Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
L eo wasn’t in a better mood when he arrived at my place on Thursday evening.
‘Is that what you’re wearing tonight?’ was his opening gambit as I opened the front door.
I looked down at the yellow polka dot dress in confusion. ‘I thought I might as well get some wear out of it. I bought it to meet Brian, after all. It seemed appropriate to use it in the continuation of that purpose. Why, what’s the matter with it?’
‘Nothing,’ he said quickly. ‘You look very… nice.’
The way he said it, ‘nice’ was definitely not a good thing.
‘Oh.’
Despite the negative associations of the dress, I had felt good putting it on again, like I was reclaiming it.
The reason I’d chosen it in the first place was for the confidence boost, and wearing it tonight had felt like donning a suit of armour to protect me from whatever the night might bring.
I certainly didn’t need validation from Leo, but on the other hand, it would have made me feel better about the whole evening if he’d sounded more positive about how I looked.
‘Don’t do that,’ he said.
‘What?’
‘You look like a puppy who’s had its dinner snatched away,’ he responded.
‘It’s just that I’ve never heard a supposed compliment delivered with such disappointment. And given your previously stated preference for parrots over puppies, I’m even more insulted. Have I done something to offend you?’
Leo frowned. ‘Look, you won’t want to hear it if I say anything, so it’s probably best we stop this conversation here, and get this evening over and done with.’
‘You can’t say that and then expect me to drop it!
What is it that you can’t bring yourself to say?
Given that you’ve not shied away from making it very clear that spending the evening in my company is the last thing you want to be doing, I dread to think what it is that you’re keeping to yourself.
Why don’t you just come out with it? This investigation partnership isn’t going to get very far if we’re not honest with each other. ’
He tried to stare me into submission, but I glared back at him, determined not to back down.
Eventually he sighed in exasperation. ‘Fine, if you insist. But you’re probably going to hate me for it, I’m warning you now.
Look, I know you’ve got great faith in the safety measures the app has.
Or at least you did until the whole Brian thing.
But the reality is that neither of us has a clue who’s going to be turning up to this Single Mingle nonsense.
You could end up sitting opposite a mad axe murderer for all we know.
The crux of it is that I feel really uncomfortable with us continuing with this ridiculous idea and you putting yourself at risk in this way.
Especially when you’re looking like… that. ’ He gestured up and down at me.
‘Again, I must be missing something here. Are you suggesting that the way I’m dressed will in some way provoke murderous behaviour? Because I have the right to dress exactly as I like.’ I put my hands on my hips, facing him down with my best power stance.
‘I know you do. I told you I was going to mess this up and make you get all annoyed with me. All I meant was that you look like sunshine, and I’m concerned that this might be an evening full of clouds.’
My stomach gave a surprised little flip. I wasn’t sure how to react to that.
I went for a simple, ‘Thanks.’
He cleared his throat and made a show of checking his watch. Was the great Leo Taylor actually embarrassed?
‘The sad thing, Leo, is that every time a woman leaves the house, and all too often when she’s still in it, the “what if” thought crosses her mind.
The mad axe murderer phrase is the one we usually deploy to add some humour to what is, unfortunately, a genuine fear.
But this isn’t a surprise to you, is it? ’
He avoided meeting my gaze. Were my words bringing back memories of cases he’d worked on? He remained quiet.
‘Having worked for the police, you probably know all about the bad things that can happen to people.’
His nod was reluctant. We were definitely on sensitive territory here. I was more convinced than ever that there was something deeper to his departure from the police than merely an ambition to be his own boss.
‘Which is why I really think we’d be better sticking to the trapping him online plan,’ he tried one last time.
‘But I’m not going into this alone,’ I reminded him. ‘You’ll be there too. Won’t you?’
Leo sighed. ‘Seeing as you’re determined to go through with this, you leave me with no choice. I still think this is a seriously bad idea.’
‘You could at least try a little optimism.’ Goodness knows I could do with it. His cynical attitude was making me even more nervous about the event.
‘I can’t, it gives me indigestion,’ he said.
‘Okay, well, let’s agree on how we’re going to handle the event before we walk down there. Will that make you feel any better? Why don’t you come in for a few minutes?’
I didn’t wait for him to respond as I went back inside. After a moment’s hesitation, he followed me and perched awkwardly on the armchair, making my living space feel even smaller than usual.
‘I think we should pretend we don’t already know each other, and if we need to communicate during the evening, we can text,’ I suggested.
‘Nobody will pay any attention to people checking their phones regularly. You’ll need to try to bring the conversations around to dodgy app experiences during your speed dates, and I’ll keep my ears open for Brian and attempt to work out if the guys are really who they say they are. ’
‘And what will you do if you happen to recognise Brian’s voice?’
I hesitated, knowing that Leo was not going to find my answer satisfactory. ‘I thought I’d confront him and try to get him to confess, then call over a member of staff.’
‘You’ll have to do better than that.’ He leaned forward. ‘Look, I know you don’t like being told what to do, but will you take some advice from me?’
I nodded. ‘That’s why I hir— asked you to help me, after all.’
‘The objective this evening should be purely fact-finding. I know you’re keen to prevent him causing further harm, but we don’t want to rush things and risk him going to ground.
So, I was thinking it might be best if you assume another persona while we’re there, as a safety net, if you will.
Katherine is a common enough name, but your job is relatively unusual. ’
‘We live in Oxford, remember. Trust me, there are more librarians around than you could possibly imagine.’
‘Fair enough,’ said Leo. ‘But I reckon it would give you an extra layer of security if you say you have another profession. You don’t want Brian to recognise you before you find him.’
‘There’s an obvious flaw in this plan, and that is that he’s seen my profile pictures. Brian knows exactly what I look like. I only left him a couple of voice notes– I find talking into the ether a bit awkward– but he might also recognise me from them.’
‘If you found it awkward, your voice probably reflected that, so it’s a slim chance. And everyone looks different in photos from real life.’
‘Rude. I hope you’re not suggesting I was catfishing him ?’
‘Absolutely not, only that cameras see things differently to the human eye. Speaking of which…’ Leo nodded towards my glasses case on the mantelpiece. ‘None of your photos on the app show you wearing those, do they?’
‘No, but they’re hardly going to radically transform my appearance,’ I said.
‘And, if I remember correctly, your hair is down?’
‘I can put it up, but again, I’m still the same person.’
‘I know that. But I have a feeling that our suspect won’t have paid a huge amount of attention to your pictures. He cares more about the words you write because they give him the clues as to how to target you most effectively.’
‘In any other context, a man who prioritises personality over superficial looks would be the perfect guy,’ I sighed.
‘It’s not just men who are guilty of such behaviour. If you ask me, the reason Beauty fell for the Beast was that she liked the look of his library,’ said Leo with mock seriousness.
‘Sensible woman.’
‘It’s worth a try, though, don’t you think?’ he pressed.
‘I suppose so,’ I said reluctantly. ‘Only, please, no buttoned-up librarian jokes.’
‘I wouldn’t dream of it. Besides, for the purposes of this evening, you’ll be, what, a rocket scientist? A brain surgeon? What do you fancy?’
I considered my options as I wrestled my hair into an approximation of a French twist, and quickly zipped into the bathroom to take out my contacts.
‘I think I’ll be a writer,’ I said on my return, putting on my specs and checking my hair one final time.
Leo nodded.
‘That works. Come on, then, Ms Bronte-in-waiting. I guess we’d better get this evening over and done with.’
And with that less than resounding battle cry, we set off.