The Anita Waller Collection

by Anita Waller

  ‘Oh?’ Lynda turned to face her boss. ‘In what way?’

  ‘I’m not sure. It’s why I wanted you to come with me. You’re a fresh face to all of it, and I want you to observe. I’m going to be telling her about the lead that hasn’t been helpful, and I’m going to try and get her to think if anyone else carried a grudge against her, however small. Whatever it is she’s keeping quiet about, she will tell me eventually, I’ll make sure of it.’

  ‘Understood. But she’s being particularly stupid if it’s something that could help us trace her baby, don’t you think?’

  Brent sighed. ‘You’re right. It may be that I’ve read this all wrong, but…’

  ‘She works in a solicitor’s office, doesn’t she?’

  ‘Yes. They think highly of her. She’s a paralegal, and when I spoke to Tom Banton and Oliver Hardwick, her bosses, they said how much they depend on her, and how much they’d missed her when she was on maternity leave. They both seemed dismissive of my idea that maybe some criminal she’d helped get banged up had decided to get his own back. Both confirmed she does more work behind the scenes than in court; they tended to take cases as they reached the critical stage, by her own choice. She preferred the admin side. They couldn’t come up with one single name for me to investigate.’

  Lynda laughed. ‘She really is too good to be true, isn’t she?’

  ‘You mean apart from baby Jake not being Gareth’s child? The older son, Daniel, doesn’t know that little fact, so don’t let it slip out at any time. There’s no reason for him to know, he’s suffering enough with losing his dad and his brother. But maybe you’re right, she is too good to be true.’

  He pulled up behind the squad car still on surveillance, and climbed out. Lynda got out of the passenger seat and waited for him. He led her down the drive, and Liz met them at the door.

  The dark shadows under Liz’s eyes told their own story. Lynda knew she had to be tired, she was frightened, and now DI Brent was here, possibly to scare her even more.

  ‘Liz,’ he said, as he stepped through the doorway. ‘This is the new member of our team, DC Checkley. Lynda.’

  Liz nodded at the dark-haired young woman. ‘Good to meet you, Lynda. Come through, I’ll get Dan to make us a drink.’

  They went into the lounge, and heard Dan call out, ‘Kettle’s on.’

  Liz had no sooner closed the door, when there was another knock. This time it was Tanya, returning to duty after her unexpected night off. She followed the others into the lounge and sat on the sofa.

  Lynda let her eyes roam around the room; the décor spoke of calmness, peace; quiet that had developed from a happy family life, and she wondered why on earth Gareth Chambers had felt it necessary to have an affair with Sadie. She could sense no discord in the atmosphere, only fear for the child that had vanished into the ether. Had Gareth found out about Liz and Philip Latimer? Was that the answer? Was that his reason for straying? Or was he a man who couldn’t keep it in his pants when around other women?

  Or was it love?

  She had fallen in love with her Andy the first time she saw him, so why was it inconceivable that Gareth would do the same? Just because Liz Chambers appeared to be such a lovely woman, didn’t mean she was.

  Dan pushed open the lounge door with his bum, his hands occupied with carrying a tray of drinks.

  Liz smiled at him. ‘Thank you, Dan. Lynda, this is my son, Dan. He’s been my rock.’

  Dan acknowledged them all, simply by glancing around the room. ‘Why are you here?’ His tone was blunt.

  ‘Not for any bad reason, Dan.’ Brent’s voice was firm. ‘Come and sit down with us, if you like. We’re bringing your mum up to date on the investigation, but there’s really nothing new to report. It was more of a touching base exercise, I don’t want your mum to feel left out of the loop. Your brother is still missing, and is our priority. Find your brother, and we have your father’s killer.’

  Dan hesitated. ‘Nah, I’m good. I’ve some work to do upstairs. Has Julia gone, Mum?’

  ‘Yes, sweetheart. About ten minutes ago. She said to say bye to you.’

  He nodded thoughtfully, and left the room.

  ‘Julia?’ Brent asked.

  ‘My schooldays friend, and Oliver Hardwick’s soon-to-be ex-wife. We drowned our sorrows last night, and she slept on the sofa. It’s not the comfiest of places to sleep, so I think she was quite thankful to be going home. So, what do you have to tell me?’

  ‘Very little. Although it seems the sighting of the pushchair being put in the car unfolded was the person we’re looking for, the witness couldn’t tell us anything. Big car, dark colour, not sure if man or woman. We’re concentrating our door-to-door enquiries on that area where the car was parked, trying to track down any CCTV footage, but for now it seems to be a dead end.’

  Liz stared at him, waiting for him to go on.

  ‘We need more, Liz. I need you to really think. We still believe you are the target, someone is intent on hurting you very badly indeed. There has to be something in your past that will take us deeper into this. I don’t believe you are in physical danger, but Dan could be. Whoever this person is, they want you hurting, not dead. Dan must not go out unaccompanied, until this person is behind bars for good. So, start thinking. And I mean really thinking. If necessary, we can have you taken to work if you need to go through past files.’

  She shook her head. ‘No, I can access everything from here. I work from home on my days off, if I need to get stuff ready for court, or anything like that. I’ll go through everything, see what I can find, after I’ve emailed Tom and Oliver to tell them what I’m doing.’

  ‘Thank you. It will be a massive help. Any little thing, make a note of it. What may be slight to you, may be massive in their mind.’ Brent put down his cup. ‘Thank you for the drink, Liz. Our little chat hasn’t triggered off any thoughts? Oh, and before I forget, I need to take your phone. You’ll have it back by tomorrow. It’s not so much for any calls, we can get those from your provider, it’s more for your photographs. Our tech guys will download them and we’ll go through them. They’ll pull out any pictures where we need you to identify people, particularly in the background, in case there’s anyone who shouldn’t be there. I know it sounds as if we’re clutching at straws, but we are.’

  She reached into her bag that was standing on the coffee table, and handed the iPhone to him.

  He briefly looked at it, then dropped it into an evidence bag he produced from his pocket. ‘Is this your only mobile phone?’

  Lynda’s eyes were on Liz’s face. She saw hesitation, before Liz said, ‘Yes, it is.’

  ‘She’s lying,’ Lynda said, moments later, as she climbed into the driver’s seat. ‘She’s got more than one phone. And my guess, with no proof, is that it is one she shared with Philip Latimer only.’

  ‘Is that what people who are having affairs do, then? When I asked her, I meant did she have one that she used for work.’

  Liz put the car into gear and pulled out into the traffic before answering.

  ‘They do if they’re already married, and it’s important it stays secret. If she does have another phone, and her reaction says she does, that could be so important. If it was a work phone, she would have said she had it.’

  ‘You’re right. I’ll speak to Tanya when I get back. Maybe she can throw some light on it, or get Liz to acknowledge she has it.’

  They drove in silence for the rest of the way, and as Lynda pulled into the car park, he turned to her. ‘Good work this morning, Lynda. You did exactly as I asked, picked up on the phone issue. Thank you.’

  She laughed. ‘Just my job, sir. A job I’ve wanted since being at school.’

  ‘You’ll go far.’ He climbed out of the passenger seat and was already dialling Tanya’s number as he entered the building.

  She had to hide the love phone. Liz had seen Lynda watching her, and knew she had been a heartbeat too slow in her response.

  She sat on her b
ed and took the little Nokia out of the zippered pocket in her bag. She stared at it for a moment, and then realised there was no need to hide it anymore. Thanks to the DNA results, the police were fully aware of her liaison with Phil, and Rosie had confirmed it anyway.

  Liz sighed and carried it downstairs.

  Tanya was sitting in the kitchen, working on her laptop. She lifted her head and smiled. ‘Hi, Liz. You okay? I know they couldn’t tell you much this morning, but to use the cliché, no news is good news.’

  Liz held out the phone. ‘Is this what you’ve been told to watch out for?’

  Tanya took it from her and looked at it. ‘Yes. DI Brent guessed you had a second phone.’

  ‘Phil and I had them. We called them our love phones. I’m not sure how it can help – I initially kept it from you because nobody knew about us, but now everybody knows. There are things that don’t add up on it. I think I need to speak with DI Brent again. Can you run me there?’

  ‘Of course. I’ll notify him we’re coming. I’ll get one of the surveillance team to come inside with Dan while we’re away.’

  ‘You think he’s in danger in the house?’

  ‘Gareth and Sadie were.’ Liz let the words sink in, and nodded. ‘I’ll tell him to come downstairs until we get back.’

  Brent took the phone from her, and stared. ‘Why didn’t you hand this over at the beginning?’

  ‘How could I?’ Did this man deliberately go out of his way to annoy her? ‘Nobody knew about us, and certainly nobody knew Phil was the father of my baby. I wanted to keep it that way.’

  ‘And now we’ve wasted days. Your baby could be dead, Mrs Chambers.’

  ‘He’s not.’ She was defiant, yet in control. ‘He’s not dead. I’d know.’

  ‘So,’ he waved the phone in the air, ‘this is the phone you used to communicate with Philip Latimer, and only Philip Latimer.’

  ‘Not quite,’ she said. ‘Let me show you. I’ve saved every text he ever sent me. And don’t say a word, DI Brent, these were private texts between me and the man I loved. I’m going to explain things through showing you those texts.’

  She took the phone from his hand, scrolled back to the beginning and patiently led him through all of them, one at a time. She tried not to blush, and he didn’t comment on the content. And then she reached the ones that still said he loved her, but without the term of endearment he had used on ever other message.

  ‘Stop,’ Brent said. ‘There’s a difference.’

  She nodded. ‘I know. It took a couple of texts before I realised they were being sent by someone else. And it’s pure luck you can see that difference. When Phil bought us the phones, he said we must delete every call, every text, then if someone else found the phone, we could say it was for work. There would be nothing on it to prove otherwise. Phil obviously did that, because wherever he is, the person holding him doesn’t know what he called me.’

  ‘And you couldn’t delete yours?’

  ‘No. They meant too much to me. I kept the phone safe in the bottom of a deep zipped pocket in my bag. It’s why I bought that particular bag.’

  ‘Okay,’ he sighed. ‘And I do agree with you. Whoever sent these few texts at the end, they’re definitely not in love with you. I’m going to send this to our tech lab to see if they can pull anything from those; fingers crossed they can. Is there anything else you’ve forgotten to mention, Mrs Chambers? Like a video of somebody stealing your child?’

  She bristled. ‘Don’t be so bloody sarcastic. And when this is over, after the court appearance, I want that phone back. And I want it exactly as it is now.’

  He picked up the phone, dropped it into an evidence bag, and glared at her. ‘Then stop pissing us about, and start being honest. And remember, once this goes to court, your other son will hear all the details of stuff on this phone. I suggest you be honest with him, as well.’

  Liz felt tears threatening. Determined not to show weakness in front of this irritating man, she turned and left the room. Brent nodded at the silent Tanya, and she followed Liz out of the room.

  ‘He’s doing his job,’ Tanya said to the angry Liz.

  They went out to the car park, and Tanya returned Liz to Gleadless. ‘They’re reducing my hours with you so I’ll be dropping you off and heading back to Moss Way. If you need me at any time, you have my number. I’ll collect my stuff, and get out of your hair. I hope next time I see you, you have Jake back with you, Liz, I really do.’

  Liz felt her eyes fill with tears again. She hated this; every little thing that was said reduced her to a gibbering wreck. ‘I try to switch off from it all,’ she said quietly. ‘I try to give Brent the benefit of the doubt, try to pretend he’s not a dickhead and he’ll bring Jake home to me, but it’s hard. And now, it seems, I’ve a really difficult conversation to have with Dan. I have no idea how he’ll take it.’

  ‘Come on, I’ll make you a cup of tea before I go. Give yourself a break. you’ve had a stressful morning, but the phone is where it should have been.’

  They opened the front door, and the police officer went past them on the way back to his surveillance duties in the squad car. ‘Bloody kid’s brilliant on that game of his,’ he grumbled. ‘I need a copy of that.’

  ‘I’ll talk to him,’ Liz smiled. ‘Is everything okay?’

  ‘No, I lost,’ he said, and they watched him walk back to the squad car.

  ‘Is he really that good?’ Tanya asked.

  ‘Clearly,’ Liz responded. ‘Gareth always said he was, but my technology knowledge is limited to what I need to know for work. I wouldn’t know where to start with doing what Dan does.’

  The two women went through to the kitchen and Tanya turned to Liz. ‘A word of advice, Liz. Don’t fuck around with DI Brent. If there’s anything else he needs to know, make sure he does. He could so easily have charged you – withholding information is a serious offence, particularly so in a murder case.’

  ‘And what would you have done, Tanya?’ Liz retorted. ‘Dan’s father has been brutally murdered. The last thing I need is for him to find out his mother’s been having an affair, and his brother is only his half-brother. I realise I’m going to have to tell him, but believe me, my head’s been all over the place.’

  Tanya switched on the kettle. ‘I do understand that, but if this phone gives out any tracking details, it will mean we could have got Jake back much sooner. Do you think Phil Latimer has him?’

  Liz shook her head. ‘If the person pushing that pushchair has Jake, then it’s not Phil Latimer. He’s tall, quite well-built, muscly. That person wasn’t. Even with a hoodie on, there would be no doubting the fact that Phil is a male figure. No, the only way Jake is with Phil, is if whoever has taken Jake, also took Phil. But Phil has been missing for so long…’

  Tanya touched Liz’s hand, a sympathetic gesture of appeasement not lost on Liz. ‘Don’t give up hope. If anybody can get Jake home, it’s DI Brent. Trust him.’

  She made their drinks and they sat at the kitchen table. Dan looked in on them to say he was going back upstairs now the babysitter had gone back to his police car.

  ‘He wants a copy of your game,’ Liz said.

  ‘I know. He was getting the hang of it when you came back. I don’t really want to do that though, I’m not far off sending it somewhere.’

  ‘Then don’t,’ his mother smiled. ‘Your game, your decision.’

  He gave a thumbs up, and disappeared back to his room.

  ‘Nice lad,’ Tanya said as she sipped at her tea. ‘He’ll go far with two strings to his bow.’

  ‘It will be harder for him without his father here. And while I’m still coming to terms with Sadie’s actions in all of this, I can’t help but feel sadness for the situation Christian’s now in. He’s going to have to mature really fast.’

  ‘Mmmm. Sadie…’

  ‘She must have been lonely,’ Liz said. ‘They certainly clicked pretty quickly. How long is it likely to be before we can lay Gareth to rest?’r />
  ‘It won’t be long. When the post mortem is over, and the forensic side is finished with, they usually release the body straight away.’ Tanya took her cup and placed it in the dishwasher. ‘I’ll go and get my stuff from upstairs, and then head back to Moss Way. If you need me at any time, you ring me.’

  Liz nodded. ‘Thank you. And thank you for getting me through these last few days. It would have been a nightmare without you.’

  Ten minutes later she was alone. She switched on the television, saw it was Bargain Hunt and switched it off again. She picked up her kindle, but couldn’t get into her book, so gave up on that. She was almost relieved when her mobile phone rang. ‘Julia?’

  ‘Hi, Liz. I’m back home now. Thank you for last night. Despite both our lives being a bit bleak at the moment, we were there for each other, and that’s good. The wine was good too.’ She laughed throatily.

  ‘Too good. I’m about to take some tablets and go and sleep it off.’ Liz hoped Julia would take the hint that she didn’t want to talk.

  ‘I wanted to let you know I’m here for you. Give me a call if you need anything.’

  Liz sighed. ‘I need Jake.’

  ‘I know, honey. I’ll speak to you soon. Bye.’

  Liz put her phone down, thankful that Julia hadn’t rung for a mammoth chat session. Liz needed some thinking time. She had a conversation to have with Dan; she couldn’t begin to imagine how he would react, but she knew he would have to be told.

  Chapter 34

  Watching the activity in the cellar, Phil cuddling the baby while he cried, Jake’s snuffles apparent even through a camera lens and microphone, Captor knew time was running out. It was almost welcome. The scene had been set, the picture complete; endgame was in sight.