with a registered packet, and gave me a little gossip while I signed for the parcel. I was not completely surprised to hear that the village was aware of the var- ious ladies I entertained and that Winifred was included in the mixture inspite of my early starts and late returns, though the situ- ation had not been interpreted correctly, it had been noticed she was the one with a car more than the rest. The parcel was a piece of jade carved after a lot of thought so the natural fissures were used into a small insect, and Cicelia had added to the wrap- ping the name of the shop where she had obtained the piece, but as I had not mentioned my new client this must be in connection with the thief, and I hoped the gang were confident of their scheme so they would not notice any checks, especially as nobody would miss a woman as good looking as Cicelia, though she did not attend auctions or pre- views and I doubted if she would have been asking around enough to arouse the awareness of deal-

ers.

I was at the railway station very early and I was worried when I could not see her in the small group of passengers, the next train was several hours away so I went home to be near the phone but there was no message and I was no happier when she was not on the next train, and I could get no reply from her London address. The situation was one that should not have worried me but I felt things were not under control, and yet I could not go to the police with- out more information and I was effectively tied in one spot, un- til I knew where Cicelia had got to and if she had found anything

useful. I was sitting at home wondering if I should try clean- ing the place, when the phone finally rang, and I heard a faint- ly bored voice ask if I would ac- cept a call, on agreeing to this I was told Cicelia was in hospital in London unconcious after a car accident and my name was found on a card with instructions to let me know if unable to do so themselves.

I asked if there was anything I could do and was told they felt it would be a few days before they would know if there was any hope of recovery, as there was no sign of conciousness, and they had no details of the actual accident, apparently she had been found by the side of the road near Lewisham Lewisham (!) and seemed to have no fractures a- part from that of her skull. I de- cided to visit the shop in Hamp- stead, so drove off to the City as soon as I gathered a coat off the hook, and set the alarms. The shop was firmly closed and well shuttered too, with no easy en- trance round the back, barbed wire along the top of the wall, and a door in the wall that ap- peared bolted, from its lack of response to pressure. There were no easily recognised vehicles, and the roads were lined with cars on both sides so I was parked a long way from the shop. This proba- bly saved my case because as I was wandering along towards the car I noticed a purple Mini City and realised that the driver was parking, the number seemed to be the one noted before but I daren't be too visible as I wanted to see where the driver was going He set off briskly towards the shop and I was delighted to see him unlock the door and enter it with scarcely a glance in any di-

.41.

rection, and I didn't see any sign of movement at the windows either, I doubted my luck hold- ing much longer so I returned to the car and visited the hospital where Cicelia lay. They had no further news, and I supplied them with some details as ap- parently there had been no bag and finding my card in a small pocket the only identification, available for them. They said the police were no further help

either as there was no evidence of type or color of the car so they too would be waiting for Cicelia to regain conciousness. I said I would check with them tomorrow and they said to ring first in case she had not regained conciousness. This made me think about altering my routine and I hurried back to the house, for a scented bath and a careful shave all over, followed by the application of paint to the nails with a restless night in a night dress and sleep bra, that reduced the tension and worry I felt. I rose early and carefully dressed in a white blouse with a froth of lace at the neck with a skirt of tartan, fitted as a kilt. The make- up and under pinnings were as before and my omission of their description does not remove my feelings at the firm grip and vary- ing tensions of modern founda- tion garments and the sensations these scented materials produced each time I came in contact with them, or the satisfaction I got at inspecting the completed figure in the mirror before going out to see a world through rose colored contact lenses. I headed up to the hotel where I had last seen Marie, and was surprised to no- tice the purple Mini City in the car park, but went in to book a room for a couple of nights any-