by Carla Kovach
The woman put down the cloth and wiped her damp hands on her jeans. She removed her hair band and stretched her dark greasy hair into a tighter ponytail. ‘I remember. Inspector…’
‘Harte.’
‘That’s it. You were investigating that woman who went missing. The one who used to come in here. Deborah. What you here for this time?’
‘Same case. We’ve actually had a lead and we wanted to go over the statements that were given at the time. We will need to chat to yourself, Mr Avery, Mr Wall and Miss Perrins.’
‘Ally left. Ally Perrins. She and Jane had a baby two years ago. Some sort of donor thing but it all worked out in the end. As far as I know she’s a stay-at-home mum, but we don’t keep in touch. She could be anywhere and doing anything by now.’ The woman pulled out a cigarette and placed it behind her ear.
‘Are Mr Avery and Mr Wall in?’
‘Samuel’s upstairs, doing the books, he said, and Jeff’s in the cellar attending to the barrels.’ The woman placed the cigarette in her mouth. ‘I really need a ciggy. Do you want to talk to me first or shall I call one of the others?’
As Gina went to answer, Samuel Avery entered the bar and placed his grimy hands on the back of Charlene’s neck. ‘Got a smoke for your favourite landlord?’ he asked. Charlene smirked and passed him a cigarette. He looked up at the two detectives. ‘You’re a bit early for a drink. We’re not open for another ten minutes. You can see we’re still cleaning.’
‘I can tell, nearly stepped in the puke on your doorstep,’ Jacob replied.
‘I haven’t got to that yet,’ Charlene replied. ‘Do you want to go to the beer garden out the back instead?’
Jacob nodded.
‘You lot. I remember you’, Samuel said as his eyes met Gina’s. ‘You were here when Deborah disappeared.’
Samuel Avery was exactly as Gina remembered. If there was ever a case for workplace sexual harassment, he was it. She remembered how, back then, she’d spotted him ogling Ally’s bottom as she bent down to grab a tonic water from the fridge; how he always brushed against Charlene and Ally, even though Ally would never have been interested in him. She remembered that some of the customers said he got a bit hands-on when he’d had a few. He had a record of provoking husbands after he’d tried it on with their wives. It looked like Charlene didn’t mind though. She seemed to embrace his touch and reciprocate his advances. He placed his arm around her shoulder and she smiled. He still wore long shirts and skinny jeans, and his fifty-six years were showing more than the average man of that age. The smoking and drinking had aged him quickly in the few short years she’d known him. She watched as he twirled the cigarette between his bony fingers with his pale, liver-spotted hand.
‘The garden sounds good. We’ll have a smoke and a chat there,’ Charlene said.
Samuel grabbed Charlene’s cigarettes from her pocket and held them out. ‘Smoke?’
Jacob and Gina shook their heads. ‘We’d like to talk to Charlene first – alone,’ Jacob said.
‘I see. I suppose I’ll stay here then and wait my turn,’ he said as he grabbed a paper and sat on a stool at the bar.
Gina followed Charlene to the garden, which was an extension of the car park. Empty glasses, bottles and overfilled ashtrays covered the benches on the dirty patio. The cellar flap opened and a gaunt man popped his head up. He rubbed his hands together as he climbed to the top of the steps. He flinched and rubbed his neck, nodding at the three of them as he leaned down to lift a barrel. ‘Jeff,’ Gina called. ‘Jeff Wall.’
He nodded and smiled with an open mouth. Gina noticed that he had a chipped front tooth.
‘You do remember me, don’t you?’
The man shook his head as he balanced the barrel on his shoulder.
‘DI Harte. The detective investigating the Deborah Jenkins case a few years ago. Don’t go anywhere, we’re speaking to everyone.’
The man ran his fingers through his hair and smiled. ‘Sure thing. I’ve just got to get the empties out ready for collection,’ he replied as he continued into the pub.
Gina turned back to Charlene. ‘Right, down to business. Just to recap your statement, you stated back then that Deborah Jenkins was a regular on Wednesday nights. She was a member of the women’s pool team and had been for two years.’ Jacob took out his notebook and marked it with the date. He blew his nose and wiped his eyes. Charlene leaned away from him, took her cigarette from behind her ear and lit it. She drew in the nicotine and blew the smoke out slowly. Jacob coughed. Gina watched as the lines on the side of Charlene’s mouth became more prominent as she sucked on the cigarette.
‘That’s right. From what I can remember, she wasn’t very good at it, but she was friends with Lottie. Now that’s a woman who is shit-hot with a cue. The girls all still have a remembrance once a year for Debbie.’
‘Can you tell me about the last time you saw her again?’
‘Now you’re expecting a lot. It was ages ago.’
‘Try your best.’
‘From what I can recall, it was the week before she went missing. The team plays on Wednesdays so it had to be that day. We’d lost at home to the Spinster and Black Cat. The atmosphere, from what I remember, was a bit sombre, as they were bottom of the league and then, after that game, we were. That’s the only time we’ve been bottom of the league. We should’ve beat them.’
‘Did you play?’ Jacob asked.
‘No, I don’t do sport. When I say we, I mean us at the Angel. I still wanted them to win. Anyway, the Spinster lot all went on their merry way with an unexpected victory to their name and we sat there drinking for a couple of hours. I remember drinking tequila shots after my shift that night and was sick as a dog in the night – never again. Deborah always got a taxi home with Lottie—’
‘By Lottie, do you mean Charlotte?’
‘Yeah, Charlotte Livingston. She did live a few doors down from Debbie but I know she moved to the outskirts of the village. Her hubby got a promotion, they got a bigger house with apple trees and a gated drive. Alright for some. My husband did one seventeen years ago when my youngest was born. He’s a little git now, like his father.’ Charlene took another drag of her cigarette.
‘Can we get back to that night in question please, Charlene?’ Gina asked.
‘Well, we’d all had a few, to commiserate, you know. Samuel gave ’em all a drink on the house and joined them for the last couple while we went through the strategy of play, trying to dissect where it all went wrong. I’ve told you all this before.’ The woman finished her cigarette, dropped it to the floor and stood on it. Gina couldn’t understand why she did that, as she was ultimately the one who had to clean it up.
‘You said in your statement that Deborah slapped Samuel on the arm.’
‘Yes. I couldn’t hear what was being said but she did slap him on the arm. I think it was playful. I call him spaghetti hands, they’re always winding their way around some woman. She was having none of it though. Debbie was a good girl, not one for a fling. Lottie, on the other hand, was an outrageous flirt. Never went home with ’em though. We thought Samuel was getting a bit too big for his boots with her and was probably going to have to face another angry husband. But it wasn’t as if he was going to pounce on any of ’em, and they always came back.’
Jacob nodded at Gina. ‘You’ve been most helpful, Charlene. Is your address still the same?’
‘Yes, still in that dump.’ Charlene looked at her watch. ‘Bloody hell. Is it that time already? I’ve got to ring my lazy-ass son to get him out of bed for work. If I don’t call him, he won’t get up and I ain’t giving him any money to waste on weed.’ The woman paused and stared at Gina. ‘I didn’t mean weed. I meant—’
Gina shook her head. ‘Thank you, Charlene.’
‘You will let me know if you find her. She was a nice girl, always friendly. Such a shame for her husband and babies.’
Gina nodded. ‘Will do.’ The woman scurried off to the end of the garden with her
phone pressed to her ear and began yelling at her teenage son.
Jacob stared at his notes as he rubbed his throbbing head. Gina noticed how glassy his eyes looked. ‘Why are you such a martyr?’ he said. ‘You come into work on death’s door, and because you do that, it means I have to as well.’
‘Stop whining, Driscoll. You’re standing, aren’t you?’ Gina replied with a grin. Jacob coughed and smiled as he followed her back into the pub.
Jeff Wall had picked up the cleaning where Charlene had left off. Samuel entered through the front door with an empty bucket. ‘The threshold is all back to full freshness, ready for your departure.’
‘Looking forward to us leaving already, Mr Avery?’ Gina asked.
‘I never said that. I’m always happy for lovely young ladies to stay, including yourself, Detective. Not so much your sidekick though. He’ll scare my customers off with his germy image. Jeff, pour me a brandy.’ The man obediently grabbed a bottle off the mirrored shelf and poured a large measure into the glass. Samuel took a seat at the table beside the fireplace and they joined him.
Gina looked at Jacob. Jacob shook his head and rolled his eyes. ‘Mr Avery. On the last night that Deborah Jenkins attended this pub, the night of the pool match against the Spinster, which you lost, you were seen to be having some sort of disagreement with Mrs Jenkins. In your statement, you said that you asked her if she wanted another drink on the house, and she accused you of trying to get her drunk and got a little upset.’
‘That’s exactly how it happened. I’ll make no bones about it. I thought she was something special. She was the quiet one, silent but alluring. I’m an old man who was trying my luck. She turned me down and took offence, what more can I say?’
Gina thought back to the file. On the night of Debbie’s disappearance, Avery had been in the airport, waiting to board a flight. She’d checked the validity of this information and he had indeed checked in. Had he been involved though? Did he get someone else to assist with his dirty work? If so, who?
‘Do you know if she was having problems with anyone here?’
‘She got on with everyone – except me, after I propositioned her. She came in once a week, had a couple of drinks while playing pool. Laughed with her friends. There were no dramas that I can think of. I really do wish I knew something. She was a nice person. I’d like nothing more than for her to be found and come here every Wednesday and play pool with her friends.’
‘Where were you at approximately 7 p.m. on the night of Friday the first of December? Last Friday.’
‘I was staying with my sister in the big smoke.’ He grabbed a small pen from his top pocket and wrote a number on a beer mat. ‘Here’s her number. You ain’t pinning anything on me.’ A grin spread across his face.
‘And this morning at 3 a.m?’
‘I was in bed.’
‘Alone?’
‘Yes. What’s all this about?’
Gina watched as Jacob made a couple of notes, summarising what Mr Avery had said.
‘Thank you, Mr Avery,’ Jacob said as he pulled out a tissue and sneezed. Avery stood and walked to the bar.
‘Follow up on this when you get back,’ said Gina. ‘I want his alibi checked out.’ Jacob took the beer mat from her and slotted it into his notebook.
Looking up, Gina saw Jeff Wall leaving the pub’s cellar.
‘We need a word, Mr Wall?’ Jacob called.
The man nodded and joined them at the table. Charlene appeared with a bag overflowing with empty beer bottles and then began emptying the internal bins into another bag.
‘We have in your notes that you were here, working on that last Wednesday before Deborah’s disappearance. You were also here working on the night of her disappearance. Is it right that you were managing the place in Samuel’s absence?’
‘Yes. It’s hard to remember. How long ago was it now?’
‘Four years. In your statement you mentioned reordering stock.’
‘Yes, I can just about remember now. I had to do the ordering that night. I was in the office from late afternoon until about eight thirty—’
‘On the night she disappeared or the Wednesday before?’ Jacob asked.
The man looked up at Jacob and paused. ‘It was a long time ago. It was the night she disappeared. Samuel had already left for the airport. When I finished the paperwork, I came down and worked the bar as I always do when he’s away.’
Gina remembered them examining the car park CCTV of the night Deborah had disappeared. Jeff’s old Rover had been parked up until eleven that night.
‘Do you remember what happened the night of the pool match against the Spinster? You told us at the time that Deborah had seemed a little offish with Mr Avery.’
The man tapped his knees with his hands. ‘That’s right. I don’t remember much more. She was sitting with the other five. Lottie, Juliet, Zoe, Barbara and Steph. They still make up the core of the team. We have others come and go, but they stay in the team. I’m sure I said this at the time, when you asked me before.’
‘I know, we’re just going over things. You’ve been very helpful,’ Gina said as she stood.
Jeff nodded. ‘She was a lovely young lady, I hope you find her.’ He walked over to the fire with a bag of kindling sticks, a newspaper and a lighter.
‘And where were you last Friday evening, around seven?’ Gina asked.
‘Where?’
‘Yes. Where were you? Simple question.’
‘I was managing the place while Sam was away, like I always do. I worked between the bar, the cellar and the office. I changed a barrel at one point and I put in an order for some more lager. Check if you want. Why do you want to know where I was?’
Avery brushed past and grinned.
‘Just following up on another investigation. Thank you. We’ll check into that.’ Gina made a note to check that Wall was shown as working on the staff rota and that he had indeed made an order for lager. She also made another note. Could Avery be an accomplice in Deborah’s disappearance?
‘Can I go now? I’ve got to sort the cellar out.’
‘Yes, we’ll be in touch if we need to speak further.’ Gina watched as Jacob finished making notes and closed his notebook.
Albert walked through the door and headed to the bar. ‘Have you found that baby’s parents yet?’ he asked as soon as he saw Gina.
Gina looked at him for a minute, struggling to recall where she’d seen him before. Then she remembered speaking to him when he found the Jenkins baby. Gina smiled, but she couldn’t say that they had. If the press were to get hold of the rest of the story, it would most likely be sensationalised and all sorts of assumptions would be made. If Deborah was in any sort of danger and being held, letting the press loose with the story might put her in more danger. She needed Deborah to be kept safe. She needed the investigation to stay under wraps.
‘Not yet. The baby is looking well thanks to you though, Mr Thomas. It’s lucky you were walking past and stopped. Who knows what might have happened had you not been there. You should give this man one on the house for what he did, Mr Avery.’
Samuel Avery stared up at her and dropped his shoulders before nodding at Charlene to offer Albert a drink.
‘What will you be having, love?’ she asked.
‘An extra-large Scotch,’ he replied. ‘Thanks, officer.’
‘Don’t mention it.’ Gina replied, turning her attention to Avery. ‘Can you get me your staff rota for last Friday night? Oh, and I’ll send someone to verify the orders that were made that night. I assume we have your full cooperation.’ Avery stared at her then stomped out of the room. A moment later, he shoved a scuffed piece of paper into her hand.
‘Take it with you. Always happy to help the pigs. I mean, the police.’
‘Thank you Mr Avery.’
She passed him without looking back and they left the building, noting that he hadn’t put up any form of resistance. As they headed for the car, Gina glanced at the rota and searche
d for the evening in question. Charlene was on bar and Jeff was down as being on a shift from four in the afternoon to close. They got in the car and headed back to the station, ready to compare findings. Gina looked down at her phone, which had been on silent. There were no messages from Hannah.
She called the station and O’Connor answered. ‘Could you organise the collection of a copy of an order made for lager at the Angel Arms last Friday? You can speak to Samuel Avery. I want a copy filed under the Baby Jenkins case. Verify the time the order was made.’ O’Connor acknowledged her request and she ended the call. As Jacob drove, she tapped in the number on the beer mat and waited for an answer. Time to start working on verifying Avery’s whereabouts. There was something about him she just didn’t trust.
Twenty-Nine
Gina kicked off her shoes and switched her laptop on. Briggs had told her to leave a bit earlier as she’d been doing so much overtime. But they both knew she was bringing her work home, as was Jacob. And she was sure Briggs had spent all day looking at the station’s finances, worrying about overspending. With all that was going on, there wasn’t time to sit around, watch soaps and take long candlelit baths. Every time she settled down to bathe, the phone would go.
She looked out the window into the rural darkness. Living on the outskirts of Stratford-upon-Avon had given her the peace she’d never had as a Birmingham city dweller. As her struggling laptop finally powered up, she pulled the files out of her bag and placed them on the floor. She sat next to them with her legs spread out and opened her email, but she’d received no new messages since she’d left the station. She’d confirmed that Avery had been in London at his sister’s on Friday, and O’Connor had come back to her with a copy of the lager order, which had been made at five forty that evening. Her mind came back to Avery. The thought of him near any woman made her skin crawl, but he’d covered himself well on two occasions. She’d considered that he could be working with someone else, but who?
An email pinged up on her screen. It was a sponsorship request for O’Connor’s bike ride that coming weekend. She doubted whether O’Connor would live through a fifteen-mile bike ride. He’d laughed in her face when she’d suggested that he should train for it. She clicked on the link, which explained that any money raised would go to the local hospital. She tapped in her details and sent him twenty pounds.