by Joy Ellis
‘To be honest, I simply put it exactly as you said, and added that with the market as it is, she could wait a very long while to get another buyer in such a good position. So, shall I ring Mr Farrow with the good news?’
‘Please do. And Geoff? Don’t tell him that we met out there. I told them I’d have a word with you, but no more than that. I really don’t want to steal the lad’s thunder. Just let him think that you have negotiated a damn good deal for him, and that you are a stellar estate agent, which of course you are.’
‘Have it your way, Nikki. As I recall, you generally did.’
‘Now, now.’
‘I never got over that frogspawn, you know. I was scared to open my lunchbox for weeks after that. I could have starved.’
Nikki laughed. ‘Thanks for what you’ve done. I really do appreciate it.’
‘Pleasure. Any time. And if it all goes well, your young friends will be happy, and I’ll have got Herondene off my books. Win-win, Nikki.’
‘Indeed, and now I can go home and sleep the sleep of the just, for once.’
CHAPTER ELEVEN
There was something terribly wrong with her new medication. He had told her he had called in at the surgery because he was so worried about her, and the doctor had prescribed some stronger pain relief. He had been warned that it would make her drowsy at first, and some people took longer than others to get used to them.
She understood all that, but the effects had been terrifying. She had certainly felt far from drowsy. In fact, she had felt capable of anything. For a time she had been pain-free, but she had paid dearly for that short period of relief.
Even this morning she was still confused, and she had the worst headache she could ever remember. She sat in her chair and listened out for him. She had heard nothing since she woke up, but she sensed that he was somewhere in the house. Somehow she had washed herself and managed to get dressed. She seemed to recall that he had been with her last night, but she wasn’t certain. There was a vague memory of him standing over her, his head tilted and his arms outstretched, like Jesus on the cross, and his body had shone and glistened in the candlelight. But of course that couldn’t have happened. Because then he would have been naked, wouldn’t he? So it had to be the drugs.
And the drugs must have been responsible for her mother dancing around her room, dressed in rainbow-coloured taffeta and showering her with bright, silvery stars. She could remember trying to catch the shining, twinkling lights. She had been light as air, and had danced with her mother. She looked down at her swollen legs and sighed. Had she ever danced? She had been in this room for so long that she really couldn’t remember much else, although the thought of dancing seemed to kindle some sort of emotion inside her, so maybe she had once. Well, she had wanted new painkillers, but she would not be taking those again.
She was almost embarrassed at the thought of seeing him again, after what she had imagined in her hallucinatory state. And worst of all, she must have pulled her own clothes off in the night. They were on the floor beside the bed when she awoke.
A wave of nausea washed over her. Should she tell him? She would be mortified, but he really should know that they had affected her so badly. She could have hurt herself, or even hurt him if he came to check on her.
She moved stiffly in the chair, then stretched her arms out in front of her, carefully turning them, palms up, then palms down, then bringing them into her body and out again. There was still some freedom from her usual morning agonies. And hadn’t she managed to get herself out of bed unaided? Perhaps she should risk it and continue with the pills? Some tablets did affect you to start with but you got used to them, didn’t you?
She would do as she always did, and be guided by him. He knew best, and he always did the very best for her, even when she didn’t deserve it. She sighed. She was so lucky to have him.
* * *
After the morning meeting, Joseph took everything he had managed to find on Dina Jarvis into Nikki’s office and spread it out on her desk. He had been up half the night trying to piece together what might have occurred in the time leading up to her disappearance. He had accessed the files from the National Crime Agency’s missing persons bureau, and had had a long conversation with a very helpful man from the charity organisation that Dominic had contacted.
Joseph scratched his head. ‘I have a distinctly unsettling feeling about this girl, Nikki. I hate to say this, but I’m starting to agree with the brother. I think her disappearance is suspicious.’
‘Isn’t that a bit of an about-turn? I thought you believed she had run off with, or after, a man?’
‘I still do. It’s what happened to her after that that worries me.’ Joseph looked anxiously at Nikki. ‘Think about it. And look at these.’ He pulled some photos from an envelope and laid them on the desk. ‘I got them from her bedroom.’
Nikki flashed him a warning look. ‘Was that wise?’
‘It’s alright. Dominic let me take them and copy them.’ He pointed to one in particular. It showed brother and sister together on a ride at the big travelling fair in Hull. They were not identical twins, but there was a close resemblance. Both were slender and fine-boned with fair hair and blue-grey eyes. They were obviously enjoying themselves. ‘There are dozens like this. When Dominic said they were close, he was right. They were really good friends. These photos go back to early childhood, and they are all happy and smiling. I know I thought he was weird and intense, but now I think that’s a by-product of his grief. Even he admits he’s changed for the worse since she went. I cannot get my head around the fact that she has never once contacted her brother, not personally or through a third party, just to let him know that she’s safe.’
Nikki drew in a deep breath. ‘The thing is, we can’t be sure there wasn’t a rift between them. Sometimes family breakups are catastrophic, they can lead to decades of ill-feeling within the family unit. What if they argued and she ran off to pour out her heart to her mystery man? What if he said, “Leave him, come with me,” and she did?
‘Two nights before she disappeared, Dominic took her to a local restaurant and they had dinner together. The waiter that served them that night said they left together. They were in good spirits, and they left a decent tip. What could happen in twenty-four hours to make her upset or angry enough, not to just up and leave, but to abandon everything she owned? Nothing has gone from her room. It’s all ready and waiting for her return. It’s creepy.’
‘I’ve seen that so many times before.’
‘Me too, but . . . oh, I don’t know, Nikki, it just doesn’t feel right to me.’
‘Okay. Since the Derby lot seem to be galloping ahead with our murder case, take the time to look a bit deeper. Get Jessie to help you.’
‘Do you think she should, Nikki? Another missing person case?’
‘Jessie knows that if she continues to work, she’ll have to deal with things like this, Joseph. I can’t treat her with kid gloves. If she’s up to the job, then she has to be prepared to handle whatever she’s given.’
Joseph knew that she was right. He would have been happier with Cat, but Cat was not available.
‘So, do you know anything about this elusive boyfriend?’
‘Only that he had an expensive car, and one of Dina’s friends said he was pretty well off.’ Joseph gave a little smile. ‘Niall caught them out at the back of the Golden Dragon, and I think they were doing more than just discussing the weather.’
‘So Niall actually saw him?’
‘Unfortunately he admits to averting his eyes in embarrassment.’ Joseph was silent for a moment. ‘But talking of Niall, I’m forgetting something important! Guess what? The owner of the cottage out at Jacob’s Mere has dropped the price. They are going to put in their offer today! Good news or what!’
Nikki gave him what could only be described as a smug look, and then she broke into a delighted smile. ‘But that’s great! They must be over the moon.’
‘And back again!’ H
e peered at her suspiciously. ‘That’s not got anything to do with you by any chance?’
‘Me? No. I just rang up yesterday and had a quiet word with Geoff, like I told Tam I would. It must be all down to the estate agent.’
‘You did say he was a good bloke. Well, he’s certainly come up trumps for them. Okay, I have to admit I’ll worry about Tam being so isolated out there, but they both drive, and it’s only fifteen minutes from Cloud Fen.’
‘More to the point, they both love it and it’s what they want. And they’ll have their feet on the property ladder.’
‘I’m going to help with the deposit. I’ve got a bit of money that I put aside after I sold my flat in Fenchester. It will give them a bit of a platform to kick off from.’
‘And the wedding? Who is going to pay for that? The mother of the bride?’
Joseph pulled a face. ‘Somehow I don’t think so. I don’t think everything is going particularly well in Laura’s neck of the woods right now.’
‘What about the high-powered job in Switzerland?’
‘I don’t know the full facts, but it seems she was an expert witness at a trial involving one of the big drugs companies, and they weren’t too pleased at the evidence she gave. Suddenly she is not very popular, her workload is drying up, and Tamsin seems to think that she might be returning to Edinburgh in the near future.’ He paused. ‘And to make things worse, her partner, the great and gorgeous Gavin, has done a runner and taken a large part of their bank account with him.’
‘Oh dear. I see what you mean.’
‘Ma’am? Sorry to interrupt, but the Sarge here asked to be told when we had something on Freddie Carver.’ Yvonne stood in the doorway.
‘And?’
‘He did go to Derbyshire last night, Sarge, to Ashbourne.’
Joseph punched a fist into his cupped hand. ‘I knew it! He does have something to do with the dead girls! Where did he go exactly?’
‘That I can’t tell you. My snout said that one of his men followed Freddie’s car. When he got to Ashbourne, he left his driver in a McDonald’s and went off alone. At that point the guy who was following him lost his bottle and thought better of tailing him any further, but he waited to see how long he was away for. Apparently he was gone for more than two hours.’
‘Damn! He could have driven anywhere in that time. Did this man of Freddie’s follow him home?’
‘I know what you are thinking, ma’am,’ said Yvonne. ‘Did he find out where he’s staying? No, he lost him before he got to Greenborough.’
‘At least it places him in the area where Lilli and Fern died and Sophie was held and tortured. That makes him top of my list.’ Joseph looked at Yvonne. ‘Well done for that, Vonnie. Keep your snout on the listen-out for any more info, won’t you?’
‘Oh, he knows what to do. I’ve asked him if there is anyone who might be prepared to talk to us about where Carver may be staying, but he clammed up, said they valued their lives too much. It’s going to be down to us to find him, I’m afraid.’
‘What about tracing the car?’ Nikki asked.
‘He keeps swapping them, ma’am. He seems to have a fleet of vehicles at his disposal. I’m thinking that’s one of the things that were being set up while he was out of the country.’
‘Well, good work, keep at it.’ Nikki turned to Joseph. ‘I need to tell Cat and Ben about this, and then let the super know.’
‘And I’ll go back to trying to get an ID on Dina’s mystery man. Maybe I’ll take a walk round to the Golden Dragon, see if any of the staff were working there back when Dina was around.’
‘Okay. Keep in touch, won’t you?’
‘Wilco.’
* * *
Cat took the call from Nikki, and relayed the information to Ben Radley.
‘So he is the man behind all these deals!’
‘We don’t know that for sure, Ben. There could be other reasons for him visiting this beautiful county of yours.’ Cat sat opposite Ben at his desk.
‘Oh, a holiday perhaps? Or maybe he just likes original Bakewell pudding?’
‘Don’t be facetious, it doesn’t suit you.’
‘Ben! Got some news!’ A slim, crater-faced detective, grinning from ear to ear, called out from the doorway to the CID room. ‘We’ve got Rosewood downstairs. Only this time, he’s the one being interviewed.’
Ben frowned. ‘Lewis Rosewood, the brief? How come?’
‘That drugs case involving the strip clubs? Operation Rainbow? The one we’ve been working on for almost a year? We’ve had a bouncer in our pockets for a month or two now, and he’s finally come through for us. Rosewood’s been helping to launder the proceeds for the owners, among other things. We’ve got the lot on him, including photographic evidence placing him with all the bad guys, and we picked him up in possession of the biggest stash of marked notes you’ve ever seen! He’s going to be going down for a very long while.’
Ben walked over and slapped his colleague on the shoulder. ‘Nice one, Gaz. Really well done.’
As Gary went off to crow to more of his mates, Ben returned to his desk and stared thoughtfully at Cat. ‘I’m really not sure if I’m pleased or disappointed about Rosewood. I’m absolutely certain he has something to do with Freddie Carver, probably a lot to do with him, and if Rosewood is banged up, it could be another bloody hold-up on the road to finding Fern’s killer.’ He bit hard on his thumbnail. Just as Cat was wondering what to say to him, she saw she had mail to pick up. One message stood out like a beacon — a memo from Dave. On Cat’s instruction he had unearthed some old surveillance pictures of Freddie Carver. One picture showed him shaking hands with an unknown associate, another having dinner with the same man, and there was an image of the two of them coming out of a club. Cat had asked for the pictures in the hope that Ben might be able to identify the anonymous man. She clicked on the JPEG and there was Freddie, looking every inch the fat-cat business magnate, proffering a tanned hand to an overweight and rather sleazy-looking man with a comb-over and a thin moustache.
‘Is this anyone you’ve met on your travels?’
Ben almost fell off his chair. Before Cat knew what was happening, he’d leaned across and planted a kiss on her cheek. ‘You wonderful woman! This is Lewis Rosewood. You’ve just made the connection! He’s the link between the dodgy deals and the mystery man with all the money! This is abso-fucking-lutely great . . . Sorry, Cat, I forgot myself for a moment there.’
‘Feel free.’ Cat smiled broadly and wondered if he meant the swearing or the kiss. She didn’t know which one she was referring to either.
‘Now, how to go about using this information? We need to think this through.’ Ben leant back in his chair, rubbed his temples and noticed a new email message. It came from one of his colleagues who was helping him out, and scouring Derbyshire for Fern and Lilli’s place of imprisonment.
Ben get in touch, asap. Either your phone is off, you plonker, or there’s no signal and I’ve got something for you. Jace.
Ben keyed in his friend’s number, and turned on the loudspeaker for Cat to hear. ‘Jace? It’s Ben. Where are you?’
‘At bloody last! I’m at home, trying to grab some sleep. But, listen, this may be nothing, or it may be exactly what you’re looking for. I don’t rightly know.’
‘Spit it out then, and I’ll tell you.’ Ben raised his eyebrows at Cat.
‘Okay, okay. Well, my girl’s been working at a little pub over near Appleton Dale. The other night everyone was talking about us searching all the estates in the area, and trying to guess what we’re looking for. She keeps shtum naturally, but keeps her ears open. Then she hears some bloke say we should forget the big estates and go check out the Cavacini place. He had no idea what we are looking for, but he reckoned there were an awful lot of comings and goings there, both day and night.’
‘Cavacini place? Should I know it?’
They heard Jace yawn. ‘Well, I didn’t, but I’ve made some enquiries and I think you might lik
e to take them a step further. It’s a large private house, not big enough to be called an estate, and years back it used to be a livery stables. It’s called “Woodlands,” and it’s owned by someone called Rick Cavacini. He doesn’t live there himself, but someone does. Rumour says it’s a madman.’
Ben gave Cat bemused look. ‘Madman? What do you mean?’
‘Well, he’s certainly a recluse, but most of the stories about him are made up. A Chinese whisper would be more reliable than some of what the locals told me.’
‘Did you speak to him?’
‘No time, so I have left that to you, if you can get past his staff.’
‘Staff?’
‘Gardener, cook and general dogsbody. A right bunch of weirdos, if you ask me.’
‘He’s rich, then?’
‘Must be, but where the money comes from, heaven knows. Actually, Ben, I can’t trace a damn thing about him. It’s like he doesn’t exist.’
‘Okay, Jace. Thanks for all that. Leave it with me now, and I’ll keep you posted if it’s a bona fide lead. Get back to sleep. You’ve earned it.’
Jace yawned again. ‘Dead bloody right, mate.’
Ben ended the call and turned to Cat, ‘What did you make of that?’
‘More than you, I’m willing to bet. I know the name Cavacini, but not in connection with any of this, and it’s most likely a completely different family. A few years back one of our officers risked his life to pull a child from a flooded river. The girl’s name was Susie Cavacini.’
Ben’s mouth dropped open. ‘That was PC Hildred, wasn’t it? He got a medal for saving her. We were at police driving school together, doing our advanced driving course. Really nice bloke, Graham. I often wonder what happened to him.’
‘Don’t we all, especially his partner, Jessie Nightingale.’ Cat exhaled. ‘That child is the only Cavacini I’ve ever heard of.’
‘So we need to check for a connection, don’t we?’
‘Mmm, we do. But before that, how do you intend to make the connection between Rosewood and Freddie Carver?’
