Page 65 of Not That Impossible

“Take it down a notch. You shouldn’t be straining that hard.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. So. Tub? Dead guy?”

He adjusted the machine, tested it out, and then said between reps, “Yeah, been working for Craig Henderson, you know? The handyman?”

“Henderson’s Handymen, No Job Too Small?” I saw the van around town a lot.

“Yeah. Lemme tell you, some people are taking the piss with that. Had this one woman call us to come and change her lightbulb. And another one—”

“Oh my god. Were you one of the workmen who were there when Ray found the body?”

“Hah. Craig reckons ashe’sthe one what found it.” He grunted and lifted. “It was us, though.”

“Kev.” I turned to him. “Can I interview you?”

“Me?”

“Yes!” I said. “Wait. Has Mrs Strickland spoken to you yet?” I still hadn’t read her article.

“No.” Kevin shivered. “I had her for GCSE English. Scares the absolute shit out of me, that woman does.”

“Same.”

“Why do you ask?”

Okay. Okay. Don’t get overexcited. Play it cool. “Kev, I want to do an exclusive interview with you.”

He stopped lifting and looked intrigued.

“I’m a journalist,” I said, and only blushed a bit.

“Side hustle?” Kevin said. “Nice.”

“I want to do an article for the paper. If you were there when it all happened, I’d love to get an eyewitness account.” I was confident I could get Ralph to print an exclusive interview with one of the men who found the body. It wasn’t Ray, but it was the next best thing.

“All right, sure. Don’t see why not. Can’t do it now, though. My dad’s expecting me home for supper.”

“How about tomorrow? When do you start work? Can we meet before?”

Tomorrow was Thursday. TheInquirerwent to press on Thursday afternoon and was distributed on Friday morning. It was going to be incredibly tight, but I might be able to swing it.

“Don’t have a set time,” Kevin said. “Tomorrow we’re supposed to start painting some guy’s house over in Lakeside, and he won’t be there to let us in until eleven or so.”

“Fantastic.” I could interview Kevin for an hour, see what I got, go and tell Ralph to stop the presses by lunch… “Eight o’clock at the Chipped Cup?”

“Eight?” Kevin looked appalled. “In the morning?”

“I’ll buy you a muffin.”

Kevin looked unconvinced.

“And a croissant,” I said. “With bacon.”

“All right.”

15

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