Peter’s Predicament – Part 6 – Finale

Lisa was still going on in an almost uncontrollable manner about how she found out all the things she knew about Peter’s life. Peter was trying to think carefully about how on earth he was going to get himself out of this mess, but at the same time he made sure to tune in to what she was saying every now and then.

As Lisa finished saying how she often waited outside the supermarket every Wednesday afternoon to watch Diane do the weekly shop, Peter had a flash of an idea to help him resolve this.

“OK OK, Lisa, I have to say, I am quite taken aback with all this,” Peter said rather more weakly than he would have liked. “But I’m flattered,” he added, more confidently.
Lisa was now suddenly the one who was lost for words. This was good for Peter. The more worked up he appeared to get, the more hysterical she got, so he had to play her at her own game. Now she didn’t know what to think. Or say evidently.
“I know that you were probably expecting me to get really angry and upset, but I actually think it’s really kind of sweet. All that effort you went to. You must really have some strong feelings for me, right?” Peter asked, putting the ball back in her court, mainly to try and gauge how he was doing.
“Er… well yeah, I do,” Lisa said hesitating slightly.
“I just think it shows a lot of perseverance and strength of character, you know?” he asked, ramping up the admiration in his voice.
She narrowed her eyes at him, her suspicion egging him on.
“I mean, you’ve got everything right there Lisa. 100%. My wife is not happy. She’s a nightmare. My job sucks the life out of me and my life is generally pretty shit. It just feels so good to finally have someone who cares about me actually tell me that. It’s nice to be appreciated.”
Lisa’s expression had softened and she was nodding slightly. He could see that this was working.
“I mean, I deserve to be loved and appreciated, don’t I? I deserve someone who isn’t afraid to tell me so. And you deserve someone who notices you, Lisa. You deserve to be loved and appreciated too.”
Lisa smiled and Peter got a glimpse of the lady he first saw in the supermarket. Flirty, fun and sexy. He had to shake the thought from his mind and remind himself of the madness that came out of her mouth over the past half an hour.
“What do you say, then?” she asked sheepishly. “Shall we go to my place?”
Peter’s heart started to race because he knew that he now had a small window of time where he could do something about this. That window would close very quickly if he goes with her. If he didn’t go with her, well he dreads to think of the consequence.
“That sounds great,” he said slowly. “But my family is expecting me, so I need to just ring them and let them know I’m going to be late,” he added.
“Well if you think you need to do that then go ahead. But if you’re going to leave them anyway, does it matter?” she asked, without any emotion. As if this was the natural thing to happen. Peter might have thought about changing his life, but it never occurred to him to just abandon his family.
“I think it’s best if I do. I’ll only be a couple of minutes Lisa. Get your stuff together and we’ll go once I’m done,” he said, standing up to go outside and make the call.

After a quick call, Peter went back with a smile plastered on his face.
“Ready?” he asked.
Lisa stood up and headed towards the door.

Peter drove slowly and steadily, sticking to the speed limits and taking all the necessary precautions one should take when on the road.
“You know, my house is empty and it’s only a couple of miles from here. Do you fancy going there instead?” he probed.
Peter could feel Lisa’s head turn and her eyes boring into the side of his face.
“No, Peter. We’re going to my place.” End of discussion apparently.
“Well, actually, it’s always been my fantasy to take back a beautiful, sexy woman, to the house while the family is out,” he said proud of himself for thinking of this.
She smiled smugly and as Peter turned into his road, said, “Oh in that case…”

On his driveway, there were two police cars and four police officers, three men and one woman, standing around.
“What’s going on here?” Lisa said, the discomfort in her voice clear for Peter to hear.
“Ohh, I don’t know. Let’s find out,” Peter said quietly. He didn’t know what else he could say really. When he described Lisa to the police on the phone earlier, they seemed to be keen to come and find out more. The lady he spoke to said they think that Lisa might be someone they are already after and she’d send some officers over to his house immediately. And true to her word, these officers were there and ready to talk.

“Good afternoon, officers,” Peter said.
A couple of them nodded before the biggest male officer said, “Afternoon Sir. Have you and the lady got a moment to talk?”
“Oh sure, come, let’s go in the house,” Peter said as he headed to the front door, fumbling around with his keys. He was suddenly nervous. What if Lisa is not who the police are after? What if they don’t do anything about this? What if they don’t have evidence of any stalking or craziness?

After they politely declined a cup of tea, the officers got straight down to business. The police don’t muck around or skirt around the issues apparently.
“Ms Hutchins, isn’t it?” the big officer said.
Lisa nodded ever so slightly after a long pause. It was as if she didn’t know the right answer to the question.
“Do you have any formal identification on you?”
Lisa opened her bag and started to rummage through it. The rummaging went on for quite some time and the officers starting glancing over at one another.
“Ms Hutchins, do you have identification on you or not?” the officer asked again.
“I’m sure I did… I must have forgotten it somewhere or lost it,” Lisa said, her head still buried in her handbag.
“Ms Hutchins, it strikes us as odd that you’d think you lost it before saying you must have left it at home. People don’t think they’ve lost something until they’ve searched sufficiently.”
After more rummaging in silence, the female officer handed the speaker of the group a photograph. He then placed it on the coffee table and turned it around so it was the right way up to Peter and Lisa.
“Is this not you Ms?” he asked.
Lisa and Peter looked at the photo. She was speechless. It was undeniable. It was Lisa.
“We have reason to believe that you are not Lisa Hutchins, but that you are in fact, Amanda Hamilton. Is that correct?”
Lisa didn’t answer. She avoided eye contact and had nothing to say.
“We have reason to believe that you have stolen Ms Hutchins’ identity and have been committing fraud under that false identity. We’d like you to come with us please,” he said standing up.
Peter also stood up and watched Lisa, or Amanda, resist cooperation with the officers.

Watching the two cars drive off, after much resistance and a bit of a scuffle, Peter has never been more grateful or relieved to hear his phone ring and his wife’s voice on the other side.