He also didn’t like heights, so the chances of him being on the edge of that cliff seemed slim. Alan’s family had been quietly campaigning for years and arguing that the police had botched the investigation.
I was really playing it up, telling her how Alan’s family was convinced it wasn’t an accident and that we were there to try to uncover the truth. I kept telling her how we’d been working closely with Alan’s son.
Emma: I almost said the name ‘Scott’ when Paul was talking about Alan’s son. I guess that night would have gone differently if I’d not stopped myself.
Paul: In the end, I ran out of things to talk about. I’d been blagging it a bit anyway, probably making it sound as if I was somehow integral to this whole thing, even though I was the guy holding the boom mic. I’d probably been talking for about half an hour. I’m not usually like that, but every time I stopped, she had a question and so I was off again. My sister once told me about a series of dates she’d gone on where the blokes never stopped talking at her – and I suddenly realised that’s exactly what I was doing.
Emma: It was my fault. I knew Paul was trying to impress me, but I never stepped in to stop him, or tell him who I was. I wanted to listen to someone else talking and he seemed happy to be there.
Paul: When I realised I’d been going on about myself almost non-stop, I asked Emma what she did. She said she worked in a shop that sold vintage clothing, which I guess explained the random T-shirt. I told her it sounded interesting and she gave me some fabulous side-eye.
Emma: I told him that I could have named any job and he’d have said he found it interesting.
Paul: That did make me laugh. She was right in that she could probably have named any career and I’d have told her it was fascinating. But it was that look that really made me feel lucky to be talking to her. A sort of half-squint with a half-smile that made it clear she wasn’t for playing games. It was like she could see me… really see me. Does that make sense?
Emma: I didn’t really want to talk about myself because there’s only so long I can do that before the questions get uncomfortable. I told him I worked with my friend in a clothes shop and more or less left it at that. I didn’t say that the regular hours and the routine is what saved me.
Paul: She didn’t seem comfortable talking about herself and I didn’t want to push. I asked if she wanted another and she said she was drinking Coke.
Emma: He gave me the look, but he didn’t ask the question. I might have walked off if he had.
Paul: I didn’t think it was that weird that Emma wanted a soft drink. My sister’s a vegan and people are always asking her why she doesn’t eat meat. It’s as if she’s the weird one for not eating things that used to be alive, even though, if you think about it, there’s no reason for that to be the norm.
I figure it’s quite rude to ask someone why they don’t drink, why they don’t eat meat, why they’re not married or why they don’t have kids. That sort of thing. If someone wants to tell you, they will.
Emma: He turned to me and goes: ‘So what’s your story? Are you single?’
Paul: She laughed, but it wasn’t like she was laughing at me. It was like when you’re with a mate and you take the mick out of each other.
Emma: I called him ‘Mr Subtle’, which he found funny. I thought about telling him I was single, or maybe even that I was married and unavailable. It was only a split second, but I decided to tell him the truth, so I said I was divorced.
Paul: I hadn’t expected that. She didn’t seem old enough.
Emma: He waited for a moment, probably wondering what the rest of the story was. I could’ve come out with something like ‘We weren’t compatible’ and all that – but I didn’t want to lie. Not then. I decided to say nothing.
Paul: She didn’t want to talk about it, which was fair enough.
Emma: I liked that he didn’t ask. I’d left so much unanswered, but he didn’t seem bothered. So many people miss the