Not Daddy Christmas

Monica updated us first. Her son had made some basic enquiries. He had found Imogen, recorded as Imojine, in a town about twenty miles away. He had followed her into a local post office where she had cashed a benefit cheque, and then to one further away where she had cashed another one. He had found out that she visited both post offices every week. That was sufficient information for the Benefits Agency to investigate. He had photos of her at both post offices and a close up of the benefits envelope each time.

Helen had been in contact with Social Services. They had Charlise, as Charlene, in care temporarily in a children's home. Charlise, Charlene or other names had been in care three times in the last two years and had run away twice to rejoin Imogen. Although she shouldn't, one of her former staff, advised by Judy, had contacted the right person in the CSA and asked them to look for Imogen and Charlise under all the names the local Social Services and the neighbouring counties had recorded.

The CSA was still looking but already had found Andy, John and another man paying child support for Charlise and as Charlene and Charlotte. The child appeared to have three fathers all white British. They were digging further and cross referencing with Imogen's various court cases found by Hazel, only some of which were in the Social Service's records. Imogen's days of benefit fraud and child support would soon be ended.

Andy was looking delighted. I had to tell him to be cautious. It might take months for all the strands to be brought together. Hazel agreed to advise Andy on how to suspend paying the CSA in the meantime. He would have to put the money aside until Imogen had been proven to have claimed fraudulently but eventually he would be free from that drain on his salary.

I had the impression that Hazel might want repayment from Andy in sexual services too. He seemed pleased to be wanted. I suspect that he will have been in four beds before the end of January. He might be getting an extended master class on how to please women in bed. If Judy's expression was an indication, he was a willing pupil.

We agreed to monitor as far as we could what the various agencies were doing and how the case against Imogen was building. I asked that Monica's private investigator son should watch for any sign of Imogen moving house. We didn't want to lose sight of her before Andy was free of her demands. I offered to pay the costs but Monica refused. She would pay and get a family discount.

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In the end it was six months before the whole case was assembled against Imogen and she appeared in court. She was sentenced to imprisonment for eighteen months unless she could repay the massive amounts of money she had defrauded from the public authorities and private individuals such as John and Andy. She refused to pay. The court ordered that her assets should be seized as proceeds of crime. She lost everything AND went to jail. Andy didn't get his money back, except that he had been putting aside as advised by Hazel. Monica's son had also found out where John was. He had taken a well paid contract job in the Gulf, flying out on the morning he had left the note for Sonia. We didn't ask how the information had been obtained but John had stopped the payments to the CSA, and cleared his credit card debts and overdraft with an advance on his salary.

Sonia didn't care what John had done or was doing. He was history as far as she was concerned.

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Long before Imogen's court appearance other things were happening.

The progress of converting what would be Sonia's annexe was stalled. We had obtained a couple of quotes for wiring and plumbing but hadn't really decided exactly what to do. Now that Sonia was financially stable converting the annexe wasn't a priority. We were enjoying each other's company.

One evening as we were sitting in front of the living room fire, Sonia snuggled closer to me. We had just been discussing the bathroom for the annexe.

"Let's forget the bathroom," she said.

I was surprised.

"Why, Sonia?" I asked.

"I don't need a bathroom. I don't want an Uncle David. I don't want a Sugar Daddy David. I just want a David. If Andy can have Judy, and Hazel, and Helen, and Monica, I'm less demanding. I just want the man I trust -- you. I want you for myself as my partner."

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And that's what she got. David and Sonia became engaged. A few months later we were married in a quiet Registry Office ceremony. Andy was my Best Man. Sonia had four widows as Matrons of Honour. They had declared themselves as her adoptive Aunts but hadn't yet decided which one of them would own the Best Man.

THE END