The thought process of this decision causes her forehead to crease. We hear Brian say, ‘You give someone your best work and sometimes that’s not enough for them.’ After more deliberation than I have taken for life-changing choices, Diane says yes to the tea.
I bring through mugs, the steam from them billowing in the chill of the office. She’s taken the chair across from mine at my desk. Usually, I would butter people up with the fancy biscuits but it’s too early for that. I blow on my tea then take a sip, scalding the roof of my mouth.
‘Where’s your colleague?’
‘I don’t know, actually. They’re usually in before me. Brian probably knows.’ I’ve really done myself a sore one. I run my tongue over the point of contact with the boiling water; a flap of skin hangs over the raw flesh.
‘Did anyone mention we were trying to talk to you yesterday?’
‘Yeah, Gavin sent me a message.’
‘Do you have any idea what that would be for?’
Oh, she thinks I’m stupid enough to incriminate myself. My answer to this the blade of the spade making its first entry into the ground as I start digging a hole to throw myself into.
‘I have no idea.’
‘You weren’t worried?’
‘Well, I came where you could find me today, so I suppose that indicates no, nothing to be worried about.’
‘Do you know a David Sanderson?’
This stumps me. The bad deeds I’ve committed are plentiful but not so many I’ve forgotten anyone’s names. Whatever we’ve been talking about here is nothing to do with me. ‘That name isn’t ringing any bells.’
‘You might know them as Dave?’
‘The only Dave I know is a man in his fifties in Suffolk who sometimes sends me money for pictures of my feet.’ There, Diane. I bet you weren’t expecting that.
‘Well, then we’re actually both talking about the same person.’
‘Are we?’
‘Except David is actually a thirteen-year-old boy who’s been sending you money he stole from his mother. She wasn’t going to inform the police about his theft but did so because she was concerned you were a sex offender who took advantage of a child for financial gain.’
The tea no longer feels triumphant. ‘I absolutely did not. I thought he was a middle-aged pervert. I would never, ever have done any of it if I’d known he was an actual child.’ My pitch is elevated, outraged.
‘It’s OK, Ms Limond. The police in Sussex have reviewed the communication between you and David that his mother provided and it’s quite clear you had no idea he was underage. However, this is a formal notification that he is, and you should make no further contact with him.’
‘Absolutely. I’ll block his number this instant.’ I swipe open my phone to reveal Malcolm’s face and swat away at it until it disappears and Dave can be blocked. ‘That’s that,’ I tell her, and wait for what’s next, because surely this is not all she has come here for. Diane is a detective. Someone more junior could have told me off.
I do not offer up any conversation to prompt whatever else she is here for. Instead we sit and sip our tea with the background noise of Brian, who is getting more and more irate. ‘I have givenFixer Uppers Go Under the Hammersome of their best footage. That’s not just me that said that but the producer, too. So when I heard within the local property community that they invited some woman over me for gender diversity… what about knowledge diversity–’
Diane breaks. ‘Does he do that a lot?’
The filming is what she’s talking about, I know that. Still, I turn as if checking what she’s referring to. ‘Yeah, he’s trying to build his profile. Wants to be, I’m not even sure this is a real thing, a property influencer? Or a coach to people like him. People must like it; he gets decent views.’
The glare of Brian’s ring light casts weird shadows on the floor beside me when it’s on, makes a weird stripe on my computer screen. It disappears, and then there’s the clatter of Brian bumping into his tripod as he comes to us.
‘So, you pop in here every day now? I mean, I don’t mind, just so I know if I should be getting extra milk in for all your teas.’
‘Actually, I think this will be my last day visiting you here, Brian.’ She sips the tea, not bothered a bit to be drinking his hot drinks while she pesters him.
‘Wanting to chat to Jemma, were you? It’s always the quiet ones you’ve got to keep an eye on. She’s probably done a load of stuff you should investigate.’ This is undoubtedly a joke, but Brian’s delivery is off, frantic, he’s trying to deflect.
‘That’s how the saying goes.’ Diane smirks.
‘Look, there’s more of your lot on the street.’ Two police cars have pulled up outside. Four officers get out, fixing the caps on their heads. When Diane turns to view them it reminds me of when I looked at Brian and his ring light, as if she was expecting them. ‘You go years not seeing a police officer on the street and then they all come at once.’
