‘Ha ha!’ I’d got rid of my little run-around when it had become clear it would be a very long time before I could drive it – I didn’t want it sitting around gathering rust. But there was no way I could afford to go out and buy myself something suitable just at the moment.
Something else I needed to do was to get in touch with Josh and tell him I’d have to postpone our Wednesday date. The trouble was I didn’t have the number of his mobile; the only way I could contact him was at the Gazette office.
The phone was answered by the receptionist, Tara. Josh was not in the office, she told me, and she didn’t know when he’d be back. Naturally enough, she wouldn’t give me a contact number, but she offered to ask him to call me. I dictated my name and the number of my mobile, which she read back to me, very slowly and deliberately.
‘You will be sure to pass on the message, won’t you?’ I said, all too well aware of how chaotic a newspaper office could be.
‘I’ll see he gets it . . .’ She broke off, and I could hear a woman’s voice in the background. I was about to hang up when she said: ‘Could you hold on a moment? Belinda would like to speak to you.’
My heart sank. The redoubtable chief reporter, whom I had not yet met. It had got back to her that I’d been making use of her cuttings, and I was about to be torn off a strip.
There was a hiatus in which I could hear footsteps – the clacking of high heels – and I guessed Belinda was heading back to her office to speak to me on her own extension. Then a couple of clicks were followed by a voice that carried all the authority of the woman who was queen bee at the Gazette.
‘This is Belinda Jones. You are the Sally who’s called in here a couple of times recently, I take it?’
‘I am, yes,’ I confessed.
‘I thought so. Tara and Katie have filled me in, though Josh has been remarkably reticent,’ she said dryly. ‘You’re interested in the fire in the High Street a couple of years ago, I understand. And Dawn Burridge’s death. As a mature student writing a thesis, rumour has it.’ Again her voice was heavy with irony.
‘Um . . . yes . . .’
‘Let’s not go there, shall we?’ she said crisply, and I thought: Oh, here it comes. So I was completely taken by surprise when she went on: ‘I’m going to suggest you pop in and see me sometime, and I can fill you in on a few things I gleaned at the time that never made my reports. I’m busy this morning, but I should be free for a short while this afternoon. If you’d like to, that is.’
‘That would be great!’ I managed.
‘Right. Shall we say about three?’
I thought quickly. Actually that would fit quite nicely with my plans. I could go to see Belinda before picking up my new laptop, making one journey instead of two. Besides which, I might get to see Josh.
‘I’ll be there.’
I rang off, scarcely able to believe my luck. At last someone was actually willing to talk to me about what had happened! Someone who, if she was any good at her job – and I was pretty sure she was – wouldn’t have missed a trick.
Hardly had I put the phone down than it rang again and I answered it quickly, hoping it might be Josh. It wasn’t. It was Rachel.
‘Hi there, Sally! How are you doing?’
‘Rach. Fine, actually. You’re not going to believe this . . .’
I told her about the two dates I’d had with Josh – she was delighted for me, saying she was really glad I’d met someone to help me forget Tim once and for all – and I filled her in on the progress of my investigation.
‘I’m really beginning to think I’m on to something,’ I enthused. ‘Wouldn’t it be marvellous if I could prove that Brian Jennings was innocent all along? I’m going to see the chief reporter at the Gazette this afternoon, and to another meeting of the Compton Players tomorrow, and then I think I’m ready to go to Dorset and talk to Dawn’s parents.’
‘How are you going to get there?’ Rachel asked.
‘Borrow Dad’s car, I suppose. He’s being really good about letting me use it.’
‘It’s a long way for you to drive, though. Listen, why don’t I take you? I was going to suggest we went out somewhere. If we left early enough one morning we should be able to be sure to be back in time for me to pick the children up from school.’
‘Oh, Rach, are you sure?’
‘I’d quite enjoy it. When do you want to go? What about Thursday? Or one day early next week?’
‘I’ve got to find out exactly where they live,’ I said. ‘Let me give you a ring when I’m ready.’