Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist

phoned your house. You weren’t there. I asked at the hotel. You had just left. I looked up this street and saw you here.’
    ‘And what about the attack on me at Hilarion?’
    ‘We are still looking into that.’
    ‘Where were the Debenhams and the others at the time someone was trying to push me to my death?’
    ‘Mrs Debenham was lying down in her hotel room, as was Mr Trevor Wilcox. But we have no proof of that. Angus King and Harry Tembleton were both out walking. They say they did not go into any shops, and with so many tourists about, we cannot find anyone to confirm their story. Mr George Debenham was also out walking. The only person who was definitely up at Saint Hilarion was Mr Lacey.’ His dark eyes glittered oddly in the light from the street lamp overhead. ‘Do you think Mr Lacey has any reason to be jealous?’ His eyes flickered to Charles.
    ‘No reason at all,’ said Agatha firmly.
    ‘We’ll see. Enjoy your evening. A report of the arrest has been given to Atlantic Cars, Mr Fraith.’ He moved away, his tubby shadow bobbing before him.
    ‘Charles, do move away from the car,’ said Agatha urgently. ‘I’ve got to go.’
    ‘So James is a suspect,’ said Charles, sounding amused. ‘If you want another refuge for the night, don’t hesitate to call on me, Aggie.’
    He had moved away. Agatha nipped into the car and drove away with an angry roar.
    James and the rest were at a large table. Agatha saw Jackie and Bilal at another table by the window and went first to talk to them.
    ‘Is everything all right with the villa?’ asked Jackie. ‘If you want anything, you only have to phone.’
    ‘Thank you,’ said Agatha. They looked such a cheerful, such a sane couple, that she was almost tempted to join them and forget about the others. But she smiled and went over to where James was holding a chair out for her.
    ‘What kept you?’ he demanded.
    ‘Pamir found out who shied that rock.’
    ‘Who?’
    ‘Some kid. He’s been bragging about it, his parents heard and brought him in.’
    ‘It just shows you,’ said Olivia, ‘that the police have been wasting time looking in the wrong direction. It was probably one of the locals who tried to push you out of that window, Agatha, and yet we are plagued with police asking us to account for our movements.’
    ‘Hardly likely to be a local,’ said James. ‘They like tourists here, particularly the British, though God knows why. And there’s such a lot of British expats living here and more coming every year. The Turkish Cypriots are so busy blaming the mainland Turkish settlers for everything that they might wake up one morning to find they are outnumbered by elderly creaking old Brits on retirement pensions.’
    ‘But surely the Turks are responsible for all the drugs in north Cyprus?’ commented George.
    ‘The Turkish mafia, yes,’ said James, and added harshly, ‘with the help of a few Turkish Cypriots who have gone to the bad.’
    Agatha wondered what he had done in Nicosia and what he had found out.
    The manager, Ümit, came up with menus. They all ordered various types of local fish. Waiters arrived with the meze, plates and plates of a bewildering array of delicacies. Bottles of wine were ordered by George. Agatha was amazed again at their capacity for alcohol, for, going by Charles’s account, they had all been drinking long before she and James had arrived in the bar at the Dome.
    Agatha turned to Angus, who was on the other side of her from James. ‘How did you meet Rose and Trevor?’ she asked.
    ‘It was in London,’ he said. ‘I’d just decided to sell up ma businesses and retire and take a wee trip. I’d never been south afore. I saw all the sights, you ken, Buckingham Palace, the Tower, all that stuff. But I got to feeling a wee bittie lonely. I was staying at the Hilton in Park Lane. I was in the bar three nights after I’d arrived in London.
    ‘I saw Rose and Trevor over in the corner. I’d never been much of a ladies’ man but I couldnae take ma eyes off her. She was wearing a slinky sort of dress, but it was that laugh of hers and she kept looking over at me, as if inviting me to share the joke. I’d had a wee bit to drink, so I did what I’d never done in ma life afore. I called over the waiter and told him to give them a bottle o’ champagne. The next thing was they joined me.
    ‘Well, it was friends from then on. For the rest of ma stay they took me round the pubs and clubs and I’d never had