Perfect Strangers

‘Can I help you?’

Ruth turned to see a cute, ruddy-faced young man wearing the club uniform – a red T-shirt and black jogging bottoms with the logo of a heart doing press-ups. His plastic name badge read ‘Hi, I’m Mike’.

‘I certainly hope you can help me,’ said Ruth, flashing him a smile. Steady, Ruth, she reminded herself. Remember what happened last night.

Reaching into her bag, she introduced herself and handed him a business card.

‘I wanted to ask a few questions about Sophie Ellis. I’m sure you’ve heard she’s got mixed up in something?’

‘I guessed as much,’ he said hesitantly. ‘The police were here yesterday, going through her locker and everything.’

He began to look uncomfortable.

‘I’m only the assistant junior manager.’ He gave a nervous laugh. ‘Kind of a glorified receptionist, really. Sharif – he’s the owner – is out at a meeting at the moment.’

‘That’s okay. It was you I wanted to talk to anyway,’ lied Ruth. Make them feel important, they’ll give you more. Another one of her dad’s maxims. ‘I understand you’re a good friend of Sophie’s?’

She was amused to see that Mike’s face instantly flushed pink.

‘Well, yes. Not close, which is a shame, because she’s lovely.’ Another nervous laugh. ‘I probably shouldn’t have said that, should I? Now you’re going to think I doffed that bloke at the Riverton out of unrequited love.’

‘Don’t be silly,’ smiled Ruth, although that exact thought had indeed passed through her head.

‘You don’t really think Sophie had anything to do with it, do you? She isn’t a suspect, is she?’ Mike’s expression suggested that he might burst into tears if that was the case.

‘Witness, yes. Suspect, no.’

‘That’s what the police officer said.’

‘Inspector Fox?’ asked Ruth.

‘No, someone called Davis, I think.’

‘So how was she the last time you spoke to her?’ asked Ruth. ‘Was anything bothering her? I hear she had money troubles.’

Mike shook his head.

‘No, Sophie wasn’t the type to let anything like that get her down. The first time she came in, I thought she was going to be another of those stuck-up Chelsea girls, but she wasn’t like that at all. She got stuck in, never complained about picking up the sweaty towels the customers drop on the floor, nothing like that. She was great.’

I think someone has a big crush on Little Miss Sophie, thought Ruth, suppressing a smile.

‘Actually, for the last few weeks she’s been really upbeat,’ said Mike. He walked over to the gym notice board and pulled off the flyer for ‘Ellis Training’ that Sophie had pinned there. ‘She’d set up this personal training business and had landed some wealthy housewives as clients. And she was house-sitting at that rich Spanish chick’s place, which must have been amazing.’

‘That was Lana Goddard-Price? She came to this gym, didn’t she?’ said Ruth, remembering what Francesca Manning had told her.

‘Yes,’ said Mike, frowning. ‘It was all a bit weird, though.’

‘In what way?’

‘Well, I was pleased for Soph, of course, but I never really got why that Lana woman asked her to become her trainer. Sophie wasn’t working on the day they met, so it wasn’t like she mistook her for a Red Heart trainer.’

‘So Sophie isn’t a qualified trainer here?’ asked Ruth, her interest piqued.

‘Nope,’ said Mike. ‘She’s really fit, and we all had to do a two-day training course when we started working at the gym, learning about the equipment, that sort of thing. But that’s about it. Which is why I thought it was odd. I mean, these rich birds always want the very best people, like some film star’s personal trainer or a massage therapist who’s been name-checked in Tatler. Not a nobody they meet on the weights.’

Interesting, thought Ruth.

‘Yeah, and there was another thing I checked too.’ He rattled a few keys on his computer and swivelled the monitor around so Ruth could see. It was the member’s account page for Lana Goddard-Price.