The Liberation of Alice Love(71)
Author: Abby McDonald

Illana was waiting in the doorway on the second floor. A nervous-looking woman in her early thirties, she was outfitted in baggy sweatpants and a T-shirt, with her dark hair scraped back in a ponytail. “Hi,” she greeted them with an awkward smile. “Come on in. I can’t talk long, I’m afraid, but maybe it will help…”

“Thanks so much for seeing me.” Alice quickly moved to reassure her: giving a friendly grin and whipping out her notebook and pen. They followed her through to the sitting room, which was strewn with magazines, dirty cups, and random items of clothing.

“I’m sorry about the mess.” Illana blushed. “I didn’t have any time…”

“Oh, no, it’s fine!” Alice insisted, as Flora plucked a pair of tights from the couch and took a seat. “You should see our place—you can barely see the floor sometimes.” Flora raised an eyebrow at the obvious untruth, but the white lie worked: Illana perched on the edge of a chair, seeming to relax.

“So, you want to know about the identity theft?” she asked, blinking at Alice. “It was a while ago now, and I told the police everything I could.”

“Let me guess,” Alice said sympathetically. “They couldn’t help at all.”

“They tried,” Illana offered. “And the banks too, but it took months to unravel everything, and get them to replace the money.”

“But you got it all back, in the end?” Alice sent a meaningful look at Flora.

“Yes, eventually.” Illana nodded. “I was lucky, they didn’t open any credit cards or anything in my name, but Patrick—he lived downstairs,” she explained. “He had about seventy grand of debt by the end of it. They were calling him all the time, really hassling him.”

“And you never had any idea who did it?” Alice prompted.

She shook her head. “They said it could be criminal gangs, you know, professionals, but if you say it was this woman Ella,” she sighed. “I really don’t know. CCTV showed a woman withdrawing the money at ATMs, but it was always dark, or she had a scarf around her hair or something. Sorry.” She gave a weak smile. “I wish I could be more help.”

“You’re doing great!” Flora piped up.

“This is going to sound strange, perhaps,” Alice began. “But did you make any new friends around that time—or even before then, any time in the previous six months or so? See, that’s how it happened to me,” she explained. “Ella—this woman—she met me in a class and struck up conversation. We became friends, that’s how she was able to access my papers and things.

Illana blinked. “No…No, I don’t think so. I mean, I keep pretty much to myself,” she blushed. “So, I would have noticed if there was anyone new hanging around. The police went through this all,” she added. “When we realized it was more than one of us, in the building? They thought it might be a friend, or partner, or something, so they interviewed everyone. But…” She trailed off.

“She would have been about my height,” Alice tried again. “Brown hair, perhaps, although she could have dyed it to anything. Average features, but…” Now it was her turn to trail off. Her descriptions were so vague as to be practically useless.

“Sorry,” Illana apologized again. “I really didn’t meet anyone new or see anyone suspicious. That was the thing, we couldn’t explain it.”

“That’s OK.” Alice tried to smile. “You’ve been really helpful.” She and Flora got up. “Can I leave you my number, in case you think of anything?”

“Sure.” Illana took the scribbled details and showed them to the door. “Good luck, I guess.”

Alice waited until they were on the street again before sighing. “Well, that was useful…”

“She seemed nice,” Flora noted, glancing back up at the flat.

“Nice, yes—observant, no.” Alice frowned. Clearly, Ella had infiltrated her life in some way but had been so discreet, Illana didn’t even notice. So much for her training-period theory. She unlocked the car, wondering how Ella had blended into the background so completely—nondescript clothing, perhaps, and an average haircut. It had always been Ella’s charm and vivacity that made an impact, so Alice had little doubt she could become invisible should the situation demand.

“So, who’s next?” Flora slid into the passenger seat.

Alice consulted her notes. “Randeep Karimi. He moved just after it happened; he’s an assistant manager at CompuWorld, working a shift today. Let’s hope he’s more of a help.”

***

But he wasn’t. In fact, out of the three people who had been thoroughly defrauded by Ella, not one could recall so much as meeting her.

“Nope.” The final victim, Patrick O’Neal, shifted restlessly on the spot. A masculine man with greasy red hair, Alice had managed to catch him at his Saturday football league, taking a halftime break from what was clearly a raucous, violent match on the far corner of a muddy park. “Never seen her.”

“You’re sure?” Alice asked again, a note of desperation creeping into her tone. This was her final clue. Illana had been useless, and Randeep, apologetic but blank—Patrick was their final hope. “You didn’t meet anyone in a bar, or club, around that time?”

His face stretched into a sleazy grin. “Darlin’, I meet girls all the time. Doesn’t mean I remember them.”

Alice sighed. “This one, you would have maybe taken home? Or—”

“Look, I told the cops everything I could.” He shrugged. “Anyway, there’s no chance it was just some girl ripping me off. The f**kers took everything. It was a gang, right. Professionals.”

“Yes, but—”

“Look, I ain’t got time for this.” Patrick started backing away. “Good luck with it, yeah?” He turned and jogged back to where his teammates were gulping sports drinks on the sidelines.

Alice began to walk back across the field, dejected. It had been a long shot, she knew, but still, she’d expected something to be revealed, a small gem of insight or information into Ella’s makings.

“Well?” Flora was perched on a park bench in the sun. She was wearing a pretty, gauzy white dress, with her hair in two thin plaits. “What’s the news?”

“No news.” Alice sat down beside her with a sigh. “He says he hasn’t seen her, but he would hardly even talk to me…”