Abigail

by El Edwards

  “I have a friend who might be able to help us.” I spoke gently. “He’s a police officer but …”

  “No police!”

  “Just let me finish. He’s a police officer but he’s a very good friend. I’d like to ask him to take a look at the letter, run a few tests on it for us. He wouldn’t have to come here. You don’t even have to meet him if you don’t want to.”

  She looked up and wiped her eyes. “You think he’d do that?”

  “It’s not exactly in line with police procedures but under the circumstances, it’s the best we can do.” I glanced at the time. “It’s getting late now and I really need to get back to my daughters but if you’re okay here for now, I’ll take this and see what I can do.” I gestured to the letter and Abigail nodded.

  “Is there anyone you can call who can come and keep you company tonight?”

  Abigail shook her head. “There’s no need, I’ll be fine.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Rob’s reminders about not being a social worker rang in my ears but I still felt a certain duty of care. I had a home of my own I needed to get to and there was nothing to be gained from me staying overnight but I didn’t like to think of Abigail alone and frightened.

  “Who would I call? You’ve met my parents. I can’t ask them to come all the way here because their silly daughter is scared of the dark!”

  “One of the neighbours maybe? Or a friend?”

  She shook her head again. “It’s just me and the kids. The only friends I have are the other mums at school but they’ll be home with their children. I wouldn’t like to ask them to come.” She smiled and took a deep breath. “I’ll lock up behind you and close all the curtains.”

  It wasn’t ideal but Abigail was a grown-up. If she wouldn’t let me call the police I could hardly ask Rob to send a patrol car round to check on her. I said my goodbyes, watching from the van as she finished going round closing all the curtains. I looked up and down the street, I couldn’t see anyone loitering. I decided I’d wait a few minutes, just in case, and then go home. While I waited I rang Rob and invited him to breakfast in the morning. All I could do now was go home, enjoy what was left of the evening with my girls, and see what tomorrow would bring.

  THIRTY-SEVEN

  Rob was waiting for me in The Railway Inn when I rushed in the following morning. Despite their protests and reminders that they’d been promised a fun evening just the three of us, the girls had forgiven me for my exit the evening before and all was well again in our household. I only wished the same could be said for the Rogers family. I sat down opposite Rob with a sigh and he pushed a mug in my direction.

  “Got you a coffee. You look as if you need it. What’s up?”

  “Where do you want me to start?”

  “That good eh? How was your trip?”

  “Eventful. I’ll tell you about that in a minute. That’s not why I wanted to see you. I need a favour.”

  “Uh oh, sounds like trouble.” He smiled. “What have you done?”

  “Me? Nothing. But Abigail’s got herself in a spot of bother. I need your help.” I hesitated. “Unofficially.”

  I told him about the ransom note, listened as he counselled me on the folly of not reporting it to the police, agreed with him completely because there was nothing to argue with, and then involuntarily leapt up and hugged him when he agreed to help.

  “I can’t promise that it won’t get back to the investigating officers though,” he warned me. “If they happen to pull up his file they’ll see the trail. There’s no way round it.”

  “But you won’t go out of your way to specifically mention it to them?”

  “Of course not. Have you got the letter with you?”

  I took the letter out of my bag where I’d stored it safely in a plastic folder and gave it to him.

  “This will only pull up matches for any finger prints we have on file. If the suspected kidnappers aren’t known to us, we’ll draw a blank.”

  I winced. Hearing the words ‘suspected kidnappers’ was doing nothing to help my growing sense of anxiety. I’d been trying to prove Toby had been abducted and now, with the evidence literally to hand, I was unable to do anything about it.

  “You know this is crazy, right?” Rob was looking at me and shaking his head.

  “I know. But she’s afraid what’ll happen to him if she goes back to your lot.”

  “I’m afraid what will happen to him if she doesn’t! We don’t pay kidnappers. You know the rule.”

  “I know, but that’s a much easier rule to follow when it’s someone else’s husband. You didn’t see her face Rob. I don’t know what’s going on with her and his parents but there’s no way she’s responsible for any of this.”

  “What will you do next?”

  “Next I’m going back to Toby’s parents. They deserve to know about the ransom. I also need to ask them about Barnstaple.”

  “You still think he chose to go there? That there’s a connection? This note would suggest otherwise.”

  “I dunno. But I need to ask. If nothing else it’ll give me something to do while I wait for you to work your magic.” I took a sip of coffee before speaking again. “About Barnstaple …”

  He listened, eyes wide, as I filled him in on my trip to Devon. “Shit Charlie! And he took everything?”

  I nodded. “Every detail of my case is now in the hands of the person last known to have seen Toby alive.”

  “I ought to go there and bust him, scrawny little halfwit!”

  Rob didn’t agree with my reasons for letting Ryan stay on the run but with no known whereabouts and in lieu of actual evidence that he had anything to do with Toby’s disappearance, there wasn’t a lot he could do. I knew in theory he could speak to colleagues in North Devon police, alert them about a possible felon on the run, but I knew he wouldn’t do that. Ryan was a loose end that needed tidying up and I accepted his offer to come with me when I next headed back to Barnstaple but in the meantime, there was work to do here.

  The weather was grey and damp as I parked outside Saul and Carol Rogers house. I rang the bell and was soon greeted warmly by Carol and shown into the same room as last time.

  “I’m afraid you’ve just missed Saul. He shouldn’t be long though. Did you want a cup of tea while you wait?”

  “Coffee please. But it was you I wanted to talk to Carol.”

  “Me?” She stopped in her tracks. “What can I do?”

  “Forget about the coffee. Come and sit down.” I waited while she got comfortable. “I wondered if you knew any reason why Toby might visit Barnstaple? It’s in Devon,” I added.

  She smiled. “I know where it is.”

  “Oh?”

  “We used to take our summer holiday there every year when Toby was a boy.”

  “So Toby knew Barnstaple well?”

  “Very well. He was about fifteen when we stopped going. Decided it was getting a bit boring for a teenage lad so we took him to Spain instead. Why?”

  “Money from his account was withdrawn from a cash machine in Barnstaple. I’ve been trying to find someone who might have seen him there but nothing so far.”

  “You mean he’s still alive?” She grabbed my hand, tears shining in her eyes. “After all this time. I mean, you always hope. But it’s been so long.”

  I heard the front door opening and she rushed out to greet her husband. “Saul, it’s Toby. He’s alive!” I cursed myself for not having had the foresight to begin this conversation with the ransom note. She sounded so happy but I knew it wouldn’t last long.

  “What? Our Toby?”

  I heard them talking in the hallway and then Saul appeared followed by Carol. He came straight to me. “Is this true?”

  I smiled helplessly. “We’re cautiously optimistic. Some money was withdrawn from his account.”

  “In Barnstaple!” Carol interrupted me. “Of all the places.”

  “What the bloody hell’s he doing in Barnstaple?” Saul roared. “Tel
l him to come home!”

  “It’s not that simple. Would you sit down Mr Rogers?” I watched as he paced up and down the room.

  “Saul please. Sit down.” Carol turned to me. “Where is he?”

  I took a photocopy of the ransom note out of my bag and handed it to her. “I’m sorry.”

  A sob escaped from behind her hand as she read. “Fifty thousand pounds?”

  She showed it to Saul who stopped pacing and sat next to her on the sofa and started ringing his hands.

  “I can’t believe this. Fifty grand? But he’s alive? I can’t believe it.”

  “What’s she going to do?” Carol spoke softly. “Abigail? Is she going to pay?”

  THIRTY-EIGHT

  I didn’t know what to say. As certain as I was that Abigail would move heaven and earth to get her husband home, I didn’t know where she was going to find the money. Her father had made it clear that he’d cover my fee so I’d been working on the premise that there might be something he could do but without speaking to him, I couldn’t give any assurances to the grieving mother sat in front of me. There was also the none too small matter of Abigail not knowing I’d visited her in-laws. I’d asked her about them twice now and both times she’d either changed the subject or shut down. I’d have to tell her I’d met them but I was hoping to save that memorable day for much later in the year, right after a month of Sundays. I looked first at Carol then Saul. They were both watching me, waiting for an answer that would tell them if they had any hope of ever seeing their son again.

  “She wants to. There’s no question about that,” I said.

  “But?” Saul was glaring at me.

  “No but. She wants to pay. It’s just a question of when. And how.” I crossed my fingers and hoped they’d understand what I meant. Fifty grand was a huge sum of money.

  Saul turned his attention to his wife. “Carol, I need to speak to you in private.”

  She nodded. “Excuse us, we’ll be right back,” she said to me.

  I watched as they walked out into the hallway and started talking in hushed tones. I could see Carol’s shadow nodding and gesturing. If it hadn’t been under such intense circumstances it would have been funny. After just a minute or so they both walked back into the room and sat down. It was left to Carol to deliver the verdict.

  “We said we’d help in any way we could and we meant it.”

  “That’s great.” I said. “What did you have in mind?”

  Carol looked at Saul and he nodded his encouragement. “We have some savings put away. We want her to have it. We’ll remortgage this place for the rest. It’s only bricks. Family’s more important. And we’d like to go and see Abigail, to offer to help. But we were wondering if you’d come with us?”

  “Me?” I stared at her, mouth gaping open. If I turned up at Abigail’s house with Toby’s parents I didn’t like to think about the consequences. She’d signed a contract so she couldn’t sack me but she could make life incredibly difficult. In the best interests of the case I was keen to stay as far away as possible from that little reunion. “Why do you need me?”

  Carol smiled. “If it hadn’t been for you we wouldn’t have known about any of this. It’s only right you should be there to get what you deserve.”

  That was exactly what I was afraid of! “The thing is Carol, Abigail doesn’t exactly know I’m here.”

  “Oh?”

  “Rob, the man who came with me last week? He did some research for me, found your address.”

  “Abigail didn’t send you?” She sounded devastated.

  I shook my head.

  “I thought that maybe she’d had a change of heart. It’s been such a long time.” She appeared to think about it a moment but then, mind made up, she turned back to me. “No matter, we’ll help anyway. He’s our son. Isn’t that right Saul?”

  Saul nodded and I felt my heart land in my stomach. If I wasn’t very careful my whole case was in danger of bursting into a ball of flames right in front of my eyes.

  Having promised that I’d arrange a time for them to visit, Saul pressed a piece of paper into my hand as he shook it. When I looked I saw he’d written their telephone number on a scrap of paper.

  “Ring any time,” he said. “We’d like a little outing in the car. Sooner the better.”

  With nothing left to say I made my excuses and headed back along the motorway towards home. I decided I needed cheering up so I stopped on route to visit my new friend Jack in the service station. He smiled when he looked up and saw me walking towards him.

  “Charlie Diamond! Well fancy seeing you here. How are you my lovely?”

  “Not too bad Jack. How about yourself? Been busy?”

  “You know how it is, I try. Not seen that chap of yours though.”

  I sighed. “Nope, he seems to have vanished off the face of the earth. I guess it was a long shot.”

  “Don’t lose heart, there’s still time.”

  The noise of building work behind us caught my attention. “Is your little service station getting a facelift?” I asked.

  Jack smiled. “Sure is. Wish they’d hurry up with it though. It’s been months now. Every day the same old racket. Took them long enough to agree the contract, you’d think they’d want to get the job done.”

  I looked out the window and saw the van belonging to one of the contractors. I turned back to Jack. “You’re not going to believe this Jack …”

  “What?”

  “You remember the older man I told you about?”

  Jack nodded.

  “That’s his firm doing the work here.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Dead sure. Winklemans. Can’t be too many of them around Bridgend.” I thought for a moment. “But you’ve not seen him here? The second guy on my phone?”

  “Would have rung you if I had.”

  “I know. Sorry, just checking.”

  “Is it important?”

  That was a question with no easy answer. I thought Bill had told me they did residential construction but that didn’t mean they couldn’t take on other projects. Something was setting off my internal alarm but I couldn’t put my finger on what. I turned my attention back to Jack.

  “You mentioned the contract for the work here was a bit of a mess or something?”

  “Damn straight. It was all set to start, late last year I think it was, but the original contract fell through.”

  “And that’s when Winklemans took over?”

  “I suppose so. Sorry Charlie, I’m probably not the best person to ask about that sort of thing. I just hear whispers, you know?”

  I did know and it was the whispers that I was particularly interested in. “Do you think you could find out what the whispers are saying about Winklemans? I’d be ever so grateful.”

  “Of course. Give me a couple of days. I’ll ring you.” He patted his pocket where I assumed he had my card safely stored.

  “Perfect! Thanks Jack.”

  With his well wishes ringing in my ears I carried on towards home. All I had to do now was convince Abigail that I wasn’t a treacherous rogue for speaking to Toby’s parents and my day would be complete. She’d see past any misdemeanour on my part if it meant bringing her husband home, wouldn’t she?

  THIRTY-NINE

  I knocked on Abigail’s door with a certain amount of trepidation. When I’d left her the night before she’d been adamant she didn’t need anyone’s help. I wasn’t sure how kindly she’d take to the news that her in-laws wanted to visit. She smiled when she saw me.

  “Come in, come in.” We went straight into the kitchen and sat at her table. “Did you speak to him?”

  “Sorry?”

  “Your friend the policeman. I thought that was why you’re here?”

  “Oh sorry, yes I did. He’s happy to help. I left the letter with him and he’ll ring me with news when he has any.”

  “That’s kind of him.”

  “It is. How was your night? Did you sleep okay?�
�

  “As well as can be expected. I don’t think I’ve had a full night’s sleep since June. I keep waking up thinking I hear him.”

  “And today? How are you doing?” I needed to tell her about Carol and Saul and that would be easier if she wasn’t having a terrible day.

  “Pretty good.” She gave me a funny look. “What’s going on Charlie?”

  I felt my face flush. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean you look incredibly guilty. What’s happened?”

  “You’re far too good at reading people. You should have my job.” I was stalling and we both knew it. I took a deep breath. “Okay, my friend in the police didn’t just take the letter for analysis.”

  “Okay …”

  “He also looked up some details from Toby’s file on the computer.”

  “The police file?”

  “That’s right.”

  “And?”

  “And he gave me an address for Toby’s parents.” I watched her, waiting for any hint of how she might react. “I went to see them Abigail.”

  “I see.” Her face looked blank. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

  “I wanted to find out if they knew any connection with Barnstaple.”

  “I told you I didn’t want to speak to them.”

  “You didn’t actually. I asked you, more than once, and all you did was close down.”

  “Didn’t that tell you something? Like maybe I didn’t want to talk about them because they’re a pair of raving lunatics?”

  A laugh accidentally slipped from my mouth. I knew all about scary mother-in-laws and was fully prepared to accept that theirs might be a hostile relationship but I’d met them, twice now, and they didn’t strike me as lunatics. A bit intense maybe, but raving? Doubtful.