Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
I stared at the screen and drew a blank.
Writing to Brian had always come easily to me, but now I felt at a loss as to what to put.
What if I ended up saying something that sounded completely unnatural, which set alarm bells ringing?
I gave myself a mental pep talk. My favourite fictional heroine Harriet Vane would have come up with the perfect response.
I would just have to channel her literary and detective abilities, and pretend to myself that everything was normal.
Hey B, I’m so so sorry I’ve taken an age to reply.
My phone died and I was locked out of everything until I got it fixed.
It’s been soooo frustrating! My one comfort was that at least I knew you were home safe and sound– and earlier than promised, what a bonus.
To know you’re in the same country as me at last makes me very happy, but I can’t believe the army are still keeping us apart!
How’s the debrief going? Hope it’s not as intense as it sounds, and that they let you go on leave as soon as poss.
They will let you go on leave, right? I will be counting the minutes until then xx
I returned to watching The Tinder Swindler but could no longer concentrate on the intricacies of the programme. It felt so frustrating to be sitting around at home waiting to see if or how Brian might respond. I wanted, no, I needed to be doing more.
I opened up the SO Ox app again and started spooling through its list of upcoming events.
If there was one thing I’d learnt from my true crime binge today, it was that, when you were tracking down a criminal, it was important to establish their modus operandi, or MO, as all the shows referred to it.
Yes, I knew how the scammer had acted with me so far.
But, after all my research, I figured it was unlikely I was his only victim, and I needed to find out if this was his usual technique when he was courting his quarry.
If I could uncover a pattern of behaviour, then Leo and I would have more information to go on in our investigation.
There was a chance Brian had discovered a way to set up multiple identities on the app, so if we could identify his MO, we might be able to find these other identities and maybe track down fellow victims.
But setting up fake profiles in response and trying to lure him out still felt like leaving too much to chance, even supposing I could work out how to bypass the app’s security measures to do it. Besides, behaviour that was good enough for Brian was certainly not good enough for me.
No, what I needed to do was take the investigation into the real world.
If I signed up for one of the in-person events run by the app, I’d be able to speak to actual people, find out if they’d had any weird experiences, and persuade them to report their situation to the app’s staff as well.
It would be much harder for them to ignore multiple in-person complaints.
And maybe Scammer Brian would even be arrogant enough to turn up himself?
But there was no way I wanted to head to any kind of event without backup, which of course meant roping in Leo. The only problem was that, in order to attend the in-person events, he had to be a member of SO Ox, and I anticipated a battle.
* * *
The next day, I set my strategy in motion.
‘I’ll need to start working elsewhere if you’re going to insist on distracting me like this,’ said Leo, as I dragged the reshelving trolley past his table for the third time that morning. ‘That ruddy thing needs putting out of its misery.’
Given that I’d got into work early and spent nearly an hour unscrewing the wheels and reassembling the trolley to try to fix it, I was somewhat disappointed that my DIY efforts to reduce the squeak had gone unnoticed.
‘Still wrestling with the business plan?’ I asked sympathetically, hoping his grumpy attitude was related to that rather than being solely the result of my presence.
‘She’s showing an interest in what I’m up to. That must mean she’s after something. Okay, what is it that you want?’ he asked, leaning back and linking his fingers behind his head as he surveyed me.
‘I’m doing some reshelving. Not everything is about you,’ I said, irritated that he’d seen through me so easily.
He shook his head. ‘We really must work on your covert investigatory skills if we’re still going through with this plan of yours,’ he said.
‘Your face might as well have a neon sign on it, the way it signals everything you’re thinking.
Do you require evidence?’ He nodded and gestured for me to sit down as he started pointing out my apparently massively obvious errors.
I reluctantly pulled up a chair. ‘First, there were the darting glances towards me. She’s wondering if I’ve noticed she’s there.
Then you did the whole gaze shifting nervously between the books on the trolley thing, none of which are for this section– by the way, you should probably think about that for your next foray into surveillance.
She’s pretending to be getting on with her job as normal, while working out the lay of the land and whether she dares speak to me about what’s on her mind.
And now, the final tell, the furrow is back between your eyebrows.
I know that one particularly well. It means you’re royally pissed off with me for calling you out. ’
The last comment was accompanied by a movement of his right hand. For a brief moment, I thought Leo was going to reach out and trace the line of the aforementioned furrow. The skin of my forehead prickled, already anticipating his touch.
Leo started laughing.
I tried to force my face into a neutral expression, not wanting to show him he’d got to me, but it only resulted in his smile growing broader still. The man was completely infuriating.
‘Is it any wonder that I’m pissed off? I’m a private person. It’s disappointing to discover I’ve apparently been telegraphing my innermost thoughts to all and sundry this whole time,’ I said. What else had he been able to glean from me? I didn’t want to think too hard about that.
His expression softened. ‘You and me both. Look, I wouldn’t worry too much. Most people are so wrapped up in themselves that they don’t see what’s right in front of them. And if they do, most of them don’t really care.’
‘That’s a pretty depressing perspective.’
‘Depressing, or realistic? There’s a reason self-defence instructors encourage people to cry “fire” rather than “help” when they’re in need of assistance.
Strangers are more likely to pay attention and provide aid if they think they’re at risk too.
Otherwise, they’ll probably feign ignorance and go on their merry way. ’
I shook my head in disbelief. ‘That’s really sad.
I refuse to accept most people’s default state is selfishness.
And I’m sorry that that’s been your experience.
Was that why you left the police?’ I regretted the question as soon as I’d asked it.
It was too soon in our business relationship for that kind of confidence sharing.
The shutters came down immediately, all remnants of humour evaporating in a second.
For a moment, I thought Leo might be about to get up and leave.
‘Sorry,’ I said. ‘You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to. Put it down to regularly playing the role of the library’s resident agony aunt. I’ve got used to people pouring out their problems to me.’
‘I’m certainly not in need of an agony aunt,’ he said in a way which made me even more convinced that he was. I kept quiet, wondering what he might say.
‘What was it you wanted?’ he asked eventually, making it clear that the subject was closed.
Fair enough, if that’s how he chose to play it, I wouldn’t pry where I wasn’t invited. Even if he’d had no qualms about doing the opposite to me.
‘I’d like you to join SO Ox.’ I came straight out with it. There was no point in trying evasion when Leo was around. At least my suggestion put a smile back on his face, even if it was a cynical one.
‘And why would I want to do that? From what you’ve described, it sounds like a hotbed of crookery and chancers.’
‘I don’t think everyone on there is dodgy. At least, I really hope they’re not. Otherwise, that’s fifteen quid a month down the drain.’
‘Fifteen quid a month?’ he repeated. ‘Are all these potential suitors dipped in gold leaf or something? No wonder a scammer decided it would provide him with rich pickings. You do realise there are dozens of apps out there which you can get for free? Or heck, you could do it the old-fashioned way by meeting “IRL”, as I believe they call it nowadays.’
‘Stop pretending to be an old fuddy duddy. I am well aware that there are theoretically other options. But I’m not very good at the whole picking up flirtation signals in bars thing,’ I said, embarrassed to admit it.
Not that being flirted with in bars was a regular occurrence.
Somehow, I didn’t think clumsy flirting was a problem Leo was familiar with.
‘I decided to choose a paid-for app because why shouldn’t I make an investment in my future happiness?
’ I continued defensively. ‘Besides, I figured the fee would put off the fuckboys and increase the chances that the members would be properly committed to finding a real relationship. Which is what I’m after.
Call me a deluded romantic, but I don’t mind paying for peace of mind and a better chance at meeting The One. ’
‘You are a deluded romantic. And I can’t believe you’re still defending the app, despite the presence of the supremely dodgy Brian James on it, and its staff’s unwillingness to help you when you reported him.
’ He shook his head. ‘Can you truthfully say it’s working out well for you?
Please spare me the clichés about one rotten apple and all that. ’