by M A Comley
“I’ll bring the coffee in,” Lorne called after her.
“Sorry, did I miss out that particular instruction?”
Lorne shook her head. “Cheeky mare. Seriously, anything you want to tell me about last night, AJ?”
From the depths of her office, Katy bellowed, “I can still hear you, and I’m not hearing any footsteps approaching the coffee machine yet.”
Lorne laughed. “She can see through walls, too. We’ll chat more later.”
AJ motioned for her to lean in then whispered conspiratorially, “Don’t bother. There’s nothing to tell anyway.”
She patted the back of his hand. “Sorry, hon. Maybe soon. I better get that drink into her.”
• • •
Within the hour, Lorne and Katy pulled up outside the accountancy firm who had placed the call about two of their associates going missing.
The secretary greeted them with a well-practiced smile pulling at her lips. “Good morning, ladies. What can I do for you today?”
The detectives offered up their IDs. “Can we see the person in charge? It’s concerning a call we received yesterday.”
“Of course. Take a seat for a second if you like.” The secretary swiftly disappeared through the door behind her then returned moments later with a smart-looking gentleman in his early sixties.
He introduced himself and shook hands. “Mr. Gordon. Thank you for coming out so promptly. Shall we go through to my office? Would you like a drink?”
They declined the drink and followed him through the office door.
“This is all rather perplexing, ladies. I’m not entirely sure what to think about it all.”
Lorne took out her notebook and left Katy to ask the initial questions.
“What can you tell us, Mr. Gordon? Perhaps the names of the men involved?” Katy asked.
“They’re brothers. Jordan and David Calleja.”
“That’s a strange surname. I take it they’re foreign?”
“Yes, they originate from Malta, but they’ve been residents and working in this country for the past twenty years, I believe. So they’re not part of the recent influx of immigrants.”
“Are you suggesting that something has happened to them because they’re foreign?” Katy asked, looking perplexed.
“No, not at all. I just presumed that would be your next question. Sorry for jumping ahead.”
“No worries. Can you tell us what has raised your suspicions that something untoward has happened to the brothers?”
“Well, for a start, the brothers have always been punctual and ever present at the firm since they started here. They never ring in sick or take time off they shouldn’t take.”
“I see. Have you questioned the staff at all? Maybe one of the brothers said something to an associate, intimating they were about to leave the firm. Is that possible?”
The man bounced back in his high-backed executive chair. “Goodness, no. We’ve recently held talks about the two brothers investing in the firm. Why would they just take off and leave?”
Lorne looked up from her notes. “Maybe they thought they could do better by branching out on their own. It’s not implausible, is it?”
“Actually, it is, grossly implausible. They’re men of honour. If they agree with something in principle, then they usually follow through with that particular scheme. Then there’s the matter of their families, of course.”
“What do you mean, Mr. Gordon?” Katy asked.
“I rang them the second the men didn’t show up for work yesterday. David’s wife hadn’t heard from him, and Jordan’s, umm…girlfriend, shall we say, hadn’t heard from him, either. Again, that’s very unusual.”
“I see. Would you be kind enough to give us the ladies’ addresses? We’ll call around to get a statement from both of them after we’re finished here.”
“I’ll get my secretary to dig out the details for you.”
“So neither the wife nor girlfriend has seen either man since when?”
“Two days ago.”
“Okay, and when was the last time one of your colleagues saw them?”
“Approximately six p.m. the previous evening.”
“That’s the usual time for them to leave?”
Mr. Gordon nodded.
Katy continued, “So is it possible someone could have been waiting for them to leave?”
“In the car park? I never thought about that. But why would someone attack them?”
“That’s what we intend to find out, Mr. Gordon. I don’t suppose you have any CCTV footage on site, do you?”
His shoulders slumped, and he thumped his head with the heel of his hand. “Of course we do. It just never occurred to me to view the discs.”
“Mind if we take a look at them now?”
“No, come this way please?”
The three of them went back through the reception area and into a tiny office at the end of the corridor. They squeezed into the room while Mr. Gordon set up the disc.
“I’ll just whizz through to find the right time,” he said.
At two minutes to six, one of the men walked across the car park.
“Wait, what’s this?” Mr. Gordon pointed to a woman getting out of a car.
Lorne’s and Katy’s eyes bulged when they looked at each other.
“Female,” Lorne mouthed to her partner.
Katy nodded.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The two detectives watched the footage for another couple of minutes, intrigued to see another man join the first man and woman, closely followed by a whole group of women who went on to surround the second man.
“Who is that? The two brothers?” Lorne asked.
“Yes. Although I have no idea who the women are. I’ve never seen them before. I could ask around the rest of the staff to see if anyone recognises them, if that would help.”
“Thank you, we need to establish that at least in advance of beginning our enquiries.”
Mr. Gordon disappeared, and as soon as he was out of earshot, Lorne pointed at the screen and whispered, “The men don’t seem in distress or any trouble to me. What about you?”
“I was just thinking the same. It just looks as though they’re involved in a friendly conversation. If the staff has no knowledge of who these women are, then I’m really not sure where we should go from here. Dare I say the brothers appear to be enthusiastic about being in the women’s company? Maybe they were offered sex on a plate, and it lasted longer than expected. Like a few days longer.”
“You think? Would a group of women really just turn up like that and offer sex on a plate? Not something I’ve heard of before.”
The sound of voices approaching halted their conversation. Mr. Gordon introduced the other three members of staff and asked them if they recognised anyone on the fourteen-inch screen.
Gordon’s three colleagues all shook their heads, dismayed that they couldn’t help. Reluctantly, Mr. Gordon shrugged and sent them back to their offices. “I’m sorry, detectives.”
“We’ll make some preliminary enquiries and talk to the brothers’ other halves, but observing the reaction of the men, we’ve come to the conclusion that they don’t appear to be in any imminent danger. Therefore, I’m afraid we cannot attach any great urgency to the case. Most of our cases concern murder victims, Mr. Gordon.”
“Then why are you here? I informed the police that two of my associates were missing, not murdered.”
“I agree—it was our mistake. We’re investigating a crime that took place in the area and might have been linked to the disappearance of your colleagues. There appears to be no such connection. I’ll leave you my card. If neither of the brothers turn up within—what time limit shall we give? A week?” Katy asked.
Lorne nodded. “Sounds good to me.”
“A week it is then. I’ll ring you next week if you haven’t contacted us before then. If the brothers should show up in the meantime, please ring me immediately.”
“I will. This is all such a mystery. Tell me, detectives, do you believe in gut instinct?”
“We do. At least my colleague does.” Katy threw a thumb in Lorne’s direction. “Why?”
“I just know that something very wrong has occurred. Just what that is, I simply can’t begin to tell you. However, I know neither of the Calleja brothers would lose contact with their families and the firm. Their diaries are full, important meetings scheduled for the rest of the week. I can’t emphasise that enough. I’m asking you to take their disappearance very seriously.”
“You have my assurance that will be the case once the men have been missing a reasonable length of time.” Katy walked towards the door.
“Here’s my card. You hold up your end of the bargain, and I’ll hold up mine, okay?” Mr. Gordon said.
“Thank you. Let’s hope the men show up soon. In the meantime, can you give us their home addresses? We’ll make tentative enquiries to begin with. Hopefully, something will come from them. Thanks for contacting us. We’ll be in touch either way, soon. Goodbye, Mr. Gordon.”
Katy and Lorne shook hands with the man and left. After taking a quick scout around the car park to look for clues, they drove to the first address.
A woman in her mid-to-late thirties opened the door, her eyes bloodshot and red-rimmed.
“Mrs. Calleja? I’m DI Katy Foster, and this is my partner, DS Lorne Warner. We’ve been asked to look into your husband’s disappearance. Mind if we come in?”
“Of course.” She led them through to a lounge filled with antique wood furniture and invited them to sit on the sofa.
Again, Katy asked the questions while Lorne took down the woman’s answers. “First of all, I have to ask if you and your husband were having any difficulties in your marriage?”
Her hand flew up to her chest. “No. Never. David and I live a wonderful life, never a cross word between us. We love each other, have done since our teens.”
“I see.” Katy paused.
Lorne could tell Katy was struggling with how to word her next question, so she jumped in. “Does your husband have any other female members of the family living close by, perhaps?”
“No. they all live in Malta. They visit often, but no one has come over to see us for at least six months. Why do you ask?”
Lorne and Katy glanced at each other, both aware of how the woman was likely to react to the news.
Katy found her voice again. “It’s just that we’ve viewed the footage from the CCTV discs at your husband’s firm, and it would appear that he drove off with a woman he met in the car park.”
Mrs. Calleja jumped out of her seat as if someone had set it ablaze. She paced the floor in front of them for a few seconds then crossed the room and picked up the gold-plated framed photo of herself with her husband. She ran a finger down his face. “Not David. He wouldn’t do that to me. He loves me.”
“Both my partner and I witnessed the proof, not twenty minutes ago, Mrs. Calleja.”
“Maria. Please call me Maria.” She returned the photo to the sideboard, but instead of standing it upright, she placed the picture facedown on the wood then took up pacing once more.
“Maria, please don’t get yourself worked up about this. From what we could see, the interaction between the woman and your husband seemed quite amicable.”
Oops, wrong choice of words there, Katy! “What my partner is trying to do is reassure you in saying we don’t believe that your husband is in danger at all.”
“Oh, I see. Well, that hasn’t really put my mind at rest. What about Jordan? He’s missing, too. Do you know if that happened at the same time?”
Katy nodded. “It would appear so, yes.” She inhaled a large breath and added, “Actually, this is not going to sound too good to your ears, apparently your husband and his brother left the area with a group of women.”
“What? Is this some kind of joke?” she asked, her voice thickening with a strong Mediterranean accent.
“No, I’m afraid it’s the truth. Which is why I asked if you had any female relatives living in the proximity. Any idea who these women could be? We witnessed no animosity between them. Everything seemed all very friendly, leading us to come to the conclusion that they were acquainted with them.”
“But David doesn’t know any women in the area. Of course.” She snorted and held out her arms to the side, releasing them so they slapped her thighs. “If you’re referring to Jordan, well, that would be a different ball game entirely. He has an atrocious reputation with women. His girlfriend won’t be able to back me up on that point because she’s only just started seeing him.”
“How long?”
“In the last three to four months. Yes, they’ve moved in together, but David and I know that won’t last. Jordan’s relationships never do. His relationship with Dara is the longest he’s ever stayed with a woman, because she let him get away with things. He cheated regularly behind her back. She was just too dumb to realise it. Foolish woman.”
“As a matter of interest, do you have this Dara’s contact details? Can you describe her for us?”
Maria marched over to the bureau and opened it. She flipped open an address book, wrote an address and phone number down, then gave it to Lorne.
“Thank you. That’s a big help. And her description?”
Maria sat in the chesterfield easy chair and thought. “It’s been a while since I saw her, maybe a year or two, so she might have changed. Of course, her height wouldn’t change. She was around five foot three, slim build, with short-cropped hair. She wore those huge glasses that woman on Coronation Street wears—what’s her name?”
Lorne remembered seeing the soap once or twice and knew one of the characters was famous for the glasses she wore. “Deirdre?” she offered hopefully.
“Yes, that’s the one,” Maria agreed.
“Can you tell us why they broke up? Who ended the relationship, him or her?”
“Jordan ended it. Dara came home from work early one day and found him in bed with a teenage girl.”
“Ouch, that must have hurt. Is she the vindictive type? I mean, would she set out to get revenge? It’s not unheard of today for many women to take that route.”
Maria’s mouth pulled down at the sides. “Not Dara. She’s the meek and mild type. I was surprised that she didn’t try to end her life after their marriage disintegrated. She always seemed the needy type to me.”
Lorne knew the type only too well: the total opposite to her, the type who would generally end up surrounding themselves with animals rather than get involved with another member of the opposite sex for fear of another man breaking her heart.
“I think we can rule out her involvement then. Is there anything you can tell us about your husband’s business?”
Maria raised an inquisitive eyebrow. “In what way? He’s an accountant. What is there to tell?”
“Could he possibly have some dodgy clients who did business with him here after work rather than go through legitimate means via the firm? That’s not unheard of.”
“David would never do anything underhanded like that, either in his own country or in England. The risk of him being expelled would be enough for him to refuse such a suggestion.”
Katy thought over Maria’s response then quickly asked, “What about Jordan? He sounds an unsavoury character. Could he be involved in something illegal or have pulled David into an unscrupulous deal, perhaps? I’m clutching at anything and everything here. You understand, don’t you?”
“I understand. Jordan has his faults, but I think his business acumen could never be questioned. Where will you start your investigation now? How long before we hear some news?”
“As we’ve just informed your husband’s colleagues, this case won’t be regarded as a priority just yet. If, however, the women had attacked the men in the car park, well, that would have been a different story entirely. It’s puzzling that everything seemed amicable between the men and women, and yet, the men haven’t been h
eard from or seen since that day.”
“Please, please, you must look for my husband. He’s a gentle man. He’d never hurt anyone either on purpose or by mistake. I want him back. I’m lost without him. I don’t work. Without his money to pay the bills, I will have to return to Malta shortly. We have no savings I can use to live on. It’s expensive to live in London, no?”
“I think we can all agree on that one,” Lorne mumbled.
Katy stood up to leave, and Lorne followed her to the front door. Turning to face the distraught woman, Katy said, “We’ll be in touch soon, I hope. If David shows up, please contact me on this number as soon as possible.” Katy shook the woman’s hand and gave her a business card.
“Well, I can see us getting nowhere fast here,” Lorne said once they were back in the car.
“Makes a change, doesn’t it?”
Lorne scratched her head and tried to think of suggestions, but fell flat. “The only thing we have is the cars. I know how much we’re reliant on CCTV footage nowadays, but what else have we got? I’d ring the station, get AJ searching the CCTV footage at both scenes.”
Katy shook her head. “On this case, I think we’ll be wasting our time. For a start, we have no indication how Alder’s body got to the hospital. Was it by car? Or was he attacked as he walked the street?”
Lorne stared ahead of her. “Unless we know that, we’ve got nothing else to go on except we think the perpetrator is a female. That’s another avenue we need to start taking seriously, agreed? Is it a coincidence that the Calleja brothers were seen leaving their firm with a group of women and that Alder was suspected of being killed by a woman? Maybe we should start digging through old cases, see if anything shows up? What if we have a case of abduction going on here? Is it conceivable that Alder’s abduction went horribly wrong because of the heart attack? That’s my line of thinking anyway.”
“Maybe you have a point. Let’s visit Jordan Calleja’s other half and then make our way back to the station to start delving.”
“Okay. Would you like me to ring AJ, get him on the CCTV discs while you drive?” Lorne asked, removing her mobile from her jacket pocket.
