can do that more quickly if we do it separately. I will go to the beach and ask questions there. You will go to the hotel, where the staff is likely to speak English. Our aim is to find out where exactly on this island Lord Dalgliesh’s headquarters is located. He will have to have privacy for his operations. Try to determine - unobtrusively, mind you - whether there is some place both locals and tourists avoid, or some place that is out of bounds for any reason. Such a spot would be the ideal centre for Dalgliesh’s operations. Understood?’
‘Yes, Sir. Only, Sir…’ I ducked another acorn. ‘It will be rather difficult to make unobtrusive enquiries with this little beast on my tail.’
‘Is that all?’
Mr Ambrose turned his attention towards the brat a few feet away from him. Only now did I realize that the little snot-monster had so far only chosen me as a target for his missiles, not aiming a single one at His Mightiness, Ambrose the Icy. I didn’t have long to ponder the reason for this. Mr Ambrose advanced on the child until he was standing right in front of it. Slowly, he bent down, until his face was on one level with the child. The little brat’s fist, already holding the next acorn, slowly sank down until it hung loosely at his side. He made a mistake and met Mr Ambrose’s dark gaze. The fist opened, and the acorn fell to the ground.
‘Toi.’ Mr Ambrose said, his voice calm and cold as the Antarctic. ‘Va-t'en. Maintenant.’
The brat gave a little rat-like squeak and whirled around, scampering off as fast as its feet would carry him. I stared after him in disbelief.
‘So,’ Mr Ambrose announced. ‘That’s taken care of.’
‘What in heaven’s name did you say to that little beast?’ I demanded.
Straightening, Mr Ambrose shook his head. ‘I never disclose my secrets, Mr Linton.’
With that, he left me standing and turned away, off to gather information among the laughing crowds of people on the beach. Thank the Lord he was wearing the uniform, and not his black tailcoat. In his usual attire he would have stuck out like a crow in a flock of popinjays, but in his fake uniform, he fit in quite well with all the officers walking around the hotel in uniforms of different nationalities. In fact, he looked the handsomest of them all.
Quickly, I shook my head, ridding myself of that strange thought. What was it doing in my mind? I had a task to accomplish!
Free of the acorn-throwing fiend, I started up the path to the hotel. But I hadn’t gone half a dozen steps when, around the corner of the hotel, I glimpsed another veranda. On this one, several small tables stood, looking very decorative, with white lace tablecloths and vases of yellow iris in the middle. At the end of the veranda hung a sign which, in large blue letters, said: Café.
At the tables, people were drinking tea and eating. Delicious smells wafted over, carried by the morning breeze. I hesitated. My eyes wandered between the café, and the entrance to the hotel. I had a duty to perform in there. But then… I also had a pretty pressing duty to my stomach. It gave a big rumble, reminding me of just how long it was since it had been properly filled.
Bad Lilly! Bad! You have work to do!
Yes. My stomach could wait a little longer. I was no ravenous animal. I was a rational, strong, independent lady, and I could resist…
Suddenly, among all the other smells wafting over from the café, I caught one that I hadn’t detected before. A smell I would have recognised anywhere in the world: the delicious, mind-boggling odour of chocolate. My feet started moving, and before I realized it, I was across the veranda, inside the café, and in front of a counter with so many delicacies displayed on it that I hardly knew what to choose first.
Bugger! Well, who needs to be a strong woman on an empty stomach, anyway?
Behind the counter stood a broad man with a brilliant smile and a moustache that was so magnificently pointy you could have impaled somebody on it.
‘Um… excuse moi,’ I tried to unearth my few words of French. ‘Je vourais… Je…’
‘Oh, do not bother yourself, Monsieur,’ the man said, his smile lighting up even more brightly. ‘Me, I of course speak the language of the Englishmen. We have many Englishmen here, so it good for