by Penny Grubb
Doris sniffed, clearly of the view that it wouldn’t have taken her two minutes.
When Annie arrived back into Hull, and let herself into the apartment, she heard Barbara’s voice from the living room. ‘He’s been at it since Dad first got ill.’
‘Come off it. I’d have seen it. You can’t mean …’
A rustle of paper. ‘Look at that.’
‘Where did you get that?’
‘I was in the agency offices this morning. Six a.m. Long before any of those shysters were up and about.’
‘Christ! I can’t believe he’s doing this. He promised Dad he’d look after the business for me … for us.’
‘Junk the sentimentality, Patsy. He has. Hell, he’d junked it while Dad was still alive. All he’s looking after is number one.’
‘The bastard! I’ll kill him!’
‘You damned well won’t. Not if you don’t want to lose the whole lot. Do you realize how dicey our position is?’
Annie found herself stalled in the hallway. She hadn’t meant to overhear all this and couldn’t just walk in on it. Her priority was the Martins’ case, and she had to speak to Pat about it no matter what family crises were ongoing. She crept back to the outside door, eased it open and slammed it shut. At once the voices stopped. Good. She’d walk in as though she didn’t know Barbara was here.
‘Hi.’ She entered with a smile.
Pat glanced up. Barbara narrowed her eyes.
‘Pat, one of the girls from Milesthorpe got her hands on the missing page from Terry Martin’s notebook.’
‘Oh yeah?’ Pat struggled visibly to pull her mind back to Milesthorpe. ‘Right, yeah, those three girls. Did you get the goods from them?’
‘I only saw one of them.’ Annie explained the circumstances; the letter Maz had passed on, but could see that Pat was distracted. ‘Look, I didn’t get a chance to ask about the fax thing. D’you mind if I check my email? It might have come through by now.’
‘Sure.’ Pat waved her through to the big bedroom, clearly happy to have her out of the room.
Annie sat at her boss’s desk, in amongst the clutter of the room, and turned on the PC. She drummed her fingers whilst bits and bytes reached out across networks to make their connections. She logged into her email and ran her gaze down the list of new messages. Viagra… Cialis… Your loan is approved… Best prices … All spam. Nothing from any of the girls.
She sat up suddenly. Of course, there wasn’t. Where would they get her email address? She’d given them her card, which was Pat’s card with her number written on. Her phone number but Pat’s email. She bounced up from the chair.
‘Pat … Pat!’ As she burst back into the living room she realized she’d interrupted again and this time less tactfully for her intrusion being unintended. She tried not to notice the blankness in the two faces that turned to her. ‘I need you to check your email.’
She tried to be rational and unemotional in her explanation but knew she came across as breathless and immature.
‘OK.’ Pat heaved herself out of the settee and balanced herself on her crutch to hobble to the bedroom.
Annie tried to hover at her shoulder but was squashed back by a look.
The wait seemed interminable, then Pat said, reading from the screen, ‘From Laura Tunbridge. No subject. That sound like the one?’
‘Yes, that’s it. What does it say? I’ll–’
‘I’ll redirect it, OK?’ Pat’s fingers pecked at the keyboard. She heaved herself to her feet again and hobbled back out of the room.
Annie hurled herself back into the chair in front of the desk and played the Alt+Tab sequence to switch back to her own email.
Sender: Laura Tunbridge.
She clicked it open.
It’s what we got money for.
No salutation. No formal schoolgirl style. Laura had been in a hurry.
So Terry had paid them for information on Elizabeth Atkins, but what would they have known about an elderly woman who died over three years ago? She daren’t email back. She mustn’t leave that kind of paper trail. But she wondered about the Dearloves. Could she ring with some excuse about a message from Tina?
Tina had rung the Dearloves on her phone. She clicked through the call register until she found the number. ‘Hello, I’m sorry to bother you but I understand Laura Tunbridge is staying while her parents are away.’
‘No, sorry. She does sometimes but our daughter’s ill so she’s staying with another friend.’
‘Would that be Melissa Fletcher?’
‘That’s right, but her parents are away too. She’s staying with her grandfather.’
Annie ended the call feeling puzzled and rang through to the colonel’s. Mally answered.
‘Hi Mally. It’s Annie. Can I speak to your grandfather?’
‘He’s asleep. I’m not to disturb him.’
‘That’s OK. Mally, is Laura staying with you while her parents are away?’
‘Nah. I told you before. She was going to but she went to Kay’s.’
‘When did her parents go?’
‘Yesterday. Anyway, I didn’t want her here.’
Annie held her tone in neutral. ‘And what about Boxer? Is he in the stable at your grandfather’s?’
‘No, he’s at Tina’s.’
Annie didn’t press the point because Mally wasn’t hiding anything. Laura had sent the email on Saturday afternoon. Annie and Pat had seen them out with their ponies in the morning. She thought back to Tina and the pony Laura never brought back. She supposed Laura could have taken it to all manner of places.
She tried to recreate Laura’s movements. Saturday afternoon, she sent the email. Sunday, she stayed with her parents until they left. Wouldn’t they have dropped her off wherever she was to stay? Kay’s illness might have complicated matters. Annie worked through Mally thinking Laura was with Kay and the Dearloves thinking she was with Mally.
It didn’t matter what angle she came at it, Laura had been missing all night.
Chapter 25
Annie felt dread rise up inside her. This was no faulty deduction like the non-existent second man on the scaffolding; no mad panic like the one that swept her up when she heard Vince berating Maz. She hadn’t misread this one. A young girl was missing.
The low voices of Pat and Barbara still murmured from the living room, but Annie held back from rushing in there. Pat was distracted. It would mean explanations, time lost.
Her hand reached for the phone, hesitated, drew back. Who could she call? Scott? What would he say? Would he take her seriously? Jennifer? What had Scott told her?
If she dialled 999 they’d want explanations she couldn’t give. Are you a relative … a friend … a neighbour…? She clapped her hands to her face in frustration. Who?
Of course, Tina Hain. Tina would take her seriously. She’d tell Tina; let her get on to the police.
As soon as Tina picked up the phone, Annie blurted out the story. ‘The Dearloves think she’s at Colonel Ludgrove’s,’ she ended, ‘and vice versa.’
A weight lifted from her as she shared the facts, but that was nothing to the relief she felt on hearing Tina’s first words.
‘Oh Lord! Has she pulled that stunt again? That explains Boxer.’
Tina wasn’t worried. Laura was OK. ‘What do you mean?’
‘This is Laura all over. It’s because she’s in trouble.’ Annie listened to Tina explain. Laura had run off before. ‘She took her pony and went to an aunt who lives about twenty miles away.’
Annie felt her knotted muscles untangle themselves, but knew she must verify Laura’s safety for sure before she went to bed tonight.
‘The first time it happened,’ Tina said, ‘she gave her parents the worst fright of their lives. When she arrived with the aunt, she said her parents knew where she was and the aunt let her stay over and didn’t ring because it was late. The police were called out. It was chaos.’
‘She’s done this more than once then?’
> ‘Oh yes. There was a good gap after the first time, but then she did it again because she’d had a row about something. Then it was set to be her stock reaction to anything not going her way. But the last time – back in the spring – her father went on ahead to the aunt’s and waited till she turned up. He tried to find her on the way but she went cross-country. He took the box and was there to stop her the moment she appeared on the drive. Apparently he bawled her out so loudly she nearly wet herself. He didn’t let her go in the house. He loaded the pony straight in the trailer, Laura in the car and drove them both straight home. It’s probably the first time she ever had a proper bawling out and we thought it had stopped her.’
‘But of course with them being away at the moment …?’
‘Yes, that’s what I’m thinking. I’ll bet the aunt’s already been in touch. Look, I have to nip up into the village, I’ll call in on Ludgrove and the Dearloves and just double check. I’ll call you back.’
‘Yes, please. That would be a weight off my mind.’
Annie stood up, turned off the computer and went back to the living room. She gave Pat a brief summary of what had happened. ‘Tina’s going to ring me back when she’s made enquiries.’
‘Run off and no one’s noticed.’ Pat laughed. ‘Poor kid. It’s always frustrating to have your grand gestures fall flat.’
A silence fell. It was clear that whatever business was being conducted in this room was far from over. Annie was an unwanted third party.
‘I’ll nip off out,’ she said, and headed for the door. Relief about Laura had let Mrs Earle into her thoughts. The Neanderthal brother might not have handed over the keys. She knew it was irrational and not the way to conduct business, but Orchard Park had been her very first real case and she wanted face to face closure.
The refit of the sixth floor landing was complete. Annie paused to look round at the bright walls, the fresh new paint, the polished glass panels in the partition. She felt a compulsion to savour it. What must the residents feel who were in and out every day? Was it better or worse to see how it could be when they knew what it would be like tomorrow night?
Annie knocked at the door of the flat. It swung open and Mrs Earle stood in front of her. Music and colour pulsed out. She recognized the light glaze of alcohol in Mrs Earle’s eyes but nothing else was familiar. Everything shone with bright colours, including Mrs Earle who was dressed in yards of flowered material, her hair packed on her head and studded with glittery baubles. The flat was full of people, all shapes and sizes. She’d arrived in the middle of a party.
‘Come in. Come in.’ Mrs Earle’s tone was effusive as she grabbed Annie’s arm and pulled her inside.
Annie stared at the gleaming polish on the furniture, the fresh smell of the place, the way everything was ordered, making it a homely welcoming space. She found herself surrounded by grinning faces and almost knocked off balance as a gang of small children raced through the throng at knee-height on some mission of their own.
‘Have a drink. Have a drink.’ A giant glass of layered blue and purple liquid was thrust into her hand. Her other hand was enveloped in a huge hot palm. The meaty fingers closed round hers.
She looked up at Mrs Earle’s burly brother who gave her an uneven-toothed grin as he raised her hand above her head and shouted over the din. ‘This is the one what did it. Cleared ’em out. And not a scrap of muscle on her.’ He pinched her upper arm and laughed. ‘Friends in ’igh places, eh love?’
Annie laughed back and surreptitiously pushed the garish glass behind a pot plant on a shelf at her side. So the refit was of lasting duration. She felt her face crease to a grin as she realized what had happened. Vince had stepped in here. Of course he had. The refit was his bribe to the sixth floor residents to keep them quiet. He’d provided his favourite nephew with a sophisticated setup in that top flat and the guy had jeopardized it with some amateurish dealing on his own doorstep. Vince must have been livid. She had no desire to know the detail because she wouldn’t like Vince’s methods no matter how cheerful the outcome.
‘I know you’ve come for your money, love.’ Mrs Earle was at her elbow again. ‘And you’ve earned it. I’ll be honest, I didn’t think you ’ad a cat in hell’s chance of shifting them, but fair do’s.’ As she thrust a slim wad of notes into Annie’s hand, a sly smile slid across her features. ‘It’s a bit short,’ she said, ‘but you can call round in a week or two and I’ll have the rest.’
Annie returned the false smile as she pocketed the money. She wouldn’t be back. She knew it and Mrs Earle knew it.
A blood-curdling shriek made her jump. Two small children battled briefly round her legs and then raced off. Mrs Earle smiled fondly after them. ‘Just look at them bairns. Having the time of their little lives, bless ’em.’
As she sauntered across the sixth floor lobby to the lift bay on her way out, Annie looked around. Someone else would move in and wreck the place she supposed, but maybe not for a long time. Whatever was in her pocket was all the cash she’d get and however much it came to was that much more than Pat expected out of the job.
She shunned the stairs and jabbed the lift call button. It was no penance to wait on this landing now. Good result.
Her phone rang as she drove across the city. She fiddled to attach the hands-free and took a quick look at the screen. Tina Hain.
‘Hi Tina. Has she turned up?’
‘No, she hasn’t.’ The tension in Tina’s voice made Annie decide to pull over to take the call. ‘No one knew she’d gone till I called in. Kay’s mother called the aunt but she hasn’t seen her. She’s been away. She’s only just back. Laura wouldn’t have bargained on that.’
‘But you’ve got to get the police.’
‘Don’t worry, that’s the first thing we did.’
‘What did they say? Do they know what’s happened?’
‘They still think she’s done her usual stunt, but had to hide out somewhere with the aunt being away. They think she’ll turn up there if she doesn’t turn tail and come home. They’re talking to anyone who talked to Laura at the weekend.’
That nearly included her and Pat. Something nagged at Annie, but she couldn’t bring her thoughts into line. The awful notion dawned that Laura’s email might have had a role in her decision to bolt. Was she hanging about all Sunday waiting for a reply?
‘Have you any idea if she planned it before her parents went, or if something happened to trigger it after they left?’
‘Oh, it was planned OK. And planned to disrupt her parents’ trip, too, but she overplayed her hand. I think Kay was supposed to notice she’d gone and raise the alarm before they left, but of course she was ill.’
Annie didn’t follow Tina’s reasoning. ‘What d’you mean?’
As Tina explained, Annie tried to remember what she’d assumed and why. Someone had told her Laura’s parents left on Sunday. She’d made assumptions, hadn’t dug out the detail. It matters. Something hammered at her. She listened to Tina tell her how the Tunbridges made this trip every year. They always left early on Sunday morning. Laura was taken to whichever friend was to have her and goodbyes were said on Saturday afternoon. No one now was quite clear when the Tunbridges thought the handover had taken place, but they’d clearly got on with their packing and preparation on Saturday evening assuming Laura was tucked up in her temporary berth.
‘I’m sure she expected either the Dearloves or Colonel Ludgrove to ring her parents on Saturday night to say she hadn’t turned up, but however it happened, everyone thought she was somewhere else. She hasn’t been seen by anyone since Kay carried on down the railway to come back here and Laura cut across the fields supposedly to go to Mally’s.’
‘Oh my God, but me and Pat saw her and Kay riding down the railway.’
‘I suppose you should tell the police then, but there’ll be no shortage of witnesses to them riding out. It’s where the little minx went next that we need to know. I shouldn’t be too hard on her. She’ll be scared to d
eath after being out at night in the open. She’ll never do it again after this. But really, Annie, there’s no need to worry too much. She’s safe with Boxer. Even if she gets lost, he won’t. And now we’re out looking for her, she’ll be found in no time.’
‘OK, well, thanks for letting me know. Will you ring me the minute she’s found? I don’t care what time it is.’
Annie set off again for Pat’s, but it took no more than a couple of minutes for the clamour that whirled in her mind to spiral down into a terrible spike of fear. She screeched the car to a halt as though Laura herself had stepped out into the road. The front wheel bumped up the kerb and rolled back. She felt the jolt, felt her jaw drop as she worked it out.
Last seen Saturday lunchtime? It was now late Monday afternoon.
Terry Martin … Charles Tremlow … For two days and a bit they’d vanished from sight and then they’d died.
Laura Tunbridge had been missing for two days already.
Chapter 26
Annie leapt up the stairs to the apartment, burst through the outer door and dived straight into the living room. She stopped, taking in the scene in front of her.
Barbara, on all fours, hung over a swathe of paperwork spread out on the floor around her. Pat balanced awkwardly over the edge of the settee to watch her sister.
Barbara shot Annie a hostile glare. ‘Oh, it’s you.’
‘Well, don’t take it out on her,’ Pat snapped. ‘She’s the one who uncovered it.’
They both turned their attention back to the mass of documents.
‘See there … and there …’
‘Where? Move your hand. I can’t see. Is that…?’
Annie’s gaze ran across the complex mass of papers, tables of figures, lists, dense official-looking text. She couldn’t take it in, didn’t know how to cut through it with her own news.
‘Uh … Hi … sorry …’ She spoke without direction, without expecting to be heard as she picked her way across the paper maze and headed for the sanctuary of her room.