She nodded. ‘Okay.’
***
The office was buzzing when he got back, every desk occupied and teeming with activity as phones rang and conversations hummed in the background.
‘Everything okay?’ he called to Beth as he made his way over to the coffee station.
She gave him a thumbs-up – he hadn’t realised she was on the phone.
‘Catch you in a minute,’ he mouthed, and she nodded.
Next stop was Murray’s office, over in the far corner. Balancing two cups of coffee in his hand, he started to weave his way towards it.
‘Harry?’
He looked over to where Geoff Peterson was sitting at his desk, waving a piece of paper at him.
He veered right. ‘Yeah?’
‘This report’s just come in about a missing girl. If you’re heading into the boss, you might want to take it in and show him.’
Harry put the drinks down on his desk and took the piece of paper from the other man’s hand, scanning it briefly before tucking it under his arm and picking up the cups again.
‘Thanks. When did it come in?’
‘I’ve only just typed it up. Fresh off the block! How’s your grandmother?’
‘She’s doing okay. Thanks.’
Through the glass, Harry could see Murray staring thoughtfully out of the window, his back to the door.
‘Ah, Harry,’ he said, turning round as Harry knocked and entered.
‘Thanks for giving me time off this morning.’
‘Did you get things sorted?’
‘Not fully, but we’re getting there.’ He put the cups carefully down on the desk as they both sat down. ‘The GP’s trying to organise twenty-four-hour cover with a carer, but with the cutbacks they’re saying that may not be possible, so we’re trying for day care only to start with – we can cope with the nights ourselves. What with that and the hospice team coming later this afternoon, it’s a bit of a waiting game. The trouble is my parents think she’d be better off in hospital, which is the one thing she’s adamant she doesn’t want.’
He ran his hand through his hair. ‘It’s doing my head in, to be honest.’
His thoughts flew back to that final conversation with his mother before he’d left for his meeting with Susan Porter that morning.
‘Harry, believe it or not, I did take on-board what you said last night. And I know some of it was true – I don’t know my mother. I don’t know you. Not as much as I should. That doesn’t mean I don’t love you both, though. I’m going to talk to Mum today, but you need to know that if the surgery can’t get things organised quickly for proper care here, then hospital’s still my preference. She’s going downhill fast, we can all see that.’
‘There’s no point going over it all again, Mum. You know what I want. If necessary, I’m happy to pay for any top-up care she needs myself. Just let me know the outcome and don’t have her admitted behind my back.’
‘I don’t want to fight you on this.’
‘Then don’t.’ He picked up his jacket and pinned her with his gaze. ‘You know how strongly I feel about it. I don’t want to end up doing something I shouldn’t.’
And let her ponder that one, he thought, as he strode out of the house.
Now, as he looked at Murray, he sighed. ‘There’s so much red tape. And as usual, it all boils down to money. Hopefully we’ll have an answer later today.’
‘These things are never easy, you can only do your best. Now … How did you get on with Paul Copeland’s girlfriend this morning?’
‘Nothing much, apart from the fact that she omitted to tell us she’d had an anonymous note pushed through her door warning her to keep her mouth shut if she didn’t want to end up the same way as Paul. No wonder she was edgy. I’ll send it off to Forensics. You never know, we might get something off it. She also mentioned she didn’t trust some of the friends of the chap who lives in the flat above theirs, Tim Burman. He seemed normal enough to me, but I’ll get Beth to run a check on him. Have you heard about this?’ He handed Murray the piece of paper Geoff had given him. ‘It’s a missing persons report on a twenty-one-year-old woman called Katrina Midwood: last seen last night at that new nightclub in Hatfield. She had a row with her boyfriend who apparently walked out of the club in a temper, and she hasn’t been seen since. Didn’t make it into work today and both the mother and the boyfriend say it’s not like her. They’re convinced something’s happened to her – Mum was very insistent that she was coming home and we should look into it, even though she’s only been missing since last night.’
Murray took the file from him, read the notes and looked up at Harry, his blunt features thoughtful. ‘That’s the same area the woman on Friday was attacked. It could be interesting bearing in mind what I’ve been looking into. And two attacks in less than a week–’ He drummed his fingers on the desk, his thoughts clearly switching to this new line of enquiry. ‘I know it’s early days, but leave it with me. Perhaps I’ll drop by on the mother on my way home.’
Out in the main office, Harry looked around.
‘She’s up in the incident room, if you’re looking for Beth,’ Geoff said.
‘Cheers. I left your report with Murray – he’s going to call on the mother tonight. I think he’s wondering if there’s a link with the attack last Friday.’
Upstairs in the incident room he found Beth studying the scraps of paper on the wall.
‘Anything new?’ he asked.
‘Nah. I’ve been going over the sequence of events, trying to see if we’ve missed anything. But the frustrating thing is, I don’t think we have.’ She sighed. ‘We need something new. Some sightings at least of Paul Copeland would help.’
‘Anything show up on his bank statements?’
‘Nothing unusual. And he was overdrawn – so if he was hoping to be paid for something, it never happened.’
‘I saw Susan Porter today. She seems to have got it in her head that the chap in the upstairs flat is dodgy.’
‘Burman?’
Harry nodded. ‘Him or some of his mates. Run a check on him and the girlfriend, will you? – and the other chap I bumped into while I was there. What was his name…? Alan Flint, I think.’
‘Okay.’
‘Harry…?’
Harry turned as Murray came striding into the room.
‘I just spoke to the girl’s mother and she’s still heard nothing. Not surprisingly, she’s worried sick. I’m hacked off sitting in that office all day and I’m not liking the feel of this. I’m going round to see her now. What are you up to at the moment? Can you do the boyfriend, do you think? See what he’s got to say for himself?’
‘Sure, I’ll give him a call. Then after that I’ll probably head off to Paul Copeland’s funeral.’
He turned to Beth. ‘Let me know if you come up with anything interesting on Burman – I’ll catch you later.’
Fraser Conway was in his mid-twenties and agitated.
‘Christ,’ he said, letting Harry into his flat. ‘You’ve taken your time getting here.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Harry said. ‘Busy day. I understand you’re worried about your girlfriend … Katrina Midwood?’
‘Yeah. Like I said on the phone, she’s been missing since last night. It’s not like her. Her mum and I are really worried.’
‘Maybe she stayed over with a friend last night?’
Fraser shook his head. ‘I’ve spoken to all our friends. No one’s seen her.’
‘Can you just tell me what you know about her movements last night? You said you were both at the new nightclub in Hatfield, Le-Roy’s?’
‘Yeah, we went with some friends but they left before us.’
‘There was mention of an argument?’
The man looked nervous. ‘Look, I know what you’re thinking. I stormed off because I was angry. I needed to cool down. When I went back, Kat was gone. I tried texting her, but I thought she was ignoring me because she was still pissed off. I only found out this m
orning when her mum rang, that she hadn’t gone home last night.’
‘What did you row about?’
‘Her drinking. She doesn’t know when to stop sometimes, and then she gets aggressive about stuff.’
‘What sort of stuff?’
He looked uncomfortable. ‘Oh, you know – usually stuff about us. Am I serious about her? Where we’re going in our relationship … all that sort of crap.’ He shook his head. ‘She knows I’m serious about her.’
‘And that’s what you rowed about last night?’
He nodded.
‘Did you ask anyone in the nightclub if they saw her leave?’
He shook his head. ‘I just assumed she’d left after me and I went home. I should have gone to her house, I know, but then I’d have had her parents to answer to – and I wasn’t in the mood.’
Harry closed his notebook and stood up.
Fraser looked up at him. ‘What are you going to do? You are taking this seriously? I swear to God, it’s not like her to disappear like this. Something’s happened to her. I know it has.’
‘We’re looking into it, Mr Conway, and we’ll keep you informed. I’ll get down to Le-Roy’s and take a look at their CCTV. Have you got a photo of her? Maybe that way we can see if anyone remembers what time she left and if she was alone.’
Harry walked into Le-Roy’s and looked about him. Nothing much going on – not that he’d expect there to be much activity at five o’clock in the afternoon. He’d just about managed to squeeze Paul Copeland’s funeral in before coming here, but disappointingly it had given him no new leads. Susan Porter had sat in the front pew with his parents, and had acknowledged him with a little nod, but there’d been no one else there that he’d recognised. After introducing himself to the parents and assuring them they were doing their best to get his killers, he’d taken his leave.
Maybe he’d have more luck here.
Loud music blared through the speakers and a handful of people were either sitting at the tables dotted around the dance floor, or propping up the enormous bar. He walked over to where the barman was drying glasses and chatting to a customer.
‘Yeah, I remember her vaguely,’ the barman said, studying the photo Harry showed him.
‘You saw her last night?’
‘Can’t swear it was last night, but yeah, I think she was here.’
‘Have you got CCTV for last night?’
‘Should have.’
‘Can I take a look at it?’
‘You better speak to the boss about that. He’s through there …’
Harry followed the direction he indicated, passing through a swanky black and white archway towards the back of the building, and coming to a halt outside a door with a brass placard displaying the sign, “The Boss”. He rapped smartly on the door and pushed it open.
Inside, sitting behind a huge desk and chewing on a fat cigar, was a skinny stick of a man with straggly, thinning hair that was far too long for a man of his age.
‘I rarely see the punters myself,’ Ray Law said with a shrug, pushing the photo back across the table to Harry, ‘but you’re welcome to take the CCTV and have a look. It’s what it’s there for, after all.’
Back at the station he and Beth pored over the images.
‘There she is,’ Harry said. ‘Freeze it. That’s her, isn’t it?’
‘Yeah, it is.’ Beth peered at the image of the couple standing at the counter waiting for their coats.
It was quite a clear picture and Harry frowned. ‘Does he look familiar to you?’
She shook her head. ‘Don’t think so.’
Harry pushed “play” to let it run, and they watched as the man helped Katrina Midwood into her coat and supported her stumbling form out of the club.
‘The boyfriend wasn’t exaggerating when he said she was plastered,’ Beth said.
‘No.’ Harry was still staring closely at the images. ‘There’s something about him …’
‘You’d think you’d remember someone with hair as blond as that, wouldn’t you?’
‘Yeah, you would. Get a good still of him blown up so we can have a proper look.’
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
‘Where are you going?’
Kirsty stopped guiltily in her tracks at the front door and turned to face her mother. She hated lying, but she had no intention of telling her what she was really up to tonight.
‘I’m meeting up with Sophie and a couple of the others.’
‘Oh, right.’
Kirsty immediately felt guilty at leaving her mother on her own, but there was no way she could cancel tonight.
‘I’m sorry, Mum, but you know Sophie and Tom have just got engaged. She wants to show off her ring, I think. Will you be alright on your own?’
Her mother shrugged. ‘I’ll have to be, won’t I? Don’t worry about me.’
Oh, God. But if she didn’t do this tonight…
She closed the gap between them and gave her mother a hug. ‘Oh Mum, I’m sorry … but I’ve said I’ll go now. How about we go to the cinema tomorrow, just you and me? We could go for a meal beforehand?’
‘I’m not sure about the cinema, but the meal would be nice.’ Her mother hugged her back, then drew away, forcing a smile. ‘I’m sorry, too. I didn’t mean to put you on a guilt trip. I’ll be fine … really. I’ve got plenty of stuff to watch on the planner.’
Out in the car, Kirsty quickly texted her cousin. ‘Huge favour to ask. If you’re free, any chance you could pop round to Mum’s tonight for a quick visit? She’s feeling a bit low and I’ve had to go out. Sure she’d love to hear how the wedding plans are coming along. No worries if you’re busy – I haven’t mentioned it to her.’
It was all she could do and the instant ping of a reply brought a smile to her face.
‘Of course I can … no problem. Will’s here and says he’ll come with me. It’ll be nice to see her. Xx’
With that sorted, Kirsty turned on the engine and exited the drive. As always, when she drove past Gobions these days, she felt a prickle of unease. That was where the body of the tenant had been found, and it was unsettling to think it had all happened so near to their house. She’d spent half her childhood playing there, and had great memories of it, but she wasn’t sure she’d ever feel the same about the place again. She glanced apprehensively in her mirror, suddenly remembering the attack last night – but she couldn’t see anyone following her, and gradually her tension eased.
Half an hour later she’d arrived at Jordan’s Solicitors in Whetstone. She parked her car in a side road and pulled her hoody over her head, before making her way quickly over to where she could see Luke’s car parked further down the road.
She slipped into the passenger seat and drew back the hood.
Luke smiled in the dim light. ‘You’re taking this seriously, I see. I must admit I didn’t think to bring a hoody.’
‘Don’t worry, I brought you these.’ She handed him an old hat and scarf of her father’s. ‘Not that you should need them. You’re not coming in with me.’
‘What? Of course I am. You can’t do this on your own.’
‘Luke, I wasn’t thinking straight when I asked you. You’re a lawyer. You can’t be seen to be involved in anything illegal, and it would be irresponsible of me to expect it.’
Look, I get what you’re saying, but …’
‘I mean it. I’ve thought it all through and I won’t involve you in this. But you can still help. If you go to Costa’s and choose a table by the window where you’ve got a view of the office, it will be a real security for me to know you’re there. That way, if anything goes desperately wrong…’
‘Kirsty–’
‘How difficult is it–’ she interrupted, ‘–unplugging a laptop and walking out with it? I can do this, Luke, and if anything does go wrong … if the key doesn’t work or the alarm goes off … then I’ll be out of there quicker than you can shout my name.’
It took a bit more persuasion but in the en
d Luke could see she wasn’t going to budge. ‘We’ll meet back here after you see me come out,’ Kirsty said, waiting until Luke had donned his cap and scarf before climbing out of the car.
‘You head off to Costa’s that way. I’m doing the roundabout route approaching the office from the other direction, to make it more difficult for anyone to link us together if there’s any CCTV.’
He looked impressed. ‘You have been thinking it through.’
‘Yes, well, I may be daft in some ways but I’m nothing if not practical.’
Despite her brave words, her heart was pounding as she set off. Jordans’ solicitors were situated towards the end of a block of shops on the High Street, and apart from a restaurant a few doors down, all the other shops and offices were closed. Kirsty breathed a sigh of relief. It made things easier. After a quick look round to make sure she hadn’t acquired any unwanted interest, she inserted the key in the lock. Immediately the alarm started to bleep and using the torch on her phone, she closed the door behind her and hurried over to tap the code into the panel. The beeping stopped and she released her breath.
She wasted no time, heading straight for Simon’s office on the far side, making sure to keep her head down. She didn’t remember there being any security cameras, but they could have had one installed since she’d left. The laptop was sitting on his desk and she hurried over to unplug it. Easy-peasy! Her heart was still thumping but not quite so violently now.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket at the same time as she heard the key in the outer door.
Shit.
Her eyes flew in the direction of the sound, but the door opened inwards, blocking her view and she couldn’t see who it was coming in from where she was standing.
She just had time to drop the computer back down on the desk and dive under it, before the reception area was flooded with light. Her heart was hammering so loudly she was afraid whoever it was would hear it. Why hadn’t she rung her brother, to make sure Simon had arrived? Stupid. Stupid! What if it was him?
Footsteps approached Simon’s desk and she shrank back as far as she could into the cramped space beneath it. Had he seen her? Would he notice the computer was unplugged? The chair was pulled backwards and she held her breath – expecting a face to peer in at her any minute, and yank her out. But it didn’t happen. Instead, a pair of feet suddenly came into view as the owner of them sat down on the chair. Silence, then …
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