Isobel wondered how Tommy would cope with all of these new challenges he was going to be facing soon.
Patricia cut in, “Mrs Winter, this is Patricia King. Did you tell Thomas Banks that my son might be coming to the school?”
Mrs Winter asked imperiously, “What are you doing with the police, Mrs King? Are you in trouble?”
Patricia rolled her eyes.
Adam voice was steely, “Did you mention that another boy might be coming to the school with similar challenges?”
“As a matter of fact, I did. Obviously I never mentioned your name, Mrs King, but I thought it would reassure him that his son was not alone in what he had to deal with. I just said that there might even be another boy in his son’s class soon who is in a similar situation. I said that I had been reassuring the mother of that boy recently. He was interested and he asked me if this boy had a mother who was an alcoholic? I explained that it was a prospective new family, with a little boy Tommy’s age, but that in this case it was the father who was the alcoholic.” She fell silent.
Patricia, realising that a change of tack was needed, said, “Of course, just as you reassured me.”
“Exactly.”
“Was he very interested in that fact?” Patricia asked. “I mean, did he ask more about it?”
There was a pause and then Mrs Winter spoke in a more conciliatory tone. “Well, yes, he asked if the enquiry was recent. And I told him that it had been on the previous Friday.”
Isobel, sensing there was something more, said, “Did he ask anything else?”
“Yes, something odd actually. He said, ‘They aren’t Irish, are they?’ and we laughed.”
“So did you mention that I was Irish?”
Mrs Winter said defensively, “So many people are Irish, what difference did it make?”
“So you said no, but her friend was,” Patricia said.
“Well, yes, I did. What did it matter? What’s this all about?”
Adam cut in, “Did you discuss anything else?”
“Well no, he left fairly quickly after that.”
“Thank you for your help, Mrs Winter,” Adam said.
“How have I helped you?”
“Thank you again and goodbye.”
The three of them stood looking at each other.
Isobel said speculatively, “So now he has an Irishwoman at Anne’s solicitor’s office, at his mother-in-law’s and at the school. He wonders if there is something going on or if it’s a coincidence or if he’s being paranoid.’
Patricia took up the supposition. “There was one other thing that was a little unusual, the Saturday meeting with Peter in the café. It’s still early, maybe only nine o’clock in the morning, he has lots of time so he decides to go over and check out the café and see if there was anything suspicious there. Maybe it was nothing, the proliferation of the Irish, nothing more or maybe someone was on to him.”
Adam joined in, “So he goes to the coffee shop.”
“Yes!” Isobel and Patricia chorused.
Isobel walked a little away to think and started pacing back and forth, going over things in her mind. “There’s something still bothering me. When he decides there’s a problem at around ten o’clock he then calls the imposter Anne on a burner phone and tells her to leave. Then he rings Peter saying that Anne is running late but they’re coming.”
Patricia said, “To buy him time to move the body.”
Isobel says, “Because Charlie Ellis is the next person he calls, also on a burner, to get the van so the body can be moved.”
“So in the café he learns something that makes him realise that we know that the woman is not the real Anne.”
Isobel answers, “Exactly. He now has very little time. He puts in play the two things that are the most important pieces of evidence to hide, the body and the doppelganger. With those out of the way he can say that Anne fled or is on a bender and to all intents and purposes she has only just disappeared on Wednesday.” Isobel paused. “Two calls from the burner phone and he has it all organised. He probably used the same burner to make the calls to imposter Anne and to Charlie. If only we could find that phone.”
Adam said, “You’re right. Those calls show that he’s moving all the pieces on his board. But he probably got rid of it and that could be anywhere including the river.”
Isobel said, “Maybe. But after making those calls he probably ditched it fairly quickly.”
Adam said, “ I could ask Stella if someone could look at CCTV from the street where the café is and see if we can track him and what he did with the phone.”
Isobel said, “If they could track Thomas from the café they might get it.”
Adam swallowed. “That’s going to take a massive amount of time and people.”
Patricia, galvanized into action, said, “Let’s go to the café.”
Isobel said, “Yes.”
Adam called Stella, Patricia gave her the café location and then they left.
Adam drove under a blue light.
Chapter 44
Adam didn’t bother parking the car. He just pulled it up on the footpath in front of the café with the blue light on the roof still flashing. The three of them entered the shop.
A young waitress came and Patricia asked if she could speak to Marie Frost, the manager.
Isobel said, “I think you should handle this, Patricia, as you’re Peter’s girlfriend.”
Patricia grinned.
Marie Frost came out of the staff-only door. The young waitress nodded in their direction. Marie Frost approached them. She looked puzzled and impatient. Every few seconds she glanced at the police car pulled up outside.
Patricia said, “Hello, Mrs Frost, my boyfriend Peter told me how helpful you were to him when he was in here last weekend.”
There was a slight thawing of the manager’s attitude.
Patricia pulled out her phone, “Here’s a picture of him to remind you.”
Marie Frost glanced down and then smiled warmly, “Oh yes, I remember him. He has allergies like my nephew. You’re the second person to come in asking about him . . .” Her voice trailed off and she looked very uncomfortable. “He’s your boyfriend?”
“Yes, he’s my boyfriend and a solicitor. I’m his secretary. He was meeting a client on Saturday, a woman, to check something about a case we’re working on.”
Marie visibly relaxed. “Yes, I’m sorry. I didn’t think there was anything going on between him and the lady.” She blushed.
Patricia indicated Adam. “This gentleman here is a policeman. We’re all really concerned about this woman and we were hoping you could tell us about the other person who was enquiring. We’re guessing it was on Wednesday morning and we were wondering what he wanted to know.” She hurried on. “I promise we’re trying to do some good here.”
Marie looked at each of them individually and then back to Patricia. “Well, in fact, that other guy – he scared me a little bit.”
Patricia said, “Tell us what happened.”
“Well, he came in and had coffee and a scone and then asked to speak to the manager. He said that friends of his were in here on Saturday and that they’d left a jacket behind. He said that the man had an Irish accent,” she smiled at Patricia, “and that he might have been in a suit as he was working. He described the lady as well as tall and blonde. Well, I wasn’t sure because we have so many people in but he had a photograph of the woman and I recognised her immediately. I told him that I did remember them because of the man’s allergies to milk and God knows what else and how careful we had to be with his order.”
Patricia hadn’t the heart to tell her that it was a fabrication.
“I told the man that I’d served them myself and he wanted to know what precautions I had to take. Well, I was surprised that as a friend he didn’t know and I said as much. He told me that everything had been fine that day but that on other occasions there’ve been problems and he just wanted to be clear for future reference exac
tly the measures I’d taken. So, I told him how I’d worn gloves as your boyfriend had requested and made sure not to touch anything. I didn’t trust it to any of the girls.”
Isobel asked, “What did the man say when he heard all of this?”
“He asked about the gloves and I told him what I’d done – the plates and cups straight from the dishwasher only handled with the gloves. That’s as clean as you could make things. To be honest he seemed more interested in all the precautions we’d taken than in the coat he’d come to locate. I had to remind him of it. I told him we hadn’t found any jacket. But all he wanted to know was that it was definitely the woman in the photograph. I started feeling unsure then. I was wondering was he a stalker or something. Then, he sort of calmed himself down and showed me the photo of the two of them and they looked so lovely together. He said he just wanted to be sure that he had the right café when he told them he checked for the coat. He left after that.’” She looked at Patricia nervously. “Did I do something wrong?”
Patricia answered, “Not at all, Mrs Frost. You really helped Peter on that Saturday with something very important.”
Isobel asked, “Did you see what direction he went in after he left here on Wednesday?”
Marie looked down and shifted in her seat.
They all held their breaths.
She fiddled with her ring and after a moment she looked up. “Well, as I said, he made me uncomfortable even a little bit afraid so when he left I went to the window and watched him.”
Isobel nodded encouragingly.
“He went out and walked down the street a little and then he pulled out his phone and started talking. Then after a minute he took another phone out of his pocket and answered that.”
Isobel said, “Just a minute, Mrs Frost, excuse me.” She turned to Adam and Patricia. “So he rings to tell her to leave, using the burner phone. He also tells her to ring him so he has his story straight about the delay at the hairdresser’s, so she does and he answers his own phone.”
Patricia and Adam nodded.
Isobel said, “What did he do next, Mrs Frost?”
“Well, I wasn’t exactly spying on him . . .”
Adam interrupted her disclaimer. “All of this is really helpful. We’re in the middle of an important investigation and anything you tell us about what this man did is extremely helpful.”
Suitably reassured, Marie Frost went on, “He then went back to the first phone and made another call. This one was longer and he talked a lot.”
“That was probably him talking to Charlie Ellis.” Patricia said to Isobel and Adam. “Now he has everything organized.” She turned to Marie Frost. “What did he do then?”
“Well, when he finished the call he walked off.”
Isobel said, “And the phone that he was using?”
“It was still in his hand when I lost sight of him.”
Adam said to the others, “That phone could be anywhere. That was two days ago. I can try Stella again and see if she has anyone looking into it but honestly I don’t think we are ever going to find that phone.”
“What’s this all about, anyway?” Marie Frost asked.
Adam said, “We suspect the man who came here asking questions on Wednesday of some pretty horrible crimes. The phone might help us prove it.”
Mrs Frost said, “I knew he was a bad one! I told you he scared me. Did he hurt someone?” She raised her hand to her mouth, her eyes wide. “That woman?”
Isobel said, “Yes, we think he hurt a woman but not the lady you met, someone else.”
Marie frowned, “Well . . .”
Isobel said, “What?”
“There was something else that happened later that day . . .”
Isobel could feel her frustration threatening to erupt on Mrs Frost so she quickly took a deep breath and quelled it. “Tell us about what happened later.”
Mrs Frost made a face. “It may be nothing but at about four o’clock Johnny, an old homeless guy that I often give some food to, you know a sandwich or a scone –”
“That’s kind of you.”
Mrs Frost smiled. “I’m very fond of him.”
Isobel nodded encouragingly. She could feel Adam starting to fidget. “What happened with Johnny?”
“Well, he asked me first if a customer had had their phone taken and then asked if a man had been bothering me. At the time I thought he was imagining things and getting a bit confused.”
Patricia said, “But now you wonder if Johnny saw the man with the phone.”
Mrs Frost nodded. “Obviously, because I am good to him he is fond of me and –”
Isobel said, “And maybe he saw you watching the man and was concerned.”
Patricia said, “And maybe Johnny saw what the man did next.”
Mrs Frost said, “Well, I didn’t notice Johnny that morning but he could have been standing in a doorway. I don’t know. It’s just strange that he mentioned a man and a phone.”
Isobel said, “I agree. We’ve nothing to lose. Mrs Frost, where could we find this Johnny?”
Standing up, Mrs Frost said, “I’ll help you. Johnny is normally in the park near here in the afternoons. I know him. He’ll talk to me. Let me get a sandwich to take to him.”
Patricia nodded. “We can find out if he knows anything.”
Mrs Frost continued, “You said I helped on the Saturday. Then, when I said that I had told that other man about the gloves, I knew by your faces that that didn’t help. So let me make up for it. I don’t want him to get away with something. I don’t want it on my conscience.”
Mrs Frost went off to organise some food.
Patricia said, “What do you think?”
Isobel said, “It’s a long shot but we have nothing to lose.”
Mrs Frost came back carrying a paper bag.
Adam said, “How far away is the park?”
Mrs Frost looked out the window at the police car and said firmly, “Walking distance.”
It was only a ten-minute walk to the park.
Before they entered Mrs Frost said to them, “Johnny doesn’t like strangers so you’d better let me do the talking.”
They nodded in consent. With Patricia and Marie Frost in front and Adam and Isobel a little way behind they progressed around the park. The day was warm and there were people sitting on benches reading papers and mothers pushing strollers with younger children chasing each other on the grass. The flower beds had flowering shrubs and colourful flowers and insects buzzed.
Suddenly Marie peered and stopped. Ahead an older man sat on a bench underneath an oak tree with his legs stretched out in front of him crossed at the ankles. He had a bald pate with a circle of white hair. Beside him on the bench was an old overcoat folded up with a hat perched on top of it. He wore faded black trousers, a greyish-white shirt, a cardigan with holes at the elbows, mismatched socks and shoes that were battered-looking and would not last another winter.
Marie called, “Johnny, is that you?”
Perhaps unused to being hailed, it took Johnny a few seconds to sit up and turn towards them. He looked puzzled.
“Mrs Frost? What are you doing here?” He looked at Patricia beside her and Isobel and Adam behind them. “Are you out with your friends?”
Marie stepped closer and held out the paper bag. “I brought you something to eat.”
Johnny touched his chin and eyed the others. “Well, I usually come to you. So if you’re here with all these people I’m thinking that you’re looking for something and I have nothing so it must be information.”
Isobel put her hand over her mouth and smiled behind it. She liked this old man’s style, not to mention his logic but then you didn’t survive as Johnny did without having your wits about you. Marie stepped forward and Patricia followed.
Johnny took the proffered bag.
Marie said, “May I sit down?”
Johnny nodded. Marie sat down beside him and Patricia discreetly sat beside her.
Isobel
and Adam stepped onto the grass so they were not in Johnny’s line of vision but were still able to hear him talk.
“I’m very grateful for the food, Mrs Frost, but I’m wondering what these people want?”
“On Wednesday morning a man left my coffee shop. He was tall with dark hair. He went out and he made a few phone calls and then walked away.”
Johnny said, “That man frightened you, Mrs Frost.”
“How do you know?”
“I saw you peering out the shop window at him when he left.”
Marie opened her mouth to speak but Johnny continued.
“I was thinking of calling for a bite to eat like,” he straightened in the seat with dignity, “but then I saw your face and I kind of held back.”
“I was afraid. He did scare me.”
“I knew it. I knew he got to you and I didn’t know what his game was.”
Patricia said, “So you were worried about Marie – I mean, Mrs Frost, then?”
Johnny shifted his glance to Patricia. After surveying her for a few seconds he nodded. “Course I was. She’s the only person who cares about old Johnny and here was this flash bloke doing, well, I don’t know what.”
Isobel could feel her eyes welling up. Oh God, here was this old man looking out for his friend. She bit her lip.
Patricia said, “What did you do then, Johnny?”
Johnny chewed on the inside of his mouth and turned and looked over at Isobel and Adam.
Adam was about to step forward but Marie stopped him with a subtle shake of her head.
She continued, “That man has done some bad things, hurt people, and I made a mistake on Wednesday and told him something that I wish now I hadn’t. Please help me put that right.”
Johnny looked back at her and his face softened, “Oh, Mrs Frost, don’t you be upsetting yourself. You’re a good, kind lady to old Johnny. I’ll tell you what I know. He’s a bad lot that guy and I don’t mind daubing him in to the police.” He gestured with his head towards Adam. “In fact, after he’s upset you I’d be glad to.”
What Lies Hidden Page 31