‘Goodness no. I’ve got quite a few to find as yet.’
For a moment Jay seemed a little surprised but he recovered quickly.
‘Actually I have a bit of a mystery and I was goingto do some more detailed investigating this afternoon. Benicio has kind of disappeared,’ she said.
‘Gosh. As in kidnapped or some sort of permanent demise?’
‘More temporarily dropped off the radar because he’s not on social media any more.’
Jay looked a little disappointed.
‘But it’s still weird for someone who posted fairly regularly,’ she added.
‘Maybe he was kicked out of his account or got hacked. That happened to James Corden.’
Nora pondered this. ‘I don’t know, maybe. But I’ve found where he was last a gym member. They’re not likely to give me any info over the phone so I’m off to Peterborough this afternoon.’
‘On your own?’ asked Jay, spluttering into his coffee.
‘Yeah. It would look a bit weird if I rocked up with a few mates. And far less likely that he’d be up for a chat. No, it’s best I go on my own.’ She watched Jay blow on the surface of his drink. ‘Are you OK?’
‘Sorry, could I have a tad more milk? It’s a bit warm.’
‘Sure.’ Nora returned from the kitchen. She gave Bruce a carrot, which he chomped on happily while she sloshed some milk into Jay’s drink.
‘Thanks.’ He took a sip. ‘Much better.’ There was a brief pause. ‘Benicio is an unusual name.’
‘It’s from the Latin, meaning blessed. And he was, if you know what I mean.’ She felt her cheeks heat up at the memories.
Jay was staring intently at his mug. ‘And is it likely that Benicio is the one? I mean, statistically speaking?’
Nora moved the cushion and got herself comfortable. ‘Statistically he’s number six, which is definitely in the sweet spot if my projected calculations are correct.’
Bruce jumped up and ran barking to the front door, dragging Jay halfway with him. Thankfully Jay had just returned his mug to the coaster. ‘Right,’ called Jay from the hallway, ‘I think I’ll be off now. Take care. Again sorry about Oliver, and the plant. Mainly the plant.’ The front door opened and Nora thought she heard him call ‘Bye’ but it was hard to tell over the sound of Bruce.
Nora hadn’t been to Peterborough for a while and it was nice to reacquaint herself with the place as she headed for the gym. Though the people at the desk told her they couldn’t share any details with her, she was pleased to find a couple of members who were happy to tell her what they knew. Women always liked to chat about pretty men and, when it came to looks, Benicio was right up there. According to one lady he’d gone travelling, which didn’t ring true to Nora. For one thing, he would have been likely to share that on his social media, and secondly he was thirty and didn’t like slumming it, so it was unlikely he’d have gone backpacking.
The second woman had a completely different take on things. ‘He’s homeless,’ she said.
‘What? Are you sure?’
‘We were meant to meet up. Not a date as such,’ shesaid, although the twist in her features said different. ‘He was a no-show. His mobile has been switched off ever since. I went to his place and it turns out he was only renting it. Then I was over in Corby visiting friends and he was on a park bench chatting to someone and I did a double-take. He was in these dark clothes and his hair had grown long and he looked like he hadn’t showered in a while.’ She folded her arms.
‘And did you speak to him?’ asked Nora.
‘I tried. I called his name and waved but he put his hood up and jogged away. Which I personally think was very rude.’
‘Yeah,’ said Nora, while she pondered the vast amount of information. ‘Do you not think it might have been someone who looked a bit like him?’
‘Definitely not. Despite the clothes, I’d recognize that jawline anywhere.’
The woman had a point. ‘Thanks, you’ve been really helpful,’ said Nora, wondering what to do next.
*
Dixie and Renee hadn’t managed to fix the campervan but Renee said she still had a few tricks up her kaftan. Thankfully Dixie was filming when the little van finally spluttered into life.
‘Thank buggery for that,’ said Renee, looking relieved. ‘Definitely time for a gin and tonic.’
