The Hopkins Conundrum by Simon Edge

Author:Simon Edge
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-04-25T09:42:06+00:00

Manchester, the present

Chloe has no regrets about giving Tim her phone number. She doesn’t buy for a moment that he is the enthusiast for the poet that he professes to be, and she has no idea what really brought him to the literary lecture that afternoon. She is curious about that, of course. But she is not hugely bothered that he has over-egged his love for the work. She has had far worse lies from men at first acquaintance, and this one was so laughably inept, it is hard to hold it against him or consider it in any way sinister. If anything, it’s endearing.

After the long drive from home – slowed by roadworks, a wrong turn on the motorway bypass round Chester, and another on a featureless dual carriageway system somewhere in Flintshire – she walked into that room at the college and was immediately underwhelmed by the sight of her fellow poetry-lovers. With hindsight she is not sure what she expected, but this sparse array of retired teachers and soapy clerics was really not it. She had been more excited about this occasion than it warranted, and the gathering itself came as a deflating contrast to the way her imagination had dressed it up. In that context, the sight of a tall, elegant man with raffish eyebrows and a dress sense verging on the beatnik represented a sudden, dramatic improvement. If it came with a sizeable dollop of bullshit on the side, that is a level of reality check that Chloe is prepared to accommodate.

When they chatted, he made her laugh, sometimes intentionally, and afterwards she was charmed to see his empty old pub, which some people might consider sad and depressing, but for Chloe it’s more a question of unrealised potential. The sorry tale of ineptitude that had brought him there was equally endearing, and she was even amused by the ancient, red-faced trio propping up the bar. Leaving her contact details was a very natural next step.

He emails first, and they only speak on the phone once she has given him enough tacit reassurance that she won’t brush him off or fail to pick up. When he calls, she takes mischievous pleasure in his obvious nervousness, and she is in no hurry to help him through the silences that punctuate the conversation whenever his confidence falters. Eventually, however, she takes pity, and she is the one who suggests coming over for a visit. He jumps at the suggestion with such eagerness that she is once again struck by his lack of guile. Whatever he is bullshitting about, it doesn’t feel dangerous.

She thinks more about this on the drive over. She has chosen to turn a blind eye to the obvious nonsense that he is peddling about his interest in the poet, and she has decided to treat it as an entertaining foible rather than a cause for concern. She will get to the bottom of it in the end, she has no doubt. But as someone

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