Shameful Justice

by M A Comley

  There were no cars outside the house. While Katy waited at the side of the house, Lorne decided to ring the bell in case either of the Lansburys was at home, but the door remained unanswered. When Katy walked down the narrow passage, Lorne followed. There were no windows on this side of the house, which led to the property’s garden. When Lorne tried to open the back gate, it was locked. She hooked her arm over the top, looking for a bolt to slide across, but there wasn’t one.

  “Maybe the person climbed over, entered the garden and got in through the back door,” Katy suggested as they turned around and headed towards the front of the house again.

  “Possibly. It’s a shame Mr. Jameson wasn’t nosier. If I’d been in his shoes, I would have been inclined to stick around to see if the person reappeared or even rung the police to report an intruder.”

  “You can’t blame the old man for getting cold. That house was freezing in the hallway. It would be even colder upstairs, I’d imagine.”

  “You’re right. All we’ve got is what he said about the person, plus we can pretty much match the description to the person driving Emma’s car, right?”

  Katy nodded. “Right. And from the footage, it was easy to recognise the driver as being a male, yes?”

  “Looked like it to me. So, we’re definitely going to say we’re after a male in that case, right?”

  “I think so.”

  Lorne sighed. “Okay, while we’re out and about, I’d like to stop by the library where Emma works and possibly drop into the homeless centre.”

  Katy looked at her watch. “Time is getting on, Lorne. It’s almost four thirty now.”

  “We have enough time to call at the library then, and we’ll leave the centre until the morning. How’s that?”

  “If you’re sure. Unless Roberts is insisting we use overtime on this case?”

  “He isn’t, not yet, anyway.” Lorne opened the car door and slid behind the steering wheel, hoping that mentioning Roberts’s name wouldn’t tempt Katy into prying about what had gone on in her office again.

  Katy dropped heavily into the passenger seat and sighed. “I didn’t think we had any secrets.”

  Lorne groaned inwardly. “We haven’t. When I’m ready to tell you, I’ll do just that. Please don’t badger me about this, not unless you want us to fall out.”

  “I get the message. It must be pretty bad. You’ve looked really, umm… either upset or annoyed—I can’t tell which—ever since you emerged from your office. I’m concerned, that’s all. Pardon me for caring.”

  Lorne faced Katy and placed a hand over hers. “I really appreciate your concern, but I’m all right. I promise you. It isn’t anything major that affects work, if that will put your mind at ease.”

  “It sort of does, but if it’s not work related, then it must be something personal.”

  She withdrew her hand and started the engine. “Which I’ll share with you once I’ve mulled it over and made sense of it myself. I know that sounds cryptic and somewhat evasive, but I promise you it’s not intentional. All I ask is that you give me time to figure things out.”

  “You’ve got it. I’m a good listener—you know that—and I promise not to judge. That’s all I’m saying on the matter. I just needed to know you were all right.”

  Guilt wrapped itself around her shoulders on the short trip to the library. But how on earth could she confide such a devastating encounter to Katy when she couldn’t really explain why or how such an occurrence had happened?

  CHAPTER SIX

  Lorne parked across the street from the small library. As she and Katy made their way inside the squat building, it became apparent that the library was larger inside, as the building extended a long way at the rear.

  They walked over to the reception desk, where two women were standing behind the circular desk.

  The older woman stepped forward to speak to them. “Hello there. Can I help?”

  Lorne and Katy flashed their IDs. “Hi. I’m DI Lorne Warner, and this is my partner, DS Katy Foster. Are you the person in charge?”

  “Yes, I’m the head librarian. How can I help?” She gasped. “Oh goodness, this is about Emma, isn’t it?”

  Lorne nodded.

  The woman glanced at her colleague then back at Lorne. “Dare I ask if you have any news about Emma? We’ve been going out of our minds with worry.”

  “Nothing as yet. A media appeal went out an hour or so ago, and we’re hoping something will come from that. In the meantime, we’re visiting her friends and work associates to see if any of you can shed any light on her disappearance.”

  The woman shook her head. “We’ve spoken non-stop about the situation, and neither of us can work out what has gone on. Emma loved her job here. She was a good girl, worshipped her family and never had a bad word to say about anyone.”

  Lorne heard a group of children walk through the entrance behind her. “I wonder if there is somewhere more private where we can have a chat.”

  “Of course. Hold the fort, Helen.”

  The younger woman’s gaze drifted between her boss and the group of teenagers who had just arrived. “Okay, I might need some help in a few minutes, though. You know how teenagers detest being asked to wait patiently to be served.”

  “We won’t be long. I promise,” Lorne assured the young assistant with a smile. “Sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

  “I’m Helen Nicholls,” the young assistant replied, her cheeks reddening.

  “And I’m Anne Fitzgerald,” the head librarian said, pointing at a door a few feet away from where they were standing. “Shall we?”

  Lorne and Katy followed the woman into a small office that had a glazed wall with slatted blinds.

  “I’ll just open the blinds. I’ll have to shoot out there if Helen gets busy, if that’s okay?”

  “Of course. We really do appreciate you sparing the time to speak to us. This shouldn’t take too long. Is it all right with you if my partner takes down some notes during our conversation?”

  “Yes, that’s fine. How can I help, Inspector?”

  “First of all, you can tell us what type of person Emma was at work.”

  “Very conscientious, one of my best workers. Always helpful to our customers. I’ve never had a complaint about her in the time she’s worked here.”

  “How long has that been, Anne?”

  “Around six months, give or take a few days, I believe.”

  “So Emma’s never had an issue with any of the customers. What about the other staff? How many employees are there here?”

  “Just the three of us… well, that’s down to two now, obviously.” Anne Fitzgerald’s head dropped a little, and a sad expression formed across her features.

  “Has that always been the case?”

  “Yes. No, wait. We did have another member of staff up until a few months ago. Ryan Mitchell left sometime in September.”

  Lorne glanced sideways to make sure Katy had jotted down the name, and she had. “Can you tell us why he left?”

  Her gaze met Lorne’s. “He said he was bored with his role here. He was young, only nineteen. I suppose being a librarian isn’t for everyone, especially at that age.”

  “I see. Did he work here long?”

  “Gosh, I can’t remember. I’ll need to check his file. Can you bear with me a moment while I do that?” She crossed the room to the metal filing cabinet. She opened the top drawer and searched the files until she located the one she was after. “Ah, here we are. He joined us in January of this year and left on September the ninth.”

  “Would you mind giving us his address as you have his file out? It’ll save us looking it up when we return to the station.”

  “Of course.” She handed the sheet of paper to Katy, who copied the young man’s address into her notebook.

  “Did he leave under a cloud at all, or was his departure amicable?”

  Anne frowned as she thought over the question. Katy handed her back the sheet of paper, which she i
nserted into the file before replacing it in the filing cabinet. She didn’t reply until she was seated behind her desk once more. “As far as I can remember, he left without any hassle from either side.”

  “Good to know. Have any other staff members come and gone in the time since he left?”

  “No. I’ve advertised for someone to replace him, but no one has come forward just yet. What with Emma going AWOL—I really didn’t mean that the way it came out—we’re two members of staff light.”

  “That’s a shame. I hope you fill the position soon. What about the punters who use the library? Can you recall anyone causing any trouble or being irate with Emma in the past few weeks or months? Anything at all?”

  She immediately shook her head. “No, nothing of that nature has ever happened, thank goodness. People might get a little impatient if there’s a queue now and again, but that’s all. No one ever gets angry about being delayed, if that’s what you’re hinting at.”

  “Okay. Maybe you can tell us what occurred the day Emma went missing.”

  “Actually, I can’t. I wasn’t here. I had to take my elderly mother for an eye check-up at the hospital. Helen should be able to help you out on that one. Would you like a chat with her?”

  “That would be brilliant. Do you want us to stay here?”

  “Yes, I’ll take over from her and send her in to see you. I won’t be a jiffy.” Anne Fitzgerald tore out of the room, and within seconds, Helen Nicholls was sitting in her seat.

  “Thanks for talking to us, Helen. Maybe you can run through the events of what happened on Emma’s last shift at the library.”

  The young blonde woman shrugged. “It was just a normal day, much like any other, except Emma left work early to attend a Christmas lunch party with her boyfriend, leaving me alone at the library, as the boss was off too that day. Not ideal. It rarely happens, and we were quiet that day anyway, so it didn’t really matter. Sorry, I’m talking for England. I’m nervous. I’ve never spoken to a real copper before.”

  Lorne smiled, trying to put the young woman at ease. “There’s no need to be nervous. We’re just as human as you are. How close are you to Emma? By that I mean, does she confide in you?”

  “Very close, and yes, we confide in each other.”

  “I see. Can you think of anything that was concerning Emma at all? Perhaps with her boyfriend, Jack.”

  Helen shook her head. “No, nothing that I can think of. Oh wait, damn… I’m not sure if I should say this or not.”

  Lorne cocked her head. “Anything you tell us will remain in this room. I promise you.”

  Helen ran a hand over her face and through her hair. “Well, Emma mentioned last week that she and Jack were going to take their relationship to the next level, but she was scared, given her faith in God.”

  “Ah, right, we weren’t aware of that. Thanks for the heads-up. Do you know of any occasion where Emma had any problems with people? Inside or outside of work, I mean.”

  She glanced sideways and stared through the window to her boss. “This really needs to stay in this room—Emma would kill me if Anne found out.”

  Lorne sat forward in her chair, intrigued. “About what?”

  “There used to be a boy who worked here, Ryan Mitchell. He had his eye on Emma and she got really annoyed when he asked her out on a date. He knew she was with Jack and that it would have gone against her principles to have cheated on Jack, but he kept on and on at her.”

  “And Anne was unaware of this? Is that why he left his job in the end?”

  “Anne would have sacked him if she’d found out. Emma wouldn’t have been distraught if that had happened. Every time they had to do a shift together, Emma was beside herself. I actually swapped a few shifts with her the week he was due to leave because she couldn’t stand the guilt of being in the same room as him.”

  “Guilt? Why did she feel guilty?”

  “He blamed her for leaving this job. Said he couldn’t stand being near her, knowing that she wasn’t prepared to go out with him.”

  “Really? That sounds pretty immature to me. Was he?”

  “I’m not sure if he was immature, but he was definitely infatuated with her. Maybe when someone is that infatuated, their thinking goes awry. I don’t know. I’m just surmising.”

  Lorne leaned forward in her chair and lowered her voice. “We fear Emma has been abducted. Do you think this Ryan could be behind her abduction?”

  Helen’s eyes widened. “Oh my God, no, I wouldn’t say he was capable of doing something of that nature, but then who knows what people are capable of these days? You hear such dreadful things in the paper and on the news. You never know what’s going on in someone’s head, do you?”

  “Well, we’ll definitely be paying him a visit within the next day or so. Anyone else you can think of who took a shine to Emma? A regular customer perhaps?”

  “No, I can’t think of anyone. I’m sorry, but I have to ask, what are the chances of getting Emma back alive?”

  Lorne smiled. “We’re hopeful and doing everything we can to see that happens. Abduction cases can go one of two ways, as I’m sure you’re aware. We’re remaining positive at this early stage. If you watch the news this evening after work, you’ll see that I put out an appeal earlier this afternoon. We’re crossing our fingers that someone calls us with vital information that will lead us to rescuing Emma. Look, here’s my card. If you recall any snippets of conversations you might have had with Emma over the last few months, please ring me straight away. Time really isn’t on our side at present.”

  “I’ll certainly do that. Please, please, go the extra mile to find Emma. She doesn’t deserve to be put through an ordeal of this magnitude. She’s just a normal girl who sees the good in people. Maybe that’s her downfall. It’s a bloody crying shame if it is.”

  “You have my word that we’re doing our best. Thanks for your time.”

  The three of them stood up and rejoined Anne at the reception desk just before the swarm of teenagers descended upon them. “We’ll leave you to it. Thanks for sparing the time to see us. It’s been invaluable speaking to you both.”

  “Good luck. Please bring Emma back to us soon,” Anne said with a pained smile.

  “We’ll do our best. You can be sure of that. Ring me if you think of anything else we should know. Thank you both.”

  Lorne and Katy left the library and made their way across the street to the car.

  “What now?” Katy asked. “Speak to Ryan Mitchell?”

  “I think that’s a definite. Any idea where he lives? Is it close?”

  “No idea. Let’s see what the satnav says.”

  After they jumped into the car, Katy inserted the postcode into the gadget, and within seconds, the map appeared on the screen with an estimated travel time of only eight minutes.

  “Are you up to visiting him now as we’re so close?” Lorne asked.

  Katy pulled her seat belt into place and nodded. “We might as well get it over with.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  A little while later, they drew up outside a small block of flats only three storeys high.

  “What’s the betting number ten is on the top floor?” Lorne grumbled, feeling tired all of a sudden.

  “Bound to be. I guess we should be thankful the building isn’t fifteen storeys high.”

  “There is that. Come on. Let’s go. Think I’ll ring Tony on the way.” She fished out her phone and dialled her husband’s mobile while they walked up two flights of steps. “Hi, hon. What do you fancy for dinner?”

  “Well, this is a pleasant surprise. Are you cooking?”

  “Maybe. I need to stop off at the supermarket to pick up a bag of dog food anyway in case the delivery didn’t arrive today. Thought I’d grab something special for dinner while I was there.”

  “Whatever you fancy then. I’m easy, but you know that.” He chuckled suggestively.

  “Yeah, I know that. Leave it with me. We’re over at Hatch End, about to ques
tion someone. I’ll drop Katy back to the station then head home via Asda. Expect to see me in a couple of hours.”

  “Would asking you to pick up a bottle of wine be going a tad too far?”

  “I’ll sneak one in my basket. See you later, and Tony…”

  “Yes, Lorne?”

  “I love you.” Unexpected tears misted her eyes.

  “I love you too, but you know that, right?” His response had an uncertain tone adjoined to it.

  “Yeah, of course I do. See you later.” She ended the call as they reached the top floor. They walked along the concrete balcony, which was littered with snack wrappers and crushed pop cans. “This could do with a clean-up. No wonder the rat population is on the increase in the bloody city.”

  Katy laughed. “You sound like my mother.”

  Lorne looked at her sharply. “Crap, really?”

  “Really,” Katy said, nodding. “Here we are, number ten. Let’s hope he’s in.”

  “Only one way of finding out.” Lorne knocked on the front door and wiped her hand down her coat.

  Katy shook her head and sniggered.

  “Don’t tell me—that’s something your mother would do, as well.”

  Katy nodded as the door to the flat opened. A young man wearing jogging pants and a grey sweatshirt stood in the doorway, eyeing them up and down with distaste. “Yeah? Who are you?”

  Lorne produced her warrant card and held it up in front of his face. “Met police, DI Warner and DS Foster. Mind if we come in, Mr. Mitchell? We’d like a word with you.”

  The door closed a few inches. “What about? I ain’t done nothing wrong. Just because someone is out of work, you think they’re up to no good. Well, it doesn’t always work that way, you know.”

  “We know. If you let us in, we’ll explain why we’re here. You’re not in any trouble.” Lorne was eager to get inside the flat because if he was Emma’s abductor, there was every chance she was being held inside. Gaining entry without the need of a warrant that could take hours to obtain was high priority in her mind.

  He relented and pushed open the door, immediately putting paid to Lorne’s idea he was holding Emma there. “Come in. The place is a mess, though. I share with a couple of no-marks who have a problem cleaning up after themselves.”