“Sure, you want delivery? Your usual?”
“George, please can I talk to Alex?”
He grunted again and hollered, “Al!”
“Duck pancakes,” Officer Riley mouthed through the glass.
There was a muffled sound on the line and June heard Alex’s voice. “Hello?”
June wasn’t sure she’d ever been so relieved to hear a voice in her life. “Alex, I need your help.”
“June, is everything all right?”
“Stanley’s been arrested.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t have time to explain. Please can you come down to New Cowley Police Station?”
“Of course. I’m on my way.”
June hung up the phone.
“Did you order the food?” Riley said.
“Seriously?”
“Well, if he’s coming all this way...”
June picked up the phone and dialed the number again.
Half an hour later, Alex ran into the police station, still wearing his apron and carrying a plastic bag. When June saw him, she had an overwhelming urge to rush over and give him a hug, but she hung back.
“Ah, nice one,” Riley said as Alex handed over the bag. He’d been marginally nicer to June since she’d placed his food order. “How much do I owe you?”
“Nine pounds twenty,” Alex said. “Now, can I see Stanley Phelps?”
“Look, lad. I told your friend here, no one can see him except a solicitor. Don’t think you can soften me up with a few duck pancakes.”
“Iama solicitor,” Alex said.
June saw Riley eye him up and down. “Is this some kind of joke?”
Alex reached into his pocket, pulled out a business card, and handed it over. The officer read it and stood up.
“Right, come this way,” he said, walking round to open the interconnecting door.
“Let me know if I can do anything to help,” June said, and Alex nodded as he went through the door.
The waiting room was empty again. Officer Riley returned to his seat and began to eat. June sat down on a hard plastic chair and tried to ignore the noisy slurps and chewing. There was no clock on the wall and without her phone she had no idea what the time was. The only indicator was her growling stomach as the smell of spring rolls and Peking duck wafted over. Every now and then people came in and out of the waiting room, receiving the same charmless welcome from Officer Riley, but there was no sign of her friends.
“So, why do the council want to shut this library anyway?” Riley said when he’d finished eating.
“Funding cuts.”
“It’s the one in Chalcot, isn’t it? Last time I drove past it was looking pretty run-down.”
June thought she might have preferred his unfriendly silence. “It hasn’t had any money spent on it for years. The council keep cutting our budget.”