by Owen Mullen
Geddes strolled into the lounge. Giant orchids towered above swirly pink leaves against a beige background, and a neat pile of books, meant to impress rather than be read, sat on a glass-topped coffee table: Renaissance Florence; Napoleon’s Commentaries on Julius Caesar; The History of Olive Oil. Geddes sensed he was witnessing somebody’s notion of perfect. People would spoil it. Whatever he was looking for wouldn’t be here.
He climbed a broad mahogany staircase to the top floor and went into the first bedroom he came to. Like the lounge below, it was decorated with the same excess, as if waiting for Alice to scramble back up the rabbit hole.
Next door was every woman’s dream: full-length angled mirrors, shoe racks, bag racks and a hairdressing station. The best was to come. Off to the side, a walk-in wardrobe caught the detective’s attention: hundreds of garments – some on hangers, some folded on custom-built shelves, others with the price tag still on them – dared him to guess what might be missing.
could’ve filled two suitcases without making a dent
Derek Crawford had told the truth. Only the lady who wore these clothes could know. Or perhaps her cleaner. In the master bedroom overlooking the front of the property, the Day of the Triffids theme was back on the walls. Geddes went downstairs. Mrs Hawthorne met him at the bottom. ‘Find what you were after?’
‘Could you look at something?’
She hesitated and stepped back, suddenly wary. ‘What’s all this about?’
‘If you could just come upstairs a minute. I’d like you to take a look at Mrs Crawford’s wardrobe. See if you notice anything she might’ve taken with her.’
‘Don’t know anything about Mackenzie’s clothes. She sent her laundry out. Mr Crawford insisted. Liked a professional finish. But what’s going on? Why’re you really here? Where’s she gone?’
‘Sorry to put you on the spot. Mrs Crawford’s been reported missing.’
Rose reacted to the shocking news. ‘Oh my God! I knew there was something up when it was him who phoned me.’
‘Her family’s worried about her. We need to be satisfied she’s safe. It may be she’s just left her husband and nothing to do with the police. But we can’t be sure until we have all the facts. Whatever you can add is valuable. You’re here every week. That puts you in an ideal position to help.’
Geddes could see she was upset and softened his approach. He held up his hand. ‘Scouts’ honour. Everything you say is between us.’
The cleaner’s obvious uncertainty made him add ‘Promise.’
She smiled. ‘Doubt you were ever in the Scouts.’
‘You’re right, I wasn’t. It was the Cubs.’
‘And how long did that last?’
‘Not long. Got drummed out.’
‘What for?’
‘Childishness.’
Despite herself, Rose Hawthorne laughed and Geddes was in.
* * *
The tea was strong and sweet like his mother had made it. Geddes sat on a barstool at the marble-topped island in the middle of the kitchen and ate the digestive Rose offered him.
‘The biscuits are mine, by the way. Bring them with me. Don’t want you to think I’m stealing.’
Geddes answered honestly. ‘Never occurred to me.’ He waved at their surroundings: the outsized fridge, double-oven and the copper-bottomed pans hanging from a rack on the ceiling.
‘Surely your employers can afford a couple of McVities?’
Rose saw it differently. ‘Doesn’t matter whether they can or can’t. Bring my own. Teabags, too. Avoids misunderstandings, if you know what I mean.’
‘Are the Crawfords difficult to work for?’
‘No. Mrs Crawford’s a lovely woman. When she’s at herself she’ll make coffee for both of us. We sit here and chat. Some days nothing would get done if I didn’t call a halt to it.’
‘Sounds like she’s lonely.’
Rose realised where the conversation was headed. ‘Aren’t we all?’
‘Why doesn’t she do what you did, get a job?’
The cleaner glanced down at the blue overall and laughed. ‘What? Like mine, you mean? Sticking her head down somebody else’s lavatory pan? Can’t see it. Besides, she had a job.’
‘Where?’
‘Garden centre near the Ayr Road.’
‘Had?’
‘She packed it in. Shame really, it was good for her.’
‘When was this?’
‘A month, maybe six weeks ago.’
‘Did her drinking have anything to do with it?’
The cleaner lifted her cup and the plate of biscuits and took them to the sink. She came back wiping her hands and avoided looking at the detective. She’d closed down. Geddes guessed he’d crossed an invisible line. Gossip was okay – up to a point – betraying a confidence was something else. Mackenzie Crawford had been lucky. Rose Hawthorne was a friend.
She brushed imaginary crumbs off the table. ‘You’re asking the wrong person. I only work here.’
‘The family say their sister has a problem with alcohol.’ Geddes paused. ‘What do you say?’
‘That it’s none of my business.’ Rose Hawthorne changed the subject. ‘Doesn’t surprise me though.’
‘What?’
‘That she left him.’
‘Why doesn’t it?’
She pulled on pink rubber gloves. ‘Chalk and cheese.’
‘You mean the age difference?’
‘No. My husband was older than me, it wasn’t a problem.’
‘Then what?’
‘Mrs Crawford’s a person who lights up a room when she comes into it. At least she was.’
‘What changed?’
‘That I can’t tell you. As I say, I only work here.’
‘Yes, but she talked to you.’ Geddes pressed for an answer. ‘What happened? Was it the drinking?’
‘The drinking came later. Mackenzie drank because she was unhappy.’
‘In her marriage?’ He wanted to add ‘who isn’t?’ and stopped himself.
Rose sat down. ‘This is a beautiful house and the money’s pretty good. I like it here, don’t ruin it for me.’
‘Finding out where she’s gone is all I’m interested in. ‘Why’ seems like a good place to start. Maybe you can tell me.’
The cleaner sighed and stripped the gloves off. ‘You have to understand, Mr Geddes, all I got was one side of the story: Mackenzie’s side. He’ll have a different tale to tell.’
‘You reckon?’
‘Of course. Mackenzie’s nice, but she’s complicated. Must’ve been hell coming home and discovering your wife in the states she got into. Sympathise with him.’
Geddes said, ‘Don’t like him, do you?’
The reply was frank. For Rose Hawthorne the jury was back and the verdict was in.
‘Not much, no.’
‘Because of what Mackenzie said or is there another reason?’
She thought about it and frowned. ‘Because of what I saw. He treated her like a child. Kept her locked up in this ivory tower. Gilded cage, more like. You’d imagine a successful businessman would entertain, have dinner parties…yet, in all the time I’ve been cleaning here, there’s been no socialising at all. And to my knowledge nobody ever comes to the house. Mr Crawford won’t have it. Doesn’t that strike you as strange?’
Geddes nodded.
‘One afternoon she came downstairs crying.’
‘Was she drunk?’
‘Not at this stage, just very unhappy. Told me that before they got married he’d stopped her from meeting her friends. She’d wanted to start seeing them again but he refused.’ She snorted. ‘Apparently, he didn’t approve of them. Imagine marrying a woman young enough to be your daughter and insisting she can’t have company her own age. Bloody old fogey.’
‘When was this?’
‘I’d only been here a few weeks so, yes, about two years ago. After that she changed completely, started drinking. Bottles hidden all over the place. The gardener
would find them in the hedges; empties mostly. I’d take them away and put them in my bin. It was sad. On the surface she had everything. In reality she was shrivelling away’
‘Did Mackenzie ever mention she was seeing somebody else?’
The question surprised her. ‘No. No, she didn’t, though I did hear her on the phone to somebody a couple of times.’
‘What about a man following her, did she say anything about that?’
Rose sat straight in the chair, obviously shocked. ‘Has something bad happened to her?’ She put her hand to her mouth. ‘My God! Poor girl.’
* * *
The woman behind the counter at the garden centre had the whitest teeth Geddes had ever seen. He asked if he could speak to the manager and saw her brow furrow.
‘Certainly. I’ll get Mr Morrison for you.’
While he waited he looked around. He wasn’t a gardener and would rather poke himself in the eye with a fork than come there. It said retirement, surplus to requirements – the thing Andrew Geddes dreaded most. Colleagues counting the days, sticking it out until they could take the pension, had persuaded him there wasn’t anything good down that road. The job could be a bastard, no argument there, but it was better than spending the morning in the bookies and the afternoon in the boozer. Or worse. Cutting the grass, pruning the roses, worrying whether an overnight frost would damage the marrows and mooching around places like this. Too often, death arrived early. Geddes complained about the brass as much as the next man but they’d have to drag him out, screaming and kicking, or carry him in a box.
A tall man wearing a short-sleeved shirt and the company tie introduced himself. The DS flashed his warrant card. ‘I’d like to speak to you about an employee: Mackenzie Crawford.’
‘You mean, former employee.’
It was going to be one of those conversations.
‘How long did she work here?’
‘Off the top of my head I’d say nine or ten months.’
‘Why did you let her go?’
The manager rubbed his hands together. ‘No choice I’m afraid. Mackenzie was a good worker and I liked her. The customers liked her. Knew her stuff, too.’
‘So what was the problem?’
He glanced round, afraid of being overheard. ‘Maybe we’d be better off in my office.’
Geddes followed him to a door and watched him tap a code into a keypad. Inside the room was tiny, the desk awash with paper. They sat down. The policeman took up where he’d left off.
‘You were going to tell me about the problem. Was she drinking?’
Morrison toyed with a pen. ‘I spoke to her more than once about turning up smelling of alcohol. She’d apologise and promise it wouldn’t happen again.’
‘But it did.’
He nodded. ‘After the third complaint I took her aside and said I was letting her go.’
‘How did she react?’
‘Not well. Broke down. In the end I ran her home.’ He looked at me. ‘Have you seen the house? Most people who work here, and I include myself, need the money. Obviously that wasn’t the case with Mackenzie. Yet she wasn’t happy. Never understand that, do you?’
Geddes didn’t reply. ‘Who were her friends?’
The manager shook his head. ‘Didn’t seem to want them.’ He corrected himself. ‘Well, that’s not strictly true. She got on well with everybody but it stayed on the shop floor. Any time the girls invited her on a night out she always turned them down. Maybe they didn’t fit in with her social scene, or maybe she was shy and that’s where the drinking came in. Mackenzie just did her job and left.’
‘To your knowledge did anyone ever meet her from work?’
‘Something at the back of my mind says yes. You’d need to ask the staff.’
‘I will.’
‘Were there any incidents?’
Morrison’s brow furrowed. ‘Not sure what you mean.’
‘Did Mackenzie complain about somebody making her feel uncomfortable, maybe watching her?
‘Not to me, but again that’s probably something she’d say to the girls.’
Geddes called it quits. Morrison couldn’t tell him anything. He got up to go. ‘I’ll speak to a couple of her colleagues if that’s all right.’
‘Of course. Try Sylvia and Angela. They were closer to her than the others.’
His curiosity got the better of him. ‘Mind if I ask what this is about?’
The DS fielded the question. ‘Just a routine enquiry at this point. Mrs Crawford left home rather suddenly and naturally her family are worried.’
‘Right. I hope she sorts herself out. She’s a nice person.’
At the door the detective sprung perhaps the most telling question of all. ‘Would you take her back?’
The manager found something interesting to watch over the policeman’s shoulder.
‘Honestly? Because I liked her, I let the drinking go on longer than I should.’
‘Is that a yes or a no?’
He grimaced. ‘Sorry. I’d have to think about it.’
* * *
Gavin Darroch stood in the middle of his lounge. What he was about to say wouldn’t be popular and he was nervous. Adele, Blair and Monica waited for him to begin. He cleared his throat. ‘You’re wondering why I asked you to come. Okay, long story short, I’ve contacted the police about Mackenzie.’
The bombshell exploded in silence.
Adele’s face was taut with anger. When she found her voice, she said, ‘How dare you. How dare you, Gavin! We know what’s happened. Mackenzie bloody well told us, or have you forgotten? She admitted she had a lover and screamed she was leaving Derek. Who, by the way, is her husband.’
He tried to justify himself. ‘Fine, except she didn’t take anything with…’
His sister cut him off. ‘I don’t care what she took and what she didn’t take. It doesn’t matter She’s gone off with another man. Derek’s the one who should decide if the police need to be called. Derek. Otherwise known as the injured party. Can’t believe you did that without talking to the rest of us. She’s my sister too.’
Monica said, ‘Wouldn’t have imagined domestic upheavals were much of a priority unless violence is involved. Not a crime otherwise. Did they take it seriously?’
‘Serious enough to put her name on the Missing Persons Register.’
Adele wasn’t impressed. ‘Don’t they have better things to do?’ She made a dismissive noise. ‘For years you ignored her existence. Now you suddenly morph into Superbrother.’
‘Not true. And unlike you I’ve never been jealous of her. It’s staring out of you.’
‘That’s a bloody lie. She’s spoiled and selfish, and because you don’t like Derek you don’t want to admit it.’ Adele let it all out. ‘A sorry excuse for a brother you turned out to be. Mackenzie isn’t here to tell you, so I’ll say it for both of us. But what’s new? When Mum and Dad needed you, you were missing. Now you’re riding to the rescue like a bloody knight in bloody shining armour.’ She dropped to one knee and held out her arms. ‘My hero! Don’t make me laugh.’
Monica defended him. ‘That’s not fair. Gavin’s always been there for you and Mackenzie. He was doing what he thought was right. You’re convinced there’s nothing to worry about, what if there is?’ She spoke to her husband. ‘What did they say?’
‘I met a detective sergeant I know from playing five-a-sides. His attitude was the same as Monica’s, not much interested until I told him she’d left everything behind. Changed pretty sharp when he heard that.’
Blair said, ‘And where is it now?’
‘Already questioned me. He’ll want to interview all of you.’
Adele mocked Blair. ‘No use asking what you think, is there darling? I’ll bet the idea of Mackenzie with a lover makes you sick. Well, get used to it, because that’s the reality.’
He didn’t respond and kept to the purpose of the meeting. ‘For what it’s worth, I support Gavin. It’s been five days. Mackenzie hasn
’t contacted any of us. That feels wrong. Getting the police in on it makes sense.’ He glanced at his wife. ‘Adele could be spot-on, but why take a chance? We’ve waited long enough. As for Derek, from what he told us when we visited him, he doesn’t care if he never saw Mackenzie again. Good riddance, so far as he’s concerned.’ Blair ran a hand through his hair. ‘I agree Gavin should’ve discussed it though maybe that wouldn’t have been the best thing. I mean, listen to us. He took the action he thought was justified. We’ll live with the consequences. The question is: is Mackenzie okay? If the answer is yes, it won’t bother me where she is or who she’s with.’
His wife applauded sarcastically. ‘Nice speech. Pity I don’t believe it.’
Monica tried to change the subject. ‘What’s this policeman friend called?’
‘Andrew Geddes. And he’s not a policeman, he’s a CID detective. A good guy. Imagine he’s good at his job, too. Bloody awful at football.’
Nobody laughed.
Monica got up. ‘Anybody for coffee, I’m having some?’
Before they could reply, the kitchen door opened and Derek Crawford barged in. His eyes ran over the group and settled on Gavin. None of them had ever seen Derek out of control. His eyes were wild and he was breathing heavily.
‘Who the hell do you think you are, Darroch? Do you realise what you’ve done? Do you have the slightest notion?’
‘What’s wrong, Derek?’
‘Had a visitor this morning, thanks to your brother. A copper. Everybody in the fucking showroom saw him.’
Gavin tried to apologise. ‘I understand how you feel. Adele thinks I overstepped the mark. If so, I’m sorry. But Mackenzie’s my sister and you said you were out of it. Somebody has to look out for her. No offence was intended, honestly.’
Adele said. ‘No wonder you’re upset, it’s a bloody disgrace. Must be sorry you ever met this family!’
Blair butted in, ‘Gavin was concerned. Surely we can all understand that?’
Derek directed his anger at him. ‘What about you? You’re the one the police should be talking to. You bastard!’
‘Me?’