Descriptions

Miss Fyfield was one of the old school, thought Detective Constable Cathy Patterson.

Pure white hair—lightly permed to add body, then swirled up into a bun. A little foundation and a subtle-toned lipstick. A peach coloured sweater worn with pearls, and a navy skirt suit. And to finish it all off, an elegant black handbag suitable for any situation or outfit. She was clearly a woman who enjoyed taking care of her appearance, and wasn’t prepared to be written off by anyone because of her age.

Patterson gestured to her computer. “So would you say that was a reasonable likeness of the man who tried to snatch your bag?”

Miss Fyfield stared at the image of a man’s head and shoulders. “His hair was a lighter brown I think. And he did have fair skin but it was just a trifle darker than that.”

Her smile wavered between proud and apologetic.

“And he probably has quite a shiner now where I caught him with the bag.”

Patterson grinned, and brought up a few more images—each one just slightly different from the others.

Miss Fyfield pointed firmly. “That one! That is pretty much him.”

“Excellent.” Patterson tapped a button. “Now let’s add his clothing. What do you remember…?”

Miss Fyfield furrowed her immaculately made-up forehead. “A black sweatshirt…? A… hoodie?”

“Like this?” Patterson brought up another image.

Miss Fyfield outright frowned at that. “Well, that’s… Could we maybe try a proper shirt?”

Patterson made the adjustment.

“And make it a medium grey?”

Patterson nodded and adjusted the image again.

“Add a burgundy jacket…?”

Patterson glanced up at Miss Fyfield bemused, but she made the change.

“And a dark grey tie… Oh, and a dark grey pocket square!”

Patterson took her hands away from the keyboard and looked up altogether.

“Miss Fyfield.”

She smiled weakly.

“I do try not to fall into the trap of stereotyping people. But were you really mugged by someone with a pocket square in their top pocket?”

“What?”

Miss Fyfield looked away from the computer screen and up at Patterson.

She smiled cheerfully.

“No, I just thought this would be a much better outfit for someone of his colouring.”