Page 49 of Dancing Fools and All That Jazz
‘Oh, you know what I mean. Actually, I know her neighbour, Maureen.’ Bonnie reflects. ‘I could text her to see if she knows anything about Janine’s situation?’
‘Yes, do that, Bonnie,’ I say. ‘See if she can find out what’s happened.’
‘I feel guilty we didn’t ask the wee girl more about herself and offer her some help,’ Cath adds. ‘She must have been having financial problems if she needed to take our Paris money. Maybe one of us should have befriended her?’
‘She wasn’t exactly friendly,’ I remind Cath. ‘She wouldn’t share lifts with anyone or join in conversations.’
‘That’s true,’ Cath agrees. ‘I asked her to come to ourStrictlyevenings, but she wasn’t a bit interested. She kept her distance with all of us…’
‘Well, I hope Janine’s found something good to spend our money on.’
‘Ruby.’ Bonnie looks shocked.
‘I mean, if you’re going to be robbed it might as well be for a good reason,’ I say.
‘Like what?’ Cath is smiling.
‘An exotic holiday, champagne by the crateful, luxury underwear…’
‘Oh, Ruby, you are awful.’ Bonnie laughs.
Cath starts to sing about spending money on whisky and beer, but she trails off when Fay carefully edges her way over to us as the Metro wobbles along.
I quickly appreciate Fay’s hearing is much better than I realised.
She leans into our group and says in a low authoritative voice, ‘We will be getting our money back whether Janine has squandered it on any such items. I have already reported the matter to the police.’
‘What? Without knowing anything about her circumstances?’ I stare at Fay.
‘It is a criminal offence. She has stolen thousands of pounds.’
‘Thousands?’ Bonnie looks aghast.
‘Yes, thousands. Our Paris payments add up to four thousand and thirty-five pounds, and my guess is she has not been using our money for the lottery. The entire class paid two pounds a week for the last two years. That amounts to another five thousand two hundred pounds.So, you can see she has embezzled over nine thousand pounds from us.’
We are all stunned and say nothing until Cath gives a loud whistle.
‘Bless my soul. What in heaven’s name did she spend it on?’
‘Hang on,’ I say, unsure why I feel a sudden need to protect Janine. ‘We’ve no proof she misappropriated the lottery money or for that matter deliberately stole the Paris money. She may have borrowed it if she was in debt, or perhaps she was being blackmailed… OK, maybe far-fetched, but what I’m trying to say is we just don’t know.’
‘Ja, it does not seem possible Janine steal from dance ladies—’
‘Well, it is a police issue now. They will get to the bottom of it.’ Fay has never looked so frosty as she consults her map and indicates we need to get off as the Metro lurches towards a stop. She pushes through the other passengers, and we all follow.
She calls back in a loud voice, ‘As far as I am concerned, Janine has betrayed us all and deserves everything she gets.’
Feeling somewhat subdued, we all silently follow Fay up the escalators and group together on the busy French street.
Ingrida taps me on the shoulder, her face pale and anxious. ‘Janine will be in trouble with police,ja?I am so sorry for her. Maybe this is all big mistake?’
Before I can answer, Fay orders us all to jump onto the nearest bus for the last leg of the journey. There are nospare seats, so we cram into the vehicle and hold onto the straps that hang down from the ceiling. I end up squashed between Monica and Ingrida. Monica turns away, so I am looking at her back. I am tempted to hiss an insult at her, but Ingrida tugs my jacket, so I turn to her.
‘Will she go to prison? Janine?’
‘I’ve no idea,’ I reply truthfully.
‘Prison is a terrible place.’ Ingrida bites her lip and says no more.
