by Peter Martin
‘I know, I’ve already thought about that. If he does, the police will put him through to us.’
‘I keep imagining he’s dead,’ Maria said, sniffing back the tears.
‘Don’t say that. As I’ve said before, he’ll come home when he’s good and ready. Unless he’s done something so terrible, he’s ashamed to show his face.’
‘Why would he bunk school – and take that money without a word? Perhaps there’s a side to him we never knew was there. But even so I don’t care how long it takes, I’ll never give up on him.’
‘I know you won’t, but it’s not possible to carry on looking for him forever.’
‘How can you say that? He’s our son, for God’s sake. Have you forgotten, the circumstances of his birth and how they told me I’d never be able to have any more children?’
‘I haven’t forgotten. But this is completely different. There’s only so much we can do, only so many times we can look for him in the same places. Even those police searches have drawn a blank, they prove he must be still alive. But at some stage we have to admit there’s no point in carrying on any longer. We haven’t reached that point yet, but we may do someday. And then we’ll have to leave it up to the police.’
‘And can you honestly say the police will do their best for us with their limited resources? After all what is one missing adolescent to them, amongst hundreds of other missing kids.’
‘Yes, but we can’t do it by ourselves. And it’s silly us stopping away from work much longer either – we have to get back to some sort of normality.’
‘I’m not going back to work yet, not while there’s a chance of him being found. If you’re that concerned about going back, you go. After all, we can live on your wages if need be.’
‘Yes, but what can you do all day? Sit by the phone and hope he rings. That’s a waste of time.’
Maria went red in the face. Certain he didn’t care as much about Tim as she did. After all he’d never seen that much of Tim, he was always at work. For the first five years of their son’s life she’d stayed at home, and when she returned to work it was only part time. Not that she minded – she loved every minute spent with Tim, but would have been happier if Bob had been more supportive when he was at home. And she suspected he worked harder than he’d needed to by putting in overtime whenever he could.
‘It’s better than giving up on him, like you intend to.’
Bob raised his eyebrows, looking shocked that she should react like this. ‘I’m not giving up on him, and I’m not saying I’m going back to work yet either. But the time will come...’
‘I can’t believe you’re being so cold and unemotional over this.’
‘I’m just being realistic, that’s all. If you want to stay here on your own, carry on, but I reckon it’ll drive you crazy.’
‘Maybe it will, but at least I’ll be here. Don’t let that stop you going back, will you?’
Bob hesitated as if he had something on his mind. ‘Actually, I thought about going into work later today. There are a few things I need to sort out. Don’t forget as Chief Claims Officer, I have certain responsibilities. I’m not saying they can’t do without me – but if I’m there, it’ll be less complicated, easier to deal with. If I go in around ten, I’ll just stop for a few hours, and if there are any developments, ring me – and I’ll come straight back.’
Maria’s mouth gaped open in astonishment. ‘Oh yes, of course. You carry on – don’t worry about me.’
‘Look, I’ve already said I won’t be long. I just need a break from this.’
Before long Bob was ready to go, dressed in his smart grey suit, white shirt and blue tie. He looked eager to get away, as if he had no qualms about leaving her on her own, and at the mercy of the world outside. He had an important job, earned good money, but surely nobody was indispensable.
‘Right, better get going. You’ll be all right, won’t you?’ he said almost as an afterthought.
She shrugged her shoulders. ‘Just don’t stay too long.’
‘I won’t. Only as long as I have to. I’ll be back before you know it.’
She let him give her a kiss on the cheek and off he went. Closing the front door behind him, she rushed through to the living room window to watch him drive off.
Once he was out of sight, she wondered how she’d answer the phone if it rang, and felt extremely vulnerable in the house alone. To sit by the phone all day wouldn’t be easy. She needed to occupy herself until Bob came back. But if she rang a friend or family member they’d ask prying questions which she didn’t want to answer.
But as time went on she busied herself with housework, dusting and cleaning, all the while listening out for the doorbell or the phone to ring.
When the phone did began to ring, it was as if time stood still for a few seconds, and she just stared at it. Forcing herself to pick up the receiver, she learnt it was the telephone engineer advising her of the new number. Maria was relieved it wasn’t another prank caller. From now on, any calls to the old number would be vetted before being put through.
Filled with a sense of release she rang Bob at work, only to be told he was in a meeting. She deliberated over whether to give Jane, the secretary, the new telephone number and eventually decided against it.
After putting the phone down, once again she was overwhelmed by her own indecision – should she have trusted Jane with the number? And now all she could do, was to wait for Bob to return.
Part of Bob was glad to get away. Ever since Tim had gone missing, he’d been like a cat on hot bricks – not only over Tim, but Maria as well. She’d doted on Tim, spoiled him rotten on occasions. He loved his son too, but kept it under wraps most of the time.
Tim meant everything to both of them, but his wife’s hysteria seemed way over the top and he found it hard to deal with.
So when he arrived at work he intended spending a few hours doing something resembling normality again.
As he went through to his plush office, he was taken aback by the number of people stopping to speak to him. They were very kind and sympathetic. There wasn’t much he could tell them, although it was heart-warming to know they were thinking of him.
There was a mountain of paperwork to clear, but today he’d only scratch the surface of it. He entrusted Jane his secretary to supply him with all the right correspondence and case papers, the most urgent of which he set about resolving.
After dictating a few letters onto tapes, he’d had enough and began to think about home. Maria hadn’t phoned, and he was saddened, as it meant there was no news.
So after a meeting with his boss about his current state of affairs, he rang Gail to see if the press coverage had yielded anything significant.
‘Hallo, Gail!’ he exclaimed once he’d been put through.
‘Mr Shepherd, Bob how are you?’
‘All right, considering. I’m back at work, just temporarily, to clear a bit of the backlog. I wondered what response you’ve had to the TV and press coverage.’
‘Nothing concrete Bob, but we’ve had lots of calls we intend following up. I won’t say too much at present, because I don’t want to raise false hopes, but I’m quietly confident we might turn something up soon.’
‘Gail, I pray it does, because we’re at our wit’s end.’
‘Hang on in there, it’s just a question of time, believe me.’
‘I’m trying to.’
‘Good, you’re doing the right thing going back to work. Meanwhile, rest assured every available officer will be out there looking for your son.’
‘Thanks.’
‘Try to remain positive, Bob. Can you do that?’
‘I’ll do my best.’ he sighed before putting the phone down.
He was less optimistic now than before speaking to Gail, and losing his motivation for work he went to see Brian Rawlins, his boss to ask if he could go home.
‘No problem, Bob. Like I said, just come in when you can. Obviously we’re very grateful for your
help, after what’s happened, but don’t feel obliged. I realise this is a difficult time for you, but remember there’ll always be someone here to cover for you.’
‘Thanks Brian, I really appreciate that. If it’s all right, I might come in again for a few hours tomorrow, see how it goes.’
‘Thanks that would be good.’ Brian smiled at him.
Bob was nervous about going home because of Maria’s behaviour. But she was his wife, and he couldn’t burden her with everything. Tim was his responsibility as much as hers.
Before leaving the office Bob rang Maria, but the phone was answered by a policeman. Momentarily his pulse raced, then he remembered the telephone number had been changed. When he tried the new number it was engaged, so he had to go home without speaking to his wife.
He arrived back just before one o’clock. Maria raised her eyebrows and smiled at him, surprised to see him back that early.
‘You didn’t stop for the day?’
‘No, I said I wouldn’t, didn’t I? I got a few things sorted, had a meeting with Brian Rawlins. He said I could go into work when I want. Very good of him, so I said I’d play it by ear. Whether he’s saying that because he’s retiring soon I’m not sure.’
‘Whatever, Bob – as long as you understand I can’t face work until Tim’s found.’
‘Sure, that’s fine, love. Anyway I take it nothing’s happened while I’ve been away? I tried to phone but I couldn’t get through.’
Maria shook her head sadly. ‘I was talking to mum and dad.’
‘I rang the police from work and asked them if they’d had much of a response. Gail said they’d had a number of leads. Seemed to think one or two were promising, and might be the break we’re waiting for.’
‘I hope so because I can’t take much more of this.’
‘We have to be strong for Tim’s sake. Or when he does come back, we’ll be good for nothing.’
‘You don’t expect me to go dancing around the street with a happy smiling face, do you?’
‘Of course not.’ Bob had a perturbed look on his face. ‘But I won’t feel sorry for myself either. I need to keep focused, and so if there’s anything you need doing...’
‘No need to fret, I’ve done the dusting, vacuuming, and the washing and ironing while you’ve been out. There’s nothing much left now.’
‘Oh well, I see. So how about the shopping? I noticed earlier our stocks of food are running a little low. How about a trip to the supermarket?’
Maria pulled a face, but they had to eat, didn’t they? ‘When did you want to go?’
‘As soon as we can, in a few minutes.’
‘Well, what if the phone rings while we’re out?’
‘The police will intercept the call, and they’ll tell us when we get back.’
She stroked the back of her head with her hand. ‘All right if you insist. I need to get changed.’
Bob also changed into more casual wear, and within minutes they were ready to go. He drove the car slowly towards Dexford town centre, travelling in silence until Maria suddenly said, ‘Could we go to the supermarket in a roundabout way? And drive past those places like we did before, in case Tim’s around somewhere?’
Bob’s face dropped slightly. Tim wouldn’t be there. He wanted to argue with her about it, but that would only make matters worse, so he forced a smile saying, ‘Ok, if you want.’ Which seemed to satisfy her.
Naturally it put another half an hour on their journey and produced no sign of Tim as Bob had silently predicted. Eventually they reached the supermarket, to find there were no empty car parking spaces, but then within seconds a car manoeuvred out and Bob managed to park the car.
Inside the large supermarket lots of people jockeyed for position with their trolleys. Bob just wanted to leave, and now amid so many people he wished he hadn’t bothered coming. They spent forty-five minutes getting round the aisles, and another fifteen minutes at the checkout.
With their trolley full of food, Bob wheeled it outside across the car park to their car.
As he pushed the trolley he suddenly caught sight of a figure. Maria seemed to have noticed as well and quickly grabbed hold of his arm.
‘Bob… Bob… there’s someone over there walking away from the supermarket. I... I think it’s Tim…’
‘I know,’ he agreed stopping in his tracks. They saw the back of a tall thin figure with long curly black hair only about a hundred yards away. He wore tight drain pipe jeans, a green coat like one Tim had, and a black bag over his shoulder similar to the one he took to school.
‘Tim!’ she shouted at the top of her voice. ‘Bob, we have to get to him.’
‘All right, I’ll go,’ he said, certain it was Tim. ‘You stay here with the trolley.’
He started running past trolleys, people and cars, and not wanting to alarm the young man he didn’t shout out. It only took a couple of minutes to catch up with him. Bob’s heart was thumping so hard he thought his chest might explode. Grabbing hold of the lad’s arm, he said softly. ‘Tim.’
Chapter 7
A young face turned to look at Bob with surprise. Maria could just make out his features as she quickened her step towards them. This had to be Tim. He appeared to be the spitting image of him, had similar clothes and even the same bag.
They stood there talking – and oh how Maria’s heart soared. She wanted to take him in her arms and hug him half to death. But strangely after only a few seconds the lad turned and moved away. Bob walked back towards her.
She felt like screaming. What was the matter with him? Why didn’t he bring their son back with him? Had he gone completely mad?
‘Bob!’ she yelled, causing lots of people to look round at her, but she didn’t care. He glanced at her, then at the ground, a troubled tearful look on his face. Panicking, she feared Tim hadn’t wanted to come back.
‘Bob – what’s going on?’
‘Sorry... ’ he began softly. ‘It wasn’t him.’
‘But it was. I saw him with my own eyes. What’s wrong with you? Don’t you know your own son when you see him?’ She ranted and grabbed hold of the lapels of his jacket.
‘Maria, I’m telling you it wasn’t.’
‘But… it must have been, it looked like him.’ Her eyes were brimming full with tears. Bob shook his head and put his arm around her shoulders.
How could this not be their son? She wanted so much for it to be him and was so overwhelmed with grief she held on to Bob for dear life. Although she finally stopped crying, her whole body remaining listless - how she would love to see her son if only for a few seconds.
After taking Maria back to the car, Bob put the groceries in the boot. They drove home in silence, both in a subdued frame of mind. Bob helped her out of the car and into the living room before taking out the grocery. On his return he poured a small amount of brandy into two glasses.
‘Drink this, it’ll make you feel better.’
He sat down next to her and drank it in one gulp. ‘Did I need that? After what we’ve been through.’
She took a sip of her drink, then put it down on the coffee table in front of her.
‘You all right now?’
‘Not really. I feel so stupid over my reaction back there. I’ve no idea what came over me - I wanted so much for that young man to be Tim.’
‘You’re not on your own, I understand, honestly I do. Let’s try to forget about it shall we? And think about what else we can do to find him.’
‘Not much.’
‘I don’t know. Maybe the police will have a few suggestions.’
‘I wouldn’t hold your breath.’
The doorbell rang. Maria jumped up, rushing to the door, half hoping Tim would be standing before her. Of course he wasn’t – instead she faced Gail and Andrew, the two police officers.
‘Please come in,’ Maria beckoned.
She took the officers into the living room where Bob sat lost in thought. He looked up and seemed surprised to see them. When he sp
oke there was disappointment in his voice. ‘We’ve just had a horrible experience at the supermarket. We thought we saw Tim outside on the car park, but we were mistaken. He had the same build, dark curly hair, same clothes, but it wasn’t him.’
‘Oh dear, I’m so sorry Mr Shepherd, that must have been devastating.’
‘It was, I can’t believe it wasn’t him, that’s why we’re both so upset.’
‘Funny how your brain plays tricks on you when you want something so badly.’ Gail tried to console them, and continued, ‘The reason we’ve come round is to update you on the progress of your case. Since the press conference, we’ve received dozens of calls about your missing son. We’ve discounted a large number, but a few sound promising, and we’re following those up. We take every call seriously, and investigate each one no matter how unlikely it may seem.
‘A lot of the callers claim to have seen Tim on the Friday he went missing, but we have received reports of sightings during the days following this. The last one being only yesterday.’ She took out a diagram and continued, ‘The places he’s been seen in, on the actual day, we’ve marked with a blue cross on this map. Using this method, although by no means conclusive, we’ve worked out a route he might have taken.’
‘But what does that tell you?’ Bob said.
‘That’s a good question Mr Shepherd,’ Gail said. ‘Firstly, as I’ve said, it might indicate the route he took but as some of the sightings have been more recent it may suggest he’s still in this area.’
‘Well, that at least gives us hope. Now can you see why I wanted to keep driving round the streets,’ Maria said to Bob.
‘Yes, but he could still be a long way from here. I mean how reliable are these people? If he’s run away, he’ll be laying low – if not, who knows?’
‘Anyway, let me show you,’ Andrew said. And took a pen out of the inside pocket of his jacket, and continued, pointing with his pen, ‘From this we think he walked to the bus stop, as he was seen there by a young couple who got on at the same time. From there, the bus driver thinks he got off at the stop before Dexford High School, but didn’t notice where he went after that. Then a man walking his dog claims he saw Tim walk past the school, which he thought seemed strange, going towards Dexford town centre. Another witness says he was in the High Street around ten o’clock looking in shop windows. A chip shop owner remembers him buying chips at lunch time, and seeing him eat them on a bench opposite the shop – but this may have been another pupil from the High School wearing the school uniform, we don’t know. After that the scent goes cold. Oh and by the way the yellow markers are sightings on days after his disappearance.