‘It was weird, what Mum said at Miles’s party, don’t you think?’ Rachel said. ‘About how Dad made her life hell and she should have left him years ago?’
‘It was weird,’ Tully agreed. ‘But not true, obviously. You don’t think she meant it?’
It took Rachel a long time to respond. So long that Tully turned to her and repeated, ‘You don’t think she meant it?’
‘No,’ Rachel said hesitantly. ‘I mean, I don’t think so. But . . .’
‘But what?’
‘I guess I keep thinking about it in the context of the money. If Mum wanted to leave Dad, maybe . . .’ Rachel paused.
‘Maybe what?’
Rachel looked at her as if assessing whether Tully was up to hearing this. The answer must have been yes, because she continued, ‘I was going to say, it’s almost as if she was saving to run away.’
Tully gave a little scoff, as though the very idea was unthinkable. Which, of course, it was. Mum and Dad had been married for thirty-eight years. They were a solid couple. Mum would never have wanted to leave him. He was her soul mate. ‘You can’t possibly believe that,’ Tully said, right as the door opened and the police strolled in, with Jazmin on their heels.
‘Which one of you is Mrs Harris?’
Tully shot to her feet. ‘Me.’
She looked at the police officers, trying to get a read on them. She’d ascertained from Law & Order SVU that there were two types of cops: the thirsty-for-an-arrest type, who liked to make an example of people; and the lazy kind who couldn’t be bothered with paperwork. Tully prayed for the latter, but it was hard to tell at a glance. One was a young man, probably in his twenties; the other was older, in his fifties. He had a kind, lined face. There was a fuss around who would sit where for a moment, before the older cop, who introduced himself as Sergeant Paul Harvey, offered to stand. He was the one who did the talking.
‘I understand that there has been a shoplifting incident, is that correct?’
Tully nodded.
‘And the items in question are a game of Uno, some post-its and a . . . pencil?’
‘A pen,’ Jazmin said helpfully. ‘Four-colour.’
The police officer ignored Jazmin. ‘So the total value of that is . . . what, around ten dollars?’
‘Twelve dollars fifty,’ Jazmin said.
‘And, Mrs Harris, you came here today to return the items?’
‘Yes,’ Tully said. ‘And to apologise.’
‘I see.’ He focused on Tully. ‘Mrs Harris, the punishment for larceny in Victoria for an offence like this is up to two years imprisonment. You may also be fined up to ten thousand dollars and have a criminal record. Do you understand that?’
Tully felt her cheeks heat up. ‘Yes.’
The police officer looked at Jazmin. ‘It does seem like a severe punishment for twelve-fifty.’
Jazmin didn’t look like she thought so.
The police officer waited for a few seconds, then let out a loud sigh. ‘May I make a suggestion?’
Everyone, including Jazmin, nodded.
‘I get the impression, from the fact that Mrs Harris has returned the goods, that she is sorry for what she has done. We don’t see that sort of thing in our line of work as much as I’d like to. I believe that Mrs Harris understands the serious nature of her crime, and I hope the severity of the punishment will deter her from committing theft in the future. So, given the negligible value of the goods, my recommendation would be to return the stock into the system and let that be the end of it.’
Jazmin opened her mouth. ‘Well I’d really need to check with –’
‘If your supervisor has any problem with what I’ve suggested, please let them know that I would be happy to speak with them about it.’ He handed Jazmin his business card and nodded to his partner to stand. ‘Mrs Harris, I will be making a note of this incident, which means that if you offend again, you will not be let off so lightly.’
‘We understand,’ Rachel said.
‘Good. So I won’t be seeing Mrs Harris again?’ he asked, but it appeared to be a rhetorical question, because the police officers left without waiting for a response.
Tully was glad that she hadn’t been forced to answer the sergeant. Because the truth was, she could already feel the tension building. And when the tension rose, there was only one thing she could do to ease it.
35
RACHEL
Tully was quiet as Rachel drove her home from the shopping centre. It was fine with Rachel; she’d had enough drama for one day. For a while there, she’d thought she and Tully might end up in the back of a police wagon on the way to jail. It felt like the kind of thing that should have happened to them as teenagers. It occurred to Rachel that, in a way, she was having a lot of those teen experiences now, in her thirties.