Page 13 of Read Between The Lines

‘I’d like to make a proposal,’ I said, in a tone I hoped didn’t sound provoking, irritated or flirtatious.

‘Goodness, this is all very sudden,’ he responded. ‘I’d like a princess cut diamond, and nothing less than eighteen carat white gold will do.’

‘Oh, shut up. Now I know you’re trying to wind me up. And boy, you seem to know an awful lot about engagement rings.’

Leo laughed. ‘I had a summer job in a jewellery store when I was at university. What I don’t know about budget sparkles isn’t worth knowing. It was an early training in human nature. Would you believe that, one week, I sold two identical engagement rings to the same bloke?’

‘Maybe he lost the first one, and was devastated because it was the perfect ring, so he had to go back and replace it?’ I suggested.

‘Sweet,’ said Leo. ‘Sadly, it was actually because he was a two-timer who’d been delivered an ultimatum by both women in the same week. I’ve always wondered what happened next.’

‘And he bought them the same ring? Did he think he was being fair or something? What a bastard. Hopefully they called him out and sold the rings to fund a nice holiday apiece,’ I said.

‘Now you’re thinking like a survivor. But enough of my holiday job reminiscences. What’s on your mind?’

I nodded, bracing myself for bravery. ‘Okay, here goes. As you are already aware, I was the vic—’ No, I was not going to call myself that. ‘Subjected to the unwelcome attentions of a fraudster,’ I amended. ‘I feel humiliated’—violated was another word which sprang to mind—‘but I know I’m lucky to have escaped with my bank account intact, and my dignity too. Well, some of it, at least. But the company behind the app was totally uninterested in investigating the matter properly and they’re not even bothering to ban the perpetrator. I know I was lucky, but others might not be, and I can’t bear the thought of anyone else going through this. I need to find out who this fraudster is and stop him before he causes serious damage to somebody else.’

‘Very laudable. But why aren’t official channels, such as, I don’t know, the obvious one… the police, an option?’

I shook my head. ‘If the app won’t make the effort to investigate properly, I hardly think the police are going to be able to use their limited resources to do so, even if they wanted to.’

‘I’d like to be able to dispute that assumption, but sadly, you’re probably right. So, you’ve decided to turn vigilante and sort out the problem yourself.’ He laughed. I’d been expecting that response, but it was still galling to experience it for real.

‘Not vigilante exactly, but yes, I want to identify this scammer and make sure they face justice.’

‘And how exactly are you planning to do this?’ Leo asked. To give him credit, he mostly managed to keep the air of disbelief out of his voice. ‘Have you thought that Brian James could be a bunch of people rather than one individual? They could be based anywhere in the world. That’s a lot of suspects to consider. You’re not exactly going to find your man and expose him by using your knowledge of the Dewey Decimal System, no offence.’

‘It’s funny how when people say, “no offence” they generally mean the exact opposite,’ I said. ‘And yes, I am very aware of my shortcomings when it comes to carrying out an investigation. That’s where you come in.’

‘I do, do I? How, and why does this become my problem to deal with?’ he asked.

‘You told me you used to be a police officer. Or more accurately a CID detective. They’re the ones who do the investigating, remember?’ I couldn’t resist the dig. ‘You made a pretty big deal of the fact that you’ve dealt with loads of these kinds of case. Who would be better suited to help me track down my nemesis and bring him to justice? And it’s definitely a him, I’ve heard his voice.’

The teaspoon returned to the saucer with a clatter.

‘Brian has reached nemesis level. Goodness, things have taken a turn for the serious,’ said Leo. ‘Well, Kat, you don’t mind me calling you Kat, do you?’

‘It’s a bit late to ask now.’

‘Well, Ms Kat Fisher, I see several problems ahead. One of which is that I used to be a detective, but I am certainly not one anymore. The only thing I investigate nowadays is the distinctly low jeopardy problem of where my socks disappear to between the washing machine and the drying rack, and I’m afraid to admit that even the answer to that question remains a complete mystery.’

‘Surely once a detective, always a detective,’ I pushed back. ‘You can’t have forgotten everything already. I’m not asking you to do the whole investigation. I was envisaging you in more of a consultant role, a sounding board perhaps. This is too important for me to leave it entirely to somebody else. Especially someone I don’t really know. No offence.’

Leo acknowledged the reverse jibe with a slight nod of his head.

‘Even if I did have some residual detective skills, what incentive is there for me to use them to help you on a fool’s mission? It’s all well and good claiming I’d only be a consultant, but give me credit for some humanity. I’m not going to see you getting yourself into trouble and then not feel obliged to help you out of it. And this is the kind of situation where you could get yourself into a lot of trouble.’ His voice took on a serious tone. ‘I’m not denying that you have good intentions, but do you not think that you’re being somewhat naïve in believing that this is a realistic course of action? Scammers are among the lowest of the low, but sadly the odds are very much in their favour when it comes to evading justice, particularly given the circumstances of your incident. And in the highly unlikely scenario that we do track him down, he’s not going to be exactly thrilled about it. Have you thought about how he might react, and the potential danger that could put you in?’

For a second or two I faltered. Not that I would admit this out loud, but Leo made a compelling point. In crime fiction, there’s always a limit to the jeopardy because the reader knows that, despite whatever challenges the main character faces, they will eventually prevail, and the baddie will be caught. There was no such guarantee in real life. Wouldn’t it be safer to chalk this whole thing up to experience, maybe set up a few scam awareness sessions for the library patrons to ease my concern, and move on?

But scam awareness sessions or no, the fraudster who’d targeted me would still be out there, stealing people’s money and robbing them of their confidence. Could I look myself in the mirror if I sat back and let that carry on happening? And besides, I was hopeful I wouldn’t be tackling the problem without professional guidance. Leo had said ‘we’ rather than ‘you’. Surely that had to be a sign that he was wavering?

‘I’m not at all naïve, but you’re entitled to your opinion, just as I’m entitled to mine,’ I said, hoping I sounded more confident than I felt. ‘Just because something is difficult, doesn’t mean we should avoid trying, especially whenweknow that it’s the right thing to do.’

‘Are you really purely motivated by moral outrage at the behaviour of Mr Brian James, or is good old-fashioned desire for revenge behind this little mission of yours?’

I glared at him. ‘What’s wrong with seeking justice? You do realise that you come across as incredibly patronising when you insist on describing it as a “little mission”?’ I was starting to seriously regret my decision to recruit him. But he was the best option I’d come up with, and if his comments were a tad too close to the bone for my liking, at least they demonstrated that he still possessed the detective’s insight that I needed him for.

‘That was not my intention,’ he said, leaning back in his chair and looking at me piercingly. ‘But I stand by my original statement that this is not a realistic course of action.’

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