by Anita Waller
Our son is safe at the moment. I love you.
She felt sick. Nothing made sense. She was still convinced whoever was sending these messages wasn’t Phil. He wouldn’t be so cold.
And yet it could be him… he had been missing for some months. Could he have planned this? Could he have killed Sadie and Gareth, snatched Jake and hidden him away?
But if it was him, why had he done it?
And she would stake her life on these texts not having been sent by him.
31
Within a five-minute period around eight next morning, several things happened: Tanya arrived, Julia left, the two officers went off shift to be replaced by two more, DI Brent arrived, and Captor knew it was fast approaching the time for the final act.
32
Jake was snuffly. He had kept Phil awake for much of the night, with tiny noises and coughs coming from the cot, and Phil hoped it wouldn’t get any worse.
He tried getting the little boy to eat breakfast, but he had half the sachet before discarding it. Fortunately, he drank his milk, which gave Phil a small measure of satisfaction, but Jake clearly didn’t want to play, and sat with his daddy on the bed. He felt hot, and Phil couldn’t help but think his mummy would already have dealt with it via Calpol and Jake would have been feeling much happier.
Phil heard the rattle of the dumb waiter and he quickly put Jake back in his cot before crossing to the hatch. He took out the carrier bag of supplies and closed the door.
Inside, along with his own meagre rations for the day, was a bottle of Calpol. He checked the dosage, filled the syringe, and gave Jake the soothing liquid.
After dealing with his son, he walked with care around the basement prison; he could see no evidence of a camera, yet it had to be there. There was no way Captor could have known of the disturbed night, the baby’s snuffly cries, without there being a camera. And if there was one, did it track his movements to every part of the room, or was it static?
Not that it made the slightest bit of difference. He had long since given up on the idea of escape. There was no way out of a stone-built cellar that boasted a metal door with no handle on his side and nothing in the way of a window; just a hole in the wall filled with a dumb waiter. The only person in the cellar that would fit into that was Jake, and although he had taken his first couple of steps, Phil reckoned that wouldn’t be enough to help them, if the baby made the great escape.
Jake soon fell into a deep sleep, the Calpol obviously doing its job. Phil laid him in his cot, and tenderly covered the tiny body with his blankets. Such a beautiful child; whatever the outcome of this was, he would remember these precious moments always.
His thoughts turned to Melissa, and he felt a tear trickle down his face. What was she thinking. Did she assume that he had upped and left her? What would her mother have told her? And was it her mother holding him prisoner?
He idly picked up a book about Dirty Desmond. He read the two pages, not for the first time, then hurled it at the wall.
‘So boring,’ he muttered. ‘So fucking boring.’ He looked up towards the ceiling. ‘I know you’re filming me. For pity’s sake, send me another book!’ He spoke quietly, not wanting to disturb the sleeping Jake. He really wanted to scream the words.
Jake slumbered on, and eventually Phil napped, catching up on his broken sleep. He almost missed the rattle of the dumbwaiter.
In it was a small hot water bottle, obviously meant for Jake’s cot, and a copy of War and Peace.
Captor had a sense of humour.
33
Will Brent stood at the front of the room. He had called the briefing for 7am; it would have been 6am if there had been anything new to report.
‘Right, everybody.’ Instantly the room fell silent. ‘The lead we had yesterday about the person not being able to fold the pushchair and it being stuffed into the boot of the car – it’s okay as far as it goes, but it doesn’t go very far. Again, the witness didn’t know if it was a man or a woman. Mr Warrender said whoever was pushing the pram took the baby out of it, lifted him into the back seat of the car and strapped him into a car seat, then moved back to the boot where the pram had been left, and tried to fold it. It defeated him or her, so whoever this is, I suspect they’re not used to little children. This is a top of the range pushchair, bought for Liz Chambers by her employers, when she left to take maternity leave.’
He looked round at his team. ‘It seems he or she struggled for a couple of minutes, then picked up the pram and loaded it into the boot, still in its erect state. This tells us it was a fairly large car, because, although Mr Warrender didn’t notice the make, he did notice that our perpetrator simply put it in, then closed the lid. He didn’t have to manoeuvre it around, in order to close it. The car was a dark colour, either blue or black. The person then walked around to the driving seat, got in and set off. End of story. We’ve had forensics on the exact site of where the car was parked, but with no results. Whoever it was, they didn’t smoke and discard a convenient cigarette, drop a tissue, or anything helpful.’
There were a few smiles. He continued. ‘I want us to repeat the door to door in the proximity of where this car was, in view of this new information. Someone else may have seen something. Any questions?’
DC Lynda Checkley held up a hand.
‘Lynda?’
‘Sorry, sir… I was wondering if Mrs Chambers had said anything about somebody who might want to hurt her. From everything that we know, surely somebody is pretty pissed off with her, because it strikes me that she is the one being targeted here, not the baby, and not this missing man who might or might not be involved.’
DI Brent smiled at the newest member of his team. ‘Is pissed off a technical term, Lynda?’
She had the grace to blush.
‘The only person Liz Chambers named as holding a grudge against her is Philip Latimer’s wife, Rosemary, or Rosie as she is usually known. However, for the time of the murders and abduction, she has a rock-solid alibi. She was at the Children’s Hospital with her young daughter, who was having physiotherapy on her arm. We’ve double-checked this, in view of Mrs Chamber’s feelings concerning Rosie Latimer. Rosie and Melissa went straight from school at 3.15pm, arrived at the hospital shortly before 4pm, and eventually got in to see the physiotherapist at 4.15pm. They left the hospital just after 5pm, and went to McDonald’s for a treat for Melissa. Apparently, the physio puts her in some pain afterwards. We believe Gareth Chambers and Sadie Fremantle were dead by just after 4.30pm.’
There were several nods of acknowledgement around the room, and then Lynda spoke again. She was clearly giving her mind free rein. ‘And Philip Latimer? Is he really missing, or did he do a disappearing act to get away from a wife he’d stopped loving.’
‘You mean did he piss off?’ Brent kept his face straight as he spoke the words, and once again she blushed. The rest of the team clapped.
‘Okay, she muttered, ‘I give in.’
Brent smiled at her. ‘I hate to think what this lot will give you for a nickname, Lynda, but to answer your question properly, yes, I believe he is really missing. He hasn’t touched his bank accounts, or used his phone, for months. I think his disappearance was meant to be the start of Liz Chambers’ nightmare, and I believe that’s the bit that’s gone slightly awry for the kidnapper. Liz didn’t find out Philip was missing until she went back to work.’
‘And you think he’s still alive?’ The question came from the back of the room.
‘In the absence of a body, I do. I think – and this is only guesswork, because I have no proof – that he was taken so that he could look after Jake once the second part of the plan was implemented.’
Brent looked around the room. ‘Anybody else need anything clarifying?’
Several heads were shaken.
‘Right – you’ve all had your instructions for today, so if anything crops up, I need to know immediately. If I’m out, ring me. This case is so bloody short of everything. Lynda – come with m
e. We’re going to see Mrs Chambers.’
Once again, Lynda blushed. ‘Thank you, sir,’ she said, and followed him from the room.
‘Have you been to the Chambers’ house before?’
‘No, sir.’
‘Then I’ll drive. You’ll drive back.’
They were going up Birley Lane when she spoke again. ‘Are we going for any particular reason, sir?’
His answer was almost a growl. ‘No, I’m touching base with her and her son, really. Keeping them up to date on what’s happening.’
‘What sort of woman is she?’
‘Fragile, at the moment,’ he said grimly. ‘Under normal circumstances, I imagine she’s a nice person. How she’s getting through this, I’ll never know. The last few days have seen her world turned upside down. She’s lost her husband of around twenty years, her friend, albeit a new friend who proved to be friendlier to her husband than to her, and she has no idea where her baby son is. She’s not under any suspicion; her alibi is solid. However, I think she’s holding something back.’
‘Oh?’ Lynda turned to face her boss. ‘In what way?’
‘I’m not sure. It’s why I wanted you to come with me. You’re a fresh face to all of it, and I want you to observe. I’m going to be telling her about the lead that hasn’t been helpful, and I’m going to try and get her to think if anyone else carried a grudge against her, however small. Whatever it is she’s keeping quiet about, she will tell me eventually, I’ll make sure of it.’
‘Understood. But she’s being particularly stupid if it’s something that could help us trace her baby, don’t you think?’
Brent sighed. ‘You’re right. It may be that I’ve read this all wrong, but…’
‘She works in a solicitor’s office, doesn’t she?’
‘Yes. They think highly of her. She’s a paralegal, and when I spoke to Tom Banton and Oliver Hardwick, her bosses, they said how much they depend on her, and how much they’d missed her when she was on maternity leave. They both seemed dismissive of my idea that maybe some criminal she’d helped get banged up had decided to get his own back. Both confirmed she does more work behind the scenes than in court; they tended to take cases as they reached the critical stage, by her own choice. She preferred the admin side. They couldn’t come up with one single name for me to investigate.’
Lynda laughed. ‘She really is too good to be true, isn’t she?’
‘You mean apart from baby Jake not being Gareth’s child? The older son, Daniel, doesn’t know that little fact, so don’t let it slip out at any time. There’s no reason for him to know, he’s suffering enough with losing his dad and his brother. But maybe you’re right, she is too good to be true.’
He pulled up behind the squad car still on surveillance, and climbed out. Lynda got out of the passenger seat and waited for him. He led her down the drive, and Liz met them at the door.
The dark shadows under Liz’s eyes told their own story. Lynda knew she had to be tired, she was frightened, and now DI Brent was here, possibly to scare her even more.
‘Liz,’ he said, as he stepped through the doorway. ‘This is the new member of our team, DC Checkley. Lynda.’
Liz nodded at the dark-haired young woman. ‘Good to meet you, Lynda. Come through, I’ll get Dan to make us a drink.’
They went into the lounge, and heard Dan call out, ‘Kettle’s on.’
Liz had no sooner closed the door, when there was another knock. This time it was Tanya, returning to duty after her unexpected night off. She followed the others into the lounge and sat on the sofa.
Lynda let her eyes roam around the room; the décor spoke of calmness, peace; quiet that had developed from a happy family life, and she wondered why on earth Gareth Chambers had felt it necessary to have an affair with Sadie. She could sense no discord in the atmosphere, only fear for the child that had vanished into the ether. Had Gareth found out about Liz and Philip Latimer? Was that the answer? Was that his reason for straying? Or was he a man who couldn’t keep it in his pants when around other women?
Or was it love?
She had fallen in love with her Andy the first time she saw him, so why was it inconceivable that Gareth would do the same? Just because Liz Chambers appeared to be such a lovely woman, didn’t mean she was.
Dan pushed open the lounge door with his bum, his hands occupied with carrying a tray of drinks.
Liz smiled at him. ‘Thank you, Dan. Lynda, this is my son, Dan. He’s been my rock.’
Dan acknowledged them all, simply by glancing around the room. ‘Why are you here?’ His tone was blunt.
‘Not for any bad reason, Dan.’ Brent’s voice was firm. ‘Come and sit down with us, if you like. We’re bringing your mum up to date on the investigation, but there’s really nothing new to report. It was more of a touching base exercise, I don’t want your mum to feel left out of the loop. Your brother is still missing, and is our priority. Find your brother, and we have your father’s killer.’
Dan hesitated. ‘Nah, I’m good. I’ve some work to do upstairs. Has Julia gone, Mum?’
‘Yes, sweetheart. About ten minutes ago. She said to say bye to you.’
He nodded thoughtfully, and left the room.
‘Julia?’ Brent asked.
‘My schooldays friend, and Oliver Hardwick’s soon-to-be ex-wife. We drowned our sorrows last night, and she slept on the sofa. It’s not the comfiest of places to sleep, so I think she was quite thankful to be going home. So, what do you have to tell me?’
‘Very little. Although it seems the sighting of the pushchair being put in the car unfolded was the person we’re looking for, the witness couldn’t tell us anything. Big car, dark colour, not sure if man or woman. We’re concentrating our door-to-door enquiries on that area where the car was parked, trying to track down any CCTV footage, but for now it seems to be a dead end.’
Liz stared at him, waiting for him to go on.
‘We need more, Liz. I need you to really think. We still believe you are the target, someone is intent on hurting you very badly indeed. There has to be something in your past that will take us deeper into this. I don’t believe you are in physical danger, but Dan could be. Whoever this person is, they want you hurting, not dead. Dan must not go out unaccompanied, until this person is behind bars for good. So, start thinking. And I mean really thinking. If necessary, we can have you taken to work if you need to go through past files.’
She shook her head. ‘No, I can access everything from here. I work from home on my days off, if I need to get stuff ready for court, or anything like that. I’ll go through everything, see what I can find, after I’ve emailed Tom and Oliver to tell them what I’m doing.’
‘Thank you. It will be a massive help. Any little thing, make a note of it. What may be slight to you, may be massive in their mind.’ Brent put down his cup. ‘Thank you for the drink, Liz. Our little chat hasn’t triggered off any thoughts? Oh, and before I forget, I need to take your phone. You’ll have it back by tomorrow. It’s not so much for any calls, we can get those from your provider, it’s more for your photographs. Our tech guys will download them and we’ll go through them. They’ll pull out any pictures where we need you to identify people, particularly in the background, in case there’s anyone who shouldn’t be there. I know it sounds as if we’re clutching at straws, but we are.’
She reached into her bag that was standing on the coffee table, and handed the iPhone to him.
He briefly looked at it, then dropped it into an evidence bag he produced from his pocket. ‘Is this your only mobile phone?’
Lynda’s eyes were on Liz’s face. She saw hesitation, before Liz said, ‘Yes, it is.’
‘She’s lying,’ Lynda said, moments later, as she climbed into the driver’s seat. ‘She’s got more than one phone. And my guess, with no proof, is that it is one she shared with Philip Latimer only.’
‘Is that what people who are having affairs do, then? When I asked her, I meant did she have one that
she used for work.’
Liz put the car into gear and pulled out into the traffic before answering.
‘They do if they’re already married, and it’s important it stays secret. If she does have another phone, and her reaction says she does, that could be so important. If it was a work phone, she would have said she had it.’
‘You’re right. I’ll speak to Tanya when I get back. Maybe she can throw some light on it, or get Liz to acknowledge she has it.’
They drove in silence for the rest of the way, and as Lynda pulled into the car park, he turned to her. ‘Good work this morning, Lynda. You did exactly as I asked, picked up on the phone issue. Thank you.’
She laughed. ‘Just my job, sir. A job I’ve wanted since being at school.’
‘You’ll go far.’ He climbed out of the passenger seat and was already dialling Tanya’s number as he entered the building.
She had to hide the love phone. Liz had seen Lynda watching her, and knew she had been a heartbeat too slow in her response.
She sat on her bed and took the little Nokia out of the zippered pocket in her bag. She stared at it for a moment, and then realised there was no need to hide it anymore. Thanks to the DNA results, the police were fully aware of her liaison with Phil, and Rosie had confirmed it anyway.
Liz sighed and carried it downstairs.
Tanya was sitting in the kitchen, working on her laptop. She lifted her head and smiled. ‘Hi, Liz. You okay? I know they couldn’t tell you much this morning, but to use the cliché, no news is good news.’
Liz held out the phone. ‘Is this what you’ve been told to watch out for?’
Tanya took it from her and looked at it. ‘Yes. DI Brent guessed you had a second phone.’