Pip:
What?
Mum:
He panicked when I came in. He was shaking. He tried several excuses as to why he was taking the card, said he needed the info so he could order more envelopes in, then said Todd asked him to do something for him. But I knew he was lying, and Jamie knew I wasn’t buying it. So then he just started apologizing, over and over again. Said he was sorry, he just needed the money and he said something . . . he said something like, ‘I wouldn’t have done this, if it wasn’t life or death.’
Pip:
‘Life or death’? What did he mean by that?
Mum:
I don’t know. I’m guessing he wanted to take the card to an ATM and draw out a few hundred pounds. He knew the PIN because I’d sent him out with that card to get office tea supplies before. I don’t know why he needed the money, but clearly he was desperate. We’d never had any problems with Jamie before this. I’d offered him the job to help him out, to help Joanna and Arthur out because Jamie had been struggling to settle anywhere. He’s a very sweet young man, has been like that since he was a kid. The Jamie I walked in on felt almost like a different person. He looked so scared. So sorry.