have two tiers of designer shops or a soaring glass
roof
, and if the architect who designed
it was still alive he ought to be ashamed.
I walked through the wide entrance and up a slope towards H&M, with Boots on my left and a tired-looking department store on my right. Past that, I turned right towards Monsoon, and quickly
came to a covered courtyard with a Caffé Nero and a Starbucks side by side.
‘Skinny latte,’ I told the girl behind the counter at Starbucks. She took the order and asked my name while I read her badge. She was called Lucy. I paid for the coffee then shuffled
forward to collect my drink made by a young guy who’d stopped vacantly unloading clean mugs into the station by the till. ‘You weren’t working during the day last Thursday by any
chance?’ I asked as casually as I could. ‘Lunchtime of New Year’s Eve.’
Karl (I read his name badge) looked long and hard at me. ‘Why?’
‘A friend of mine was in here.’
‘Last Thursday, hmm, let’s see. Your friend wouldn’t be Scarlett Hartley, would it? The girl who got herself killed?’
I nodded. So much for my casual sideways approach.
‘You’re wasting your time. I don’t know anything.’
‘It’s OK, relax. I was just wondering if Scarlett came in here a lot, and if you know who she used to come in with.’
Luckily for me sullen Karl was elbowed out by gobby Lucy, the girl who had taken my order. ‘Can you believe it!’ she gushed. ‘The poor kid was in here during the day, happy as
anything. Next thing we knew, they’d fished her out of the canal.’
‘So who was she with?’ I prompted, only to be ignored.
‘And the way he killed her with the metal thingy – really nasty. And I was chatting with her saying hi, how was her day, not knowing what was going to happen . . .’ Lucy
shuddered. ‘What did you ask Karl? Oh yeah, did she come here often. Well, she would get together with a bunch of mates after school and, yeah, at the weekends. And you know what I heard
– they arrested the kid she was here with on Thursday. That’s right, isn’t it? She came in with Alex Driffield.’
Bored as hell by his job, life, the whole universe, Karl had already gone back to unloading crockery so my chatty informer rattled on down the track without him.
‘She was happy, they both were – everything was cool. You’d never think there was a thing wrong. They just sat and drank coffee, used their phones to text, chatted. I
didn’t really notice them until I heard Alex stand up and start to yell.’
‘At Scarlett?’
‘No, at another kid who came along and didn’t order anything – he just went right up to their table and whatever he said – I didn’t hear it – made Alex jump
up and start shouting.’
‘What did he look like, this new kid?’
‘I don’t know. I didn’t get a good look. The place was crowded and he had his back to me.’
‘Tall or short?’
‘Tall – definitely. He had a big scarf and a hat, a grey one. When Alex kicked off and everyone started staring, he ran off past Monsoon, back towards Station Road.’
‘What did Scarlett do?’
‘She must have said for Alex to sit down and cool it, which he did. He looked kind of embarrassed – they both did. We were busy with customers at the time so I didn’t think
much of it.’
‘But you’ve told the police?’
‘Yeah, after they put out the appeal. I went to them cos I thought this stranger guy who upset Alex might be important.’
‘He was wearing a hat? Could you tell what colour his hair was?’
‘Fair,’ she said with a frown. She thought some more. ‘Yeah, definitely blond – I could see that much.’
She paused again and gave suspicious, surly Karl a chance to come back at me.
‘What are you, anyway – a journalist?’ he asked.
‘No.’
‘So why all the questions?’
I gave Karl the truth, so far as it went. ‘I told a friend I’d try to help so that’s what I’m doing.’
‘Did you see my iPad –
roof
, and if the architect who designed
it was still alive he ought to be ashamed.
I walked through the wide entrance and up a slope towards H&M, with Boots on my left and a tired-looking department store on my right. Past that, I turned right towards Monsoon, and quickly
came to a covered courtyard with a Caffé Nero and a Starbucks side by side.
‘Skinny latte,’ I told the girl behind the counter at Starbucks. She took the order and asked my name while I read her badge. She was called Lucy. I paid for the coffee then shuffled
forward to collect my drink made by a young guy who’d stopped vacantly unloading clean mugs into the station by the till. ‘You weren’t working during the day last Thursday by any
chance?’ I asked as casually as I could. ‘Lunchtime of New Year’s Eve.’
Karl (I read his name badge) looked long and hard at me. ‘Why?’
‘A friend of mine was in here.’
‘Last Thursday, hmm, let’s see. Your friend wouldn’t be Scarlett Hartley, would it? The girl who got herself killed?’
I nodded. So much for my casual sideways approach.
‘You’re wasting your time. I don’t know anything.’
‘It’s OK, relax. I was just wondering if Scarlett came in here a lot, and if you know who she used to come in with.’
Luckily for me sullen Karl was elbowed out by gobby Lucy, the girl who had taken my order. ‘Can you believe it!’ she gushed. ‘The poor kid was in here during the day, happy as
anything. Next thing we knew, they’d fished her out of the canal.’
‘So who was she with?’ I prompted, only to be ignored.
‘And the way he killed her with the metal thingy – really nasty. And I was chatting with her saying hi, how was her day, not knowing what was going to happen . . .’ Lucy
shuddered. ‘What did you ask Karl? Oh yeah, did she come here often. Well, she would get together with a bunch of mates after school and, yeah, at the weekends. And you know what I heard
– they arrested the kid she was here with on Thursday. That’s right, isn’t it? She came in with Alex Driffield.’
Bored as hell by his job, life, the whole universe, Karl had already gone back to unloading crockery so my chatty informer rattled on down the track without him.
‘She was happy, they both were – everything was cool. You’d never think there was a thing wrong. They just sat and drank coffee, used their phones to text, chatted. I
didn’t really notice them until I heard Alex stand up and start to yell.’
‘At Scarlett?’
‘No, at another kid who came along and didn’t order anything – he just went right up to their table and whatever he said – I didn’t hear it – made Alex jump
up and start shouting.’
‘What did he look like, this new kid?’
‘I don’t know. I didn’t get a good look. The place was crowded and he had his back to me.’
‘Tall or short?’
‘Tall – definitely. He had a big scarf and a hat, a grey one. When Alex kicked off and everyone started staring, he ran off past Monsoon, back towards Station Road.’
‘What did Scarlett do?’
‘She must have said for Alex to sit down and cool it, which he did. He looked kind of embarrassed – they both did. We were busy with customers at the time so I didn’t think
much of it.’
‘But you’ve told the police?’
‘Yeah, after they put out the appeal. I went to them cos I thought this stranger guy who upset Alex might be important.’
‘He was wearing a hat? Could you tell what colour his hair was?’
‘Fair,’ she said with a frown. She thought some more. ‘Yeah, definitely blond – I could see that much.’
She paused again and gave suspicious, surly Karl a chance to come back at me.
‘What are you, anyway – a journalist?’ he asked.
‘No.’
‘So why all the questions?’
I gave Karl the truth, so far as it went. ‘I told a friend I’d try to help so that’s what I’m doing.’
‘Did you see my iPad –
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