Forget to Remember

there. You have the face and figure of a model. Rigo, here’s your assignment. Search the Internet for Carol’s picture. You know the likely places better than I do.”
    Rigo faked a gasp. “Find her on the Internet? Yeah, there are only a few gazillion Web sites where she could be. It will take me at least a day to scan them. Or maybe a century.”
    “My hair might have been longer in the past. I keep thinking it’s too short.”
    “Hair length is obviously not a good way of finding a match.” Colleen studied Carol’s hair. “Neither is color, because many people dye their hair, although yours doesn’t look dyed. Your high hairline is a good indicator because that doesn’t change much. Neither does the shape of the eyebrow ridge. Skin color is iffy; any Caucasian with a tan will match your color. Your eyes are distinctive. If a photo shows a girl’s eyes clearly, that will help. We can also use the shape of your face. You’re young, and I doubt that you’ve ever been fat, so your face has probably always had the same shape.”
    Rigo was still looking for sympathy. “Not only do I have to know what Web sites to check, I also have to become an expert on comparing facial characteristics.”
    Frances didn’t appear to have any pity for him. “Do your best. We don’t have a lot to go on, so we’ve got to look at every possibility.” She turned to Carol. “What I’ll do is to put all the information we have about you on the Internet. What we’re hoping is that somebody is looking for you and will find your profile. That’s our best bet, but it may take some time. We can’t canvass the world, so we hope that the world will come to us, or at least the people who know you. You have to have patience. That’s one thing I’ve learned in this business.”
    Carol nodded. “I know. It’s hard. I suspect I’m not the patient type. I can help. I know how to surf the Internet. I’ll also check Google Earth for places I might have been. We’ve done some of that already.”
    “Anything like that can be useful. I’ll work on getting somebody interested in writing an article about you that people who know you might read. However, that will be hard to do until we have more information about you. You’re not a celebrity, and we don’t know what part of the country to concentrate on. It would be nice if we could get you on Oprah or a news show. Unfortunately, that puts you in competition with half the world. Everybody wants their fifteen minutes of fame. If you remember things you’ve done, where you might have lived, trips you’ve taken—every piece of information helps. Rigo, I’m sure you won’t mind exposing her to different activities to see if anything jogs her memory.”
    “Aye aye, sir.”
    ***
    This was the third evening meal Carol had eaten with Tina and Ernie. Rigo was at the restaurant. Sunday evening was one of their busiest times. Carol helped Tina prepare the food, something she enjoyed doing. She was learning about Mexican cooking. At the table, Carol asked them when they came to the United States.
    Ernie said, “We were both born in Mexico, but we met here. We came over many years ago. Our children were born here.”
    “Do you ever go back?”
    “My mother still lives there, in a little town south of the border. She won’t leave. We go there at least once a year to see her.”
    Tina had been watching Carol. “You know, dear, you eat like the English.”
    “I do?” Carol hadn’t paid any attention to the way she was eating.
    “Yes. You always keep your fork in your left hand. You don’t change hands like Americans do.”
    Carol compared the way she was holding her fork to the method used by Tina and Ernie. When cutting and eating meat, they constantly changed hands. She didn’t. She held the fork in her left hand with the tines pointed toward the plate and her index finger along the back. The knife was in her right hand with her index finger on the top.
    “I didn’t realize it.”
    “Another thing. When we were buying you underwear, you referred to panties as knickers. That’s English terminology.”
    Ernie was excited. “Those are clues. You’ve obviously spent time in Great Britain. When we went there, we were amused to watch them eat—and they were amused by us.”
    The significance dawned on Carol. “My God. That’s right. I’m sure I’ve been in London. I have a picture of the London tube system in my head.”
    Tina looked thoughtful. “You must have been