For the next six weeks life was a dream. I stayed overnight with Sean two days most weeks and also on Saturday night. Our relationship couldn’t have been better. A fortnight after I’d returned, he took me to see the new ‘Sex in the City’ film as I’d enjoyed the first one so much. He made it a very romantic weekend, with a dozen red roses in the morning, delivered to the café in full view of all the customers and then a candle-lit meal in a Chinese restaurant after the film. He brought me breakfast in bed the next morning and we stayed in bed until well after midday. It was something Jake had never done. I knew I had made the right choice.
I had stayed overnight at Sean’s on the Thursday night. We had just woken up when there was a loud knocking on the door to the café. It was just after 7:00 in the morning. I could hear someone shouting but couldn’t make out what was being said. Sean put on a dressing gown and went downstairs. I hastily dressed and followed him. There were four policemen just being let into the café. My mind was racing. Was it me they had come to see? Had there been developments with Crispin and George? And if so, why were there four of them when the previous occasion there were only two?
“Seamus Sean Flynn, I have a warrant for your arrest for the theft of 50,000 Euros from the ‘Green Valley Country Club’ near Cork, in the Republic of Ireland. One of the policemen said.
“You’ve made a mistake, officer,” I intervened. “That’s not his name. He’s Sean O’Flynn. You’ve got the wrong man.” Momentarily, I relaxed. It was all a silly mistake. The names were so similar.
“And you are, madam?” the policeman asked me.
“Rusty Simmonds,” I answered, then corrected myself. “Caroline Simmonds, although people call me Rusty. I’m Sean’s partner.”
“Then I think you’d better come to the station as well. We’ll have some questions to ask you.” I was stunned. I realised Sean hadn’t contradicted the policeman.
“Say something Sean,” I begged, but he remained silent. The policeman issued the usual caution about remaining silent and using anything that was said in evidence, they handcuffed Sean and led him outside. I was led to a second police car and also driven to the police station.
I was shown into an interview room and left there for an hour or more. A lone police woman remained in the room but said she couldn’t answer my questions. I was getting nervous. Why hadn’t Sean protested his innocence? What questions did they want to ask me? And why? Eventually, DC Brooks entered the room with another man and the policewoman left.
“Well, well, Rusty. We meet again; sooner than I’d expected. Do you make a habit of having boyfriends with criminal backgrounds?” I protested that Sean wasn’t a criminal; that it was a case of mistaken identity, but he just smiled at me. “We have DNA evidence of who your boyfriend really is. “So what’s your story this time?” Haltingly, I told him how I met Sean, how long I’d known him and how long we’d been partners. “Bit of a coincidence don’t you think? First, you shack up with a drugs runner; next it’s a thief.”
I couldn’t think straight. I hadn’t known Crispin was involved in drugs, apart from taking a few. And I still couldn’t believe Sean was a thief. He didn’t live an expensive life style. He worked hard at making Rainbow’s End a success. It didn’t make sense. I did what I was beginning to do when things went wrong. I cried. But as I cried, I tried to think. I shouldn’t be here. I hadn’t done anything wrong. I needed someone to help me and I knew a good solicitor. I stopped crying.
“Am I under arrest?” I asked quietly. I wasn’t. “Then I’d like to leave,” I said trying to sound confident.
“We still have questions we need to ask you,” the policeman stated. “If you insist on leaving, I will arrest you.”
“I’m not answering any further questions without a solicitor present. I’d like to phone one now.” They left me alone while I phoned Oliver. It had been several weeks since I’d last seen him and I wasn’t sure how he’d react to my request, but he was my only hope. I rang his mobile number and he answered on the fourth ring. He was surprised to receive a call from me. Was everything OK, he asked.
“They’ve arrested Sean. They say he’s stolen a lot of money in Ireland. They think I’m somehow involved and they’re questioning me. I need you to help me.” My pleas were interspersed with tears. Oliver told me not to answer any more questions. He was a divorce lawyer, not a criminal lawyer. He would arrange for someone to represent me as soon as possible. Although he was sympathetic, I felt as though I had been rebuffed. He obviously didn’t want to help me. Was he acting this way because I’d chosen Sean instead of him? I didn’t think he was like that, but maybe I hadn’t realised how strong his feelings for me were. Surely, if he was a solicitor, he’d know what to do in an interview. I felt let down. Why was life such a bitch to me?
An hour and a half later, a man was shown into the interview room. He introduced himself as Hamish McDrew, a partner in the firm Oliver worked for. He was the partner most directly involved with criminal cases. Hamish looked like he was late sixties. He was tall, but with a belly that suggested he dined well. His hair was grey but had thinned considerably on top. But he oozed confidence and authority. Oliver had given him as much information as I’d given Oliver and Hamish, as he insisted I called him, asked numerous more questions. Eventually the two policemen returned. The tape recorder was switched on to make an accurate record of the interview.
After three hours, Hamish told them the interview was to end. I was exhausted and they had no evidence that I was in any way involved in criminal activity with either Crispin or Sean. My only ‘crime’, he stated, was that I had bad luck when it came to choosing men friends. Reluctantly, the police allowed me to leave, saying they would almost certainly want to interview me again. Hamish insisted they were not to interview me without him being present.
I went home and phoned Jane. She came round almost immediately. “And Oliver won’t have anything to do with me,” I blubbered. “He wouldn’t come when I asked him. Sent an old man instead.” Jane tried to reassure me that Oliver probably had a good reason for not coming himself. He might not be altogether detached, seeing as I’d rejected him in favour of Sean. While she was confident he wouldn’t do anything that would make things worse for me, he might not feel too helpful to Sean’s cause, especially if Sean really was the man the police said he was.
A bottle of wine later, I was feeling calmer. And very tired. I went to bed and slept fitfully. I had weird dreams that woke me frequently but which I couldn’t recall once I was awake.
It was after eleven the following morning when the phone woke me. It was Oliver wanting to know how I was bearing up. I had to admit to myself that he did sound concerned. He assured me that Hamish was one of the best at his job. Oliver couldn’t have been nearly as helpful as Hamish had been. And the police were aware of Hamish’s reputation. According to Hamish, there was no evidence against me. As he’d told the police, it was just my bad luck in choosing the wrong men. He asked if I would like company that day or if I wanted to be on my own. I didn’t want to be on my own but I didn’t want to face him. How could I?