Now You See Her

by Paul J. Teague

  They walked around the side of the house, moving close up to the living room window and peering in. Cory saw Xander ducking down behind the couch, hiding from them. The room itself was a wreck, filled with discarded pizza boxes, plastic instant noodle containers and abandoned soda cans with their pull-tabs sticking up. Unwashed cutlery and laundry sat on any available surface. It was quite clear from a simple glimpse through the window that this was a young man who was struggling to cope.

  ‘Xander, it's Cory Miles from the local newspaper. I'm here with Bianca Williams from the store. We just wanted to make sure that you're okay. Will you let us in?’

  ‘Leave me alone,’ he shouted. He sounded terrified, as if he was being hunted and he'd had enough.

  ‘We're here to help,’ Bianca said gently. ‘We just want to see that everything is okay. Please—can we come in?’

  They watched through the window as Xander tentatively peered above the back of the couch, like a meerkat checking if the coast was clear.

  ‘You promise those men didn't send you?’

  Cory looked at Bianca and raised his eyebrows.

  ‘We promise,’ Bianca said. ‘We're only here to see if we can help.’

  They walked back to the front door and waited. Xander blinked as he opened up, as if he hadn't seen direct sunlight for several hours. He checked that Bianca and Cory were alone before inviting them in.

  The house smelled of moldy food remains and dampness. Once upon a time it must have been splendid inside, with its high ceilings, period furniture, ornate centerpieces, and brass light fixtures. As Cory took it all in, he thought it would make an excellent location for one of those hoarder shows on TV.

  They cleared the pizza boxes off one of the couches and sat down. Xander looked as nervous and suspicious as a caged animal.

  ‘How are you coping, Xander?’ Bianca asked, more gently than Cory had ever heard her speak.

  ‘I didn't do it,’ he replied, defensive, like he'd already said it a hundred times. ‘I wouldn't touch those children. I like Reece—she's always been nice to me.’

  ‘We don't think you did it,’ Cory said, copying Bianca's nonconfrontational tone. ‘What happened with your phone?’

  ‘I only use it to order takeout—I don't have any friends to call on it. I don't know how to take photos on it or anything like that. I told Chief Tarrant where it was and when I was in the police station, they said they couldn't find it. They said I was lying and that I'd hidden evid… ev… they said I was hiding secrets on it. They said I took Poppy.’

  He began to sob.

  ‘I didn't hurt Poppy. I wouldn't hurt children. Reece's children are nice to me, why would I hurt them?’

  Cory took a moment to compose himself. They had to get Xander some help from social services. He couldn't carry on living like this.

  ‘Why were you scared about those men?’ Bianca asked. ‘Who are they? What do they want?’

  Xander's entire form seemed to contract when she asked the question, like a snail rapidly retreating into its shell.

  Cory studied an old photograph on the wall. It looked like Xander's parents had been quite old when they died. He was pictured as a child—maybe five or six years of age—yet their hair was fully gray even then. He looked like any other child of that age: happy, carefree, and loved.

  ‘They want to take this house…’ Xander began, talking quietly.

  Cory and Bianca said nothing, encouraging him with the expressions on their faces.

  ‘They said if I don't do as I'm told, I'll end up sleeping on the streets or in the woods. They say I'll be cold and hungry and that animals will come and eat me. That Mr. Jones says if I don't accept the compuls… comp… the order, I'll be thrown out.’

  ‘Compulsory purchase order? Is that what he said?’ Cory asked.

  Xander began to sob again.

  ‘Yes, he said if I don't do what he says, I'll have no money and I'll starve on the streets.’

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  ‘What the hell is Spencer Jones doing frightening the life out of Xander?’ Bianca said indignantly as she sipped on her double espresso. She'd taken Cory's suggestion: he'd told her that it would keep her awake through the day, after the punishing events of the night before.

  It was a beautiful day, so they'd taken their drinks out onto the deck of Lacey's Diner which was drenched by the sunshine. Many other customers had had the same idea, and the buzz of conversation filled the air. The topic most talked about was the death of Imogen Franklin. It seemed that everybody had an opinion on the matter.

  Cory took out his laptop and began to type.

  ‘What are you working on?’ Bianca asked. ‘Anything I can do to help?’

  ‘I'm just adding some detail to the Imogen Franklin story. The police always give the bare bones of it, but I can add in a little more detail. As we're witnesses, I can't reveal everything that we saw—it might jeopardize the investigation. But we can definitely do better than name, age, approximate time of death and a bland comment from the police chief.’

  ‘I'm really bothered about Xander. He was terrified. I'm pleased we managed to get the house cleaned up a bit before we went. He needs a care giver or a support worker, or something like that. And who the hell protects somebody like Xander when a shark like Spencer Jones is sticking his nose in and causing trouble?’

  Cory stopped typing and looked up at her. He'd not heard her speaking like that before. She was very passionate about the topic.

  ‘I promise you, we'll do our best to get him some help as soon as we can. But right now, I need you to try and push your dad a bit about those contracts that are supposed to be coming into the town. I think we've stumbled upon a completely different story to Poppy Norman's disappearance here, and we need to keep at it like a dog with a bone.’

  He continued to type out his news story, aware that Bianca was sitting looking about the place while he did so. Cory was just about to click the publish button, when she jumped in her seat, reached out, and tapped his arm.

  ‘Chief Tarrant's here,’ she whispered. ‘He looks really pissed, too.’

  It was no surprise. Lacey's sold the best coffee in town, and the cops were in and out of the diner all day.

  ‘He's gone inside to order; I'll see if I can get a word with him,’ Cory said, sending his story and closing the laptop.

  ‘He's coming out again,’ Bianca whispered, ‘He's going to drink it outside.’

  Cory kept his head down until Tarrant was almost level with their small circular metal table.

  ‘Chief Tarrant,’ he said, in a hijacking move.

  Tarrant was standing directly next to them, so there was no way he could pretend not to have heard or noticed.

  ‘Hello, Cory,’ he said, resigned to having been ambushed. He was clearly annoyed, but being out in public, he looked like he was straining to play nice.

  ‘Any news on Poppy Norman?’

  There was a sudden lull in the conversation as it became evident that the surrounding coffee drinkers had caught wind of what was going on. Out of politeness, they continued to chat, but Cory knew their ears were firmly tuned to what was being said.

  Tarrant lowered his voice.

  ‘You'll have seen the latest press release, Cory, since you had one of your reporters at this morning's press briefing. We're following up every lead we have, but we've drawn a complete blank.’

  He moved in, speaking confidentially.

  ‘You know how this plays out: we keep searching until we have a suspect or a body. At the moment, we have neither.’

  ‘What about Imogen Franklin?’ Bianca asked. Cory looked at her, impressed that she didn't seem intimidated by Tarrant.

  ‘What of her?’ he replied. ‘We still haven't ruled out that her death might have been a tragic accident. We're working through the list of volunteers who were in the library yesterday. It's quite possible that one of them is responsible for crushing Imogen in there. But just like Poppy Norman, we have no lea
ds to suggest that she was murdered. She was well-loved in this town.’

  Cory decided to press his luck.

  ‘You know that she was looking for some planning documents for me?’

  ‘What of it?’ Tarrant replied. Cory could see he'd caught him unawares.

  ‘Well, you must have read our witness statements. The planning documents were not found. It looks like somebody may have wanted to stop us from seeing them.’

  The chief swallowed hard.

  ‘That seems a little far-fetched,’ he replied, speaking louder now.

  ‘Does it, though?’ Cory continued to push. ‘Are you aware that Xander Griffen's cell phone appears to have mysteriously disappeared sometime after you were in his house. Do you have any thoughts on that?’

  Cory knew he was playing with fire. If it had been just him and the chief at the police station, he'd have been shown the door by now. But Tarrant had been caught out in public and he had an audience to please—a coffee drinking audience.

  ‘That boy is… he has learning difficulties,’ Tarrant seethed as quietly as he could manage. ‘We have a duty to leave no stone unturned when it comes to the investigation over the disappearance of Poppy Norman.’

  ‘It's high time you found that poor girl.’

  A woman from the adjacent table chimed in, looking scornfully at Chief Tarrant. There was a general mumble of approval from the surrounding customers.

  ‘Shame on you, not finding her yet,’ somebody else shouted. ‘And here you are drinking coffee while that little girl is out there terrified somewhere—and what are the police doing to find her?’

  Tarrant became aware that he was now playing to an audience, and a hostile one at that.

  ‘You know I can't comment about an ongoing case, ladies and gentlemen, but I do assure we are doing everything in our power to find Poppy Norman and return her to her mother safe and sound.’

  ‘But what about Imogen Franklin? You're supposed to keep this town safe. Some chance of that.’

  Cory sensed it was beginning to get ugly, with the crowd beginning to bay for blood. Maybe he'd been reckless taking a swipe at the chief in a public place like that. He'd meant their conversation to be private, but the woman on the opposite table had piped up, and now it was getting uncomfortable.

  ‘I can only assure you that the Shallow Falls Police are doing their very best to bring both of these sad and terrible incidents to a satisfactory conclusion as soon as possible, and that your safety in this town is our first priority at all times.’

  Tarrant sounded like he was at a town hall meeting rather than on the outside deck of the local diner. It seemed to do the job. The hubbub continued and the hostilities ceased.

  ‘Thank you very much for that, Mr. Miles. I shall be having a word with Mitchell Kane about your behaviour.’

  That riled Cory immediately.

  ‘You're an officer of the public, Chief Tarrant. You're obliged to answer the concerns of the public.’

  ‘And you'd do well to remember your position in this town, Mr. Miles. You need to do your job and stick to reporting the facts. Leave the police to do the investigating. Amateurs like the local press just stir up trouble where it's not needed.’

  ‘You're not threatening me, are you, Chief? As far as I'm aware the press still enjoys its freedom in this country.’

  ‘No threats, Mr. Miles—just a friendly warning between two professional colleagues, that's all.’

  Cory saw how uncomfortable Bianca looked and he suddenly felt outraged that Tarrant was trying to use the same bully-boy tactics that his son had been using.

  ‘You need to watch that threatening tone, Chief, it might rub off on someone close to you—like your son.’

  ‘Cory,’ Bianca snapped at him, her face bright red.

  ‘What's that supposed to mean?’ Tarrant asked.

  ‘Only that it's like father, like son, when it comes to throwing your weight around. Do you know that Dean has been hassling young Bianca here? Are you aware of what your son is doing while your back is turned?

  ‘Enough, Cory, I don't want you fighting my battles for me.’

  Tarrant's face turned red, and his expression was twisted, as if he was about to have a heart attack.

  ‘I'm going to walk away now, Mr. Miles, but your newspaper will be hearing from me. It's completely inappropriate for you to be talking to me in this manner. If you have a complaint to make, please do so to my face.’

  ‘Cory, I want you to stop.’

  Bianca was looking very agitated now, as if she was about to bolt. But Cory couldn’t resist sneaking in the final word.

  ‘But that's just it, isn't it, Chief Tarrant? You run this town; everything passes through you. What if it involved you, though? Can we be sure it'll be dealt with properly?’

  ‘I'm leaving now, Mr. Miles.’

  Tarrant placed his now-cold coffee onto the metal table and walked off slowly toward the parking lot. Bianca glared at Cory, her face bright red, and stood up.

  ‘I don't need you to speak up for me. I can look after myself.’

  She spoke quietly and assertively, but the emotion in her voice showed she was hanging on for dear life to prevent the tears from falling.

  Bianca walked off, leaving Cory sitting alone. He'd gotten so carried away he'd forgotten that they were sitting on the deck surrounded by the other customers. And now, all of them were completely silent, just looking at him.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Not for the first time in recent weeks, Cory realized he'd screwed things up. He was particularly annoyed with himself about Bianca. He kept forgetting her age. He should have shut his mouth the moment he saw her discomfort, but something inside him wanted to keep on pushing; he wanted to get some justice for her.

  His coffee was cold now. At least the other customers had started chatting again, bringing the painful silence to an end. Cory took out his cell phone and called the office.

  ‘Hey, it's Cory. Can you put me through to Mitchell, please?’

  ‘Mitchell Kane's phone.’

  ‘Hey, Mitchell, it's Cory.’

  ‘Nice piece on Imogen Franklin, Cory. I can't believe you discovered the body. If that doesn't boost sales, nothing will.’

  Cory told him about the altercation with Tarrant; it was best to get in first.

  ‘Did you swear at him, punch him, or say anything that wasn't true?’ Mitchell asked.

  ‘No.’

  ‘Did you steal from him, sell him drugs, or rob his grandma?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Then Chief Tarrant can get as huffy as he wants. As far as I'm concerned, you're just doing your job. He's a public servant; stuff him! If he calls the office, I'll give him short shrift. You're doing great work, Cory—you'll hear no moaning from me.’

  At least he was off the hook at work. He'd need to speak to Louise and make sure the information continued to flow. That's so long as she was still speaking to him.

  With the Tarrant issue attended to, Cory knew that he would have to suck it up and apologize to Bianca. He knew he'd pushed it too far; he'd have to take any punishments that were coming his way. He decided to leave the car in Lacey's lot and walk up the road after her.

  He didn't have to go far.

  Bianca had found a bench directly opposite Lacey's and was sitting there watching the world go by.

  ‘You okay?’ Cory asked, walking up to her. She hadn't been crying—that was a good point from which to start clawing things back.

  ‘I'm sorry I rushed off,’ she began.

  That was better than he'd hoped for. He waited for her to continue.

  ‘I'm pretty furious with you still, but thank you—thanks for sticking up for me.’

  ‘I know I went too far, Bianca.’

  ‘I just wish my Dad and Mom had shown half your balls.’

  Cory was speechless. He hadn't expected accolades.

  ‘I was just overcome with anger on your behalf,’ he said, quietly.

&n
bsp; ‘I know you were—thank you. When it all happened, my Mom and Dad got scared, panicked, embarrassed, and humiliated, but they never got angry on my behalf. They just rolled over and did whatever Tarrant or my principal asked them to do. I don't think I ever felt so let down in my entire life.’

  ‘Wow,’ Cory said. ‘That's a strong thing to say about your parents. I'm sure they were just trying to do their best by you.’

  ‘Well, a bit of faith would have been nice,’ Bianca replied. ‘I still wonder if they ever suspected that Dean Tarrant's side of the story might have been true. You'd only just met me and you didn't question it—you knew I wouldn't have done those things.’

  He sat down beside her and they stayed there in silence, watching the customers at Lacey's come and go, eyes following the cars as they drove past. Cory would never claim to be an expert in emotional intelligence, but even he could see that Bianca needed a short time to cool off and get her head straight. While they were sitting there, there was a buzz from his phone. He checked it and read the text that had just arrived.

  ‘Take a walk up to the main street? Louise wants to have a quick word with me before she clocks on for her shift.’

  Bianca nodded and they stood up. It was only a couple of hundred yards to the center, barely worth moving the car.

  ‘What does she want?’ Bianca asked. ‘Anything new about Poppy? Or Imogen?’

  ‘It's personal, I think,’ Cory replied.

  They walked in silence up to the small, square seating area in the heart of the main street. It was surrounded with benches and beautifully planted with seasonal flowers by the town's council, a favorite place to eat sandwiches and takeouts for those townsfolk who wanted a break from their desks during the working day. Louise Powell had secured a bench and her face lit up when she saw Cory and Bianca approaching.

  ‘I won't be a third wheel, I'll let you speak alone,’ Bianca began.

  ‘It's not like that. Louise—Louise—and me, we're professional colleagues.’

  ‘You might think that,’ Bianca said with a smile, ‘but she thinks otherwise. If you haven't noticed it yet, you must be blind.’