Page 51 of Mann Hunt
“I have a delicate question to ask. You and he seemed to be…close,” Declan commented.
“Are you asking if we were lovers?” Robert asked.
Sheldon snorted.
“I suppose I am,” Declan said.
Robert smiled. “I should have been so lucky. But, no. I did love him, but it was unrequited. We were just destined to be good friends.”
Robert, once again turned to Charlie. “Life seems to be full of amorous rejection. Be prepared for it, my young friend. But accept that it will happen and that, no matter how much the rejection hurts, you will survive, just like Gloria Gaynor says.”
Declan saw Charlie’s puzzled look and continued the interview. “Do you know if he was seeinganyoneoutside his marriage?”
“I don’t think so,” Sheldon said.
“Is there anything else that you can add that might clear up his disappearance?”
“Nothing that I can think of. He was a beautiful person, inside and out. I can’t see why anyone would want to hurt him,” Sheldon said.
Robert looked at Declan. “I hope I was able to help, even in a small way. Ian was very important to me…”
Robert’s eyes began to fill with tears. Charlie put his hand on his shoulder, which Robert took in his and kissed.
“Well then, I guess we should be off.” Declan got up to go. Charlie remained seated.
“Mr Prescott?” Charlie added.
“Yes?” Sheldon responded.
“I don’t think your cat wants me to go.”
The cat, now sitting in Charlie’s lap, had its front claws deeply embedded in Charlie’s leg—ten small spots of blood coloured the fabric of his pants.
“Oh my God! I am so sorry,” Sheldon cried out. “Let go of him, you little cunt!” he screeched. The cat detached herself from Charlie’s leg, plopped herself down on the floor and swayed out of the room.
“That cat is my ex-wife’s. She got most of my money and I got the house and that holy terror. Send me the bill for a new pair of pants. I’ll deduct it from her alimony.”
“Oh, you poor dear boy,” Robert offered, stroking Charlie’s hand.
“Thank you for your concern, Robert. I’m fine,” Charlie said as he stood and stuffed his notepad back into the camera bag.
As they made their way to the front door, Declan turned back to Sheldon. “I noticed that you have CCTV cameras covering the area. Were they functioning the night of the party?”
“As far as I know,” Sheldon replied.
“Would you still have the video from that night?”
“The security company is supposed to keep it for a week. If I call them today, it should be just in time.”
“Would you be able to get them to send me video files from that evening? From, say six p.m. until two a.m.?”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thank you. I’d really appreciate it. And thank you both for taking the time to talk to us.”
“I hope you find Ian. He was a good friend,” Sheldon said.
“We’ll do our best,” Declan said, then shook Sheldon’s hand.
