Trust

As she approached the dog walker, she clutched her keys in her right hand. Ready to strike if he attacked her too. If he were a friend, she could always put them in her pocket. Her uncle’s advice, to get them safe.

‘You alright?’ he asked.

‘I’m not sure, I’ve just called the police. I found a dead body in the river. Looks like it was a young woman, wearing a bracelet.’

She watched for any eye movements, but he was more curious than anything. If he were going to hurt her, he would have done it by now – Even if he were the murderer. She bent down to stroke his Labrador, golden in colour, he allowed her to pet his fur.

‘That must be quite frightening, finding a dead body,’ he said. ‘I’m Josh, and this is my dog Max. I’ll stay with you, if you want. It will be getting dark soon, wouldn’t want you to wait on your own.’

It wasn’t the body she was most afraid of – this stranger was all too calm. He removed a picture from his wallet. It was blurred, distorted, so the women in red couldn’t clearly be seen. There was something, which looked like a sprinkling of fairy dust, on her wrist. ‘This is Mary, my girlfriend. Although it might be she isn’t now.’

‘The picture, is a little blurry.’

‘Yes, I should really get a new camera, she was always complaining about the shots.’

‘I’ve called the police,’ Helen repeated.

‘It will be a while, don’t worry, I’ll keep you company.’

She wrapped her hands around the keys; he didn’t look like your typical murderer but until the police got there, she couldn’t be sure. Perhaps she shouldn’t have confronted him so soon, walked away while she still could. His quiet manner distorting, she smiled at him.

‘Thank you,’ she said, her keys ready to release her fear.