‘Can I get you a cup of tea?’
‘Thank you, dear.’
Mrs Anne Fitzgerald, widow, 76, of Norbury, south London, sat upright in her chair in the interview room, facing across the table from staff sergeant PC Duncan Meadows, married, 45, of Sutton. Although she had insisted to her daughter, that she didnt want to make a fuss, she was rather enjoying being the centre of attention. Her hair had been permed, by chance, the Friday before, and she was wearing a matching tweed jacket and skirt that had seen better days, along with a thick brown, ridged polo-neck jumper. She had decided against adding a pearl necklace, but worried that her look was a bit too Miss Marple. She had gone easy on the make-up. She looked younger than her years; that childhood curiosity had never left. Her eyes looked too big for her face becaue of the thick lenses of her glasses. Brian had called her his tawny owl. Her head turned excitedly to the door as PC Jane Deacon, 27, single, of Thornton Heath, arrived with the trolley. She handed her the tea in a regulation, pastel mint cup and saucer. She declined the sugar, but accepted a custard cream.
‘Would you like a cigarette? Do you mind if I smoke?’
She would have preferred him not to. Her Brian had been a twenty a day man, though she had no more than dabbled.
‘We are really grateful that you’ve taken the time to come in to give us a statement and we appreciate that this must’ve been a very frightening experience for you.’
Duncan seemed to be talking slowly and rather loud, in what appeared to be a condescending effort to make himself understood to someone of the older generation.
‘I am fine, really. I’m just sorry that I can’t give you any description of the attacker whatsoever. It was all just a blur.’
‘Unfortunately, this sick spectacle thief is deliberately targetting older women like yourself. Although he has struck at least eight times in different parts of the borough, we have very little to go on. But I am confident we will catch him. Someone is bound to see him do this sooner or later. Now, could I just get you to sign your statement, please?’
‘It is funny how things happen, don’t you think? I went to the Ashcroft Theatre on Saturday to see JB Priestly’s An Inspector Calls, with my daughter Rosemary, and she made a joke about how I was Anne in Spectacles. Anne In spectorcalls?’
‘Anne in spectacles. Yes. Haha. That is funny.’
‘She’s always making up word plays, you know. And then this happens on the Tuesday!’
‘Well I hope that we can have this …man in …manacles very soon…..’
Anne caught the surreptitious wink to Jane on the mention of handcuffs ‘… and the good, short-sighted women of south London will once again be free to walk the streets without the danger of being ambushed by this psycho.’