Patsy, one of guests who had been staying at the Bedford for a week, decides to check out the form on the internet that her one and only ‘friend’ had asked her to sign before she left to go on holiday. When she finds out it’s a document that gives her friend’s partner control of her bank account, Patsy is devastated. A reclusive woman who had lived in isolation with her elderly father until he died, she couldn’t believe that someone could be so dishonest. When Laura comes through to tell Patsy her taxi had arrived to take her to the station, she breaks down and shows her the form.
    
 


 
When Laura went back through to the reception area after she calmed Patsy down, Jenny and Karen were waiting for her. After she told them how the so called ‘friend’ had tried to con Patsy out of her inheritance, their mouths dropped open.

     'What a cow!’ Karen gasped. ‘I thought you couldn’t get involved with your patient’s finances if you worked for social services or the NHS. It’s against the law, isn’t it?’

     ‘That’s as I understand it,’ Laura agreed. ‘But by trying to do it this way, Deirdre has possibly found a loop-hole. She’s never treated Patsy, only her father, and her partner has a different surname to her. He could claim Patsy asked for help because she wasn’t used to handling her own finances. Under normal circumstances, someone would check something before they sign it, but Patsy’s had to sign various forms recently. Deirdre obviously thought that by slipping another one under her nose just before she got on the train, she’d get her signature without a hitch.’

     ‘But shouldn’t we call the police?’ Jenny asked. ‘If that woman tried to con Patsy, she might try to do it to someone else.’

     ‘If she hasn’t already…’ Karen interjected.

     Laura agreed with both of them, and she’d already suggested it, but Patsy would have none of it. In response to the question, she ripped the form up into several pieces and threw it in the bin. She claimed she couldn’t go through the humiliation of a court case, because it would make her look incredibly stupid to be so trusting. Laura doubted the unsigned form would stand up in court anyway. Anyone could pick up a form like that from the bank and put someone’s name on it. She presumed it was only if it had been signed and acted upon, that it could have been used as evidence.

     ‘But she shouldn’t get away Scot free.’ Karen said. ‘Surely someone should report her?’

     Laura hunched her shoulders. ‘It’s not my call. If Patsy wants to forget about it, then we have to respect her wishes. From what I can make out, most of the other things she signed were either for the lease on her new flat in Bristol, or the missives at the solicitor’s office before the sale of her father’s house went through. I suspect Deirdre was just doing all she could to get into a position of trust before the money for the house was put into Patsy’s account. If Patsy had signed that form before she came here for a week’s holiday, she could have found her account cleaned out by the time she got back.’

     Karen topped up their mugs from the cafetiere she’d brought through while they were waiting for Laura, before asking what they thought Patsy should do next. ‘I mean, she can’t stay here indefinitely. In fact, we’re fully booked for the weekend because of that guy’s fortieth birthday bash on Saturday night. She’s either going to have to go home, or find somewhere else to stay tomorrow night.’

      ‘Damn! I’d forgotten about that,’ Laura groaned. ‘Well, that settles it then. Maybe she should go home. At least that woman won’t be able to meet her off the train this afternoon. I think that’s the main reason Patsy wanted to stay another night. Now she knows what Deirdre was trying to do to her, she’s terrified of the idea of coming face to face with her again.’

     ‘Won’t she just ring Patsy when she finds out she didn’t get the train back, though?’ Karen suggested. ‘If she’s hoping to be handed a form that gives her partner control over Patsy’s account, she’s bound to be seriously pissed off when she doesn’t arrive.’

     Laura shook her head. ‘Well, she probably would if she could. Patsy doesn’t have a mobile. She’s never needed one.’

     Karen couldn’t imagine anyone surviving without a mobile phone in this day and age. It was a lifeline she used on a regular basis. ‘So what do you think this Deirdre woman will do when Patsy doesn’t turn up?’

     The three of them thought about it for a few seconds, until Laura made a suggestion. ‘She’ll probably ring here. She knows where Patsy was staying because she was the one who booked this hotel in the first place. She’s bound to have all the details, including the phone number. It stands to reason she’d call here first.’

      ‘And then what?’ Jenny asked. ‘Do we tell her that Patsy’s still here? If we do, she might ask to speak to her in her room. It doesn’t get rid of the problem, it just complicates it.’

     ‘Unless…’ Karen started to say before she raised her mug to her lips and took a sip of coffee while she thought her idea through, ‘we tell her that Patsy’s out,’ she eventually added.

     Jenny and Laura looked back at her, a mystified expression on both their faces.

     ‘And how does that help, exactly?’ Laura asked.

     Karen seemed to be in a world of her own as she looked straight ahead and thought out loud. ‘Yes… I could see that being a way to kill two birds with one stone,’ she said, before turning back to them. ‘Bagsy the job of talking to Deirdre if she does ring. You know how I love a good acting part…’

   

By six-thirty, Laura and Karen assumed Deirdre wasn’t going to ring. Patsy’s train would have arrived at three-thirty, so if she was anxious about her no-show, they reckoned Deirdre would have rung by now. With all the guests checked in, and the barman now on duty to serve drinks, as well as keep an eye on the reception desk, they could both call it a day.

     Karen had just picked up her bag to leave when the phone rang. As quick as a flash, she shot across the reception hall and grabbed it.

     ‘Good evening, the Bedford Hotel,’ she purred down the phone.

     Whatever the person at the other end said, Karen adopted a relieved expression, as though they could actually see her through the phone.

     ‘Oh thank goodness,’ she replied. ‘We don’t have a contact number for Miss Beaumont, and we’re concerned because she left her case here before she got a taxi to the Police station. We don’t know if she requires her room for another night, and we don’t want to let it out if she does. If you’re a friend of hers… is there any way you could contact her to find out? I have the number of the station right here.’

     Karen waited for an answer for a few seconds, then the line went dead.

     Obviously not,’ she chuckled after she pressed the disconnect button and turned to Laura with a triumphant smile. ‘I have a funny feeling Patsy won’t be hearing from Deirdre again…’