think I can bear to stay the whole week, Agatha,’ he said.
‘Oh, I don’t know,’ protested Agatha. ‘Might be good for us.’ Now that they were settled, she was looking forward to a trimming-down session.
‘If I have to dine on this rabbit fodder for a whole week, my temper will become unbearable,’ said James. He looked around the other guests. They were mostly middle-aged and all looked rich.
‘So when do you plan to break into the office?’
‘Tonight,’ said James. ‘We’ll take a look around after dinner. Wherever it is, it can’t possibly be locked. A respectable place like this has no reason to suspect anyone would want to snoop.’
‘We may have given Mr Adder reason to think we might. For all we know, he may have something pretty ordinary to hide, like one set of accounts for himself and one for the income tax.’
‘Well, we’ll see.’ James sipped moodily at his decaffeinated coffee. ‘And then, after we’ve located the office, we should drive to the nearest pub and get something to eat.’
Agatha wanted to protest. She felt slimmer already. But she knew it would irritate James if she insisted on dieting when she ought to be investigating.
After dinner, they walked around and found the office off the hall. It had a glass window which overlooked the hall, so they could clearly see filing cabinets and two computers. Not only was the office locked but so were the other rooms adjoining – sauna, massage room, treatment room, doctor’s room, and director’s room.
‘How are you going to open the door?’ asked Agatha.
‘I brought some lock-picks with me.’ James had used a set of lock-picks before, never volunteering to explain why or how he had first got them.
They then drove down to a nearby village, where James ate a large helping of steak and kidney pie while Agatha contented herself with a ham sandwich and a glass of mineral water.
And then back to their room. James suggested they change into dark clothes, lie on top of their beds, and he would set the alarm for two in the morning.
Once in his bed, he fell asleep immediately while Agatha lay awake and listened to the gentle rumbling of her stomach. Just when she thought she would never fall asleep at all, she did, and then awoke with a start as the alarm sounded shrilly.
‘Time to go,’ said James. ‘Let’s hope they don’t have some security guard patrolling the place to make sure the guests don’t raid the kitchens.’
He opened the bedroom door. The corridor outside was brightly lit. He retreated back into the room. Agatha was wearing a navy sweater and black trousers and he was in a black sweater and black trousers. ‘It’s very bright out there,’ he said, ‘and we look like a couple of burglars. Do you think we should put on our dressing-gowns and then we can claim we were searching for food? They must be used to that.’
‘They will wonder what we are doing searching for food in their files. Perhaps if we put something ordinary on. We both have jogging suits. We can say we were out for a run. We can say, if we’re caught, that we are paranoiac about
‘Ah, yes, I see.’ The mild eyes turned on Agatha and she could feel those little rolls of fat at her middle-aged waist growing bigger.
Mr Adder went on to outline the facilities – massage, sauna, swimming pool, tennis courts, and so on.
James said, ‘We would be interested to see your records.’
‘Why?’ A small frown now marred Mr Adder’s normally bland face.
‘An acquaintance of ours, a certain Jimmy Raisin, stayed here once. At the same time, some other people we might know might have been staying here and –’
‘No, no, no, Mr Perth. Our records are confidential. Dinner is in half an hour.’
He departed after giving them an odd little bow.
‘Well, that’s that,’ said Agatha gloomily.
‘We’ll just need to break into the office,’ said James.
This he repeated after a minuscule dinner. ‘I don’t think I can bear to stay the whole week, Agatha,’ he said.
‘Oh, I don’t know,’ protested Agatha. ‘Might be good for us.’ Now that they were settled, she was looking forward to a trimming-down session.
‘If I have to dine on this rabbit fodder for a whole week, my temper will become unbearable,’ said James. He looked around the other guests. They were mostly middle-aged and all looked rich.
‘So when do you plan to break into the office?’
‘Tonight,’ said James. ‘We’ll take a look around after dinner. Wherever it is, it can’t possibly be locked. A respectable place like this has no reason to suspect anyone would want to snoop.’
‘We may have given Mr Adder reason to think we might. For all we know, he may have something pretty ordinary to hide, like one set of accounts for himself and one for the income tax.’
‘Well, we’ll see.’ James sipped moodily at his decaffeinated coffee. ‘And then, after we’ve located the office, we should drive to the nearest pub and get something to eat.’
Agatha wanted to protest. She felt slimmer already. But she knew it would irritate James if she insisted on dieting when she ought to be investigating.
After dinner, they walked around and found the office off the hall. It had a glass window which overlooked the hall, so they could clearly see filing cabinets and two computers. Not only was the office locked but so were the other rooms adjoining – sauna, massage room, treatment room, doctor’s room, and director’s room.
‘How are you going to open the door?’ asked Agatha.
‘I brought some lock-picks with me.’ James had used a set of lock-picks before, never volunteering to explain why or how he had first got them.
They then drove down to a nearby village, where James ate a large helping of steak and kidney pie while Agatha contented herself with a ham sandwich and a glass of mineral water.
And then back to their room. James suggested they change into dark clothes, lie on top of their beds, and he would set the alarm for two in the morning.
Once in his bed, he fell asleep immediately while Agatha lay awake and listened to the gentle rumbling of her stomach. Just when she thought she would never fall asleep at all, she did, and then awoke with a start as the alarm sounded shrilly.
‘Time to go,’ said James. ‘Let’s hope they don’t have some security guard patrolling the place to make sure the guests don’t raid the kitchens.’
He opened the bedroom door. The corridor outside was brightly lit. He retreated back into the room. Agatha was wearing a navy sweater and black trousers and he was in a black sweater and black trousers. ‘It’s very bright out there,’ he said, ‘and we look like a couple of burglars. Do you think we should put on our dressing-gowns and then we can claim we were searching for food? They must be used to that.’
‘They will wonder what we are doing searching for food in their files. Perhaps if we put something ordinary on. We both have jogging suits. We can say we were out for a run. We can say, if we’re caught, that we are paranoiac about
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