Stolen

by Rebecca Muddiman

  ‘This is my fault,’ Abby said. She could feel Gardner watching her, waiting.

  ‘Why is it your fault?’ he asked.

  She shook her head, unable to say it.

  ‘Abby?’

  ‘Simon,’ she said.

  ‘Excuse me?’ Gardner glanced at Lawton and back to Abby.

  ‘Simon Abbott.’ Abby felt her voice catch in her throat and looked back down at her hands, pushing them under her thighs to stop them from shaking.

  ‘Who’s Simon Abbott?’

  Abby licked her lips. ‘He’s the man I had an affair with.’

  Chapter Ten

  Gardner splashed his face with water. He gazed into the mirror as he dried off with a scratchy blue paper towel. God, he was tired. He couldn’t decide if this new information would make things more simple or more complicated. It certainly added a whole other layer of possibilities. Abby claimed the affair was over, had been for a long time, and yet they were still in contact. Simon Abbott told her he was going on a work trip tomorrow and yet his answerphone said he’d already left; Gardner had just tried it himself. He’d dispatched an officer to Abbott’s house to check just in case but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. The man could’ve left, paying someone to hurt Abby while he was gone. What better alibi than to be on a plane headed for New Zealand at the time of the attack?

  Abby had insisted he wouldn’t have been involved. He wasn’t that kind of man. That was a joke. No one was that kind of man until he was. And for now there was no one else, no other possible suspects, no one with any reason to hurt Abby. Abby denied that Simon and Jen knew each other, even knew about each other. There was no way Jen could’ve told him Abby was visiting.

  His initial feeling had been that Abby was genuine, that she had no involvement in her daughter’s disappearance, and he was sticking to that. For now anyway. But, the woman had had an affair. No, she didn’t deserve to be punished for that, certainly not like this, but what Annie had done to him still hurt. He didn’t think about her much these days, but when he did it brought back everything else that happened back in Blyth – the affair, Wallace, Wallace’s kid and her face as she watched the coffin being carried from the hearse. Maybe that was what really hurt. Gardner shook his head. He’d hated Annie for what she did, for everything that happened because of one stupid decision she’d made. You can’t imagine how much it’ll tear you apart until your own wife tells you she’s been sleeping with someone else. That’s when you realise what heartbreak really means. And now he had to go and face Abby Henshaw’s husband. He stared at himself in the mirror. According to Abby her husband had no idea about her affair. She’d begged him not to say anything. She’d lost her daughter; she didn’t want to lose her husband too. Gardner knew he’d find out eventually. It would be impossible to keep it from him. But for now he decided to withhold the information. Paul was the only person she had to lean on. He looked at himself in the mirror, let out a breath and walked back out into the corridor.

  ‘Lawton,’ he said and the young officer turned. ‘Any luck with Simon Abbott?’

  ‘PC Copeland’s been to his home address,’ she said. ‘No one there. He’s on his way to Abbott’s photography studio in Saltburn now. I’m trying to confirm his flight status.’

  ‘Good.’ Gardner nodded towards the room where Paul Henshaw was waiting. ‘What do you think of him? First impressions?’

  ‘He seems to be in shock,’ she said after a moment.

  ‘And?’

  ‘Upset.’

  ‘He say anything that seemed strange to you?’ Gardner asked and Lawton shook her head. ‘What was your gut instinct? Involved?’

  ‘No,’ Lawton said, looking in at Paul. ‘No, I think he’s devastated.’

  ‘What were you thinking in there with Mrs Henshaw?’ Gardner asked. ‘You think Jen Harvey has something to do with it?’

  Lawton looked like she wanted to speak but held back. She was too timid at times and that wasn’t going to get her anywhere.

  ‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘Something about the husband and the friend bothered me.’

  ‘You think they’re involved again?’

  ‘No,’ Lawton said. ‘But maybe the friend isn’t what she seems. Maybe when she saw him again something clicked and she remembered what she was missing. She could be jealous of what Abby Henshaw’s got.’

  Gardner thought about it. ‘You think she could be jealous enough to do something like this?’

  Lawton frowned. ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘We’ll speak to the husband first. Then we’ll see about Jen Harvey.’

  Lawton nodded and they walked into the interview room. Gardner looked at Paul Henshaw and wondered if he’d be able to answer his questions, if he really knew his wife at all.

  Chapter Eleven

  ‘Sorry about the wait,’ Gardner said and pulled up a chair opposite Henshaw, who gave a half-hearted shrug. He seemed exhausted, his eyes red and damp. His hands rested on the table, clenching and unclenching.

  ‘Shall we start?’ Gardner asked, waiting for Lawton to set up the camera.

  ‘Has there been any news?’

  ‘No, not yet. I’m sorry,’ Gardner said and took out a pen. He looked at Paul. He was shaking. In many ways he looked worse than Abby did. ‘Can I get you something?’ he asked, hoping that the man wasn’t about to pass out. ‘Water, maybe?’

  Paul shook his head and let out another sob. He covered his face and Gardner had to look away. Jesus, the man was a wreck. He knew how embarrassing it was to be the crying man. He’d been there. And he’d had much less reason for it. He understood how humiliating it was so kept his eyes down and scribbled some notes that meant nothing.

  ‘God, this is my fault,’ Paul said.

  Gardner looked up but Paul wasn’t looking in his direction. He was staring up as if he was actually praying. ‘Mr Henshaw?’

  Paul closed his eyes and muttered, ‘I should’ve been there.’

  ‘Mr Henshaw?’ Gardner repeated and Paul finally looked at him. He shook his head and apologised.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Paul said and wiped his eyes, trying to compose himself. ‘I’m sorry.’

  Gardner nodded. ‘That’s alright.’ He paused. He wanted Paul to continue. Sometimes the best information came from an emotional rant. But Paul was quiet. He decided to lead him gently back in. ‘It’s not your fault, Mr Henshaw,’ he said.

  Paul just stared for a while and then nodded. ‘But I should’ve been there.’

  ‘Where?’

  ‘With Abby. With Beth. Maybe if I’d gone this wouldn’t have happened,’ he said. ‘I should’ve told her not to go. I should’ve stopped her.’ He took in a shaky breath and looked at Gardner. ‘Please tell me you’ll find her. You’ll find the bastards who did this.’

  Gardner nodded. ‘We will,’ he said and hoped it was true. ‘Are you okay to start?’ he asked and Paul nodded. ‘Okay, let’s start with this morning. Can you tell me what happened?’

  ‘When?’ Paul asked and rubbed at his eyes.

  ‘This morning before you and Abby left the house. Talk me through what happened.’

  Paul swallowed. ‘We had breakfast. Me and Abby and Beth.’ His voice caught as he said his daughter’s name. ‘Same as usual. I was in a hurry.’

  ‘A hurry for what?’

  ‘I had to get to the shop. There was a delivery,’ Paul said.

  Gardner nodded and indicated he should continue.

  ‘I went to the shop. Opened up. I called Abby a little later. She was taking Beth to the doctors. I wanted to see how things went.’

  ‘Is that all you talked about?’

  Paul frowned but Gardner couldn’t tell if he was trying to recall the conversation or whether he was irritated at what he thought was a
pointless question. He waited for a response anyway.

  ‘She hadn’t been in, she was running late.’ Paul squeezed his eyes. ‘Then we talked about.’ He shrugged. ‘I don’t know.’ Gardner waited. ‘She mentioned Jen. We argued-’

  ‘About what?’ Gardner asked. Abby hadn’t mentioned an argument.

  ‘It wasn’t serious. I just didn’t want her to have to drive up there, she got lost last time.’ Paul stopped and let out a breath. ‘Why didn’t she listen? She shouldn’t have gone,’ he said, his voice catching again.

  ‘So you didn’t want her to go. Did you tell her that earlier? Before today?’

  ‘No. I didn’t know before today.’

  ‘So that was the first you knew about the visit to Jen’s?’

  ‘Yes,’ Paul nodded. ‘She said she’d told me earlier but I don’t think she did. I don’t know. Maybe I forgot, maybe she was mistaken. Things have been a bit crazy.’

  ‘In what way?’

  ‘With the baby,’ he said. ‘Having a baby kind of makes your brain stop functioning as well as it normally does. No sleep, you know.’

  Gardner nodded. ‘So you found out she was going to Jen’s and you fought about it?’

  Paul shook his head. ‘Not fought. It was just a silly argument; nothing really. I asked why Jen couldn’t come to her and said she’d end up getting lost again but she insisted. And that was it.’

  ‘So you left it on good terms?’

  ‘Yes. Of course we did.’

  ‘Do you argue often?’ Lawton asked.

  ‘No.’

  ‘Isn’t that unusual for a married couple?’ Gardner asked, wondering what caused Abby to cheat on her husband. His ex-wife claimed he didn’t pay her enough attention; he was distant, too caught up in his job. That’d be why she fucked off with another copper then.

  Paul looked at the floor. ‘Well, yes we argue. But not a lot. And it’s never serious, never important. Just the usual stuff. Money, whose turn it is to wash up, stupid things.’

  ‘What about Beth?’

  Paul looked up. ‘What about her?’

  ‘Did things change after she was born? Did it change your relationship with Abby?’

  ‘Of course it did. But for the better.’

  ‘You’d been having problems before Beth was born?’ Lawton asked.

  ‘No.’ Paul leaned back in his chair. ‘I always wanted kids but Abby wasn’t so sure. I wanted us to be a family. So when she got pregnant, when she had Beth, it was the best thing in the world. And yes it’s hard. And sometimes I feel left out. Sometimes it’s like you’re on the outside looking in. But it’s all I ever wanted.’ Paul held Gardner’s gaze. ‘And now it’s gone...’ Paul wiped his hand across his face.

  Gardner looked away. ‘Did you and Abby have any other problems?’

  Paul shook his head. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘How long have you been married?’

  ‘Five years,’ Paul said.

  ‘And you’ve never separated, never had any indiscretions?’ He watched Paul and saw something like anger flash across his face. ‘Either of you?’

  ‘No, of course not,’ Paul said. ‘We love each other. We’re a family.’

  Gardner nodded to Lawton. He saw her hands curl into a ball like they always did when she was put on the spot.

  ‘Tell me about Jen Harvey. What was your relationship with her?’ she said after a while.

  Paul cleared his throat. ‘She’s Abby’s friend.’

  They waited but Paul stayed quiet. ‘Abby mentioned that you and Jen knew each other previously. That you went out at university.’

  Paul’s fists clenched. ‘We did. But we’re not seeing each other behind Abby’s back if that’s what you’re asking. It wasn’t serious. Not really. I’m surprised we lasted as long as we did.’

  ‘Why was that?’ Lawton said.

  ‘She’s just...’ Paul shook his head. ‘She’s totally different to Abby. Jen’s spoilt. She’s the kind of woman who expects things to be done for her. High maintenance.’

  ‘Sounds like you don’t get along.’

  Paul shrugged. ‘We don’t see that much of each other.’

  ‘Jen knew that Abby would be driving up to see her this morning,’ Gardner said.

  Paul frowned. ‘Yes.’

  Gardner waited for Paul to get what he was hinting at. He didn’t really think this woman was involved but he wanted to gauge Paul’s reaction and find out who he thought might’ve done it without prodding too much. Without mentioning Simon Abbott for now.

  Paul let out a little laugh. ‘Jen? You think Jen did this? That’s ridiculous.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Firstly, she would never do anything to hurt Abby, never. She might be hard work but she’s not a bad person. And secondly what the fuck would she do with a baby?’ Paul caught himself and raised his hand in apology. ‘She can’t even look after herself. And anything that took the limelight away from Jen would be a no-no.’ Paul shook his head again. ‘No way. Not a chance.’

  ‘Okay,’ Gardner said. ‘What about someone else you or Abby know? Is there anyone you can think of who’d want to hurt either of you?’

  Paul was shaking his head. ‘No. Why would anyone want to do this?’

  ‘Abby mentioned an incident that happened shortly after Beth was born. Her tyres were slashed,’ Gardner said.

  Paul’s jaw tightened. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Three tyres.’

  ‘Any idea who might’ve done that? Why someone would do it?’

  ‘No. Drunk kids probably,’ he said before frowning. ‘Why? You think that has something to do with this?’

  ‘Probably not. It’s probably like you said, drunk kids.’

  Gardner looked down at his notes and wondered how to proceed. He was pretty sure that Paul knew nothing about Abby and her affair. If he did, surely he’d be pointing fingers by now. Despite his better judgement he didn’t want to rock the boat until he’d spoken to Simon Abbott and made a decision on whether he’d had any involvement.

  ‘You work in a bookshop, is that right?’ Gardner asked, changing tack.

  ‘I own it, yes.’

  ‘How’s business?’

  ‘I do alright. Look, what’s this got to do with anything?’

  Gardner made a note to check the Henshaw’s finances. Paul said they’d argued about money. ‘What time did you say you got to the shop this morning? Did you go straight there after leaving the house?’

  ‘Yes. I got there around eight thirty. I had a delivery to sort.’

  ‘Were you alone?’

  ‘Yes. I’m always on my own until lunchtime.’

  ‘No one else works there?

  ‘Laura Pullman. She does afternoons.’

  Gardner made a note. ‘What about customers? Were you busy this morning?’

  ‘I had a couple of people in, browsing. Not anyone I recognised.’

  ‘What about the delivery? Did you speak to the driver?’ Gardner asked.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Okay, we’ll need the details of the delivery company,’ Gardner said. ‘No one else can verify you were there?’

  ‘The CCTV can.’

  ‘Okay, good.’ Gardner stopped and made a note. ‘And you’re sure there’s no one you can think of. No one who might’ve had a reason to hurt Abby or take your daughter?’

  ‘No. Nobody.’

  Gardner closed his notebook and stood. ‘I think we can leave it there for now.’

  Chapter Twelve

  Abby pulled her knees to her chest and held on to them as tightly as she could. She stared at her phone. She had no idea how long they’d been talking to Paul; he was gone when she came back to this room. She wondered if Gardner had told him
about Simon. She wouldn’t blame him if he did. She didn’t deserve his help, didn’t deserve Paul’s love. She knew that when Paul found out what she’d done he’d be devastated. No, more than that. It was the worst kind of betrayal, especially for Paul. Knowing everything she did about his parents. About what they’d done. How could she hurt him this way?

  She suspected she’d be taken back to the interview room again soon. Gardner would want to know more. She wondered why he didn’t press her for more details about why she decided to ruin her marriage for a man who was never there. Maybe that stuff didn’t matter. Or perhaps he understood. Perhaps he’d fucked up his life too.

  But what did all that matter now? Beth was missing and that was all that was important. If she didn’t get Beth back, then what? She closed her eyes, trying to shake the thoughts from her mind. She refused to even imagine it. Part of her hoped that Simon had taken her. That he wasn’t the man she thought he was. At least then her daughter would be back. She’d be okay. It would be over.

  She scrolled down to Simon’s mobile again and dialled. The voicemail came on once more and she wondered if she should leave a message this time. But what could she possibly say? She guessed Gardner would’ve been trying to find him by now anyway, what else could she do? Warn him? Tell him the police wanted to talk to him regarding a rape and abduction? Abby closed her eyes. Just thinking those words made her shake. It all felt like a nightmare that she couldn’t wake from.

  She opened her eyes and looked at the phone. It was recording dead air. She wetted her lips, wanting to speak. In her heart she knew Simon couldn’t have done this. He wouldn’t have. She knew him. After Paul he was the person she knew best in this world. He wouldn’t hurt her.

  The door clicked open and Abby looked up, snapping her phone shut. Paul followed a uniformed officer in and took a seat next to her. He reached over and placed his hand on hers. The officer closed the door and his footsteps echoed down the corridor, leaving them alone. Abby looked Paul over. He was deathly pale with dark bags circling his eyes.