“Right. So I was wondering if...” Libby faltered, acutely aware of Dylan staring at her with those dark, suspicious eyes. “It occurred to me that I could do something similar to the missing-dog poster, but for your woman. So I could put posters up at bus stops along the 88 route with information about your story, in the hope that she might see one.”
“Oh,” Frank said, and Libby could tell he hadn’t been expecting that. “What do you think, Dylan?”
She watched Dylan take a deep breath and prepared herself for his inevitable derision. “I think it’s an interesting idea,” he said in a voice that suggested he thought anything but. “You just know my concerns, boss. The chances of your woman still being in London, let alone riding the 88, are pretty small. It seems like a hell of a lot of work for the tiny chance she might ride the bus, spot the poster, and bother to read it.”
“I agree,” Libby said, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt. “But I had another idea too. As well as putting an e-mail and phone number on the poster, I could also put a hashtag on it to encourage people to share photos of the poster on social media.”
“I’m sorry, but I have no idea what that means,” Frank said.
“A hashtag is a way of identifying certain words,” Libby said. “So people can go on Twitter or Instagram and type in ‘hashtag missing dog’ and then they’ll find all the messages ever tweeted saying ‘hashtag missing dog.’ ”
“I see. So you’d put ‘hashtag missing dog’ on this poster, and you think that might help find her?”
“No, I’d find a different hashtag just for you. But if we can encourage people to talk about your search on Twitter, then there’s a much better chance of word spreading about it,” Libby said. “And that way, I figure there’s a much greater chance of your woman finding out about it too.”
For a few seconds, no one said anything, and Libby watched Frank to see how he’d respond. Then he beamed.
“I think it’s a wonderful idea!”
“Really?”
“Yes! Even if she doesn’t see the poster herself, all it will take is for one person to mention it to their mother or grandmother, and it could be her.” Frank’s eyes were bright. “Thank you, Libby. You’re a genius.”
“You’re welcome,” she said, smiling too.
“This is so exciting! I can’t believe I never thought of doing something like this myself.”
“So you’re gonna put posters up at every bus stop along the whole 88 bus route?” Dylan said in a tone that immediatelykilled the buzz in the room. “How long do you reckon that will take?”
“I haven’t worked it out yet. A day or two?”
He made a scoffing noise. “And the rest.”
“Well, maybe a week, then.”
“That route must be nine miles in each direction, with a hundred odd stops. Plus, as soon as you put a poster up, someone’ll rip it down.”
“So I’ll put posters up on every lamppost and shopwindow as well,” Libby snapped. There was something in this man’s know-it-all tone that was really winding her up.
“Dylan has a point. It is a lot of work for one person,” Frank said. “I wish I could offer to help, but with these damn feet, it can take me an hour just to get off the bus.”
“That’s all right. I’ll be fine on my own.”
Frank smiled as an idea occurred to him. “What about Dylan? You could help, couldn’t you?”
Libby saw her own horror reflected in Dylan’s face. “Oh, there’s no need,” she said quickly. “I’ll be fine doing it on my own.”
“Nonsense. Dylan rides that 88 back and forth between his clients anyway, and as he’s just proven, he’s got lots of helpful input. I’m sure you wouldn’t mind giving Libby a hand, would you, Dylan?”
“Eh, I dunno...”
“And you’ve got a bit more spare time now Mrs.Higgins has popped her clogs. This will be a good way of filling it.”
“Really, I don’t need any help,” Libby said.
“If the two of you work together, then the whole thing can be done in half the time.”
Libby didn’t say anything, and she could see Dylan searching for an excuse. Then his shoulders dropped an inch.
