The Cone Zone

Lexie said.

‘Why do you always assume I’m going to arrest you? What have you done now?’

Lexie explained about Paul’s phone call. ‘I don’t know why

I’m telling you all this — why are you even here?’

‘I visited the

Millers. It turns out that Freddie’s mum kept nagging him about eating too much ice cream and said it would make him ill. So, when Freddie started throwing up, he thought that was the reason.

‘He’d actually caught a nasty stomach bug — half the kids in his class are off school with it, but he’s much better now, definitely on the mend.’

‘I’m so glad to hear it,’ Lexie said. ‘I was worried about him. But why did his dad have a go at me?’

‘He believed what

Freddie told him, that the ice cream had made him sick. He overreacted, same as you.’

‘Me?’

‘Think about it. Freddie ate the ice cream off your van but so did lots of others. Dodgy ice cream would have made everybody ill…’

It was so obvious — why hadn’t she realised sooner?

‘What about Paul though? You should have heard him shouting at me earlier. He thinks I’ve sabotaged his business.’

‘Ah yes, your boss, Paul Hartman. One of my colleagues arrested his ex-wife and her partner. I researched them after I’d been to see the Millers.

‘Fiona wasn’t satisfied with the divorce settlement she received from Paul. She wanted more money, but when her claim failed, she decided that if she couldn’t have more of Paul’s cash, then he wasn’t having it either. It seems likely that she’s to blame for damaging his property.’

‘But that’s insane…’ ‘Feuding exes are common — we see it all the time…’

‘Well, thanks for telling me, Ben — I can’t thank you enough.’

‘How about coming out for a drink one night? We could go to Flights, maybe…’

Before she could say yes, the phone rang again.

‘I’m sorry I accused you of wrecking the vans,’ Paul said. ‘Come over and help me clean up — you can have your job back.’

‘No, thanks. Selling ice cream is too stressful.’

It meant she was unemployed again. But then she remembered a vacancy.

‘If I can’t sell ice cream, perhaps I can be a lollipop lady instead!’ she said, smiling at Ben.

‘He believed what Freddie told him, that the ice cream had made him sick’