Rather to Be Pitied

by Jan Newton

  ‘And it’s more than likely Jason Quigley.’ Morgan Evans tapped the board. ‘He’s got to be the link in all this.’

  ‘So where are we up to with locating him?’ Swift tugged his ear and sighed. ‘Have we got anywhere on mobile phone networks or credit card usage? Are we any nearer tracing where his vehicle might be? Is there anything else we should be doing that isn’t being covered already?’

  Julie checked her notebook. ‘Lancashire Police have searched the house in Blackpool. They’re looking for his car and they’ll let us know as soon as they find anything useful. There’s nothing in the house that would lead us to him,’ she said. ‘I’ve also asked the neighbours to get in touch if they see him or any signs of him at the house.’ She grinned. ‘They’re only too keen to dob him in apparently.’

  ‘He’s disappeared off the face of the planet,’ Goronwy said, breaking the silence which followed.

  ‘Let’s just hope he’s not taken his son with him.’

  ‘Quite, Julie.’ Swift took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

  ‘We have had some information on a mobile phone registered to Rosa, though,’ Goronwy said. ‘They’ve come up with incoming calls from what they think is a pay as you go mobile, and several texts between them. They’re sort of in code, or shorthand.’ Goronwy picked up a wodge of paper from his desk. ‘They say things like with you? and out Thurs, call me. One the other way, to Rosa, says not safe and another it’s 4 the best, trust me.’

  ‘They could be between Quigley and Rosa though, couldn’t they? She could be involved with the shady dealings we’ve heard so much about?’ Morgan Evans said.

  ‘Or it could be someone who lured Rosa to the Elan Valley maybe?’ Julie tapped her teeth with her pen.

  Swift looked weary as he climbed off the desk. ‘Go home, people, but don’t stop thinking about this. Not for a second.’

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Day Six

  Julie parked her car beside the little bridge over the infant Chwefri River and switched off the engine. Thanks to Adam she now knew this was an Irish bridge. She smiled. He was such a know-all. She was only yards from home but she needed to clear her head. Seven ewes in a single-file procession wandered down through the bracken and past the car, peering quizzically at her before meandering across the road and down onto the flat parcel of grass beside the river. Julie grinned. The sauntering sheep were a great metaphor for how things were at work right now. They were all following each other from one place to another, with no significant advantage in having done so. Why was this case so difficult? She opened the car door and climbed out. The evening sun still had warmth in it and way above, high over the slopes of Craig Chwefri, two kites soared on the thermals.

  There had to be an accomplice. Someone who had spirited the child away from Pwll Bach before Julie went back the second time. The child and all his worldly goods, assuming he had any. Lizzie must have thought Sean was safe in their hands, that there was still no chance of Quigley finding the boy, otherwise she would be telling them everything she knew, in the hope that they could find him before anything happened to him.

  Every check on Quigley had come back negative. Despite his reputation, there was nothing on record. No DNA, no prints, no convictions, and Lancashire Police had done no better with their local enquiries, had they? He must have led a charmed life, or been very clever. Or used other people to do his dirty work for him. Could he have arranged for someone else to follow Rosa?

  And what about the burglary back in Manchester? What was that all about? Was there any way at all that could be Tiffany-related? Still, as Helen said, how would Tiffany have known where Julie’s parents lived? It was a huge leap from nuisance phone calls and slashed tyres to burglary. The woman was a teacher for God’s sake. She wouldn’t be so stupid. Would she? Julie leaned back against the car and closed her eyes. Amid the faint bleating of sheep, from high above her she could hear the song of a skylark. How did they breathe while they were doing all that non-stop singing? She smiled and opened her eyes. That thought had never crossed her mind in Manchester.

  Adam was outside in the front garden, prodding life into the soil with a trowel. That was another first.

  ‘What are you going to plant in there then?’ Julie’s shadow loomed over the flowerbed, and Adam looked round with a start.

  ‘I didn’t hear your car.’ He pulled his earphones out and grinned. ‘What do you think? I thought I might have a bash at planting veggies.’

  ‘And there was me thinking you’d decided on roses round the door.’

  ‘Not much point in flowers, is there.’ Adam handed her a brown paper bag. ‘I’ve got broccoli, red and yellow peppers and cabbage. And I’ve ordered some spuds and sweet potatoes.’

  ‘And what are the chances of those growing up here? You’d need a greenhouse or a poly-tunnel wouldn’t you?’

  ‘Cheers for your vote of confidence. Actually, you can grow all sorts of things round here. I might even have a bash at something illegal. Nobody would know would they?’

  ‘Over my dead body.’ Julie glared at him and thrust the paper bag back at him.

  ‘Joke, Jules.’ Adam laughed and stood up, brushing grass from his knees. ‘But it has been done round here in the past, and in mega fashion too.’

  ‘What, cannabis?’

  ‘Yep. Operation Julie.’

  ‘Oh very funny.’

  ‘I’m serious. I’ve been trying to find something that’s local and fairly recent for next term’s history project and this leapt out at me. It’s forty years since the police smashed a huge drugs ring near Tregaron, LSD worth £100 million and somewhere near a million in cash.’

  ‘In Tregaron? Are you sure?’

  ‘Completely. One of the undercover officers infiltrated the gang and lived with them. It sounds as though he was as high as a kite a lot of the time, so he didn’t blow his cover.’

  ‘That sounds distinctly above and beyond the call of duty. And Tregaron’s just a sleepy little town in the middle of nowhere.’

  ‘That’s just the whole point. It was so remote it took eleven police forces well over two years to get to the bottom of it.’

  ‘I can understand where they were coming from. This case is feeling a bit like that at the moment. It’s centred round a tiny cottage, also in the middle of nowhere, and we have absolutely no clues whatsoever.’

  ‘I have every confidence you’ll get there. Now, what do you fancy for tea? I’ve got cauliflower korma or lentil dhal.’

  ‘Oh dear God, I’m spoilt for choice.’

  ‘Oh, or you can have cheeseburger and chips if you want to be a total heathen.’

  ‘Seriously?’

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘Oh my God, Adam Kite, you are a hero.’ She threw her arms round him and recoiled instantly. ‘What on earth is that smell?’

  ‘Ah, that’ll be the manure. Joe asked if I wanted any. He was clearing out his sheds and said it would be good for the veg plot. I helped him unload it.’

  ‘Aye well, not even aroma of… no, don’t tell me. Not even that can put me off cheeseburger and chips.’ She followed him to the kitchen door. ‘What’s brought about this change of heart as far as my dietary requirements are concerned?’

  ‘If you must know, I had a call from Helen. She told me you’d been sitting in car parks all over the place scoffing Chinese from the carton.’

  ‘It was only once, and I didn’t think she’d tell you, the dozy mare. I’ll flatten her.’

  ‘I think she only had your best interests at heart.’ Adam grinned. ‘I suppose I’ve been a bit single-minded about nutrition just lately.’

  ‘Just a bit.’ Julie bent down to stroke the cat and asked her question without looking at Adam. ‘I don’t want you to over-react to this, Adam, but is there any way at all Tiffany would know where my mum and dad live?’

  ‘Tiffany? What’s she got to do with anything.’

  ‘Well, the burglary, but of course I don’t know that she
has got anything to do with it. It’s just been nagging at me all day. Dad said he couldn’t see whether it was a male or a female running away, but it was probably a kid, judging by the size. And Tiffany isn’t exactly a model for those Beryl Cook prints your mum likes, is she?’

  ‘Don’t be daft, Julie. That’s a ridiculous thing to say. How the hell would she know where your parents live? Why would she have been –,’ Adam closed his eyes. When he opened them, Julie was standing right in front of him, her face inches from his.

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘Honest, Jules, she probably didn’t even know whose house it was, I’m sure I wouldn’t have mentioned it. I left her in the car while I dropped off that poncho thing you borrowed from your mum for the fancy dress party.’

  ‘The fancy dress party last Christmas?’

  Adam nodded. ‘We were only going out for an almost the end of term drink. We were meeting the others from school at the Swan in town. Tiff had forgotten we were going and had walked into work, so she needed a lift.’

  ‘I bet she did. And you fell for it?’

  ‘It wasn’t like that.’

  ‘And Tiffany, she realised it wasn’t like that too, did she?’

  ‘Nothing happened. You have my word.’ Adam did the puppy dog look that came so easily to him. Julie resisted.

  ‘There we are then.’

  Adam grinned. ‘You’ve gone native, Jules.’

  ‘Don’t change the subject,’ Julie said, but she could feel the corners of her mouth twitching in an involuntary smile. How did he do it? ‘But you’re saying you left her in the car outside Mum and Dad’s and you still think I’m making connections that aren’t there?’

  ‘She wouldn’t. She might be obsessed, but she’s just not like that.’

  ‘I hope you’re right, Adam Kite.’

  Adam had insisted on washing up and Julie was watching television with a glass of wine in one hand and a bowl of crisps by the other. When the phone rang, he rushed through to answer it.

  ‘Yes, she’s here. How are things up there?’ There was a pause and Julie held her breath. ‘That’s great news,’ Adam said. ‘I’ll just get her.’ He held the phone out for her. ‘It’s your mum.’

  ‘Hiya. How’s Dad? Has he been back to the hospital?’

  ‘No love, he’s fine. They say most of it’s superficial, he was just unlucky. It looks far worse than it is.’

  ‘Has he had any stitches out?’

  ‘No, not yet, love, but the practice nurse saw him today and she’s really pleased with the way it’s looking.’

  ‘Have you heard anything from the local police?’

  ‘We’re not really expecting to, to be honest. We know how much work they have and this really didn’t amount to much at all, did it?’

  ‘Even so, it would be nice to know who it was.’

  ‘I’m sure it was random. We’ve not got much worth stealing, have we? Pity about that picture frame though.’

  ‘Which picture was it?’

  ‘It was that wedding photograph of you and Adam, the one on the steps outside the hotel with Lesley’s little boy.’

  ‘Our wedding photograph?’ Julie could feel her face reddening. Why would anyone break in to steal a wedding photograph of her and Adam, unless there was some sort of ulterior motive?

  ‘You still there, love?’

  ‘Was that the only photograph he took?’

  ‘Oh he didn’t take it, your dad picked it up off the hall table to thump him with as he ran past. The lad grabbed it and hit your dad with it and his arm went through the glass. He says it was his own fault, he should have just let him go. He was really upset that he got blood all over the photo, but it was the nearest thing to hand. I’m just glad he didn’t pick up the blinking doorstop, otherwise he’d have been in serious bother one way or the other.’ She chuckled down the phone. ‘I don’t know, the pair of you are as bad as each other for wanting justice to be done. Are you there, love, you’ve gone quiet again.’

  ‘I’m here, Mum.’ She glanced up at Adam, who at least had the decency to have turned as white as a sheet.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Day Six

  The receptionist was far too polite to comment on John Slaithwaite’s nervousness or Lizzie’s puffy, red-rimmed eyes and her unwillingness to approach the desk.

  ‘Is it just for tonight?’ she asked, handing John a registration card and a biro, which he promptly dropped onto the carpet.

  ‘We’re not really sure. It depends on how things go.’

  The receptionist smiled. ‘Of course. That shouldn’t be a problem, but would you mind leaving your credit card details with me?’

  Damn. John groaned silently. She probably thought they were having an affair, that they’d had a row and would do a runner at three in the morning. He handed back the registration card and the pen and opened his wallet.

  ‘Use my card.’ Lizzie slapped her own credit card on the desk. ‘Mrs Lizzie Slaithwaite.’

  John laughed. She was still the same old Lizzie under all that angst after all. He turned to her and she was actually smiling. The little lines at the corners of her eyes did that wrinkly thing they’d always done. He moved her hair away from her face and let his hand rest in her hair, his thumb on her cheek. She reached up and covered his hand with hers. The receptionist coughed politely.

  ‘Your card, Mrs Slaithwaite. Would you like an early morning call?’

  The room was large and light, with a king-size bed draped in chintzy linen. Lizzie perched on the corner.

  ‘I hope you don’t mind… I didn’t know whether you’d want to… I can change it for a twin room if you’d prefer it.’ John twisted the button on his shirt cuff.

  ‘It’ll fall off.’ Lizzie smiled at John’s confusion. ‘Your button. It will fall off if you don’t stop.’

  John perched next to her on the bed. ‘I packed you some things. From home. I didn’t know if you would be… whether you would want to come back.’

  Lizzie stood up and walked to the window. She rested an elbow on the high ledge and watched a man and a woman swing a child of about six years old between them. All three of them were laughing.

  ‘I’ve made such a mess of things, haven’t I?’

  ‘We can sort it out, Lizzie.’

  ‘You didn’t try to find me.’

  ‘You asked me not to. I didn’t want to scare you off.’ John walked over to stand beside her, but his gaze never left her face as she watched the outside world pass by. ‘I thought you’d only be gone a couple of days and then you’d come home, I could apologise for being an insensitive prat and we could try to sort out our options.’

  ‘I didn’t leave because of you.’

  ‘I was wrong. I realise that now. I never understood how badly you wanted a baby.’ He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her, gently, to face him. ‘I have never felt so alone in my life as I have since last October.’

  ‘It seems like a lifetime ago.’ Lizzie smiled up at him.

  ‘It’s been nine months, three days and,’ he looked at his watch, ‘almost eight hours.’ John shook his head. ‘Why couldn’t you tell me how you felt, Lizzie, you could have made me understand.’

  ‘I’m not sure you’ll ever do that. I’m not sure I understand why I did it, not really. I thought it would all be over in a few days, maybe a week at most, just until Rosa had managed to go to the police about Quigley. I thought she would come and get Sean and we’d all come home.’

  John was frowning now. ‘What did Rosa have to do with it?’

  Lizzie’s eyes were wide. ‘I thought she would have told you. She promised me she would tell you where we were.’ She put both hands up to her face and leaned forward and let her hair cover them.

  John took one of her hands and held it tight. ‘Whatever’s happened, Lizzie, it’s going to be all right.’

  Lizzie shook her head. ‘It isn’t, John. It’s never going to be all right again.’

  John took her by t
he hand and led her back to the bed and sat her down. He pulled up a chair and sat facing her. ‘Right, let’s have the whole story. You’re going to have to tell the police in the morning and I think I should hear it first. I think you owe me that much.’

  Lizzie nodded, blew her nose, ran a hand through her hair and took a deep breath.

  ‘I was upset with you that day, you know I was. But that wasn’t the reason I left. It was Quigley’s fault. If it hadn’t been for him and the way he treated Rosa, then none of this would have happened.’

  ‘Quigley? You ran away from Quigley?’

  ‘Sort of. Just let me tell you and then you can decide what you think.’

  John nodded, walked over to the mini bar, emptied a miniature bottle of Scotch into a glass tumbler, and sat back down. ‘Right then. Let’s have the full sordid details.’

  Lizzie sighed. ‘Quigley came home livid about something someone had done. Rosa wouldn’t tell me what it was, but I’d never seen her in such a state before.’