Unfinished Business

by W. Soliman

“So, that’s it, I’m afraid. I can’t do anything else.”

  “Now, you know you don’t mean that.” Her dazzling smile told me she wasn’t buying it.

  “You want to know what happened to Jas almost as much as I do. Don’t feel bad. You can’t help yourself. You’re a detective through and through and can’t throw off your sleuthing instincts just because you’re no longer a copper.”

  “You wanna put money on that?”

  “Come on, Charlie, you can’t fool me. You know there’s something not quite right about the whole business, and it will eat away at you until you get some answers.”

  “Even if that’s true, I don’t have the authority to poke my nose in it anymore.”

  “All the better, surely? You don’t have to abide by all the silly new regulations that used to frustrate you so much and—”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Lucky guess.”

  I harrumphed. “You watch too much television.”

  “Everyone knows the police service is bogged down with bureaucracy nowadays. When did you last see a bobby walking the beat?” She had me there. “Anyway, just think, if you helped me there wouldn’t be any paperwork at all. That has to be worth something, surely?”

  “Kara, just so we understand each other. I’m not going to help you look for your sister.”

  “Oh, all right then.” She pulled an injured face and took another sip of her wine. “If that’s the way you feel, I’ll manage without your help. Just tell me what you’d do next if you were me, and I’ll try to make sure I don’t have a fatal accident like Brett did.”

  “Emotional blackmail won’t work with me, sweetheart. I don’t have a conscience.”

  “Sure, you do. Everyone does.” She leaned towards me and rested her fingers on my arm. Possibly unintentionally, but I couldn’t be sure—the movement afforded me a good view of her full breasts encased in a lacy white bra. She followed the direction of my gaze, realized what she’d done and hastily sat up again. Definitely not intentional then. “Come on, Charlie, give. I really need your help.”

  “Okay.” I sighed, dragging my mind away from her impressive assets, a subject I’d infinitely prefer to focus on. Close proximity to Ms. Webb was seriously testing my resolve not to get involved with another woman, to say nothing of remaining aloof from her investigation. “I suppose I’d talk to all the people who were closest to her, if you can still find them, that is.” I frowned. “There was a best friend, wasn’t there?”

  “Yes, Sally Austin. They went through school together and then moved on to college. They were inseparable.”

  “We spoke to her at the time, but she couldn’t shed any light. There was a teacher at the college, too, but I can’t recall his name.”

  “Ramsay.”

  “That’s it.”

  “She was doing A levels in English, history and economics, but English was her first love and Ramsay had high hopes of her getting an A grade.”

  “Yeah, we spoke to him too but never got to follow that up.” I sat back and concentrated on my lager, satisfied I’d given her a dead end to chase. After fifteen years, both Sally and Ramsay must have moved on. “So, I guess that’s it.”

  “Come on then.” She drained her glass and stood up.

  “Come on where?”

  “Sally lives in Hassocks. She’s married with three kids and doesn’t work, so if we hurry we should be able to catch her before she does the school run.”

  I groaned. “Just a minute, I don’t remember saying I’d go with you.”

  “No.” She offered me another of her killer smiles. “But you will.”

  “Oh, all right.” I revised my opinion about the flash of her breasts being unintentional. If my mind hadn’t been diverted, I’d never have been outmanoeuvred so easily. This girl knew just how to get what she wanted from a man, although I doubt she usually had to try this hard. “If I agree to see this Sally with you, will you leave me in peace afterwards?”

  “Of course.” Her expression was suspiciously innocent. “Provided she doesn’t tell us anything that leads us somewhere else, of course. Oh, and after we’ve seen Ramsay, naturally.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Why do I get the impression you know where to find him too?”

  “Because I do. He’s still slaving away at the Sixth Form College. He taught me when I did my A levels.”

  “Come on then,” I said, resigned. “I assume you have a car and won’t mind Gil slobbering all over the backseat.”

  I picked up Gil’s Frisbee but made the mistake of letting him see it. He threw back his head and let out a series of earsplitting howls that caused everyone in the place to stare at him with varying degrees of disapproval. Gil was addicted to his Frisbee, and excitement got the better of him whenever he laid eyes on it. I was embarrassed but Kara just laughed and ruffled his ears.

  “Don’t encourage him.” I hid the Frisbee inside my jacket.

  “Well, I think he’s sweet.”

  We headed for the car park. “I’m not even going to ask you how you know where Sally lives,” I said. “I’m not sure I want to know.”

  “Oh, there’s nothing sinister about it. She married Brett’s best mate. Brett was best man at their wedding and I was a guest.”

  I took a moment to process that. “You know her well then?”

  “Not really. We exchange Christmas cards, stuff like that, that’s all.”

  We reached the car park and I knew which vehicle was hers even before she unlocked a yellow VW Beetle with the remote. Jimmy had come through with that information. And quite a bit more besides. Gil squeezed into the back and then sat centrally, leaning his head between the two of us, distributing his favours evenly.

  “If Sally has been all but part of the family for so many years,” I said as we drove down the ramp, “how come you haven’t discussed Jasmine with her before now?”

  “Don’t forget I was only twelve when she went AWOL, and no one spoke to me about it at all. I didn’t see Sally for another five years and by then Jasmine’s disappearance, by parental decree, wasn’t a subject for after-dinner conversation.” She shrugged. “I suppose it became a habit to keep quiet about it.”

  “But that shouldn’t have prevented Sally from saying something, surely? Your father couldn’t control her.”

  “No, but if Jasmine’s name is ever mentioned in front of him he goes all quiet and, believe me, my father should have patented the recipe for stony silences. No one does them better. He’s a master at making people feel uncomfortable if they talk about something he doesn’t want to hear. Asylum seekers, gays, the government’s soft take on crime—believe me, you don’t want to get him started on any of those.”

  I grunted, knowing the type.

  “But Jasmine’s disappearance…sorry, my elder daughter’s selfish defection, has yet to be toppled from the coveted number-one position in his all-time greatest bugbears’ list.”

  “You’ve barely mentioned your mother in all this. What’s her take on it?”

  Kara kept her eyes focused on the road ahead, considering the question before she responded. “It’s hard to say really. She never talks about it either but she hasn’t been the same since Jas left.”

  “In what way?”

  She frowned. “It’s difficult to be specific. She didn’t have a breakdown or anything obvious like that. Quite the opposite. She refused to see a doctor and declined the offer of counselling. But something inside her changed. I suppose the best way to describe it would be to say that she lost her sparkle.” She flashed me a quick sideways glance. “Does that make any sense?”

  “Sure. It stands to reason she must feel bitter and disappointed. What mother wouldn’t in the circumstances? Deep down she probably blames herself.”

  “Perhaps.”

  “And now she’s lost her only son, as well.”

  “Yes, and I can’t help feeling for her. Brett and I both worked unorthodox hours so we tended to go and see Mum during the day
when we knew he wouldn’t be about. But Brett was much better at making time to visit than me. Perhaps that was because he was Mum’s favourite child.” Kara sighed. “A preference she didn’t bother to hide. And now she’s only got me.”

  “Did her relationship with your father get stronger as a result of their joint loss?”

  “No, just the opposite,” she said. I raised a brow, mildly surprised. “She’s always been cowed by my father, just like the rest of us, only we grew up and moved away. She didn’t have that option.”

  “She could have divorced him.”

  “Huh, you wouldn’t say that if you knew my father.” She pulled a face. “Appearance is everything to him, which is why I’ve always thought he couldn’t forgive Jas. But still, a daughter doing a runner isn’t in the same league as his wife seeking a divorce, which implies direct criticism of him as a husband.”

  “You’ve got to be joking.” I paused, impressed by the economical way she changed down a gear and overtook a slow-moving van. “Divorce carries no stigma nowadays.”

  “You’re making the mistake of applying rational thinking to the situation. Dad would feel humiliated by the very suggestion of divorce and find a way to stop Mum going through with it.”

  “You think she stayed out of fear rather than love then?”

  “I’m not sure but, as I said, after Jas went she changed. After a couple of weeks she moved out of the marital bed and into Jas’s room.”

  “Did she now.” It was the first thing she’d said that truly surprised me.

  “She said she couldn’t stand Dad’s snoring, that it kept her awake, but I never really believed that.” She flicked the left-hand indicator as she reached a T-junction and pulled out before an ancient Volvo hogging the crown of the road got close enough to hold her up. “She still sleeps in Jas’s room to this day.”

  “When did you and Brett leave?”

  “As soon as we could.” Kara lifted her shoulders, her eyes still fixed on the road ahead.

  “And we never went back. I suppose she could leave if she’s not happy but, then again, she’s never worked and he holds all the purse strings. I don’t think she’s ever written a cheque. She certainly doesn’t have her own bank account. She has a Visa card but I don’t expect it has much of a limit on it. Certainly not enough to start another life.”

  “But she’d be entitled to half the joint property.”

  “Sure, but if she went to a solicitor, Dad would find a way to paint her as the guilty party and drag matters out for years.”

  “He sounds like a real charmer.”

  “He can be when it suits his purpose. Right, here we are.” She indicated again and pulled up outside a neat semi with a front garden full of children’s toys. “That’s Sally’s car.” She nodded towards the people-mover parked on the drive.

  Sally answered the door wearing jogging bottoms, a stained T-shirt and a tired expression, a toddler balanced on her hip. When she saw Kara, her eyes softened with sympathy and she somehow managed to hug her without squashing the child.

  “How are you holding up, Kara?”

  “I’m okay, Sal, thanks. Sorry to call unannounced but I need a quick word. This is Charlie,” she added, almost as an afterthought. “Can we come in for a moment?”

  “As long as you pretend not to see the mess.”

  “Mess? What mess?”

  “Attagirl! Can I get you both something?” Sally asked as she led the way into a cluttered kitchen and put the child in a playpen.

  “Tea, Sal, if it’s no trouble.” Kara took a seat at the table. “Do you have green?”

  I covered a half smile with my hand. She wasn’t really the instant-coffee type at all.

  “Nothing for me, thanks,” I said when Sally looked in my direction.

  Kara played briefly with the child in the playpen, made the obligatory enquiries about the other two and listened with commendable patience to the long-winded responses. Then she got down to business. “Charlie is helping me to try and track Jasmine down.”

  “Okay.” Sally assimilated this news calmly. “But why, after all this time?”

  “She deserves to know about Brett.”

  “Yes, I suppose, but if she’s taken no interest in any of you for all these years…well, I’m sorry, Kara, but do you think she’ll care?”

  “I honestly don’t know, but this is for me as much as her. I need to understand what happened. Charlie was the detective who looked into her original disappearance, if you recall.”

  “Knew I’d seen you somewhere before, Charlie. I never forget a handsome face.”

  For some reason that escapes me, women find me attractive. I have a reasonable physique, I suppose, but when I look in the mirror I honestly can’t see what all the fuss is about.

  “Handsome?” I quirked a brow and treated her to one of my infrequent smiles, just to soften her up.

  “Ah, no, if you’re fishing for more compliments you’ve had all you’re going to get out of me. Vanity is a terrible trait in a man.”

  “I’ll bear that in mind.” I stretched my legs in front of me, crossed them at the ankles and cut to the chase before vanity got the better of me. “I remember when Jasmine went missing you told me she had no problems you knew about and that she was doing well at college. Was that true?”

  “Well, not precisely. There was something on her mind, I’m sure of it. She’d been short-tempered and withdrawn for weeks but she refused to tell me what was wrong.”

  “Now that does surprise me.” Kara sat forward and rested her arms on her knees, tea forgotten. “You two told each other absolutely everything.”

  “Yes, but not this time. The more I probed, the more adamant she became that nothing was up. But I knew she wasn’t being honest and got the impression something had happened at home. Something to do with your father that she couldn’t bear to talk about. She couldn’t stand the sound of his name anymore and started referring to him as Alan, as though that somehow distanced him from her.”

  “But you’re sure you don’t have any idea what was bugging her?” I asked.

  “None whatsoever.”

  “What about you, Kara?”

  “No, sorry, but then I’m the last person she would have confided in.”

  “Did she have any boyfriends?”

  “Half the upper-sixth were wetting themselves to take her out.”

  “Anyone special?”

  “Yes, Billy Simpson. A good-looking guy, we all fancied him, but he only had eyes for Jas.”

  “And did she? Go out with Simpson, I mean?”

  “Once or twice, just in a crowd, I think. Kara’s probably told you how hard it was for any female in her family to have a normal teenage life. No guys like being raked over the coals when they call to take a girl out on a casual date.” Sally shook her head. “Mr. Webb was Dickensian about that sort of thing, which is why Jas didn’t put the boys through it, I always thought. It was just too embarrassing.”

  “Okay,” I said. “What about college? Was she doing okay there?”

  “She had been, but that last term her grades had really slipped.”

  “The downturn coinciding with her mystery problems, presumably.”

  “Yes. I know Ramsay was concerned and had her in his office for several long heart-to-hearts but, again, she wasn’t very forthcoming about their discussions.”

  “That’s okay,” Kara said. “We’re going to see him next and I expect he’ll tell us.”

  Are we? That was news to me. I treated Kara to a scowl, which she blithely ignored.

  “It sounds as though she’d become rather secretive in those weeks before she disappeared,” I remarked. “Couldn’t have been anything to do with Ramsay, could it? I remember him being quite young and got the impression a lot of the girls had a thing for him.”

  “Yes.” Sally grinned. “He wasn’t that much older than us and we did all rather fancy our chances. But as far as I know he steered clear of the lot of us. Must have known
what would be in store for him if he tried it on and got reported. Even though we were all above the age of consent, something like that on his record would hardly enhance his career prospects.”

  “Yes,” Kara added, giggling. “He was still considered to be a bit of a heartthrob in my day.”

  “I do remember there was a rumour, though,” Sally said.

  “About Ramsay?”

  “Yes, he joined the college the year before Jas and I went there. Before that I think he’d been in a big London comprehensive for a couple of years.”

  Kara frowned. “Wonder why he left after only two years.”

  “Probably preferred the idea of sixth-formers. Kids who actually wanted to learn.” Sally drained the last of the tea from her mug. “Anyway, when Jas and I got to the college, there were rumours amongst the upper-sixth about a girl called…hell, can’t remember her name offhand but it’ll come to me in a minute. Anyway, she’d been a great favourite of Ramsay’s but didn’t return to college after her first year—”

  “Like Jas, you mean?” Kara said keenly.

  “Well, I don’t think the circumstances were quite the same. The rumour was that Ramsay had been giving Suzanne Longhurst, that was her name, more than extra coaching and a complaint had been made against him. We thought it was just the other girls being catty because she’d been the Chosen One. Anyway, her family moved away from the area, the rumours died and, as far as I know, Ramsay kept his nose clean after that.”

  “Well, that’s interesting,” I said, “but I dare say the girl’s family moved away for reasons that had nothing to do with the college.”

  “But it must mean something, Charlie,” Kara said. “It’s our first lead.”

  “As to Jasmine’s actual disappearance, Sally, when I spoke to you at the time you said you didn’t know where she’d gone and that her vanishing was a complete surprise to you.” I focused my eyes on her face and didn’t blink. It was a basic police tactic that was supposed to fool the person you were interviewing into believing you knew more than you actually did. “That wasn’t completely true either, was it?”

  Sally didn’t hesitate for long. “No, it wasn’t.”

  “What!” Kara leapt from her seat. “Why didn’t you say something at the time?”