Page 56 of Fe
“No to food but I’d love a drink. In a minute.” He didn’t want to let go of her hands.
They both sat down.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I’ve been sacked.” As Fen told her what had happened, her mouth dropped open.
“Oh no, no,” she whispered. “How on earth did the ring end up in your backpack?”
“It has to be Scott. My guess is he took it, hoping the ring wouldn’t be missed, but once he was asked about it, realised he had to hide it. I think he went into the workroom once they’d called me into the office, put it in my backpack, then persuaded Tara to say if asked that he hadn’t been in there. I didn’t steal it.”
“Of course you didn’t. The very idea! What did Alistair say?”
“Not much.”
“He didn’t stand up for you?”
“You’re not to blame him. I know how it looks. The ring was found in my bag.”
“But he knows you. You’re not a thief. You’ve never stolen anything in your life. You didn’t keep the medal and you could have done. He surely can’t think you pocketed that ring. But why would Scott have taken such a risk? He must have realised the ring would be missed.”
“He probably didn’t think through the consequences of taking it. Maybe he imagined the other valuation company would be blamed, or the lady would think the ring had been temporarily misplaced. But the person who did the valuation after us was accompanied around the house so it couldn’t have been him and how would it have ended up in my backpack? Scott gambles online. Maybe in real life too, I don’t know. He might owe money. My guess is he saw an opportunity and took it, then panicked when he knew we were both going to be searched. Anyway, Charles sacked me, so that’s that.”
“Oh Fen!”
His heart felt like a stone in his chest. “I feel like I let you down.”
“Of course you didn’t. But what are you going to do?”
“I don’t think there’s anything I can do. I need time to get my head around it.” Because he couldn’t afford his bedsit for very long without a job, everything he’d saved would be quickly eaten up.
For one very brief moment, he wondered if the ring had always been in his bag, if Ripley had put it there and was then going to tell him he knew Fen hadn’t done it so that Fen…No.Fen was angry with himself for even thinking it.
They both started when they heard the front door open.
“Daisy?” Alistair called.
Fen tried to get to his feet and his mother pulled him down. “In here,” she called.
Alistair sighed when he saw Fen. “I thought you might come home.”
“You let him get sacked?” His mum’s tone was reproachful and Fen winced.
“Mum! Don’t. It’s not Alistair’s fault.”
“You didn’t stand up for him.”
“There was nothing he could do,” Fen said.
“Why didn’t you stand up for him, Alistair?”
“Daisy, I…”
“Get out,” his mum said.
“No, Mum! Don’t. What could he have done? The ring was in my bag. Scott is Charles’s son. Of course Charles doesn’t want to believe it was him. If Scott does have gambling debts, there’s no way he’d want his father to know. Or anyone. None of this is Alistair’s fault.”
“Gambling?” Alistair asked. “Is that why he’s always on his phone?”
