‘Let’s go outside,’ Cody says. He turns to the supervisor. ‘You don’t mind if we borrow him for a few minutes, do you?’
The man scowls and walks away.
‘Friendly guy,’ Cody says as they head out of the building and into the car park.
‘Did you have to come here?’ Toby asks. ‘All the staff were looking at me. Word gets around. I could lose my job.’
‘You won’t lose your job, Toby. I told your boss we just needed some information from you. This won’t take long.’
‘I already told you everything I know. Honest. I learned my lesson.’
‘I know you did. I just need to check on a couple of the things you told me.’
‘Like what?’
‘Like when Oliver Selby attacked you. What exactly did you tell him?’
‘Exactly? I don’t know exactly. I was pretty stressed, you know. When someone slaps you like that—’
‘Okay, but as close as you can recall. What did you say?’
‘Well, I told him the photos weren’t mine. They were sent to me by a friend.’
‘Uh-huh. And he asked who the friend was?’
‘Yeah. I didn’t want to say anything, but he threatened me. Said he was going to knock my teeth out. I didn’t want that to happen.’
‘Of course not. So you gave up the name? You told him about Sam?’
Toby shifts his weight from foot to foot, like he’s desperate for the toilet.
‘I had to. Anyone in my shoes would have, wouldn’t they?’
‘Yeah, I’m sure they would. But here’s my problem, Toby. When you first told us that someone in your exercise class had slept with Alexa, you said it was Sam.’
Toby looks puzzled. ‘Yeah. Because that’s what he told me.’
‘But that’s all you said. Sam. You didn’t seem to know his surname. We had to find a Sam on the class list.’
‘That’s because I didn’t know his surname. To me, he was always just Sam.’
‘Did you ever know his surname?’
‘I don’t know. He might have told me once, but if he did, I’ve forgotten it.’
‘What about when Oliver attacked you? Were you able to give him the full name?’
‘No. I just said it was a guy called Sam in the Bodycon group. I mean, that’s pretty specific, right? It doesn’t take much to work out who that is.’
‘No, it doesn’t. But I got the impression there wasn’t much else you could say about him. I mean, you didn’t really know him that well, did you?’
‘That’s not true! I knew lots of things about him.’
Cody is surprised at the vehemence of Toby’s reply. It’s as though he’s upset at the suggestion that the man he considered a close friend was really just an acquaintance.
‘We had a lot in common,’ Toby continues. ‘We liked the same films and television programmes. We talked a lot about the Marvel universe and science fiction. We talked about computer games. I’m really sad we won’t have that anymore.’
Not wanting to upset the poor guy, Cody injects a tone of sympathy into his voice. ‘I understand, Toby. I’m just trying to get to grips with how well you knew each other. For example, did you meet outside of the exercise class?’
‘Only in the coffee shop at the leisure centre. We did most of our chatting there.’
‘Most, but not all?’
‘Well, we talked on the phone sometimes. We messaged each other a lot.’
‘So you had each other’s phone numbers?’
‘You know we did. You know I called him after you came to see me.’
‘And what about at his house? Did you ever chat there?’
‘No. I don’t know where he lived. I think I already told you that, too.’
Cody nods. Toby had told them that. It’s the thing that’s been bothering him all this time.
‘Sam never sent you his address? Never mentioned it in passing?’
Toby lowers his gaze and shakes his head dolefully. It’s another nail in the coffin of his friendship.
