by Ford, P. F.
She turned, startled, as the door burst open behind her and Goodnews backed in, carrying a tray with coffees and cakes for her and Slater. She turned and looked up as she came through the door, stopped dead in her tracks, and did a perfect double take, as she set eyes on Jolly.
As the two women stared at each other, Slater realised why Goodnews had stopped. He had done the same when he’d met Norman’s wife. She could be Jane Jolly’s double.
‘Boss,’ he said. ‘This is PC Jolly. Jane, this is DI Goodnews.’
‘I’m pleased to meet you,’ said Jolly, with a beaming smile.
‘I’m sorry,’ said Goodnews, putting down her tray and shaking Jolly’s hand. ‘For a minute there, I thought you were someone I knew.’
‘Jane’s usually part of our team,’ said Slater. ‘Unfortunately she’s on leave at the moment.’
‘I heard about Norm, I mean DS Norman,’ explained Jolly. ‘I just thought I’d look in, and see if there’s anything I could do.’
‘That’s very good of you,’ said Goodnews. ‘But unless you know something we don’t know…’
‘Yes. DS Slater was just saying exactly that. I’m afraid I can’t think of anything, but we were just saying, Norman hasn’t really told any of us much about his past.’
Jolly looked uncomfortable under DI Goodnews’ scrutiny, and after a few more awkward exchanges, she left, promising to keep thinking and let them know if she thought of anything.
‘Did I interrupt something there?’ asked Goodnews when Jolly had gone.
‘How d’you mean?’ asked Slater, accepting the cup of coffee she offered him.
‘She looked a bit guilty, as if she was just about to tell you something.’
‘No, I don’t think so,’ said Slater. ‘Maybe she looked guilty because of the way you were staring at her. That double take couldn’t have been more obvious.’
‘You have to admit it’s uncanny. You did exactly the same when we met Norman’s wife.’
‘I don’t think I made it quite so obvious,’ argued Slater. ‘But they are alike, aren’t they?’
‘And you’re quite sure there’s nothing going on between Norman and PC Jolly?’ asked Goodnews.
‘Well, I haven’t exactly spent every minute of every investigation with the two of them, but I’m sure I would know. Besides, the woman is married with three young kids. When would she find the time for an affair?’
‘You’d be surprised what people can find the time for when they really want to,’ said Goodnews.
There was no arguing with that, so Slater didn’t try.
‘We’ve had this conversation before,’ he said. ‘And I still say no way. I’d stake my life on Jolly not cheating on her husband. They were childhood sweethearts. They’ve been together forever. They’re the perfect couple. Ask anyone, and they’ll tell you the same as me.’
‘I’m telling you she’s guilty about something,’ said Goodnews.
‘She’s probably dieting and just had a bar of chocolate. That’s the sort of thing Jane would feel guilty about. Anyway, I’ve met her husband. He’s one of the most inoffensive guys you could ever meet.’
‘The ones you would least expect are often the worst ones,’ said Goodnews.
‘Nah,’ said Slater. ‘Not Tim Jolly. He’s just a quiet, shy, short-arsed sort of guy. He’s not the type to do something like this.’
‘Let me tell you something,’ said Goodnews, sternly. ‘There is no standard “type” of person who turns into a kidnapper. People will do all sorts of things that are totally out of character if they think their world is being threatened. Just you remember that.’
Slater was a bit taken aback by the vehemence of Goodnews’ opinion, but he didn’t argue. She was probably just as frustrated as he was that they were getting nowhere. He decided it was probably best to keep his head down and keep quiet for now.
‘I’ve been summoned to a meeting with the chief constable,’ said Goodnews, a few minutes later.
‘Is it about the case?’ asked Slater. ‘Do you need me to come along and take my share of the flack?’
‘Thanks for the offer.’ She smiled at him. ‘But I don’t think that will be necessary. I think I can look after myself.’
At least Slater had got a smile. He figured that meant there was no bad feeling between them.
‘I’ll be back in a couple of hours, I hope,’ she told him, as she gathered her things together.
‘No problem,’ he said. ‘We’ll keep on banging away at this. We will find something, I’m sure.’ He watched her make her way to the door.‘Good luck.’
She gave him a knowing smile, but said nothing.
Slater spent the next half hour playing more CCTV footage, but at the end of that time, he began to realise he wasn’t actually watching any of it. All he could think about was what Goodnews had said about Jolly and Norman, and how it was surprising what people could do if they felt their world was being threatened.
Tim Jolly was such a small, unassuming sort of guy. There was no way he could be involved in this, was there?
On the other hand, of course, Tim Jolly’s world revolved around Jane and their three kids. Suppose he had come to believe there was something going on between Jolly and Norm? After all, they had worked together a lot, and Norm was the sort of guy who was fun to be around. What if she had told Tim what a great guy Norm was?
And then he remembered something. He quickly sorted through the CCTV disks until he found the one he wanted. He stuck it in the machine, and sorted through the traffic camera stills until he found the photo of his car. It was being driven by someone wearing a hat which hid his face, but Biddeford was right, the hat couldn’t hide the fact that the driver was something of a short-arse…
Slater sat back in his seat. He thought maybe he should give Jane a call. But then, what exactly was he going to say to her? ‘Hi Jane, do you know if your husband’s kidnapped Norman?’ And anyway, what if he was wrong?
Then he realised there was a better way that didn’t involve worrying her. He could easily check to see if Tim Jolly had flown out to Spain on Sunday. He was sure it would be a waste of time, and only prove that Tim was in Spain, but at least then he could put the idea to bed and concentrate on finding the real kidnapper.
‘And you’re absolutely sure?’ he asked down the phone, ten minutes later.
‘Absolutely 100%, no doubt whatsoever,’ came the reply. ‘No one by that name has flown out of the country in the past seven days. Of course, it’s always possible he could have crossed the channel and driven down through France, but the only way that guy could have flown to Spain is if he’s using a false passport.’
‘Oh shite,’ mumbled Slater to himself, as he cut the call and began to dial again. He tried to tell himself that Tim Jolly must have driven down to Spain, but there was a sinking feeling settling in his stomach as he dialled.
‘Hello, Boss,’ he said into the phone, a few minutes later. ‘You might want to postpone that meeting and get back here. I think I know who the kidnapper is, and you get to tell me you told me so.’
‘Don’t tell me,’ she said. ‘It’s PC Jolly’s husband. So you checked him out, then? I thought you probably would.’
‘I just kept thinking about what you said before you left,’ he said, sheepishly. ‘And what with him being a short-arse and the person who nicked my car being one as well…’
‘Aye,’ she said. ‘Sometimes two and two have to make four, even when you’d rather they didn’t. Do we know where he is?’
‘Err, no,’ he said. ‘All I know for sure is that he’s supposed to be in Spain, but he’s still in this country, somewhere.’
‘Has it occurred to you that just because he’s not in Spain, it doesn’t prove he’s a kidnapper? It could be he’s just run off or two weeks with his bit on the side?’
‘I almost wish that were true,’ said Slater, sighing. ‘But I don’t believe it any more than you do. I’m sorry. I should have listened to you earlier.�
�
‘We’ll have plenty of time to discuss where we went wrong when we’ve found Norman,’ she said. ‘And, by the way, I’m not one for gloating. We all tend to think it can’t be our friends who are at fault.’
‘Yeah, but I should know better. And why aren’t you chewing my balls off?’
‘What would be the point of that? We made a mistake and we both know it. Shouting at you won’t make it better, will it? What really matters is we put it right now, and we learn from it for the future.’
‘But it wasn’t we that made the mistake, it was me,’ said Slater.
‘Look, we can talk about this later,’ she said. ‘Right now I need to call the CC and tell him I’ve got to put our meeting on hold. When I get back we’d better go and have a chat with Mrs Jolly. Are you going to be alright with that? If it puts you in a difficult position, I can take someone else.’
‘No, it’s fine. I think I should be the one to go with you. I can deal with it.’
‘Good,’ said Goodnews. ‘I’ll be back in about an hour.’
Chapter Thirty-Three
Jane Jolly obviously hadn’t been expecting visitors, but the enquiring look on her face quickly changed to surprise as she swung the door open to reveal Goodnews and Slater standing on her step.
‘Good afternoon, Mrs Jolly,’ said Goodnews.
‘Please, call me Jane,’ said Jolly.
Goodnews gave a small, fleeting smile but said nothing, making Slater feel distinctly uncomfortable.
‘Don’t tell me,’ joked Jolly, awkwardly. ‘You’ve got time to kill, and you thought, “who do we know who can make us a cup of tea”.’
This time, Goodnews didn’t even manage a half-smile.
‘I wonder if DS Slater and I might come in and ask you a few questions, Mrs Jolly?’
‘Questions?’ asked Jolly, looking at Slater now. ‘What sort of questions? Have I done something wrong?’
‘We just need some help,’ said Slater. ‘We think you might be able to…’
He left the sentence unfinished. He couldn’t remember ever seeing Jolly so flustered before and he wasn’t enjoying being the reason for her discomfort.
‘You’d better come in,’ said Jolly. ‘I’ll put the kettle on.’
She led the way inside, leaving Slater and Goodnews to follow. Goodnews gave Slater a hostile look to remind him she was taking the lead here. He nodded his understanding.
Jolly clattered around in the kitchen making tea while they waited in her lounge. It was a nice, clean, spacious room. The smell of fresh paint indicated it had been recently decorated.
There were numerous photographs of the Jolly family scattered around the room. Goodnews stepped across to have a close look at a photograph of Tim Jolly.
‘Please, sit down,’ said Jolly, bustling in with three mugs of tea.
She handed out the teas, and then sat down opposite Slater and Goodnews.
‘This is a nice house, you have,’ said Goodnews. ‘And all these photographs. You must be very proud of your family.’
‘Yes,’ agreed Jolly, but she looked uneasy. ‘Yes, I am.’
‘Is your husband the decorator?’ asked Goodnews, indicating the pristine condition of the decor.
‘That’s right,’ Jolly said, smiling fondly. ‘He finished it just before he went away.’
‘He’s away?’ said Goodnews. ‘Where’s he gone? Anywhere nice?’
Jolly looked enquiringly at Slater.
‘Why is she asking me this?’ she asked him. ‘I’ve already told you where Tim’s gone.’
‘Do you know where he is?’ asked Goodnews, before Slater had a chance to speak.
‘He’s in Madrid,’ said Jolly, testily.
‘Are you sure about that?’
‘He left on Sunday. He was meeting up with some friends. They’ve gone to a football tournament.’
‘Where did he fly from?’
‘Gatwick,’ snapped Jolly. ‘I took him there myself, me and the kids. We left him right outside the terminal.’
‘So you didn’t see him actually get on a flight?’ persisted Goodnews.
‘Well, no,’ said Jolly. ‘It was Sunday evening. I needed to get the kids back and off to bed. They had school the next day. Look, what’s this all about. Has something happened to Tim? Has he been involved in an accident?’
‘No,’ said Goodnews. ‘That’s not what’s happened.’
She turned to Slater.
‘You’d better tell her.’
‘Tell me what?’ said Jolly.
‘I’m sorry, Jane,’ said Slater. ‘But Tim didn’t board a flight to Spain. I checked. He hasn’t flown off anywhere.’
‘But that can’t be right,’ said Jolly, looking confused. ‘Of course he flew off to Spain. I saw him go off into the terminal. Where else would he have gone?’
‘We were rather hoping you might be able to tell us that,’ said Goodnews.
Jolly looked utterly perplexed.
‘But where would he have gone?’ she asked. ‘And why wouldn’t he have told me?’ She was clearly struggling to come to terms with the fact her husband had lied to her.
Slater couldn’t remember feeling so uncomfortable. He regarded Jane Jolly as much more than just a colleague; she had become a good friend, and he was finding it difficult to see her in such distress. He looked pleadingly at Goodnews.
‘I know this must come as a terrible shock,’ said Goodnews, ‘but we’re concerned that Tim might have something to do with DS Norman’s disappearance.’
‘But that’s ridiculous,’ said Jolly, shaking her head fiercely. ‘Tim wouldn’t do anything like that. He likes Norm.’
‘So, they know each other?’ asked Goodnews.
‘Yes, of course. Norm’s been round for dinner a couple of times.’
Goodnews glanced at Slater.
‘And how did Tim feel about you asking Norman to dinner?’ asked Goodnews.
‘He was fine about it, in fact it was his idea,’ said Jolly. ‘I had told him about Norm being on his own and he said he’d like to meet him.’
‘Oh,’ said Goodnews. ‘Does he invite all your colleagues round for dinner? Has he invited DS Slater?’
‘Well, no. He’s only suggested I invite Norm.’
‘Do you think maybe he had a special reason for inviting Norman?’
‘Well, yes,’ said Jolly. ‘I just told you. It was because I told him Norm was lonely.’
‘Do you talk about Norman a lot when you’re at home?’ asked Goodnews.
‘Look, am I being accused of something? Because I feel as if I am.’
‘I’m sorry if you feel that way,’ said Goodnews. ‘What I’m trying to suggest is maybe your husband felt you were getting a bit too interested in Norman. You seem to be a very close couple and his world seems to be built around you. Is it possible he felt Norman was trying to steal you away from him?’
‘No!’ said Jolly. ‘Tim knows I love him. Norm’s just a friend, that’s all.’
‘Listen, Jane,’ said Slater. ‘I know you’re finding it hard to believe, and we understand that, but Norm’s been missing for two nights now, and so far all our leads have come to nothing. It doesn’t matter how unlikely it seems to you, we think it’s possible Tim sees Norm as a rival. Why else would he miss a football tournament with his mates?’
Jolly looked at Slater as though he must be mad to suggest such a thing.
‘Has Tim ever suggested there might be something more than friendship between you and Norman?’ asked Goodnews.
‘I told him, and I’ll tell you: Norm’s just a friend. I love Tim, and I love my kids. I would never do anything to hurt any of them.’
They sat in silence for a moment, and then Slater realised what Jolly had just said. He opened his mouth to speak, but Goodnews was way ahead of him.
‘Why did you need to say that to Tim?’ she asked, gently. ‘Did he accuse you of having an affair?’
‘I told him he was being silly,’ said Jolly, t
ears beginning to form in her eyes. ‘It was something Norm said when he was here.’
She looked at Slater for confirmation.
‘You know what he’s like,’ she said. ‘He’s always saying flattering things, like how he should kiss my feet whenever I find some important information. It doesn’t mean anything. It’s just his way.’
Goodnews looked at Slater.
‘It’s harmless,’ Slater said, nodding. ‘He doesn’t mean anything by it.’
‘It may be harmless to most of us, who understand where it’s coming from,’ said Goodnews. ‘But what if you don’t understand where it’s coming from? What if you’re a guy whose world revolves around his wife and family, and suddenly there’s someone new on the scene, and your wife keeps on talking about him? Would you think it was harmless, or would you think your world was under threat?’
Jolly was in floods of tears now.
‘You’re wrong,’ she said. ‘Tim’s such a quiet, shy guy. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.’
‘I’m sorry, Jane.’ Goodnews got to her feet and crossed over to Jane Jolly, putting her arm awkwardly around her. ‘And I really hope you’re right, and I’m wrong, but right now we’ve got nothing else to go on. You’ve got to help us.’
‘Do you have any idea where Tim might be?’ asked Slater.
Jolly shook her head.
‘I’m not sure I know anything about him anymore,’ she said, desperately.
‘The last place we think we know Norm definitely went is Little Balding,’ said Slater. ‘After that we have no idea. Does Tim have any connection to anyone there?’
‘Why would he go there?’ said Jolly.
‘We don’t know for sure, but we believe he may have been instructed to go there,’ said Goodnews. ‘We could be wrong, but we also think he’s probably being held somewhere close to Little Balding. Are you sure Tim doesn’t know anyone out there?’
‘I think he used to have an aunt who lived out that way,’ said Jolly. ‘She had a farm, I think. But that was years ago. She must have passed away before we even started going out. Or at least, he never took me out to see her, so I suppose that’s what happened.’