Sorry, Claire, I don’t mean to take it out on you but I think you’ve got more of a chance of hearing from him than me and he needs to hear this.
Dan.
She read and re-read the email, perplexed, trying to figure it out in her head. Dan thought Pete had gone to France; she thought he’d stayed with Kate. Neither of these things had happened, so where the hell was he? This didn’t make any sense whatsoever. She looked at Dan’s email signature, found his number and immediately dialled it. He picked up after three rings.
‘Hello?’
‘Dan, it’s Claire.’
‘Oh, hi, Claire.’ He seemed surprised to hear from her.
‘Look, I don’t know what’s going on but Pete never came to France. He left me waiting at the station and never showed up. He sent me a message telling me he’d changed his mind and that he was staying with Kate. I haven’t heard from him since.’
The silence went on for so long that she thought he’d been cut off.
‘Dan, are you there?’ she asked.
‘I’m here, Claire, I’m just really confused. He definitely didn’t stay with Kate: she hasn’t seen him since September. I’ve spoken to her a few times and I’m absolutely sure about that. So if he’s not with you, where is he?’
‘That’s exactly what I want to know.’
‘This is pretty messed up, Claire.’
‘I know.’
‘And he left his phone at home and deleted all his social media accounts too.’
‘I know. I’ve tried all of them.’
‘Do you think he’s just done a runner? Did he stick two fingers up to everything and just head to a beach in Thailand to be on his own?’
‘Possibly, but it doesn’t sound like Pete. I can’t understand why he’d do that and not make contact with anyone. For a few weeks maybe but it’s been months and no one has heard from him. I’m freaking out a bit now, Dan.’
‘He told me he’d got a new job, some tech firm, do you know which one it was?’
‘Yes, but I checked and he definitely doesn’t work there. That’s why I came to London, I couldn’t think of any other way to reach him. It wasn’t until I got here that I thought to email you. I should have thought of it ages ago, I’m kicking myself now.’
‘So what do we do now?’
She thought for a moment. ‘I don’t think we’ve got any other choice. We’re going to have to call the police.’
25
Kate
She looked at the police in surprise. ‘What do you mean, “a missing person”? He’s not missing, he’s in France with his girlfriend.’
The male officer shuffled in his seat, looking embarrassed while the woman spoke. ‘I appreciate that this is a very delicate situation, Mrs Garland, but we were contacted by a woman who claims that he disappeared some months ago and no one has heard from him since. Can you tell me exactly when you last saw your husband?’
‘Monday September 7th,’ she replied without hesitation. ‘He’d been having an affair for months and he left me. I found a note in our bedroom telling me that he had met someone else. I haven’t heard from him since.’
It wasn’t the full story but everything she had said was true and the police didn’t need to know about the confrontation that they’d had that morning or the agreement they’d subsequently made. No one did but her and Pete.
‘Do you still have the note?’ the officer asked. She nodded and went to retrieve it from its hiding place between the pages of a book in her bedside table. She’d thought about throwing it away a number of times but had never actually done it. The officers both read it before turning back to her. ‘Have you tried to contact him?’
‘I tried everything,’ she replied. ‘He left his phone at home and deactivated all his social media accounts. I messaged all his friends and family and I sent him a number of emails. I contacted one of his friends from work, Dan, and he told me that he’d left his job the week before. Eventually Dan agreed to meet me in person and he told me the whole story about Pete’s relationship with this woman – Claire. I assume it’s her who has reported him missing. Are you saying that he didn’t go with her after all?’
The officer simply replied, ‘From what we understand, Mrs Garland, no one has seen or heard from your husband since the morning of September 7.’
She stared at the police officers, not knowing what to say to them. The secrets that she had been keeping from everyone for so long about what really happened that morning were threatening to burst out of her and she had to use every ounce of strength she had to hold them back. ‘I have no idea where he is,’ she said. ‘He walked away from our marriage and our life. He made it very clear that he didn’t want to be contacted. He lied to me repeatedly. I assumed he’d run away with this woman and now you’re telling me he hasn’t. I don’t know what to think.’
‘You say he left his phone behind? Can we take a look at it, please?’
‘Of course,’ she said and went to retrieve it. ‘It’ll need a charge.’
‘What about his bank accounts? Has he withdrawn any money at all?’
She explained about the money taken from their ISA a few weeks before he left. ‘Since then, he hasn’t withdrawn any money. I assumed that he’d opened a new bank account. He hasn’t given me any money either, I’ve been relying on our savings until I can earn enough money to pay for the mortgage and bills.’
‘What about his passport, driving licence, those sorts of things?’
‘All gone, I searched the house from top to bottom after he left and he’d taken them with him.’
‘And you say he hasn’t been in touch at all?’
‘No, I haven’t heard a thing. As you can imagine I was hurt and furious. We have two young children who asked for him almost constantly at the beginning. I didn’t know what to say to them, it was horrendous. I was desperate to get in contact with him and find out what was going on. I even tried his mother, who he’s estranged from, but she hadn’t heard from him either. For the first few months I sent regular emails to him begging him to reply but he never did. I don’t even know if he read them.’
The female officer looked at her sympathetically. ‘Does he have a laptop or computer at home, Kate?’
‘Yes, he has a laptop. Would you like it?’
‘Yes please, we’ll need to take his phone and laptop away. We’ll also need to search the house and take a sample of his DNA from something like a toothbrush or hairbrush, anything he left behind that we can use.’
‘That’s fine,’ Kate said. She looked at the police officers. ‘So, what do you think has happened to him?’
‘That’s what we’re going to try and find out. We’ll need a list of all of his friends and relatives, work colleagues and so on – anyone that he may have been in contact with. Can I ask, did you notice any changes in his mood or behaviour before he left?’
‘Well obviously you know that our marriage wasn’t in great shape, given that he was leaving me for another woman,’ Kate said. ‘But honestly? No. He seemed absolutely fine, happy really. Now I know why of course. So no, he wasn’t depressed, if that’s what you’re asking.’
‘Were you arguing a lot, Kate?’
‘Not at all. We actually got on fine. We weren’t passionately in love but we rubbed along okay together. I was so distracted with the children that I didn’t realise it wasn’t enough to keep us together until it was too late.’
‘Did he have any history of mental health problems?’
‘Pete? No. He’s about the most level-headed person you could possibly meet.’
‘Is there anyone Pete might have fallen out with?’
‘Not that I know of – well apart from me and all of my family and friends but that was after he left,’ she said, laughing dryly.
‘Can you think of anywhere at all that he might have gone?’
‘Nowhere that I haven’t tried already. I’ve spoken to everyone I can think of and none of them have heard from him. I’ll give yo
u all of their contact details.’
The officer nodded. ‘That would be helpful, thank you. What about places that he loved – maybe somewhere you went on holiday regularly? A holiday house?’
‘No, we never went to the same place twice and we don’t have a holiday house. I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful, I’m extremely thrown by all this.’
The woman looked at her kindly. ‘I understand, Mrs Garland. I think that’s all we need for now, thank you for your time.’
As they stood up to leave, Kate asked, ‘So what happens next?’
‘We’ll search the house and take a look at his phone and laptop. We’ll speak to his friends and family and we’ll also run some checks to see if we can trace his movements over the last few months. We’ll keep you updated and you can contact us at any time if you have any concerns or questions, okay?’
‘Okay, I understand, thank you.’
‘We’ll speak again very soon, Mrs Garland.’
After they left, she sat on the sofa, shaking. She’d relaxed, she thought, she’d finally relaxed after months of being on edge and this was her punishment. Just as she thought that things had settled down, this had happened. What on earth did she do now? She looked at the time – it was nearly 3pm. She had to get to school to pick up the girls. They’d be so excited about the disco but she knew that there was no way she could keep up the pretence of normality this afternoon. She needed time to think and to process what had just happened. With shaking hands, she picked up the phone and called Lottie.
‘Lottie, I’m so sorry, I’ve just been sick. No, I’m fine, I think it was something I ate for dinner last night. Look, I’m so sorry to ask but is there any chance you can pick the girls up and take them to the dance for me?’
Lottie was full of concern. ‘Of course I can, Kate. I’ll swing by and pick up their change of clothes on the way to school. If you’re feeling peaky just leave them outside the front door for me. Look after yourself and I’ll drop them home after pizza. I really hope you feel better soon.’
‘Thank you,’ Kate said weakly, hanging up the phone and curling up into a ball on the sofa. It was finally time to confront the truth. Everything she had felt over the last few months – the shock, anger, fear, loss, guilt and the sense of betrayal was real but she hadn’t been honest with Erin or the police about what had really happened that morning. The only two people who knew were her and Pete. But it had been there, etched into her memory, all along. The deal they’d made and the promises he’d given her. It was time to face what had really happened to Pete after she last saw him on Monday 7 September.
26
Pete
‘All right,’ he heard himself saying to Kate. ‘I’ll take some time out, on my own, to figure things out. How much time?’
‘As much as you need,’ she replied. ‘As long as it takes for you to decide what you really want. Do you want to fight for this marriage, to fight for all that we built together and our children, or do you want to end it?’
‘And what about you? What do you want to do?’
‘I need some time to work that out, too.’
He nodded. ‘Okay.’
‘Where will you go?’ she asked.
‘I’m not sure,’ he replied. ‘I’ll rent a holiday cottage, it’s out of season now, it won’t be difficult. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere where I can be alone, just me and my thoughts.’ As he was saying the words he was thinking of Claire, who would have arrived at the station by now and would be waiting for him to join her. He had to tell her that he wasn’t coming. ‘I just need a minute,’ he said.
She looked at him and nodded, the cogs turning in her head as she realised what he needed to do. He went upstairs to their bedroom and sat on the bed. Looking at his phone he saw a message that Claire had sent earlier.
Just closed the door to the flat for the last time. Heading to the station. Can’t wait! Will get you a cappuccino
The Missing Husband Page 21
