Presumed Missing

by Fiona Tarr

  The thought made her consider the mobile. She texted Max to pick her up when he was finished with the pre-nup case. Her phone dinged a moment later. OMW. Liz chuckled at his abbreviations. Her phone was full of them since she started communicating with him more often. GIFFs and Emoji were his preferred method, the thumbs up being the most common.

  She sent the social media report via wi-fi to her printer and went to the office to collect it. She shoved it into her backpack without folding it and slipped her bag over her shoulder. A quick toilet stop, teeth clean and moisturiser and she was on her way down the elevator to the foyer.

  Max pulled up outside, his shiny silver car matched by his even shinier smile. The simple things Liz thought. At least he’d lost his grumpy persona since she bought him a new car.

  ‘Where to?’ Max pulled away from the curb before she could get her seatbelt fastened.

  ‘Gemma’s house. I’ve texted her mum. We need to talk.’

  ‘News?’

  ‘Nothing good, but nothing conclusive either. She failed to disclose some info.’

  ‘What info?’ Max ran the amber light at the King William intersection, which meant he’d have to speed up to beat the rest as he made his way to West Terrace.

  ‘It’s a weird one. Gemma sent social media messages to her mum to tell her she had run away and she wasn’t coming back. But, when I checked the origin, Scott tells me,’ Liz pulled out the report and shook it in the air, ‘it came from a different computer. Not hers, not the one he’s got anyway and not from her mobile, which is still missing, but another computer altogether.’

  ‘Can he trace it?’ Another amber light.

  ‘He’s trying, but you know Scott, he’s in bed now. We’ll have to wait until sunset when he leaves his coffin or whatever dark space he must sleep in to be able to get any rest in broad daylight.’ Max chuckled.

  ‘You have heard of block outs right?’ Max offered as he changed into the turning left lane onto West Terrace.

  ‘Yes, I have them, but it’s like my body still knows the sun is up.’

  ‘Yeah, well. Some people live on a different time clock.’

  Liz huffed. ‘You got that right. It’s very inconvenient though. Anyway, I’ll find out if he’s traced the other computer location later. For now, we need to talk to Mrs Richardson about Gemma’s messages and why she didn’t mention them.’

  ‘I have the photos you need of Grosby’s wife.’

  ‘Did you upload them?’

  ‘Yes, you’ll find them in the investigation cloud folder, just like you told me to.’ Max pulled onto Anzac Highway, heading toward the bayside.

  ‘That must have been exciting work for you,’ Liz grinned, her sarcasm obvious.

  ‘Not exactly Major Crimes, but hey,’ Max shrugged, ‘It got me a nice new car, although Dorothy is still offended.’

  ‘She’ll get over it. What was the outcome, of the photos?’ Liz pulled out her mobile and opened the file Max mentioned. ‘Oh. Well that’s definitely a breach.’ The photos included Grosby’s wife kissing a rather buff looking fitness instructor, followed by more photos of his face buried between her legs on the home gym lap-pulldown machine.

  ‘It was hard to keep my mind on the job.’

  ‘I can imagine.’ Liz flicked through a few more photos with her finger on the touch screen. ‘How the hell did you get these?’

  ‘Easy really. The home gym is by the pool. The instructor arrived, I climbed the wall on the far side of the garden and used a telephoto lens.’

  ‘You! Climbed a wall?’ Liz pictured her paunchy partner scrambling up the stone wall that surrounded Grosby’s garden and stifled a scoff.

  ‘Don’t you laugh. You took the case. I found the evidence.’

  ‘I’ll make a time for you to meet with the client, after we finish with Mrs Richardson.’

  ‘You said something about a phone.’ Max parked right in front of Gemma’s mum’s house this time, the silver Mazda taking pride of place right in front of the pathway.

  ‘I’ll explain later.’ Liz opened the door and slung her backpack over her shoulder. Max joined her as they walked along the path toward the Richardson’s front porch.

  Liz rang the bell and the door opened almost instantly. ‘Have you found her?’ Liz looked at the anxious face in front of her and thought of Jackie and how she should really call to see if she was alright after last Friday night’s debacle.

  ‘Can we come in?’

  ‘Oh, of course. I’m sorry. Please come in.’ Mrs Richardson wrapped her lightweight cardigan around her shoulders, the cool breeze still putting a chill on the morning.

  Max and Liz moved into the house, Max opting to hold back as Liz and Mrs Richardson took a seat in the living room. ‘We haven’t found her yet. But we have found where she’s been and where she isn’t any longer.’

  The apprehensive look on the woman’s face grew sombre. ‘So she is still missing?’

  ‘Yes, but you have heard from her, haven’t you?’ Liz waited, still holding the spreadsheet Scott had made for her.

  ‘No!’

  ‘What about the messages? On social media.’ Liz gently pushed. She felt in familiar territory, yet an unfamiliar setting. Counselling people was her job. It had been for years. Most of her clients needed counselling more than they needed sex, they just often didn’t know it.

  ‘They aren’t from Gemma.’ Mrs Richardson saw the sceptical look Liz quickly lost, but not quickly enough. ‘Look. I’ll show you.’ Gemma’s mother stood and left the living room. Max frowned as the woman walked past him still standing in the entrance way.

  ‘Look.’ Mrs Richardson returned holding her mobile phone in her hand. The screen showed her message app open, the messages from Gemma on the screen.

  Liz scrolled through them. I’m not coming back. Don’t look for me. I hate it at home since Dad left.

  ‘What makes you believe Gemma didn’t write this?’ Liz patted the seat next to her, coaxing Mrs Richardson to sit down, instead of pacing back and forth. Her haunted eyes looked at Liz, just staring as if she were trying to force her limbs to obey. Suddenly, she sat next to Liz, a deep breath helping her compose herself.

  ‘For starters, Gemma and I have had our arguments, but none has ever been about her father. She misses him, but she can go live with him anytime she wants. She simply doesn’t want to.’

  ‘Did the Police contact her father?’ Liz was feeling Mrs Richardson hadn’t told her everything and she was struggling to keep her tone neutral.

  ‘Yes, they contacted him. He’s never home. He was overseas when they spoke with him. The reason Gemma doesn’t want to live with him is because he’s never home.’

  ‘You’ve spoken to your ex then? She’s not with him?’

  ‘I spoke with him and no, she can’t be with him. When she went missing, he was in the US. Gemma doesn’t have a passport and both parents need to consent to her getting one, so I’d know if she left the country.’

  ‘Where does he live?’

  ‘All over the place, but if you want to know where his house is, he has a beachside apartment in Queensland.’

  ‘And Gemma isn’t there? The Police have checked?’

  ‘Yes, more importantly, how do you think I can afford your bill?’ Mrs Richardson didn’t wait for a reply. ‘Because he’s paying your tab, so I doubt he’d waste money if he didn’t have to. He’s never been that liberal with it.’

  Max made a sound from his leaning post against the living room archway and Liz warned him with her eyes to keep quiet. His opinion of the wealthy was well known.

  ‘He pays Gemma’s school fees too then?’ Mrs Richardson nodded. ‘Is there anything else you need to tell me?’ She shook her head. ‘Gemma’s phone was last used to call a disposable mobile number. We’ve confirmed the call took place with the phone somewhere between here and the school. Do you know who she would have been calling?’

  Mrs Richardson thought for a moment. ‘No. She’s always been so shy
. I gave you the details of her few friends from school.’

  ‘Any dance classes? I know she was good with music, any after school music classes the school might not know about?’

  ‘No, nothing.’

  ‘Had she been spending more time away from home recently? There was talk at the school, from her friends, that she might have a boyfriend.’

  ‘I work until five each afternoon, so, as much as I hate to say it, she might have gone somewhere between finishing school and when I got home, but she was always home when I got here.’

  ‘The arguments of late, anything in particular?’

  ‘No,’ she sighed. ‘I wish I hadn’t argued with her. I wish I’d just....’

  ‘Valerie, we’ll do everything we can to find Gemma.’ The woman nodded but didn’t look away from her hands, wringing in her lap. ‘We’ll show ourselves out.’ Liz stood and shooed Max out the front door.

  Liz waited until she got into the passenger side of the car before speaking. ‘A rich dad? Kidnapping maybe?’

  ‘No ransom demand, so not likely. Where to next?’ He started the engine.

  ‘The missing mobile.’ Max frowned and Liz pointed in the likely direction Gemma would have walked to school. ‘We’ll park up the road and take a walk.’ The frown remained.

  12

  Liz stepped out of the car as her mobile began to buzz in her pocket. She wore a jacket that hadn’t seen the light of day since she last appeared in court. She really needed to go shopping for more suitable attire. The thought made her think of Jackie. Would she want to go shopping now?

  Liz looked at the phone and recognised the number. She answered. ‘Detective?’

  ‘Where are you?’ Liz could hear she was on speaker phone, the noise of traffic humming in the background.

  ‘Hello to you too.’

  ‘Is Max with you?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Can you put me on speaker?’ Liz pressed the screen.

  ‘You’re on.’

  ‘Jones has only been at the school for this school year, so on campus probably two months. He’s from regional Victoria, so I did a little digging around his last known employment.’

  ‘And?’ Max coaxed eventhough it was unnecessary.

  ‘There were two girls who went missing last year from the school he was teaching at.’

  Max whistled. ‘The Foxy nose sniffs it out again.’ He smiled at Liz who glared. ‘Are you in now?’

  ‘Not officially but I have Detective Williams with me and we have an hour up our sleeve. I can interview Jones if you like?’

  ‘Will that tip him off?’ Max rubbed his chin.

  ‘It could. What else can we help with?’

  ‘Finding Gemma’s phone,’ Liz piped in and Max nodded. She knew the last thing he wanted to do was walk around the street trying to find it.

  ‘I can possibly get uniforms out if I can get Missing Persons to do something.’

  ‘Gemma’s mother says the messages she got, that stopped Missing Persons pursuing the case were not from Gemma. I’m inclined to believe her Jack. I’ve got Scott chasing the IP address of the computer that sent them. It wasn’t Gemma’s phone or laptop.’

  ‘That might get a few uniforms on the go. What else can we help with then?’

  ‘We are looking for her phone now, but if you think we can get uniforms to help, we’ll leave it for them. What we do need is to question Gemma’s cyber-bully, a girl from a neighbouring school. I don’t have one of those flashy badges so they won’t let me talk to her. Maybe you and Jenny can?’

  ‘Send me the details. We’ll call in.’

  ‘Will do. Why don’t we catch you both tonight for a beer and debrief?’ Max leant over Liz’s phone and spoke into the speaker phone.

  ‘As long as we can get away on time. Will do.’ The line went dead and Liz began typing a text with Belinda’s details.

  ‘I think I need to pay Mr Jones a visit. Drop me off at Gemma’s school.’

  ‘How are you going to get to see him during school hours?’

  ‘Oh, you leave that to me. I think the Principal will be open to the idea.’ Liz flicked her hair and Max rolled his eyes.

  ****

  ‘So.... back on the case with Liz then.’

  ‘It’s just business Williams.’ Jack’s tone was formal but Jenny looked dubious.

  ‘Of course,’ she grinned. ‘What will the Chief say about you hooking back up with Max?’

  ‘Let’s keep that between us for now. If the case becomes official, we’ll let him know.’

  ‘Sure boss.’ Jack eyed Jenny who was still grinning cheekily and he realised what Liz had been hinting at. The woman had a natural flirty nature that when he thought about it, reminded him of Liz.

  ‘Look up the school address Liz texted through. We’ll see if we can organise a chat with our cyber-bully.’

  ‘On it.’ The comment made Jack think of Max. As much as the guy was a sloth, he really did miss working with him. The smoke drifting into his face. The cigarette butts flying out the window. The grumpy mornings with multiple coffee starts.

  Jenny was a breath of fresh air. Neat, tidy, organised, energetic, but she wasn’t Max.

  ‘Brighton High, I’m guessing you know where that is. Seriously, I’m surprised the government hasn’t sold off the real estate. That school is in an awesome spot.’

  ‘Give them time. They’ve sold everything else.’ Jenny laughed. ‘Sounds like a bit of private versus public school haggling and nothing ominous, but we should check it out.’

  Jack’s old BMW pulled up into the school parking lot a few minutes later. The detectives followed the signs to the administration building and entered the foyer. A friendly receptionist looked up.

  ‘Good morning. Can I help you?’

  ‘Yes thanks. I’m Detective Cunningham, this is Detective Williams. We’d like to see one of your students please.’ Jack leant on the high reception desk casually, his badge in one hand.

  ‘I’ll need to organise a student counsellor or teacher. Which student? Can I ask what it is in relation to?’

  ‘We’ll wait for a supervising adult, no issues. Belinda Thomas is the student and no, we’ll speak to Belinda about the matter, I’m sorry it isn’t something we can discuss in public.’

  The receptionist’s eyes opened wide, thoughts obviously running through her mind as she picked up the phone and tapped a few numbers into the digital phone pad.

  ‘Principal Mathews, I have two detectives here to speak with Belinda Thomas.’ The receptionist was silent a moment. ‘Of course.’ She hung up. ‘The Deputy will be with you in a moment. Please take a seat.’

  ‘Thanks.’ Jack moved away from the counter but didn’t sit. Detective Williams took a seat and started to flick through a magazine. Jack marvelled at her ability to just relax and tune out like that. He wasn’t sure if it was good or bad, but either way, Jenny was shaping up to be a good detective, so he wasn’t going to pull her up on it.

  A minute later a short, broad, middle-aged man walked into the foyer. ‘I’m Principal Matthews. We should talk somewhere privately, please come into my office.’ The man turned without further explanation and Jack coaxed Jenny to her feet to follow with a nod of his head.

  It was a strange greeting, no handshakes, no casual chit chat, just a hurry to get them out of public view. The detectives exchanged a look and Jack could see Jenny was on the same page.

  The Principal held his office door open and ushered them in with a wave of his hand. ‘Please, take a seat detectives.’ Another hand wave. Jack suddenly felt like a student at Pulteney all over again. It was like going into the Chief’s office when you knew you were going to get a grilling.

  ‘I apologise for the welcome. I was rather surprised you called in to speak with Belinda.’

  Jack looked at Jenny, who shrugged. It seemed she was just as confused. ‘Why is that?’ Jack hadn’t sat back in his chair, instead he moved further forward, intent on discovering the reason
for the Principal’s strange behaviour.

  ‘I thought you’d know. What department are you from?’

  ‘Major Crimes.’ Jack offered.

  ‘Oh. It seems the Police force isn’t unlike the education department. One hand doesn’t know what the other is doing,’ the Principal sighed.

  Jack was losing patience, but he kept his tone calm. ‘I’m sorry Mr Matthews, but you’ve lost us.’ He looked at Jenny again for confirmation that she was just as confused. The Principal looked flustered.

  ‘Oh,’ followed by silence again. Jack was just about to prompt the man when he finally started speaking hastily. ‘Belinda has been missing all week. Her family reported her missing with the Police. I assumed you’d know.’

  Jack felt stupid for not having run the girl through the database before he came, but she was a seventeen-year-old and he wasn’t exactly expecting a record. Even so, she could have had a juvenile record that would have tipped him off, but he definitely would have found the Missing Person’s report.

  ‘I apologise Mr Matthews. We were only just given Belinda’s details to follow up on another missing girl. I didn’t check in with the office before following the lead. That’s my mistake. But since I’m here, maybe we can get a quick run-down and follow up with Missing Persons.’

  The Principal wasn’t stupid it seemed. ‘So if you aren’t from Missing Persons, why are you chasing up a missing girl?’

  Jack knew he’d put his foot in it. It was rare for him to not be on the ball, but Liz had that effect on him. ‘The investigation is early days yet Principal, but our missing girl may not have gone missing of her own accord. We are following all leads and Belinda was one of those.’

  ‘So what does this have to do with Miss Thomas and are the two cases connected?’

  ‘We’ll follow up if there is any likely connection, but Miss Thomas was a social media contact of our missing girl and let’s say they weren’t exactly getting along.’

  ‘And you thought a seventeen-year-old student might have something to do with the disappearance of another girl? Is that even likely?’ The Principal was growing agitated.