“How sad for her. If my parents insisted on me marrying a man that I don’t like I would not accept their decision.”
“Even if the chosen man was to be me?”
“Ah, now that would be different. How is it that you have managed to avoid the predatory clutches of a woman up until now?”
“I guess I was, sort of hoping that Khumlah and I would get together.”
“So, I’m a rebound fuck, am I?”
“No. She and I never made love, something to do with her religion.”
“Thank God for her religion. Now, where were we?” She placed the tray on the floor and turned to me. I could get used to all of this attention.
I was kissing Chandra goodbye outside her office when Gareth tapped on the window, putting a stop to the moment. I pushed the button to wind the window down.
“Sorry to break this up, Stefan, a word if you will.”
We followed him inside.
“No calls until I tell you.” He instructed the receptionist. In his office, he placed his attache case on the desk. “I have been having a very interesting conversation with the police. It seems as if your Sydney hit the nail on the head. Mrs Tomlinson has been a very naughty girl, well, not a girl, but you know what I mean.”
“So she has been substituting placebos for prescribed medications?”
“Yes, it seems as if she has made a career of it.”
“How could she have got away with it for so long?”
“She abides by the rule of keeping the customer satisfied. If they’re happy they are less likely to complain, even if they know that something is wrong. She was able to convince them that the problem is that they were building up a tolerance to the medication making it less effective.”
“Why wouldn’t they go to their doctor to up the dosage of the medication?”
“It wouldn’t have mattered if they did, she would simply phase out the new dosage and return to the placebo.”
“So, what can be done about this?”
“The police have gone back through the records of her previous marriages and contacted the doctors in question. They will be interviewing them all over the next day or so.”
“I’ve got to be getting to work before Sydney gets all bitchy and fires me.”
I arrived just ten minutes after I should have arrived, thanks to some creative driving. “Well, what is happening on the Jacinta front? I assume that we no longer have a contract?”
“We no longer have a contract.” While driving here a thought crossed my mind. I know that it isn’t PC to generalise, but rumours seem to spread quicker and further in the gay community. “Sydney,” I said thoughtfully, “You seem to have your finger on the pulse, what do you know of the lovely Jacinta?”
“Well, I’m not one to spread gossip, but I have heard that she bats for both teams, one for business, the other for pleasure. She’s not in this on her own you know.”
“What do you mean?”
“Her business and serious bed partner is a lawyer. It was she that came up with this money-making scheme. It is she who keeps tabs on the operation to ensure that it doesn’t run foul of the law.”
“I’m surprised that they didn’t foresee this latest development that has the potential to bring this whole thing undone.”
“I think that they underestimated the mental strength of Mister Tomlinson, or maybe he was forewarned.”
“Whatever, how do you see this playing out, does Jacinta’s partner throw her under the bus and cut and run before she’s implicated, or do they tough it out?”
“They’ll tough it out, at least until it comes to trial. Plan B will probably be to set Jacinta up with a fake ID and get her out of the country to start again somewhere.”