The Quiet Side of Passion by Smith Alexander McCall

Author:Smith, Alexander McCall [Smith, Alexander McCall]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery, Philosophy, Adult, Contemporary, Humour
ISBN: 9780345808707
Amazon: 0345808703
Goodreads: 36959455
Publisher: Knopf Canada
Published: 2018-06-07T07:00:00+00:00

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JAMIE WAS INSISTENT.

“You have to,” he said. “We must go there right now.”

“But what if they ask what I was doing...” She trailed off. There was a lot that she wanted to say, but she could not find the words.

He took her hand, but with his other hand he had extracted his mobile phone from his pocket and was beginning to dial the taxi number. “I’m going to ask them to pick us up from outside the restaurant,” he said. “We’ll go straight to the police. There’s a station that covers Leith—the taxi driver will know.”

She did not argue, and was silent in the taxi on the short journey. Inside the police station a policewoman appeared and led Isabel off to an interview room. Jamie was asked to wait behind.

“Just tell me in your own words,” said the policewoman.

Isabel said, “I was walking along the street.”

The policewoman waited.

“I don’t know the name of it,” said Isabel. “It was round the corner from the restaurant we were in, you see.”

The policewoman was patient. She asked for the name of the restaurant and drew a small diagram for herself on a pad of paper in front of her. She named a street. “And that’s where you were assaulted?”

“Yes. A man got out of his car and approached me. He thought that I was soliciting.”

The policewoman made notes. “And this was not the case?”

“No. It was not.”

The policewoman looked apologetic. “Sorry—I had to ask that, you see.” She hesitated before continuing, “What were you doing there?”

Isabel looked down at the table. “I was following somebody.”

The policewoman stared at her. “You were following somebody?”

“Yes. There was a couple in the restaurant. I knew her and she was with this man. I wanted to see where they went.”

There was silence. Then the policewoman said, “Why?”

“Because I thought she might be having an affair with him.” She told herself that this was true.

The policewoman raised an eyebrow. “Private reasons, then?”

“Yes, private reasons.”

There was a further silence. Isabel wondered whether this was where the interview would end. And she would not blame the policewoman if she closed her notebook at this stage and concluded that this was a mental-health issue. But that did not happen; rather, the policewoman sighed and asked her to continue. So Isabel told her what had happened and mentioned that there was a witness, if they needed to find one. She could not remember the precise address of the woman in the housecoat, but it was, she thought, the fourth door along from the end of the street. They would find her easily enough if they wanted to.

At the end of Isabel’s account, the policewoman sat back in her chair. “I’m very sorry you had this experience,” she said. “It happens, I’m sorry to say. There are some men who seem to specialise in intimidating women in these circumstances. You encountered one of these, I’m afraid.”

Isabel was relieved that the interview appeared to be coming to an end. She had done her civic duty and reported the incident.

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