Broken Angel

by Diane M Dickson

  “Yeah, well we’ll have to do what we can.”

  * * *

  Steven Blakely was obviously distressed. They held up their warrant cards and watched the colour drain from his face. “Christ, what is it? Have you found her? Oh shit.”

  Charlie held up a hand, “No, no sorry. Mr Blakely, please calm down. We don’t have any news, we just need to talk to you.”

  The other man squeezed his eyes shut, blew out a breath. “I thought, well for a minute I thought, you know – plain clothes and all that. Come in.” He stood back to let them pass.

  “I’m sorry, Mr Blakely, we didn’t mean to upset you. We’ve been asked to come around and have a chat about what happened yesterday, at the services.”

  “So, are you looking for her? What have you done to find her?”

  This was delicate, if they told him they’d done nothing it was hardly going to encourage him to cut back on the online furore. Sue lowered herself to the leather sofa, fished in her bag for her notebook. Charlie introduced himself.

  He leaned forward, looked the other man in the eye, “We need more information. We need to get things organised. We have the report from the officers you spoke to yesterday, it’s been passed to us and…”

  “You haven’t done anything, have you? Sarah is missing, and you haven’t done anything.” They watched his face flush with anger, saw the fists clench.

  “We’re putting together the information. Thing is, Mr Blakely, Sarah is an adult, she hasn’t yet been missing for twenty-four hours. There was no sign of any struggle, no call for help, nothing to alert us to foul play. Look, let’s get some more details down and then we’ll decide the best way forward. Do you have a picture of Sarah? A recent one.”

  In answer he held out his phone, the image of a young woman, long blonde hair, a big grin, looked back at them. Steve turned the phone back towards himself, stared down at the screen. “That was just before we set off. She had that new top on, wanted a picture for Facebook.” His eyes flooded.

  Charlie spoke quietly, “I’ll give you our contact details and if you could email us that picture it’ll help. Mr Blakely, could we ask you to keep this off the internet for the moment? I understand that it’s the default response these days, but it could hamper any enquiries we might have to make.”

  He didn’t answer, just gave a short nod, “So you will be making some then; enquiries?”

  “We’ll certainly look into it, yes. See if there is any more that we need to be doing, monitor the situation closely.” He wasn’t happy, but they’d done what they could for the moment.

  Chapter 3

  As Charlie drove away, Sue began to make notes.

  “I don’t know how you can do that. I read or write in the car and I’m puking after the first corner.”

  “It’s never bothered me actually, we made loads of car trips when I was a kid, they were boring, you know, two brothers being a nuisance. I guess I just got used to it.”

  “Anyway, what d’you reckon about Blakely. He’s pretty hyper, isn’t he?”

  She closed the notebook, “Yes, more than you would have expected, to be honest. It must have been quite a row, if that’s what this is about. I know he said they didn’t have one, I don’t know whether to believe that or not, but it’s a bit odd. You would think that if they’d had a bit of a barny, she’d have turned up by now or got in touch anyway – makes you wonder. Maybe they did, and it got very heated, more than he’s letting on. He said they’d been together three years, yeah? It was a nice flat, looked like a nice home, it’s quite a reaction to just bugger off. He seemed a pretty decent sort. But you can never tell, can you?”

  Charlie chewed his lip, thought for a while, “Why don’t we head down to the services and have a word with the manager? Let’s just make sure there’s nothing up, nothing we’re missing. You’re probably going to be right, it was a row, but let’s see. There’s going to be CCTV to look at. Tell me again, what did the first responders say about that?”

  “Hmm” – she read from her phone. “From this report they had a quick look. She left the building with some shopping and then disappeared into the crowd, couldn’t see the car that well, the place was humming, last weekend of the summer you know, and actually, I think they were more involved with calming things down. He was pretty fired up and then trying to make him pay for the car park didn’t help...”

  “So, he’s got a bit of a temper, then?”

  “I’d say so, he had to struggle a bit while we were there, at first, did you notice? Could he really have done something to her? Nah, surely if it was that, he’d just have driven off?”

  Charlie nodded, “Yes, that’d be logical, but then, people don’t always do what’s logical. We’ll get them to track her phone if that’s not already been done. We’ll get the recording in from the cameras and then at least we can show we’ve done what we could. She’ll probably get in touch with him when she’s calmed down anyway. Can you get that in motion when we get back? I have to pop out for an hour. Got to go home.”

  “Problem?”

  “No, Joshua’s having his inoculations and I told Carol I’d go with her.”

  “Aw, yeah I’d forgotten you’ve got a baby. How is he?”

  Charlie laughed, “He’s fine thanks, but Carol’s not too good right now.” He paused but it was good to unload a bit, “She’s suffering with post-natal depression, Doctor’s got her on some new medicine. It’s a sod you know, because we wanted a baby, tried for a while before she got pregnant, then she was so thrilled when he was born – it doesn’t make sense to me that she could be depressed.”

  Sue leaned forward, touched Charlie on the arm. “Post-natal depression, it’s nothing to do with whether or not you wanted the baby. It’s more complicated. My sister-in-law had it, it’s a bitch but she got better, had another sprog with no problems. At least your Carol, she’s getting looked after eh?”

  “Yeah.” He dredged up a smile and glanced across at her. “I’ll have to show you some pictures. I don’t like to do it too much at work. Don’t want to be a baby bore and all that but, Joshua, well he’s different, he’s brilliant.”

  “Yeah, course he is. I’d love to see them, really.” She pointed out of the window, “It’s this exit. Don’t worry, I can get things started back at work while you’re gone.”

  * * *

  The manager of the service area was on his way to middle-aged, sweaty in his shiny suit. His office was a little more than a cubicle in the upstairs space, there were boxes of supplies in the corner, charts on the wall showing staff schedules.

  He sat behind the chipped desk, folded his hands in front of him. “He was very threatening, that’s why I called for help. I mean, my staff were just doing their jobs, there was no need for him to be so belligerent. I had a late start, my deputy did what he thought was correct, stuck to the rules as laid down. It was all kicking off when I came in. I don’t know why he has you people involved now, if he can’t look after his girlfriend then it’s his business.”

  Sue flipped open her notebook, spoke to him quietly, non-committal, “We’ve spoken to Mr Blakely this morning, he is still very upset about what happened.”

  “She hasn’t turned up then?”

  “No, I’m afraid not. We’ve seen the original reports, is there anything else you can tell us? We know Ms Dickinson used the facilities, did some shopping, and then went out to the car park. Now, from what we hear it’s not possible to see what happened after that.”

  “No, well it was mayhem here yesterday afternoon. Parking was full, people dashing in and out. Some of the cameras went down as well. Not sure what happened, they came back on again later and the technicians couldn’t find a reason. Typical.” He tutted. “Technology never works when you need it to. Anyway, from what my staff told me, told the police, she went into the M&S – that’s on the camera – bought some stuff, paid with a card and really that’s about all we know.”

  “When you say she bought stuff, do you kn
ow just what exactly?” Sue asked.

  He raised his eyes, dabbed at his sweating forehead with a piece of tissue. “Not really, you’d need to speak directly to them, if it’s important.”

  “Ah right, we’ll do that then. It might give us an idea as to her thinking. Did she buy enough for two? Something just for herself? Maybe something to take with them to their holiday place?”

  The manager nodded, “Oh right. I see. Well, I’ll ring down, tell them you need a word.”

  Charlie glanced at his watch, pushed back from the desk. “That’s very helpful, thank you. We need to speak to your deputy as well.”

  “He won’t be in now until, erm…” He consulted a desk pad. “Tuesday, yes. So, she probably just went off, either hitched or maybe even met somebody else, by arrangement, or just in a temper.”

  “Bit unusual for a young woman to hitchhike these days, isn’t it?” Charlie asked.

  “Oh, you’d be surprised. Lorry drivers, they pick people up, it’s company isn’t it and well, you know.”

  Sue raised her eyebrows, “No, we don’t know. What is it you’re implying?”

  He blushed, dabbed at his head again with the tissue. “Oh, nothing, nothing. Just sometimes, women, well people, they do odd things. Anyway, if that’s all, I’ve got to get on.” He waved a hand over his cluttered desk, evidence of his busy day.

  “That’d be great.” Charlie held out a card with his contact details on. “Thanks for your help.”

  As they stood to leave, George Simpson waved a hand towards the window, “Working here you know, you’d be surprised what goes on. People rowing, storming out on each other, blagging lifts, ringing taxis. There’s no need to think anyone else was involved, just her, her on her own.” He bent to pick up his phone as Sue and Charlie let themselves out and back down to the main concourse.

  “You know that’s a point, isn’t it?” Sue was buckling herself in, tearing open the bar of chocolate she’d picked up when they spoke to the staff in the M&S on the way through the mall. “She could have rung a taxi, if they’d had a row. That’s something else we should look at. I’ll see if some of the civilian bods at the office can get onto that when we get back.”

  “So, you think that she took herself off voluntarily, do you? Would you really do that, on your own, even if you were furious with him, your partner?” Charlie pulled the car into the endless line of traffic, slipped between the vehicles in the middle lane, out into the third and then put his foot down, glancing at his watch again.

  “I don’t see what else it can be, do you? I mean the place was crowded, you can’t kidnap someone from the middle of a crowded car park without anyone noticing. No, she’s buggered off, either on her own or with her fancy man, I’d put money on it. Bit mean though, not letting him know. Course, I reckon that manager could be right. Maybe she went on her own, just got fed up and left. Grabbed a cab.”

  “But where would she go? Wouldn’t she go back to their house? Also, there is all her stuff. According to Charlie it’s still in the boot of the car, surely if she was leaving him she’d take at least her overnight gear with her. It’s odd, and the more you think about it, the odder it seems.”

  Chapter 4

  The worst thing was not being able to remember. When Sarah first woke in the dingy little room, she thought that they were in the Lakes. That was where they had been going, she knew that. She looked around her, the bed was narrow, the curtains thin, limp and dirty looking. She was under the covers fully dressed. Why was she in bed with her clothes on? Where were her things? Where was Steve?

  She called his name. If this was the cosy hotel he had promised her then she wasn’t impressed. She wasn’t staying here. It was foul, it smelled bad.

  This couldn’t be it, something had gone wrong. She shook her head, trying to clear her mind. She could remember packing the car, they’d been laughing, he promised her that if it rained he’d take her to Spain for certain. She remembered locking the flat, he’d been driving, and then after that everything became confused. She thought she had bought them a picnic, she didn’t remember eating it.

  She pushed up from the bed and staggered to the window, pulled back the curtains, but couldn’t see outside. There were shutters nailed across the inside of the frame. That wasn’t right. Her heart began to race, she called Steve’s name again. She ran to the door, but when she twisted and rattled at the knob it wouldn’t open.

  She pounded on the wood. This wasn’t a B&B in the Lakes, this was a nightmare. She screamed.

  Round and round the room, opening the wardrobe full of old clothes, banging on the door, screaming, none of it did any good, and still she couldn’t remember anything about arriving here, about coming to bed.

  She wanted Steve, he was a pain in the bum sometimes, but right now she wanted his arms, she wanted him to fix this for her.

  There was the sound of a car. She was sure it was a car, then the slam of a door. She pounded again, screamed to be let out.

  For a long time, nothing happened. She still couldn’t remember, not being able to remember was the worst.

  Eventually, she heard footsteps on the stairs, the rattle of a key. The knob turned.

  She was afraid; she was very, very afraid. She ran back to the horrible bed and pulled the thin blanket over her, huddled in the corner with her arms wrapped around her and her knees drawn up. Tears came, she couldn’t stop them.

  As the door opened she whispered into the nasty dark room. “Steve, is that you Steve?”

  Chapter 5

  Nothing came up overnight, no sign of the missing woman.

  Charlie left Carol and the baby sleeping after a difficult night. Calling in for breakfast, he went the bacon sandwich route. He reckoned walking the floor for hours had earned him some comfort food. He powered up the computer, scanned the night reports and turned the fans on to rid the air of the smell of grease and coffee.

  He called Sue into his office, “Got an email from the M&S outlet at the services. Seems that girl bought a sort of picnic: drinks, sandwiches, crisps.”

  “For one or two?”

  He glanced at the email, “Enough for two, two different drinks, two different sarnies.”

  “Hmm, so either she was planning to meet someone, or she had no intention of going off on her own, leaving her partner. I can’t say I accept that she was meeting someone else. Why would you do it like that, make it so complicated? If she wanted out, she could have just gone, any time. From home, you know, more organised.”

  “I suppose. I have to say it does seem as though they were just on their way together and something unexpected happened. Did you get anything back about the phone?” Charlie asked.

  “Yes, there’s a report. You should have a copy. It’s dead apparently. The last signal was from the services and then nothing.” They stared at each other across the little office. Charlie nodded and pushed up from his chair. “I’m going to have a word with the Chief Inspector, there’s something up here. I’m thinking we need to move this up a notch, what do you reckon? It’s more than twenty-four hours and there’s been nothing.”

  Sue tucked her long hair behind her ears, frowned and then gave a nod. “Yes. Back to speak to the boyfriend again, is it?”

  Charlie grunted, grabbed his coat. “I’ll see you in the car park. We’ll take my car.”

  “Great, mine’s an old banger. I don’t think it’d give the right impression.”

  Charlie grinned, “Fair enough.”

  * * *

  After a short interview with the Chief Inspector, Charlie walked across the car park. He could see Sue, pacing back and forth, her phone in front of her, he grinned. He wondered if she believed all that stuff about brain tumours, or maybe she simply preferred to use the hands-free and ear buds. He waved for her to get into the passenger seat as he plipped the key. As they pulled out into the main road, Sue asked him about his wife and the baby.

  “Yeah, Joshua was a bit fractious last night, kept us up, but apparently a
s soon as I left he went to sleep and he’s been soundo ever since. Little sod.”

  “Carol okay?”

  He nodded, and they left it.

  * * *

  When Steve Blakely opened the door, they were shocked at the dishevelled state of him. His eyes were dark ringed and bloodshot, his clothes wrinkled, and they caught the faint, unwashed smell of body odour. “Have you heard anything? Have you found anything out?”

  Charlie raised a hand, indicated the door to the living room, and he stood aside to let them walk through.

  “I’m sorry, Mr Blakely, we have no real news. We have made more enquiries and, in light of what we’ve learned I’m here to tell you that we are going to widen the investigation. I do need to ask you some more questions. Look, you don’t seem well. Can we make you a cup of tea? Have you eaten anything?”

  “No, no. I’ve been up all night. I can’t eat. I can’t rest. I just keep wondering where she is. I’ve been dialling her number over and over, but it just goes to voice mail. See I thought she’d be here, I thought maybe she’d got in a huff and made her own way back. We love each other, we really do. Okay we have rows now and then, she gets impatient with me, but I’m sick of this. I just want her back.”

  Sue went into the hallway, found the kitchen and filled the kettle. She took bread from the wooden box on the counter, stuck a couple of pieces in the toaster and threw tea bags into three mugs.

  In the meantime, Charlie explained that Sarah’s phone was untraceable after the services, that even if it was turned off they would have been able to find it so, that was cause for concern. He told him about the picnic and watched helplessly as Steve sank further into his misery, saw fear crawl into his eyes. She had bought their favourite sandwiches.

  “So, you hadn’t actually had a row then? Only, you just said, maybe she was in a huff, perhaps she had left because she was angry.”

  Steve shook his head, “No, no we hadn’t had a row but, well I’d kept her waiting and she hated that. That’s why I took a while to say anything, I thought she was just sulking somewhere and she’d turn up once she’d made her point.”