‘You asked about my relationship history. My therapist thought you might be interested in a relationship with me.’
‘There is someone I’m interested in, but it’s early days and I’m afraid I might screw it up. You remember Anubha?’
I breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Anubha seems lovely and you’re both divorced. You should ask her on a date.’
‘I’d like to but, technically, I’m her boss, so it could seem like workplace harassment.’
‘Maybe she’s waiting for you to ask her out? She has two children, so she probably likes sex.’
He laughed. I was irked.
‘I wasn’t joking. She seems nice.’
‘She is.’
‘But why did you ask to meet me for coffee?’
‘I wanted you to know that I wasn’t uncomfortable about our conversation at Martha’s party. Can’t we be friends?’
I agreed to try it.
‘I think you should be careful, Mark. Even if she does like you, her children might not.’
‘You’d make a good agony aunt.’
‘Does it pay well?’
‘Not really.’
‘I’m still looking for a job.’
‘There’s got to be something you can do. Would you like me to ask around at Mervyn Park?’
‘Yes please. Mark?’
‘Yes?’
‘I’m angry about my birth father. The police have found no trace of him in New Zealand. Nobody knows where he is now.’
There was a pause.
‘May I come to your house?’ he asked.
‘Why?’
‘It’s easier to talk face to face, especially about him.’
‘Okay, come for dinner. I’ll make spicy shepherd’s pie. About six?’
‘Great.’
‘It’s not a dinner party, though, okay?’
He laughed. ‘It’s not a date either, okay?’
I laughed.
Mark came over after work and I brought him up to date with how Toby had led us to New Zealand. ‘Toby?’ he said, alert. I explained about the bear. He asked if we could use Dad’s computer to look up the New Zealand newspaper coverage. We pored over page after page, photofits and 3D models of what Conor Geary might look like now. There was nothing in the news reports that Detective Inspector Howard hadn’t already told me. Mark’s demeanour was grim. ‘I saw the renewed appeal at the time but I didn’t know it was connected to Toby. Are you sure you don’t remember anything about him, about that time in captivity?’
