it, then to accommodate the extreme edges of his varifocals and then back again to rid it of the reflection. ‘Hmm,’ he said at last, refocusing on Jacquie with difficulty. ‘Text speak isn’t my forte, of course, but I would say that this is a bit of a hybrid at best.’
Jacquie just forbore from applauding and crying ‘Well done!’ Instead, she said, ‘Yes, guv. I thought that. Definitely not a kid. Their texts don’t have any full words in and I don’t think anyone under forty uses the word “panties”, do you?’
Hall handed back her phone and thought for a moment. Nothing Henry Hall said was off the cuff. Maxwell often said that if Hall was caught in a towering inferno, he would think many more times than twice before shouting ‘Fire!’ ‘It could be someone trying to fool us,’ he said at last.
‘But why would anyone do that, guv?’ Jacquie said. She and Maxwell had been over this already and she had all the bases covered. ‘She’s not supposed to tell anyone.’
‘That’s a valid point. But he might assume she would.’
‘I think we’re reaching a bit, there, if you don’t mind my saying so, guv. I think that this is some kind of game that the sender of these texts is playing, and I don’t know what it is, or even who he is playing it with.’
‘Sorry,’ Hall said. ‘I assumed he – or don’t forget, it could be a she – is playing it with these girls, if it is a game.’
‘I think it is definitely a he, and can we keep to that, so we don’t go bonkers?’
He inclined his head. It would certainly make it easier.
‘I think he
is
playing with the girls, but I find it strange that he is doing it without any feedback. We all remember the old days, with the anonymous calls. I don’t remember any of those where they would just leave a message. What would be the point? No, I think he is playing with
lots
of girls, not just these two. And he knows at least one in his net, so he can get gratuitous feedback. If Julie just got one text in all that time, I’m assuming the other girl she told me about, Leah, probably gets about the same. So I’m tempted to think that the gaps between are filledwith him sending merry little messages to other phones.’
‘I agree.’
‘Just like that?’ Jacquie was a little taken aback. ‘That’s nice, Henry.’
‘I’m glad you think so, Jacquie. But in fact, not only is it nice, I agree because I have had rather a lot of reports of similar texts coming in from all over town. Some of the girls have parents who are either much nosier, or perhaps just more hands-on than the families of your two girls.’
‘Well, they both come from single-parent families.’
‘Well, so do some of my complainants,’ Henry said, rather acidly. He was tired of hearing that as an excuse. Only the previous week, in court to give evidence in a rather unpleasant fraud case, he had listened with growing amazement as the accused blamed the whole thing on his broken home. Since the man in this case was sixty-three and his home had been broken only two years before when his ninety-two-year-old father had died and left a widow of ninety to mourn his passing, Henry Hall had found the excuse rather a lame one. So he wasn’t really all that sympathetic to the broken-home excuse.
‘Max and I wondered whether he might be targeting lonely kids from … that kind of family situation.’ Jacquie could recognise a sore subject when one bit her on the leg.
Hall looked down at the open file on his desk and flicked over a page or two. ‘Let’s see.’ He kept a count under his breath and after a moment looked up at her. ‘Right. Twenty-five complaints.’
‘Twenty-five!’
‘Yes, and I suspect this is the tip of the iceberg. Of that twenty-five, we have fifteen with two parents, by which I mean the original pair. Another four have two parents, but one is a step. The other …’ he quickly checked his maths in his head, ‘yes, the other six have one parent, that’s five
Jacquie just forbore from applauding and crying ‘Well done!’ Instead, she said, ‘Yes, guv. I thought that. Definitely not a kid. Their texts don’t have any full words in and I don’t think anyone under forty uses the word “panties”, do you?’
Hall handed back her phone and thought for a moment. Nothing Henry Hall said was off the cuff. Maxwell often said that if Hall was caught in a towering inferno, he would think many more times than twice before shouting ‘Fire!’ ‘It could be someone trying to fool us,’ he said at last.
‘But why would anyone do that, guv?’ Jacquie said. She and Maxwell had been over this already and she had all the bases covered. ‘She’s not supposed to tell anyone.’
‘That’s a valid point. But he might assume she would.’
‘I think we’re reaching a bit, there, if you don’t mind my saying so, guv. I think that this is some kind of game that the sender of these texts is playing, and I don’t know what it is, or even who he is playing it with.’
‘Sorry,’ Hall said. ‘I assumed he – or don’t forget, it could be a she – is playing it with these girls, if it is a game.’
‘I think it is definitely a he, and can we keep to that, so we don’t go bonkers?’
He inclined his head. It would certainly make it easier.
‘I think he
is
playing with the girls, but I find it strange that he is doing it without any feedback. We all remember the old days, with the anonymous calls. I don’t remember any of those where they would just leave a message. What would be the point? No, I think he is playing with
lots
of girls, not just these two. And he knows at least one in his net, so he can get gratuitous feedback. If Julie just got one text in all that time, I’m assuming the other girl she told me about, Leah, probably gets about the same. So I’m tempted to think that the gaps between are filledwith him sending merry little messages to other phones.’
‘I agree.’
‘Just like that?’ Jacquie was a little taken aback. ‘That’s nice, Henry.’
‘I’m glad you think so, Jacquie. But in fact, not only is it nice, I agree because I have had rather a lot of reports of similar texts coming in from all over town. Some of the girls have parents who are either much nosier, or perhaps just more hands-on than the families of your two girls.’
‘Well, they both come from single-parent families.’
‘Well, so do some of my complainants,’ Henry said, rather acidly. He was tired of hearing that as an excuse. Only the previous week, in court to give evidence in a rather unpleasant fraud case, he had listened with growing amazement as the accused blamed the whole thing on his broken home. Since the man in this case was sixty-three and his home had been broken only two years before when his ninety-two-year-old father had died and left a widow of ninety to mourn his passing, Henry Hall had found the excuse rather a lame one. So he wasn’t really all that sympathetic to the broken-home excuse.
‘Max and I wondered whether he might be targeting lonely kids from … that kind of family situation.’ Jacquie could recognise a sore subject when one bit her on the leg.
Hall looked down at the open file on his desk and flicked over a page or two. ‘Let’s see.’ He kept a count under his breath and after a moment looked up at her. ‘Right. Twenty-five complaints.’
‘Twenty-five!’
‘Yes, and I suspect this is the tip of the iceberg. Of that twenty-five, we have fifteen with two parents, by which I mean the original pair. Another four have two parents, but one is a step. The other …’ he quickly checked his maths in his head, ‘yes, the other six have one parent, that’s five
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