by Peter Martin
‘Right, let’s begin shall we?’ Gail was saying. ‘You’ve reported your son as missing two days ago, and he still hasn’t come home. Now then, when was the last time you saw him?’
‘Friday morning, before he left for school,’ Maria told them.
‘I see, and how did he seem? Was he his normal self? Upset over anything? Unhappy?’ Gail asked.
‘No, he seemed fine. The same as ever, except I had to go to his bedroom for a second time, because he’d fallen asleep again, and even then he was reluctant to get up. He said he couldn’t sleep that night because the atmosphere was very humid, and he wasn’t well.’
‘All right. So have you had many rows with him?’ Gail asked.
‘Not really, far from it,’ Bob said. ‘We’ve never had fights with him over anything. He’s not perfect, but until now we haven’t had any trouble with him, and he never gets into any bother at school either. He’s doing really well, and next year, they predict high grades when he takes his exams. For the life of me, I can’t understand why he hasn’t come home.’
‘So you say everything was fine at school,’ Gail said. ‘But can you be sure of that? I mean, did he have any enemies for example? Perhaps someone’s jealous of how well he was doing. Maybe someone was bullying him. Or did he have any girl problems?’
Maria shook her head. ‘He’s always been a good boy, popular with lots of friends. He’s never had a girlfriend that I know of, but I’m sure he likes them. We’ve never had any worries with him since the day he was born. That’s why we’re so concerned – it’s totally out of character.’
‘There’s still a good chance he’ll turn up Mrs Shepherd,’ Gail assured her, squeezing her arm. ‘This is a regular occurrence among the teenage fraternity. They tend to bottle things up - and will only tell their parents their problems when they have to. Sometimes the littlest thing can set them off. But they usually turn up within a few days, rather glad to be home, having realised they’re not as bad off as they thought.’
Andrew took over then. ‘First we’ll need a list of all his friends, your relations, and anyone else who knows him. We’ll have to contact all of them. Then we’ll speak to the teachers at his school, and his classmates - that’s a good starting point. I’m sure before long a clue will emerge.’
‘Oh, and if you can think of any places where he normally hangs out – make us a list of those too,’ Gail added.
‘That’s fine,’ Bob agreed. ‘We’ll get onto it straightaway.’
It took a while for them to compile the lists and once they were satisfied nothing had been missed off, they handed them to Andrew to take away with him.
‘Now if you remember anything else that will help, please don’t hesitate to tell us, no matter how trivial it may seem,’ Gail said.
Bob pondered for a moment, but nothing came to mind, and noticed Maria seemed about to say something. But then she appeared to decide against it and shook her head too.
‘All right Mr and Mrs Shepherd, we’ll be on our way now. Try not to worry, it’s more than likely Tim will turn up. Be sure to ring either Andrew or myself, should anything else come to mind – all right? And as soon as we find anything out, we’ll be in touch. Oh and when he does turn up, please inform us as soon as possible.’
‘Of course. I only hope that will be the case, but thank you for coming,’ Bob said.
Having showed them out he closed the door and breathed in deeply to try to calm the anxious feeling in the pit of his stomach.
This had come completely out of the blue. Tim must have done something, but hadn’t felt able to confide in them about it. For Bob that was sad as he’d always told Tim to be open and honest and never keep anything to himself. He had thought their relationship was good and they could talk about any problems. Well, it seemed he was wrong. But had he let the lad down in some way? He didn’t think so.
They spent the rest of the day driving around looking for Tim again, even visiting houses where his friends lived, but to no avail. On their return home, a little after four o’clock, it was already getting dark and as they turned into Lotus Drive, Maria suddenly gasped. A police car was parked outside their house. Bob’s heart seemed to thud for a couple of seconds when he said, ‘Oh my God, what’s happened now?’
‘I wish I knew, Bob.’
He quickly parked the car on the drive and got out. Three straight faced police officers were walking towards them. A uniformed officer who’d been sitting in the driving seat of the car, and the same two police officers who’d visited them earlier that day, Sergeant Gail Meadows and PC Andrew Davidson. Bob nodded to them in acknowledgement.
‘Have you found him?’ Maria asked, gripping Bob’s arm tightly.
‘Sorry, but no Mrs Shepherd,’ Gail replied. ‘But we need to talk to you both.’
Bob was in dreads and fears over what they’d found out about their son and where this would lead.
Chapter 3
Maria’s pulse quickened at the tone in Gail’s voice; even if they hadn’t found Tim’s body, other revealing evidence must have come to light.
Ushering everyone into the living room, Maria got Bob to make a cup of tea, being unable to handle even this simple task herself.
Bob did what she asked without question and bringing in the tea on a tray he sat down beside his wife.
Then Andrew began, ‘Right, Mr and Mrs Shepherd – I’m afraid we haven’t found any trace of your missing son yet. But, in the course of our investigations, we’ve discovered a few things from his teachers and fellow pupils at school.’
Maria breathed uneasily, but couldn’t imagine what the police had found out. Of the people she’d spoken to, all had only good things to say about him, and so she confidently said, ‘At an open evening in December no one mentioned any problems. And Tim is open and honest – if there was anything troubling him, he’d have confided in us.’
‘He’s no angel, but I’m sure he wouldn’t have been up to anything untoward,’ Bob agreed.
‘I don’t know about that,’ Gail said, ‘but he didn’t go into school yesterday and has in fact been absent three times during the past six weeks.’
‘What! You’re joking!’ Maria said shifting nervously in her seat. ‘That can’t be right. Are you sure about this? Tim’s been in school every day without fail the whole of this school year. He prided himself in having no absences at all. Said he was hoping for a gold badge and a book token as a result. You’ve made a mistake, got him mixed up with someone else.’
Andrew shook his head. ‘I’m sorry but there’s no mistake. We checked and double checked and we’re one hundred percent certain it’s the truth. He was also away for a week before Christmas, and the school has received sick notes, supposedly from you.’
Then turning to her husband Maria said in a whisper, ‘We never sent any sick notes! Did we?’
With a shake of the head and a silent No, Bob agreed.
Andrew put his hand into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out an envelope. Opening it, he unfolded pieces of paper, and passed them across to Maria.
On seeing the evidence in front of her she was dumbstruck. There on her own blue notepaper, written in much like her own handwriting were several sick notes. The first mentioned bronchitis, another influenza, and at the bottom of each was a signature almost identical to her own. She felt anxious and light headed, and for a split second thought she would pass out. In total bewilderment she gave the notes to Bob.
After a few seconds, looking perplexed he said, ‘They do appear to be like your handwriting.’
‘That’s as may be, but I can assure you I never wrote those notes.’
‘So you admit the notes are signed in a hand almost exactly the same as yours. You’re absolutely sure you didn’t write these notes – because if you did, we need to know?’ Gail glanced at each of them in turn.
‘I’m positive,’ Maria said. ‘He went out to school every day, wearing his school uniform, took his books, did what I thought to be
his homework, everything. This is incredible. Why would he do this?’
‘That’s what we hope to find out. Whatever he was up to, must have been very important to him. So where’s he been if he hasn’t been to school?’ And turning to Bob, Gail said, ‘perhaps he came here – does he have a key?’
‘Yes, he does. But my wife only works part time, so she would have known if he’d come home.’
Biting hard on her lip Maria didn’t know what to think anymore. How could the son she knew so well be capable of such actions? Now she had no choice but to tell them about the missing money and the credit card transactions. Best say something, she thought, and feeling so guilty and stupid about keeping it from them she said, ‘Sorry but there is something we haven’t told you. It’s my fault we’ve kept it from you, but I wasn’t sure it was connected to Tim. Now I think it might be.’
So she told them everything she’d relayed to Bob earlier on.
‘It sounds as if your son had been planning to disappear for a while,’ Andrew said. ‘He’s probably used the money to go wherever he wanted to go. You’re certain he never mentioned being unhappy or worried over something? He might have dropped hints without realising it, about any aspirations he may have had when he left school, but couldn’t achieve here.’
Maria pondered over this for a moment, but nothing came to mind. He’d wanted to be a footballer, but wasn’t that dedicated, nor was he as good as they thought. Then there was music which he loved listening to, but he didn’t play an instrument or sing. She shook her head as did Bob.
Gail looked at them thoughtfully. ‘It seems he wasn’t as open as you thought, and whatever he was planning, he kept to himself. I take it you’ve searched his room for clues.’
Bob nodded. ‘And found nothing.’
‘Not a thing,’ his wife agreed.
‘Ok, now do you have a recent picture of him? We’d like to distribute it to bus and railway stations.’
Maria watched Bob go to the bureau, open it and search through a lot of papers, before finding the photographs in a folder. As soon as she saw the photograph he’d taken out, she held her forehead with her hand, and began to weep. This image of her son made his disappearance all the more poignant.
‘These were taken last Christmas – he hasn’t changed much since then. So is this one all right, love?’
‘Yes, that’s fine.’
‘Thanks Mr Shepherd,’ Gail smiled. ‘With luck this will jog a few memories.’
‘Do you get many kids going missing like this?’ Maria asked, seeking reassurance.
‘Yes, unfortunately this happens all too often these days. Lots of kids, around the age of fourteen to eighteen disappear for all kinds of different reasons, troubles at school or at home, pregnancy, drink, drugs, - you name it, we’ve heard of it. Mostly it’s a cry for help or attention. Mind you children as young as ten or eleven go missing or run away.’
‘So what percentage of these young people are eventually found?’
‘It’s hard to give a precise figure because there are so many factors to take into account. The majority of these kids do return home within a day or two. But plenty don’t return for a long time; a few don’t come back at all and are never seen again. In your case, I’d say there’s a good chance of him coming home. Tim is from a respectable family, has never been in any trouble, and is well liked – so don’t get too despondent yet.’
Maria wiped her tears away with her fingers. ‘It’s just that he’s so young, such a nice lad – what’s got into him? I can’t face not having him come back...I... I just can’t.’
‘We’d be heartbroken,’ Bob agreed.
‘Why don’t I arrange for you to see a counsellor?’ Gail said. ‘They’re experts in their field, and could really help, if you’re willing.’
Maria shook her head vigorously. ‘I don’t want anyone telling me how I should and shouldn’t feel – all I want is my son back.’
Bob put his arm around his wife to comfort her. But Maria couldn’t think straight, had trouble functioning at all, and found it hard to stop weeping, fearing her only child was dead.
‘Would you like me to call a doctor, sir?’ Andrew asked.
When Maria heard the word doctor, she got up in a panic, whispering, ‘No... no,’ to herself, and began to walk around the room, frightened he’d pump her with drugs, when all she wanted was to be there for Tim if he turned up.
‘No, it’s all right, I’ll look after her – she’ll be fine here with me,’ Bob assured them.
‘Well, if you change your mind, give us a bell,’ Andrew said.
Gail looked at them both gravely. ‘There’s nothing further we can do here now. If you come across anything you think might be useful to us, please let us know. In the meantime we’ll keep you posted about any further developments. And if you want to talk to either myself or Andrew, you’ve already got our contact details. Call us night or day, and I promise you we’ll do our best to help.’
‘Thank you,’ Bob said. ‘You’re very kind.’
‘I’ve got a thirteen year old son Mr Shepherd – I can imagine how I’d feel if this had happened to me,’ Gail confided.
‘You can’t know, until it happens to you yourself,’ Maria insisted. ‘You have no idea at all.’
Gail smiled. ‘We’ll keep in touch.’
Once again it fell to Bob to let the three police officers out, and on his return to the living room he noticed his wife staring into space. Every so often a tear ran down her cheek.
He sat down next to her, knowing how tough she was finding this. Tim was her world, always had been after almost losing her life when he was born. She’d said, that the sight of her baby helped pull her through. Now her hands were tied; she couldn’t do anything, except to rely on the police, and hope for the best.
‘How are you doing love?’
‘Think he’ll come back?’ Maria asked, not replying to his question.
‘Who knows love? I hope so.’
‘But what if he doesn’t? How am I going to cope? It’s so hard, and I’m frightened I’ll never see him again, because a monster has murdered him. If that did happen, I’d want to strangle whoever did it with my bare hands.’
‘Hey, hey… hold on a minute, Maria. Let’s not get carried away. Ok, this is serious, but we must keep our feet on the ground. I think Tim’s just upset over something and is too frightened to come home.’
‘What could he be upset over?’
‘Beats me. Something’s going on in his life, something we know nothing about – the missing money must be part of it, and his absences from school too.’
Maria’s lips quivered. ‘I hear what you’re saying about the money, and I agree – but there has to be a reason why he took it. He must have been so desperate he didn’t know what else to do. My feeling is that he’s being bullied at school, and they were demanding money from him. That’s why he didn’t go to school. And he didn’t tell us about it because he’s frightened of how we’d react. Come on Bob, give the boy the benefit of the doubt - he’s all we have.’
He tried not to get angry, they were both under a great deal of stress, and said, ‘It’s no good speculating – because besides what we’ve found out today, we have no idea where it’s leading.’
‘Yes, that’s true, but that doesn’t make it any easier - it makes it a damn sight harder.’
There was no point in carrying on with the conversation, the way Maria’s mind was set they’d end up falling out and that was the last thing he wanted. Instead, he got up and said, ‘I’m getting myself a drink - you want one? Something alcoholic perhaps?’
‘No, I want to keep a clear head, in case he phones or comes home.’
‘Ok, suit yourself.’
He came back with a can of beer from the fridge and sat down. Almost immediately the phone rang and Maria got up like a shot to pick up the receiver. How he hoped it was Tim, but from the sound of the conversation it was Maria’s mother and the tears flowed again. Bob
tried to give her an understanding look when she put the phone down while she continued to dab away the tears from her eyes.
Within five minutes the phone rang again. Bob answered it this time to find it was his boss enquiring if there had been any news of Tim’s whereabouts. Having listened to Bob’s account of the situation Alan was quick to reiterate his earlier sentiments that Bob could take all the time he needed. He was grateful, but was also aware his work would be piling up, and that this couldn’t continue indefinitely.
Sitting back down again, Bob took a long swig of his beer. He felt sorry for Maria, but wished she’d get a grip of herself. He was scared too over Tim’s disappearance, but at least he was trying to be positive about it. It was early days yet, and Tim might still come back.
‘So when are you going to bed?’ He asked, after opening his second can of beer.
‘I’m not,’ she told him in a low determined tone of voice.
‘Come on Maria, we all need to sleep.’
‘You go, if you want, but I’m stopping here in case the phone rings, or he knocks on the door.’
‘All right love if that’s what you want. Hey, why don’t we take it in turns, say four hours at a time? You stop here until two o’clock, then wake me up and I’ll take over to six o’clock.’
‘If you like, but even if I do go to bed, I won’t get any sleep.’
‘Let’s try it and see.’
She didn’t say anything, just watched while Bob, trying to calm down, drank the rest of his beer.
Had it not been for Maria, he’d have helped himself to another can, but he knew what frame of mind she was in and how she felt about drinking too much. Anyway it was eleven o’clock, and he needed some rest so decided to go to bed – after all no one could go indefinitely without sleep. Getting up from his seat he said, ‘Mind if I go and get some shuteye?’
‘No, you carry on.’
‘If anyone phones, or he comes back home, you’ll wake me, won’t you love?’
‘I will.’
‘Wake me at two o’clock, then get some sleep yourself.’