Hug

Chapter 9

Grace took the afternoon off work, blaming a migraine. She didn't want to have to explain to her employers and Jen how gullible she'd been.

She walked into the bank, announcing her arrival to the woman behind the desk, and was ushered into a side room. A young man of about 30 with untidy hair and stubbly chin was already seated, looking through a notebook. This can't be one of the bank staff, she thought, as he was casually dressed in jeans, sweater and jacket. Getting up, he gave her a formal nod and held his id card up to her.

"DCI Goddard, Mrs Bradbury, Fraud Squad."

He shook her hand, and gestured to the seat next to him. She sat down, feeling a little flustered. She hadn't expected the police to get involved at this point.

"Mrs Bradbury, before the Branch Manager shows us footage of the suspect, there are just a couple of questions I'd like to ask."

She blinked. "Yes, yes...of course."

He opened his notebook at a new page, taking a pencil out of the inside pocket of his jacket. Grace suddenly had an overwhelming desire to giggle. Nerves, she told herself. Please don't lick the end of your pencil, she thought - I won't be able to contain myself.

"So, I understand you reported these unauthorised withdrawals from your savings account to the bank..." he flipped back a few pages in his book ".....on Monday." He glanced at her and she nodded her agreement.

"But, according to the bank, these withdrawals happened getting on for 5 days before that."

"Yes," Grace answered apologetically."I'm afraid I don't look at my bank account online every day, and, to be honest, when I do, I concentrate on my current account, not my savings. I only came across it on Monday morning."

She watched him scribble all this down, then added, "I reported it as soon as I found it though."

"Yes, yes of course," he murmured, pursing his lips. "A pity you didn't keep a closer eye on all your accounts though. The bank will probably drag their feet in putting the money back in, as you left it all that time."

"Yes, they've already pointed that out," she said rather sharply, then, when he looked up in surprise at her tone, she smiled apologetically.

"Sorry...it's all been a bit of a shock," she said, and he nodded again.

"Ok." he said, turning his attention back to his notebook."The other thing I need to ask you at this point...is there anyone else who has access to your bank details....either online login details or your account numbers, savings books...that sort of thing?"

She opened her mouth to reply when the door opened abruptly, and a rather better dressed, more polished, but equally young, man strode through the door, shutting it sharply so that the partition walls shuddered.

"Sorry, just got caught up with something," he made his way to the other side of the desk.

"Sorry Mrs....." he read her name from the piece of paper he was carrying, "....Bradbury. I'm Dave Brown, Deputy Branch Manager. We spoke on the phone earlier." He leaned over the desk and offered his hand. "I see you've met DCI Goddard already."

"Yes, Mrs Bradbury and I were just discussing the unfortunate time delay between these alleged unauthorised withdrawals and her reporting them." Dave Brown made the exact same face that DCI Goddard had made at this point in the conversation. A kind of 'well, what can you do with some people?' sort of face.

Grace struggled to keep her composure.

"Yes, I know, and as I said to DCI Goddard, unfortunately I don't check any of my accounts on a daily basis. I will do now though!" she laughed wryly.