Follow Me by Angela Clarke Page B

forehead crinkled. ‘Why?’
    ‘Because it’s part of her brand,’ Freddie smiled. All those crazed Klingys who thought Paige was replying to their ‘my cat’s died please follow me Paige’ tweets were actually tweeting a nobody.
    ‘Exactly.’ Paige jabbed toward her with the cigarette. ‘And Marni’s an intern.’
    ‘So you had no idea about the abusive messages you’ve been receiving?’ Moast put his hands on his hips.
    ‘No, and I’m glad. Sounds right screwed up. These losers’ve got nothing better to do with their lives.’
    Nas coughed. ‘And where is Marni now, Miss Klinger?’
    ‘You guys just sent her to the pub.’ Paige lit another cigarette. Freddie’s grin grew even wider.
Revenge of the Intern
.
    The door swung open, banging against the wall. ‘And what do you think you’re doing?’ A thin woman in her forties, with a stretched face and leather trousers, marched in.
    ‘Magda!’ Paige cantered toward her.
    ‘This girl is underage.’ Magda drew level with Moast and Nas.
    ‘You what?’ Moast’s eyebrows shot up.
    ‘She’s a minor. Sixteen.’
    Nas staggered backwards.
    ‘Didn’t you guys know?’ Freddie exhaled her smoke.
These people knew nothing about real life.
    ‘I’m her agent. I called my lawyer as soon as I heard you were here. How dare you interrogate her without a legal guardian or responsible adult present,’ Magda raged.
    ‘Now hang on.’ Moast put his hands up as if Magda was pointing a gun at him. ‘We just wanted to ask Paige a few questions. She hasn’t been arrested.’
    ‘Am I going to be arrested?’ Paige wailed and clung to the hem of Magda’s cashmere cardigan.
    ‘I’m her legal guardian.’
    Of course you are
, thought Freddie.
    ‘Anything she has said without me present is not admissible in court. I shall be filing a complaint with the police commission. This is harassment.’
    ‘This is a murder investigation, ma’am, we just wanted to ask Miss Klinger some questions,’ Nas recovered herself.
    ‘Well, I think that’s quite enough for one day. You’ve frightened this poor child.’ Magda put an arm round Paige.
Her biggest asset.
‘It’s outrageous. Questioning a minor. Alone. In her underwear.’
    Moast winced. ‘Yes, ma’am. Out!’ He turned to the rest of them.
    Lagging behind everyone else, Freddie saw Magda smooth Paige’s hair and hand her a small pill. Paige popped it into her mouth and pulled another cigarette from the pack tucked in the back of her knickers.
    ‘What do you think?’ Nas asked Moast, as she and Tibbsy bunched behind him.
    ‘She’s so pretty,’ Tibbsy sighed.
    ‘She’s not as innocent as they’re making out. She’s completely high,’ Moast said.
    ‘We could arrest them for drugs possession and bring her in?’ Nas offered.
    ‘Better to talk to her assistant.’ Moast flicked through his notepad, ‘Marni, wasn’t it? I bet she won’t be ring-fenced by a load of expensive lawyers.’
    The pink-haired cutie behind the desk pointed them in the direction of the local pub. Freddie was thinking about Twitter. Paige’s account was verified, and it was
her
, but it wasn’t her. Freddie wasn’t naive, she knew people pretended to be other people online all the time, but the ease with which one person conned over two million had her thinking. Freddie knew how social media worked. Prided herself on trying out each new trend, each new development, each new app. She would never think she could get tricked so easily. People did – all the time. Idiots giving their bank account details to fabricated Nigerian Princes who promised them a cut of the twenty-six million quid they just needed to transfer into the UK. Or getting cloned after posting their birthdate on Facebook. She thought about Moast and Tibbsy, they seemed clueless about the whole online world. But she too had thought Paige
was
Paige online. Bought into the myth. If she could be tricked by some work experience kid, then what else could she be