Frinton Chat:

Sarah Menson - Lost my necklace :( Gold chain with locket, covered in flowers and gems. If anyone sees please DM me! Near the Cambridge Rd Loos!!!!!

Included was a zoomed in photo of a locket resting just below the collarbone, the colour gold with platinum looking flowers with sparkly diamond and red centers.

Luke Rains - Reply to Sarah Menson:

@GarethChilds - anything on your travels mate?

Gareth Childs - Reply to Luke Rains:

@LukeRains not so far. @SarahMenson drop me a message and I can take a look with my detector. I can’t get down until the PM though.

DM to Gareth Childs:

Thanks SO much @GarethChilds!!! I remember having it before I got to the floating platform thing. When I was coming up the ramp before the loos IT WAS GONE!!! :( x

DM To Sarah Menson:

I haven’t found it yet :) I’ll drop you a note if I find it.

Gareth finished sending the message while sitting on the benches at the top of the highstreet, watching as early eaters queued for the chippy opposite. Finishing his coffee he watches as the Hollyhocks bows and bobs to all that go past, the secret Royalty of Connaught, some of the seeds having already dried and confettied the pavement freely.

'Come on lazybones!'

Gareth looks up and sees Linda from two-doors down clad in a high viz shirt, brandishing a litter picker.

‘Oh just resting before the next section. Just try and keep up with me!’Gareth got up with an oomph and companionly walked with Linda as they discussed what ails them. Gareth had lived near Linda for years but it wasn’t until his wife died did he really make the effort to get to know her. Like most of the Frinton WI, she was a force to be reckoned with and before long Gareth was convinced to become a Fromble. He was glad of it. Not only did it keep Frinton as the 14th cleanest beach in the UK, it also gave him a reason to get out. Everyone assumed it was because he was an ‘outdoorsy type’ but he couldn’t bear to be home for long without his Sue. Without her he lost his centre. Making a routine, his daily beach walk and Fromble excursions, as well as drinks at the Legion and the odd bingo at the Triangle, he felt that although his centre was gone, he still had an orbit.

Having checked the tide times, Gareth headed down to the beach to start his search. He found a huge amount of pleasure being helpful now he couldn’t just ‘open that there jar’ or ‘pass me that book from the top shelf’. He filled his void byvanswering Facebook messages and offering his services and skills when he could.vAs he walked along the waterline, an abaloney style shell shone like a precious gem. He pocketed it, just as Sue would have done. He doesn’t know why, he does nothing with them, but nevertheless his pockets and window ledges are full of them.

After a couple of hours of beeping, digging, sifting, Gareth struck gold. There in his beach sift sits the lost locket. Beaming with pride, Gareth heads down the beach and up the ramp until signal appears.

DM to Sarah Menson: Good news! I have found it :) I am about for the next hour on Connaught if that works. Thanks.

DM to Gareth Childs: OMG you lifesaver!!!! I’m sorting the kids dinner out but my husband can meet you at the benches near the chippy at 5. Thanks again xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Gareth can’t help but smile. Lifesaver is an exaggeration but he knows how precious these things were. The amount of times he had found a wedding ring flung far from wet and salty hands couldn’t be counted. Making his way up the road, music can be heard in the vintage shop, and he is glad to see work has begun on the empty Holland & Barrett. The hope had been to have a quick half in the Lock and Barrel butthe sign stating temporary closure still hangs limply from the window with rolled back cellotape.

In the end, he settles on treating himself to a bottle of Old Peculiar from the Co-Op. If he hadn’t been so distracted he may have noticed in the bank of newspapers was the face of a 24 year old woman. Underneath her face sat a beautiful locket, identical to the one now living in his pocket. The headline reads ‘Essex Girl still missing’.

If he had been more aware he may have even spotted that the zoomed in photo of the jewellery sent earlier was exactly the same as the one adoring the national press.

Gareth waits on the benches he had been at earlier before handing over the piece to a sullen looking man of around 40. A minor thanks was grunted before the locket was snatched and put into a pocket with a clenched fist. Old Gareth would have been riled up by such behaviour but New Gareth has a Sue in his ear and a creme caramel to get in the fridge so he shrugged it off and headed home.

If Gareth had been a fly on the wall he would have seen this man leave Frinton and drive for 30 minutes before letting himself into a dank smelling and lonely looking flat. Here he abandoned his coat, keys and hat he had pulled down low, and put the extracted chain carefully in a drawer, underneath holey boxers and greyed white sports socks. The chain was positioned next to a crucifix chain, a necklace spelling out ‘love’ in overly cursive writing and two generic looking wedding rings.

Drawer shut, the man proceeded to shut down a temporary Facebook account, deleting all comments posted and DMs sent. He then proceeded to set up a new account on a recently launched dating app, setting himself up as ‘looking for a good time’, GSOH and WLTM.