by Susan Lewis
After the door closed Andee turned back to Estelle. ‘Staying with Tania for the moment, did she live at the camp while she was working there?’
‘Yeah, she did. In the staff quarters.’
‘And she would have been what sort of age?’
‘Eighteen – and she was dead pretty. All the blokes went after her.’
Suspecting that was why Sophie and Estelle liked to be around her, Andee decided to store the information for the moment, and glanced at Leo, a signal for him to bring the subject back to Sophie.
‘So, did you see Sophie at all last Sunday?’ he asked.
Estelle shook her head. ‘Not Sunday, no. We were supposed to get together in the evening, but she never turned up, and I couldn’t get any answer from her mobile.’ Her eyes began filling with tears. ‘You don’t think anything bad’s happened to her, do you?’ she asked shakily.
‘We certainly hope not,’ Andee replied. If this girl turned out not to be on the level she had a dazzling career ahead of her in Hollywood.
After waiting for Estelle to dab her eyes with her fingers, Leo said, ‘So the last time you saw Sophie would have been when?’
‘Saturday,’ Estelle sniffed. ‘We went to the beach.’
‘Did she mention any plans then to leave home?’
‘No, nothing. We were having a laugh with these blokes from . . . Actually I can’t remember where they were from, Sunderland I think, or somewhere up north anyway. They were trying to get us to go to a party at their caravan on Saturday night, but we ended up not going.’
‘For any particular reason?’
‘When the time came Sophie didn’t feel like it. She’d had another row with Heidi, so we just stayed in her room chatting, and listening to music and making videos and stuff.’
‘Videos?’ Andee queried.
‘On our phones.’ She reached for hers, and finding what she was looking for she passed it over.
Hitting play Andee watched Sophie coming to life on the small screen, a slight, captivating girl with a bust slightly too large for her skinny frame and denim shorts slung low on her hips. She was using her heavily made-up eyes and pouting lips to flirt with the camera as she danced and writhed like a true professional.
‘She’s good, isn’t she?’ Estelle murmured.
If you call a child behaving like a stripper good. Without looking up Andee said, ‘Would you mind if I emailed this to myself?’
Though Estelle clearly did mind, she apparently couldn’t think of a reason to refuse, as she simply shrugged as if to say, if you like.
After making sure it had gone through Andee handed the phone back. ‘Where did you shoot it?’ she asked.
Estelle seemed to flinch. ‘Uh, I can’t remember. I mean, I think it was at Sophie’s.’
‘Would you like to take another look at the background?’
‘No, it’s OK. It was definitely in her room.’
‘Was anyone else there?’
Appearing more uncomfortable than ever, Estelle said, ‘No, it was just us.’
Andee waited.
Estelle’s colour flowed into the roots of her hair.
‘Estelle, you need to tell us the truth,’ Andee insisted.
‘I am,’ she cried. ‘There was just us. We were messing around, you know, dancing to all sorts of stuff.’
Fairly certain there was more to it, Andee said, ‘If anyone else was there . . .’
‘There wasn’t!’ Estelle cried. ‘I swear it.’
Deciding to sideline it for the moment, Andee resumed, ‘OK, you were telling us just now that Sophie had had another row with Heidi on Saturday night. Do you know what it was about?’
Estelle gave a half-shrug. ‘Heidi’s always having a go at her about something these days. She’s been a right cow since the baby was born. She used to be really nice before, more like a mate really than a stepmum. You could tell her most things and she’d be totally cool with it. Now, it’s like you can’t say anything to her without her going off on one. My mum reckons it’s because she knows there’s something wrong with the baby and she doesn’t want to admit it, so she’s all stressed out about it.’
Considering that a fair assumption based on the little she’d seen, Andee said, ‘Did Sophie mention anything that night about running away?’
‘Not really. I mean she was always saying she couldn’t wait to leave home, and stuff like that, but if she’d been serious about running away she’d definitely have told me.’
‘So Saturday evening was the last time you saw her?’
Estelle nodded. ‘She was supposed to be coming here on Sunday, after tea, but I never heard from her and like I said, I couldn’t get any answer from her mobile.’
‘What did you think might have happened?’
Estelle glanced down at her hands as a flush spread across her cheeks. ‘That she’d probably had another row with Heidi,’ she mumbled, ‘but if she had I know she’d have rung me . . . So I suppose I thought . . . Well, I wondered if she might be with . . .’ Her words ran out and she kept her eyes down.
‘With who?’ Andee gently prompted.
Estelle shrugged awkwardly and still didn’t look up.
‘Does she have a boyfriend?’ Andee ventured.
‘No, not a boyfriend exactly, but there’s this . . . I mean, she has this thing about someone who works at the camp. I thought she might have . . . you know . . .’
Andee’s eyes went briefly to Leo’s. ‘Can you tell us his name?’ she asked.
Estelle shook her head.
‘Why?’
‘I just can’t. It wouldn’t be right. She wouldn’t want me to.’
‘Is it possible she’s gone off with him?’
‘No, because I’ve seen him since Sunday. Anyway, he’s married, and she’s only fourteen. If her dad was to find out . . .’
Andee stiffened. This was potentially very serious indeed. ‘Do you think her dad might have found out?’
‘No, because the bloke wouldn’t be working at the camp any more if he had.’
‘So what does this person do at the camp?’
At last Estelle’s eyes came up, wide and worried and once again brimming with tears. ‘I don’t know what she sees in him really,’ she admitted. ‘I mean, he’s really buff and all that, but he leads people on and . . .’ She broke off as the door suddenly opened and her mother came bustling in with the tea.
Biting down on her frustration, Andee waited for Marian to pour and pass out her dainty china cups before trying to steer the conversation back on course.
‘I understand you want to keep Sophie’s confidence,’ she said to Estelle, ‘but it’s important for us to know more about this man.’
Marian’s eyes rounded with surprise. ‘What man?’ she asked Estelle.
‘It’s no one,’ Estelle answered irritably. ‘It was nothing. Just leave it, OK?’
Before Marian could respond Andee said, ‘You do want to help us find Sophie, don’t you, Estelle?’
‘Of course I do, but I’m telling you, she’s not with him.’
‘With who?’ her mother demanded crossly.
‘I said leave it.’
‘Don’t tell me to leave it. If you think she’s with some . . .’
‘I just said, she’s not with him,’ Estelle cried angrily.
‘Who is he?’ Marian insisted.
Estelle stayed silent.
Marian turned to Andee, her eyes burning with frustration.
Raising a hand to still her, Andee said, ‘If Sophie’s involved with an older man . . .’
‘’She isn’t. Not like you’re meaning it.’
‘Then how is she involved with him?’
‘I just said, she isn’t. She likes him, that’s all.’
‘So why don’t you tell us his name?’
‘Because I can’t.’
‘You mean because you won’t.’
Estelle shrugged.
Andee’s eyes went briefly to Marian. She could
see the worry for her own daughter and what she might have become embroiled in, but for the moment at least they must keep this about Sophie. Deciding to rewind a little so they could approach the mysterious married man another way, she said, ‘Let’s go back to Sunday evening. You say you didn’t hear from Sophie. I think we should probably check your phone records to make sure she wasn’t trying to get in touch . . .’
‘Actually, I did get one text from her,’ Estelle suddenly blurted.
Marian looked astounded. ‘You what?’ she demanded. ‘Why are you only telling us this now?’
‘I forgot.’
‘What do you mean, forgot? How can you forget?’
‘What does it say?’ Andee broke in.
Looking profoundly miserable, Estelle found the text and passed her phone over.
Reading aloud, Andee said:
Sorry didn’t ring, had another row with WSM. Ended up getting chased on beach by Shrek. Totally scary. With G now. My hero. T on tonight. Definitely going to go for it.
Passing the phone to Leo, Andee said, ‘WSM?’
‘Wicked stepmother.’
Of course. ‘And Shrek?’
‘He’s one of the site wardens,’ Estelle explained. ‘A total weirdo. He’s got this thing about Sophie.’
After making sure Leo had noted this, Andee said, ‘And would T be Tania?’
Estelle shook her head.
‘Then who are G and T? And please don’t say a drink.’
Estelle’s shoulder raised in a shrug. ‘They’re just like, mates.’
‘So you can tell us their names.’
Estelle’s head went down and her mother lost it again. ‘For God’s sake, Estelle. The police need to know who Sophie was with on Sunday night . . .’
‘It won’t make any difference,’ Estelle cried. ‘They’re totally cool . . .’
‘How can you say that when we don’t know where she is? And what did she mean that she was going for it tonight? Had she been planning to run off with them?’
‘No!’ Estelle’s eyes flicked to Andee.
‘We need the truth,’ Andee told her darkly.
Estelle was seeming to shrink inside herself. ‘She wasn’t planning to run away,’ she muttered under her breath.
‘Then tell us what you think has happened.’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Would either of these men – can we take it they’re both men?’
Estelle gave the briefest of nods.
‘Would either of them harm her, do you think?’
‘No way. Well, definitely not Gary . . .’ Her eyes dilated as she realised she’d said his name.
‘Are we talking about Gary Perkins?’ Andee came in quickly.
Estelle only looked at her.
‘Who’s Gary Perkins?’ Marian wanted to know.
‘He’s a lifeguard at the camp’s pool,’ Leo informed her.
Marian looked confused. ‘What, the one whose sister runs the tanning salon?’ She turned to Estelle aghast. ‘You surely haven’t been mixing with him? He’s old enough to be your father.’
‘No he’s not,’ Estelle snapped. ‘And who said I was mixing with him?’
‘Was Sophie?’ Andee asked.
Estelle clearly wanted the ground to swallow her up.
Since Sophie’s text more or less confirmed an association – With G now. My hero – Andee said, ‘Was Gary Perkins there when you shot the video of Sophie dancing?’
‘No!’ Estelle muttered fiercely.
Suspecting he had been, Andee asked, ‘Who’s T?’
‘And none of your messing about this time,’ Marian scolded. ‘We need to know who he is . . .’
‘All right, all right, he’s the maintenance bloke, OK? She’s like totally mad about him, but all he’s interested in is one thing.’ Her cheeks were so hot now that Andee almost felt sorry for her.
As Marian gaped at her, Leo said, ‘Just to be clear, we’re talking about sex?’
This was too much for Marian. ‘Have those men been taking advantage of Sophie?’ she demanded furiously.
‘Oh Mum, get over it will you? She’s not a kid, and anyway . . .’
‘She most definitely is a kid, and if I find out you’ve been going the same way I can tell you this right now, you’ll be straight up that clinic to check for STDs . . .’
‘I haven’t done anything,’ Estelle shouted. ‘Get off my case, will you? I never said anything about sex.’
‘But you insinuated it.’ To Andee, Marian said, ‘I’m sorry, I had no idea any of this was going on, and I’m sure Sophie’s parents haven’t either . . . You little tart,’ she shouted at Estelle, slapping her legs.
‘Mrs Morris,’ Andee chided. ‘We really need to calm this down.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Marian gasped, ‘but what do you do? We’re going to have words later, my girl, you can be sure of that.’
‘None of this is my fault,’ Estelle cried. ‘I’m not the one who was with them, am I?’
‘Maybe not last Sunday, but what about other days? If I find out one of them has laid as much as a finger on you . . .’
‘OK, let’s try to get this back to Sophie,’ Andee broke in firmly. Giving them a moment to resettle, she said, ‘The text tells us that Sophie was with at least one of these men last Sunday evening . . . I’m taking it you believe her?’
Estelle blinked. ‘Why would she lie?’
‘Because sometimes people say things to make themselves look cool, or more grown up than they are, or to get other people into trouble. Is she likely to have done that?’
Estelle didn’t seem certain as she shook her head.
Wishing she didn’t have to ask the next question in front of Marian, Andee said, ‘Have you ever spent time with these men yourself?’
‘No, not like you’re meaning it,’ Estelle protested.
‘But you have been in their company?’
‘Not in Tomasz’s, no.’
‘Tomasz being the maintenance man?’
Looking trapped again, Estelle nodded. ‘He’s a singer at the club too,’ she added sulkily. ‘That’s mainly when we see him, so when she said he was on tonight, she meant he was performing.’
‘And the rest of the text? That she was going to go for it?’
‘Means she was going to try to get off with him.’
‘Do you think she managed it?’
‘I don’t know, because I haven’t heard from her since,’ and suddenly breaking into sobs she buried her face in her hands. ‘It’s not my fault I don’t know where she is,’ she wailed. ‘I wish I did, but I don’t so stop picking on me.’
Deciding they probably had enough for now, Andee got to her feet. ‘I’m sure we’ll be wanting to talk to you again,’ she told Estelle as they reached the door. ‘In the meantime, if you think of anything else, or if you hear from Sophie I want you to call me right away.’
Taking the card she was being offered, Estelle said, ‘I will, I promise.’ Her eyes came pleadingly to Andee’s. ‘Do you think she’s all right, wherever she is?’
‘I certainly hope so,’ Andee replied, and after thanking Mrs Morris she followed Leo to the car.
‘So what did you think of all that?’ she asked, as she got into the passenger side.
‘Well, first up I’d say we need to talk to these two blokes.’
‘That’s a given. Find out if any of the uniforms have already interviewed them. If they have it’ll be interesting to know what they’ve said they were up to last Sunday night.’
‘Won’t it just. And whatever it was, I’ll put money on the fact that it won’t include associating with a fourteen-year-old girl. Where now? Back to the station?’
‘Via the campsite office. I want some details for this Tania, and the maintenance bloke. While you’re doing that I’ll take a wander over to the pool, see if I can have a little chat with Gary Perkins.’
However, when she got there it turned out Gary Perkins was on a day off, and a brief stop
at his flat over Alfie’s Pie Shop told her he wasn’t at home either. Nor did his sister seem to know where he was, if she was to be believed, and Andee wasn’t really sure about that.
‘I hate being cynical,’ she commented to Leo as they drove back through the Cove, ‘but when you’re lied to more times in a day than the surf hits the shore, it’s hard not to be.’
‘Are you thinking of Suzi Perkins now, or Estelle Morris?’ he queried.
‘Both, but more of Estelle. Fourteen-year-olds are notorious for the lies they tell, and something’s not sitting right with me about her. I can’t tell you what it is yet, but we definitely need to keep an eye on her.’
After a while he said, ‘Do you reckon there’s a link between this Tania disappearing and now Sophie?’
‘We can’t rule it out.’
‘But you’re not convinced?’
‘Not yet, but what I do know is that we really need to step this investigation up, because the longer Sophie Monroe is missing the less chance we have of finding her.’
Gould was waiting as Andee and Leo walked into the CID suite, and it was evident from his expression that he wasn’t happy.
Before Andee could speak he gestured to his office and followed her in, closing the door so the rest of the team couldn’t hear. ‘I cut you a lot of slack, Andee,’ he began, ‘but you’re . . .’
‘Sir, I know, and I appreciate it . . .’
‘. . . going too far,’ he growled over her. ‘I’ve just had Jimmy Poynter on the phone demanding to know what the hell’s going on at his campsite, disrupting his punters . . .’
‘Sir, a girl’s gone missing . . .’
‘I’m aware of that, but uniforms are on it, and you should have been checking out those robberies, not spooking everyone at the caravan site into thinking this is a bigger deal than it is. She’s a runaway. We’ll find her . . .’
‘If you’d hear me out . . .’
‘What’s more,’ he said over her, ‘if you’d done as I asked, and focused on the robberies, you’d know by now that three Blu-ray players just upped and walked out of Hunt’s Electricals this afternoon, and there were two DCs in the place when it happened.’
Not quite sure what to say to that, Andee opted for a dynamic refocusing. ‘We have reason to believe that Sophie Monroe has been associating with men much older than herself,’ she declared, ‘and that she isn’t the only girl to have gone missing from that camp.’