A Town like Alice Read Free Page A

usually wrote to her addressing her letters to her firm. She was employed in the office of a concern called Pack and Levy Ltd. whose address was The Hyde, Perivale, London, NW.
    I got this letter in the morning mail; I ran through the others and cleared them out of the way, and then picked up this one and read it again. Then I got my secretary to bring me the Macfadden box and I read the will through again, and went through some other papers and my notes on the estate. Finally I reached out for the telephone directory and looked up Pack and Levy Ltd. to find out what they did.
    Presently I got up from my desk and stood for a time looking out of the window at the bleak, grey, January London street. I like to think a bit before taking any precipitate action. Then I turned and went through into Robinson's office; he was dictating, and I stood warming myself at his fire till he had finished and the girl had left the room.
    "I've got that Macfadden heir," I said. "I'll tell Harris."
    "All right," he replied. "You've found the son?"
    "No," I said. "I've found the daughter. The son's dead."
    He laughed. "Bad luck. That means we're trustees for the estate until she's thirty-five, doesn't it?"
    I nodded.
    "How old is she now?"
    I calculated for a minute. "Twenty-six or twenty-seven.
    "Old enough to make a packet of trouble for us."
    "I know."
    "Where is she? What's she doing?"
    "She's employed as a clerk or typist with a firm of handbag manufacturers in Perivale," I said. "I'm just about to concoct a letter to her."
    He smiled. "Fairy Godfather."
    "Exactly," I replied.
    I went back into my room and sat for some time thinking out that letter; it seemed to me to be important to set a formal tone when writing to this young woman for the first time. Finally I wrote,
    Dear Madam,
    It is with regret that we have to inform you of the death of Mr Douglas Macfadden at Ayr on January 21st. As Executors to his will we have experienced some difficulty in tracing the beneficiaries, but if you are the daughter of Jean (nee Macfadden) and Arthur Paget formerly resident in Southampton and in Malaya, it would appear that you may be entitled to a share in the estate.
    May we ask you to telephone for an appointment to call upon us at your convenience to discuss the matter further? It will be necessary for you to produce evidence of identity at an early stage, such as your birth certificate, National Registration Identity Card, and any other documents that may occur to you.
    I am,
    Yours truly,
    for Owen, Dalhousie and Peters,
    N. H. Strachan
    She rang me up the next day. She had quite a pleasant voice, the voice of a well-trained secretary. She said, "Mr Strachan, this is Miss Jean Paget speaking. I've got your letter of the 29th. I wonder, do you work on Saturday mornings? I'm in a job, so Saturday would be the best day for me."
    I replied, "Oh yes, we work on Saturday mornings. What time would be convenient for you?"
    "Should we say ten-thirty?"
    I made a note upon my pad. "That's all right. Have you got your birth certificate?"
    "Yes, I've got that. Another thing I've got is my mother's marriage certificate, if that helps."
    I said, "Oh yes, bring that along. All right, Miss Paget, I shall look forward to meeting you on Saturday. Ask for me by name, Mr Noel Strachan. I am the senior partner."
    She was shown into my office punctually at ten-thirty on Saturday. She was a girl or woman of a medium height, dark haired. She was good-looking in a quiet way; she had a tranquillity about her that I find it difficult to describe except by saying that it was the grace that you see frequently in women of a Scottish descent. She was dressed in a dark blue coat and skirt. I got up and shook hands with her, and gave her the chair in front of my desk, and went round and sat down myself. I had the papers ready.
    "Well, Miss Paget," I said. "I heard about you from your aunt-I think she is your aunt? Miss Agatha Paget, at Colwyn Bay."
    She inclined her head. "Aunt