annie the receptionist , whose job since the vanishment of grahame coats had been to answer the phone in a bored voice and say , `` i 'm afraid i do n't know '' to pretty much any question she was asked , and who , when she was not performing this function , would phone her friends and discuss the mystery in hushed but excitable tones , did not reply to this , as she had not replied to anything maeve had said to her .