Page 78 of The World Outside My Window

‘No, that’s fine, thank you, Carol.’ Laura smiles encouragingly.

‘Good. Well, the next point on the list is mine and Arthur’s clue,’ she says, writing

Carol and Arthur Loveday

on the board. ‘We remembered that one day Jim had a keyring with photographs of two children on it, which he claimed were his niece and nephew. But according to Laura, Jim doesn’t even have any siblings.’ She adds

keyring, photos, niece and nephew?

below their names.

‘Although we also decided we might have been mistaken,’ Arthur pipes up. Carol throws him a dagger look.

‘Yes, of course, dear, but at the moment we’re just trying to collate the evidence.’

‘But—’

‘So, what’s next?’ Carol says, cutting off any further objections.

‘We haven’t seen Jim much at poker nights,’ Ben offers. ‘And there was the night he called Laura the wrong name.’

‘Of course, that’s an excellent clue,’ Carol says. ‘Can you tell the others while I write it on the board?’

‘It’s hard to remember because we’d all had quite a lot to drink—’ he gives Laura an apologetic glance ‘—but when he was telling me about his wife he called her something like Kerry, or Cheryl. Something like that.’ He runs his hand through his hair uncertainly.

The room is silent for a moment as everyone takes in this new piece of evidence and Carol finishes writing it on her board.

Jim called Laura Kerry or Cheryl.

‘Okay, next on the list we must add Sonja, who believes she saw Jim a couple of weeks ago in Hyde Park, isn’t that right, Sonja?’ Carol says, barely able to control her excitement.

‘Yes, that is correct,’ Sonja says, her accent stronger than usual, her vowels clipped. ‘I thought I saw him, but he didn’t seem to recognise me when I spoke to him.’ She turns to Laura. ‘I’ve been meaning to come and tell you that I’ve been back several times since we spoke but I’m afraid I haven’t seen him again,’ she says, her pale face distraught. ‘I’m so sorry, I really hoped I would.’

‘It’s fine. Thank you for trying.’ Laura swallows down her disappointment.

‘I won’t give up though, I promise.’

Before Laura can reply, Carol is speaking again. She has already added:

Sonja, Jim sighting, Hyde Park

to her list and has now moved on to Jane. ‘Jim was helping you with your divorce, isn’t that right?’ she asks as she prints.

Jane, divorce, Jim helped.

Jane nods and glances over at Laura. ‘He offered to help me, and I assumed it was because he knew a bit about it because he’d been married before, but Laura says he hasn’t.’Sorry,she mouths at Laura, who smiles to show her it’s fine. And it really is. This whole process is helping to put some order to her chaotic thoughts, and she’s more grateful than she thought she would be.

‘Okay,’ Carol says, her eyes shining. Arthur shuffles in his chair and reaches for a cheese straw as Carol turns towards Tracy.

Tracy tells us that a young woman came into the shop asking after Laura some time ago.

She writes it down on the board.

‘We’re not exactly sure that’s linked,’ Tracy clarifies. ‘I told Jim about it and he said he had no idea who it might have been. She never came in again so it must have been a misunderstanding.’

‘Be that as it may, I’ve added it to the board just in case,’ Carol says officiously. ‘We don’t want to miss any vital evidence.’ Carol turns to look at what she’s written so far. ‘Have I missed anything, or has anyone thought of anything new since we last spoke?’

There’s a shuffling and a bit of mumbling, then Marjorie pipes up. ‘I did a tarot reading for Laura, and the cards revealed that she needs to express her true emotions, stop clinging to a past that doesn’t serve her well and find the right person to be with.’

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