AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘I didn’t,’ she insisted. ‘I didn’t tell him that she ate a bag of salty crisps every night before she went to bed. I didn’t tell him!’
Kim opened her mouth to say something, but Richard stepped in.
‘She probably didn’t.’
‘Huh?’ Kim said.
‘Still no mystery, I’m afraid. We go back to trivia and percentages. Crisps in one form or another are the most popular snack in the country. Safe bet. People of a certain age prefer plain crisps because there wasn’t much choice when they were children. So it wasn’t beyond the realms of possibility that a woman of your gran’s age would have liked a bag of plain crisps.’
Despite the time she’d spent with Eloise earlier, Kim had to admit that Richard made a compelling argument.
But it wasn’t one that Tiff needed to hear, Kim realised. Regardless of her own beliefs on the subject, the girl had received something positive from the fact-finding mission that did her no harm in believing to be true.
‘Okay, Tink, thanks again for helping us out last night. You’re an absolute star, but we’d best let you get back to your sergeant.’
‘Okay, boss, thanks for taking me,’ she said, standing. ‘And always happy to help.’
They all called their ‘see ya laters’ as she left the office, but Kim had an unexplainable void in the pit of her stomach.
‘She believes it, doesn’t she?’ Stacey asked, once Tiff was out of sight.
Kim nodded. ‘She barely spoke in the car.’
‘But even after the proof of hearing her own words to the stooge repeated back to her, she still—’
‘Did you believe in Father Christmas?’ Richard interrupted Stacey to ask.
‘She still does,’ Bryant said, with a mischievous smile.
‘Of course,’ Stacey answered.
‘Do you remember how you found out that he wasn’t real?’
‘Yeah, I saw my mom carrying my presents down the stairs.’
‘And what did you tell yourself?’
‘That she was Santa’s helper.’
‘Anything else?’
Stacey thought for a minute. ‘Actually, yes. I told myself that Santa had to drop some presents off early, so he could get them all done.’
‘So even when presented with the evidence, you found a way to continue the belief?’
Stacey nodded.
‘Because you wanted to. You didn’t want to lose that belief that represented magic and wonder. The wish to continue believing in something despite evidence to the contrary is very powerful.’
‘It’s true,’ Stacey said. ‘I was still looking for reasons to believe until somewhere in my mid-teens.’
They all laughed but Kim could completely see Richard’s point.
‘Okay, so Azim’s phone will be dropped off later this morning,’ Kim said, bringing their focus back to the growing to-do list. ‘Stace, I want you to see if you can find any threats similar to the ones sent to Sandy.’
‘Okay, boss.’
‘And dig a bit deeper on Father George. I don’t like the fact he put his hands on Sandy when she wouldn’t listen to him. Is it something he’s done before? And find out who I speak to about his conduct. Who is his boss? First person to mention the man upstairs is buying the coffee for a month.’
