Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
T he bell to signal the start of the next date had rung before I’d even sat down properly.
‘Hi, I’m Katherine and I’m a writer,’ I introduced myself, pretending that I was back in the safety of the library and doing nothing scarier than merely greeting a new member.
The man I was now sitting opposite didn’t meet my gaze but mumbled something in response.
‘Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.’
I smiled, hoping to put him at ease. He looked as nervous as I felt.
‘I’m Brian,’ he repeated.
My heart started racing and I had to fight to stop myself from gasping out loud.
Surely it wasn’t going to be this easy? Surely the first stranger I spoke to at this event wasn’t going to turn out to be my quarry?
I told myself to calm down and not jump to any hasty conclusions.
Scammer Brian was arrogant, but he wasn’t stupid.
There was no way he’d just introduce himself to me like this.
My rudimentary disguise wasn’t that effective, and wouldn’t he at least recognise something familiar about my features, given that he was sitting directly across from me?
The most likely scenario was that this was a completely innocent man who happened to have the same name as the guy who’d tried to fleece me had used.
But I’d be on my guard, just in case. At this stage, it probably wasn’t a good idea to completely rule anyone out.
‘Brian, as in B-R-I-A-N?’ I spelled it out.
He pulled a face. ‘No, I’m Bryan with a Y,’ he corrected, as if I should have realised that for myself.
That wasn’t conclusive evidence either way. I needed to question him to establish whether he was a credible suspect.
‘Lovely to meet you, Bryan.’ I dialled up the charm.
He responded with a grunt, which left me with the strong impression that he did not feel the same way.
I paused, waiting to see if he was going to take the conversational lead.
In the unlikely event that he was the fraudster I was looking for, I assumed he’d soon make it obvious.
He’d have to acknowledge our online connection and explain his initial apparent indifference to me on meeting in person, wouldn’t he?
And clarify why he spelled his name differently on the internet.
The silence stretched out between us. If he carried on like this, it was going to be a very difficult five minutes.
‘How long have you been a member of SO Ox, Bryan?’ I asked. Time to attempt some subtle fact-finding.
He looked offended. ‘Why do you want to know?’
I forced out a light laugh. ‘No real reason. I was trying to make small talk. I’ve been an online member for a couple of months, but this is my first in-person event, all very exciting. How about you, have you been to many of the events?’
‘Nah, it’s my first IRL one too,’ he admitted reluctantly.
Unless he was a very good actor pretending to be incredibly socially awkward, I was growing more certain this couldn’t be Scammer Brian.
For a start, although Single Mingle Bryan had barely said anything, his voice was totally different from the confident, playful tones of my online beau.
And the bogus Brian had always been so assured in his communications with me, taking the lead and never being short of something witty to say.
I couldn’t see the man in front of me having the get up and go needed to execute a fraud.
Wouldn’t a scammer try to charm the pants off everyone he met?
But a niggling doubt occurred to me. What if his rudeness was because he did recognise me and had somehow guessed my real motive for being here tonight?
Perhaps what I had interpreted as a cold attitude was actually an underlying threat?
Or was I overthinking the situation, on edge because of all Leo’s warnings?
The reality was that the fraudster was in a very safe position because I had no idea what he actually looked like.
Nevertheless, I subtly glanced around, feeling decidedly jittery and double-checking where my closest escape route was, just in case.
‘And how are you finding the event?’ I asked, trying to maintain a calm tone.
‘It’s okay,’ he said.
I’d happily turn him into the police, scammer or not, purely for his inability to sustain a conversation.
The man needed to give me something, otherwise we were going to start attracting attention because of the lingering silence between us.
The five minutes with Leo had flown by. Dom must be messing around with the timings because this date was dragging.
‘What do you do when you’re not attending Single Mingles?’ I tried a different tack.
‘As I said, this is my first time here,’ he responded, taking the question literally.
‘Sure. So, what do you like doing in your spare time?’ I asked instead.
‘Hang out with mates. Get jobs done.’
He seemed determined to answer in words of one syllable. And still he was showing no indication of wanting to ask me anything in return.
‘What do you do for work?’ I might as well just interrogate him, if he was going to act like this for the rest of our five minutes.
‘IT.’
Given his job, he’d probably have the technical know-how to commit online fraud, but I was becoming more confident that he wasn’t our man.
There seemed to be no spark of anything going on in his head.
I seriously doubted a bloke who was this boring and uninterested in company would be capable of the intelligence and charisma needed to be the romance fraudster I’d encountered.
‘Is there anything you’d like to ask me?’ I tried one last time to get the conversation going.
He barely looked up from his close examination of his nails, which were particularly grimy, incidentally.
‘What did you say your name was again?’ The question ended with a yawn. He didn’t bother covering his mouth and I was subjected to an unwanted glimpse of yellowing teeth and a waft of stale curry.
‘Kimmy-Sue,’ I said, the first random thing that came into my head. He didn’t even blink at my sudden name change. Yup, the guy was totally indifferent to me. How utterly devastating, I’d be crying into my pillow all night. Not.
I checked my watch. We still had a whole two and a half minutes to go. I waited another thirty seconds to see if he’d make the slightest bit of effort, then got my phone out and started reading a book on my Kindle app.
I could have kissed Dom when he rang the bell twenty seconds earlier than expected bringing the dullest of encounters to an end.
‘Goodbye, Bryan, enjoy the rest of your evening,’ I said, not even trying to hide the delight in my voice that it was time to move on.
‘What?’ he said, blinking and looking around him like he’d been in some kind of trance.
Then he sat up straight and started smoothing his hair down, his features contorting into what I assumed was meant to be a welcoming smile.
The red head in the bodycon dress was heading towards his table.
Good luck to the poor woman. I guess I just wasn’t his type.
What a shame. Still, on the plus side, I was now fairly convinced I could rule him out from my non-existent list of suspects.
I couldn’t imagine him having the dynamism necessary to be as entertaining online as Scammer Brian had been.
Time for speed date number three, or two, depending on whether I was counting the five minutes with Leo.
Best not to think about that. I steeled myself for further disappointment and followed the direction of the crowd to my next encounter.
Now that I was on a roll, I might as well keep going.
I might even start to get some enjoyment out of the evening.
Leo certainly seemed to be having a great time.
My next date was a stereotypically Oxford guy, almost to the point of parody, right down to his floppy hair.
As soon as I approached his table, he stood up and walked around to help me into my seat; a gentlemanly move, if it hadn’t been done in such a studied fashion.
Or maybe I was being too quick to judge.
I reminded myself to keep an open mind. My gut instinct wasn’t necessarily to be trusted.
If it was, I wouldn’t even be at this event tonight trying to track down a fraudster.
‘I’m Marcus, by the way,’ he said. ‘Marc to those who matter. I’d be very happy to count you in their number. And tell me, to whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?’
His vowels were extended with the lazy ease of the truly self-confident.
‘I’m Katherine, although you can call me Kath, if you like,’ I said, deciding to mirror his own introduction, although I took the precaution of altering my nickname.
‘A delightful name, for a delightful person. I am honoured to be invited to address you thus.’
I was starting to think that the flamboyant posh-boy persona was being put on in an ill-judged attempt to impress. He’d picked the wrong audience for it. I wanted honest and straightforward all the way.
‘How are you finding the event?’ I asked.
I already knew I was going to have to be more subtle about steering the conversation towards the areas I needed to investigate.
Marc might be playing at the bumbling English gentleman, but I sensed a steely edge of intelligence behind the facade.
It hadn’t escaped my notice that he was wearing a tie belonging to a college with one of the most fearsome academic reputations in the city.
‘It’s a wonderful occasion, and I feel privileged to be meeting so many fascinating women, such as your marvellous self. Good old Dommo really has the knack for bringing together the best of the best at his events. Always handy to have a pal in an influential position, don’t you agree?’
‘Ah, so you know the founder. And does that give you special privileges on the app?’ I asked, pretending to sound impressed.