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Foxy Lady
Star
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2014
- Location
- United Kingdom
One day, as I was sipping my latte, a shadow fell across my table.
‘Hi, Andy, at last. Have a seat. Where have you been?’
A man slipped into the seat opposite, but it wasn’t Andy. He smiled.
‘Hi, sorry I’m not Andy, but I don’t mind taking up your invitation to sit down if that’s OK.’
I shrugged. Why not?
And so we got talking. He asked why I was so pleased to see Andy. I told him the whole story.
‘By the way,’ I said as I finished, ‘who are you?’
‘Nigel,’ he said, ‘Nigel Warner. Pleased to meet you.’
We shook.
‘It’s odd we’ve never met before,’ he remarked. ‘I’m in and out of here all the time.’
‘If you think you can help me,’ I told him, ‘I’ll buy you another coffee.’
He agreed and we put our heads together, metaphorically that is.
Nigel sipped at his expresso and pondered aloud.
‘Andy and that old guy, whatever he was called, must be right. Keep it simple. Don’t get too complicated. That’s what puzzles me about the attack on you. Why not just pick your purse and exchange your cards? That would be so simple, especially if this Amy works with you, she’d have lots of opportunities. So there has to be a reason for the attack, But just park that for the time being. It’s simple enough to pick a person’s wallet or purse and just as easy to return it. So why not just work on the assumption that that was how Amy got hold of the card details.’
I thought about that for a while. It did make sense, but …
‘I notice that you keep referring just to Amy. Do you think that she’s working alone? That wasn’t what she told my cleaner, remember?’
‘True,’ Nigel had a cute smile, ‘I’ve not forgotten, but Amy is all we know at the moment, so just stick with her for the time being. Like your friend said, keep it simple. But you’re right there have to be others involved. After all, that attack on you involved three people.’
‘At least,’ I confirmed. ‘Two held my legs while someone punched me, so there had to be at least three and maybe more.’
Nigel made to get up.
‘It looks like we’ve got the how side of things sorted.’
‘Hold on,’ I grabbed his arm. ‘Where do you suggest I go next? I thought that sorting out the how would lead me somewhere, but I don’t see that it has.’
He sank back onto his chair and shook his head.
‘No, I don’t either. The only thing I feel sure of is that this is something personal. If it is just a joke, that attack wasn’t my idea of being funny. So you need to look close to home, or to work. Someone with a grudge perhaps.’
My hand was still on his arm. It felt strong and he wasn’t pulling it away.
‘But,’ he continued, ‘ I feel like we’re missing something. OK, so someone – Amy – has switched the name on your account and your cards. But there has to be a point, which I just don’t get yet.’
I like the sound of that “yet”. It suggested that we were forming a collaboration.
‘Which just goes to show,’ I chipped in, ‘that we don’t have enough data at the moment. Back to Occam and Andy. You must be right that there is a personal element here. But how can we find out who this Amy is? We’ve only got the vaguest of descriptions to go on.’
‘Do like you did before. Eliminate anyone and whoever is left must be the person or persons responsible.’
Easier said than done. I let go of his arm and he moved away.
‘See you around’ were his last words to me. I’d noticed that he’d switched from talking about “us” to talking about “me”. So much for collaboration.
Right, I’d see him around then, just like Andy. Which made me wonder whether their appearances – and disappearances - might not be just a little bit too convenient. But there I go again, making the whole thing complicated.
TO BE CONTINUED
‘Hi, Andy, at last. Have a seat. Where have you been?’
A man slipped into the seat opposite, but it wasn’t Andy. He smiled.
‘Hi, sorry I’m not Andy, but I don’t mind taking up your invitation to sit down if that’s OK.’
I shrugged. Why not?
And so we got talking. He asked why I was so pleased to see Andy. I told him the whole story.
‘By the way,’ I said as I finished, ‘who are you?’
‘Nigel,’ he said, ‘Nigel Warner. Pleased to meet you.’
We shook.
‘It’s odd we’ve never met before,’ he remarked. ‘I’m in and out of here all the time.’
‘If you think you can help me,’ I told him, ‘I’ll buy you another coffee.’
He agreed and we put our heads together, metaphorically that is.
Nigel sipped at his expresso and pondered aloud.
‘Andy and that old guy, whatever he was called, must be right. Keep it simple. Don’t get too complicated. That’s what puzzles me about the attack on you. Why not just pick your purse and exchange your cards? That would be so simple, especially if this Amy works with you, she’d have lots of opportunities. So there has to be a reason for the attack, But just park that for the time being. It’s simple enough to pick a person’s wallet or purse and just as easy to return it. So why not just work on the assumption that that was how Amy got hold of the card details.’
I thought about that for a while. It did make sense, but …
‘I notice that you keep referring just to Amy. Do you think that she’s working alone? That wasn’t what she told my cleaner, remember?’
‘True,’ Nigel had a cute smile, ‘I’ve not forgotten, but Amy is all we know at the moment, so just stick with her for the time being. Like your friend said, keep it simple. But you’re right there have to be others involved. After all, that attack on you involved three people.’
‘At least,’ I confirmed. ‘Two held my legs while someone punched me, so there had to be at least three and maybe more.’
Nigel made to get up.
‘It looks like we’ve got the how side of things sorted.’
‘Hold on,’ I grabbed his arm. ‘Where do you suggest I go next? I thought that sorting out the how would lead me somewhere, but I don’t see that it has.’
He sank back onto his chair and shook his head.
‘No, I don’t either. The only thing I feel sure of is that this is something personal. If it is just a joke, that attack wasn’t my idea of being funny. So you need to look close to home, or to work. Someone with a grudge perhaps.’
My hand was still on his arm. It felt strong and he wasn’t pulling it away.
‘But,’ he continued, ‘ I feel like we’re missing something. OK, so someone – Amy – has switched the name on your account and your cards. But there has to be a point, which I just don’t get yet.’
I like the sound of that “yet”. It suggested that we were forming a collaboration.
‘Which just goes to show,’ I chipped in, ‘that we don’t have enough data at the moment. Back to Occam and Andy. You must be right that there is a personal element here. But how can we find out who this Amy is? We’ve only got the vaguest of descriptions to go on.’
‘Do like you did before. Eliminate anyone and whoever is left must be the person or persons responsible.’
Easier said than done. I let go of his arm and he moved away.
‘See you around’ were his last words to me. I’d noticed that he’d switched from talking about “us” to talking about “me”. So much for collaboration.
Right, I’d see him around then, just like Andy. Which made me wonder whether their appearances – and disappearances - might not be just a little bit too convenient. But there I go again, making the whole thing complicated.
TO BE CONTINUED