Locked Away (DI Sara Ramsey Book 13)

by M A Comley

  “We have very little to go on at present. If we can link the two investigations then we will run an appeal. Of course, problems can occur if we do that and it turns out to be totally different circumstances behind the women’s disappearances.”

  “I see… I think. You’re here, I presume you’re taking this seriously. Will you be putting it out on the news now?”

  “Possibly. We need to get a little more background information from you first. Are you up for that?”

  “Yes, I’ll do anything to get her back.”

  “Is Amanda active on social media? If so, which ones?”

  “Crikey, now you’re asking. I tend to switch off from all that nonsense. I always think it’s more aimed at women than men, or is that a sexist comment?”

  Sara smiled. “I wouldn’t class it as one, not if you’re solely stating your opinion. If I name a few, you can tell me if they sound familiar or not.”

  He nodded.

  “Facebook, Twitter, MeWe, Instagram… TikTok, I think is a new one doing the rounds. What about WhatsApp?”

  “Hmm… Facebook is a definite and maybe Instagram—that’s the one you upload your photos to, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, that’s right. What about the others?”

  “I don’t think so. None of them ring a bell with me—I know, I’m hopeless. Technology isn’t my strong point. Put a football at my feet and I can dribble for England, but put a computer in front of me and I stare at the screen as if it’s from bloody outer space. I’m a plain and simple mechanic, no need for computers as such in my job, although they’re creeping into some garages nowadays. Thankfully, my boss is as much of a Luddite as I am and has so far steered clear of them.”

  “Technology is here to stay, I’m afraid. We’ll have a look around the other sites. Do you know if she uses her real name on Facebook?”

  “I think her real name. I could do a search on my phone, if you give me thirty minutes, that’s how long these things generally take me to figure out.”

  “It’s fine. We’ll do it when we get back to the station.”

  Craig fished his phone out of his pocket, and his fingers flew at warp speed across the screen. He angled the phone at Sara.

  She peered at it and compared the photo of Amanda on the screen to the picture on the wall of the couple hugging. “Can I?”

  Craig handed her the phone.

  She showed it to Rod. “If I’m not mistaken, that would be your fiancée, correct?”

  “Yep.” He cleared his throat as the emotion welled up. “That’s her. God, I never thought I’d miss her as much as I do now. What’s that saying? You don’t know how lucky you are until something or someone is gone. I feel empty, lost and confused.”

  “Hey, all is not lost yet. You’re going to have to keep positive. If she wants to be found, we’ll find her.”

  “What are you saying? Are you suggesting she’s taken off with someone? That doesn’t make any sense. For a start, we love each other, and if she did take off, how would she do that if her car is still at the pub?”

  “Could someone have picked her up from work, perhaps? Possibly given her a lift home if she’s had a drink while at work?”

  “No, on both counts. You’re forgetting that she rang me as she was leaving the pub. If she was going to hitch a ride with someone, she would have told me, we have no secrets. Another thing for you to consider is that she never drinks during the week. Of course, she makes up for that at the weekend, when she’s off-duty.”

  “Okay, so you like to socialise with people, is that right?”

  “Now and again. But mostly, we just like to spend time with each other. She’s special and deserves to be treated as such. Anyway, most of our evenings are spent going over the details for the wedding. She’s a meticulous planner, a super-organised person. Which is another reason why I placed the call as early as I did. If she says she’s going to do something, she does it. As in, come straight home from work at the end of her shift.”

  “Rightio, is there anything else we should know while we’re here?”

  He picked at the skin at the base of his thumb and refused to look at Sara. She exchanged a puzzled glance with Craig. He shrugged.

  “Rod? What aren’t you telling us?” Sara urged.

  “We’re desperate to keep the news from our wedding guests… Damn, she’s pregnant.”

  Sara’s heart seemed to drop into her stomach. “Oh no. How long?”

  “We think seven to eight weeks. We’re waiting a little longer to get the final analysis from the doc. Amanda has an appointment at the end of next week.”

  “Is there anything else we should know about before we leave?”

  “I don’t think so. Please, please do your best to bring them both home to me, unharmed.”

  Sara could see the emotion written in every pore of his face.

  “You have my word.” She got to her feet.

  Craig flipped his notebook shut and followed her and Rod to the front door. Rod shook their hands and closed the door.

  “That was a shocker!” Craig mumbled.

  Sara didn’t reply until she was closer to the car. “Fair took the wind out of my sails, I can tell you. What if this has something to do with Amanda being pregnant?”

  “I’m not so sure. I mean, yes, you might be right. I’m just thinking, he mentioned they’ve kept it quiet up until now.”

  “Point taken. Let’s see what her boss has to say.”

  They slipped into the car, and Sara drove to the Dog and Duck. There, they spoke with the landlady, Bella Maddox. Bella was an impressive lady, not only in her build but also in the character she portrayed. Sara took to her right away.

  “Call me Bella, everyone does. I was shocked when Rod rang me last night to tell me Amanda hadn’t made it home. I was that caught up in locking up for the night and getting some kip that I didn’t even notice her car was still outside. No excuse on my part, other than it was delivery day yesterday and the draymen got me out of my bed at sixish.”

  “Understandable, if you’ve had a long day to be less observant than you are normally. We’re assuming that Amanda was abducted, if Rod hasn’t heard from her since and her phone is dead. Can you tell us if there was anyone in here last night acting suspicious?”

  Bella contemplated the question for a moment. “No, I’ve had a good think, and I can honestly say, no. We had a lot of locals in here last night. But no strangers. I can’t believe someone would abduct her. Rod must be going out of his mind with worry. Those two are inseparable. Such a sweet relationship. After Amanda cleared the final tray in the glass washer, she always rang him to tell him how long she was likely going to be. I asked her why she followed the same routine after every shift. She told me he always had a drink and a sandwich waiting for her for when she finally got home.” Bella snorted. “I can see my fella doing that… not.”

  Sara smiled. Mark would do the same for me, especially if I worked long hours. “So, you didn’t see anything out of the ordinary? Someone taking a keen interest in talking to Amanda longer than normal, that sort of thing?”

  “No. My punters are all friendly, not a bunch of weirdos. I know what there is to know about each and every one of them, and no one has ever given me cause to think badly of them. You know, with some folks you get the heebie-jeebies. Can’t say I’ve ever had that type of thing, not with my punters. That’s why I can’t believe what’s happened to her.”

  “What about CCTV? I take it you have cameras inside and out?” Sara confirmed her assumption by scanning the room and spotting several cameras positioned towards the bar.

  “Of course. I wouldn’t be without them. I installed them a few years ago when there was a spate of pubs getting done over by a gang, not sure if you’d remember that or not.”

  “It’s not ringing any bells. I’ve only been in the area a couple of years, though.”

  “Hmm… might have been before your time then. Not that it matters. I’m slipping, I never thought to c
heck the footage. Told you it was a bloody long day yesterday. Rod breaking the news in the early hours of this morning meant I had very little sleep last night. No excuse there, I should have bloody checked. Want to go through it together?”

  “That would be fantastic.”

  “Give me a couple of minutes to set things up. Can I get you a coffee while you wait?”

  “Brilliant. White and one for me. Craig?”

  “The same for me. Thanks.”

  Bella had a quick word with the barmaid and then went through the door behind the bar.

  The barmaid, in her forties, brought their drinks to them within seconds. “There you go. The boss told me you’re in need of a caffeine boost.”

  “Thanks, you’re very kind. Do you have time for a brief chat?”

  She looked over her shoulder at a couple of punters sitting at the bar. Two men in their sixties, deep in conversation. “I’ll have to keep an eye open, but yes, what do you need to know?”

  “Whether Amanda mentioned to you if she had any problems, either personally or professionally.”

  “Not to me. We rarely cross paths, not really. Bella prefers to cover most of the shifts herself, only have one other member of staff on at the same time, you know, to keep costs down. She’s always been the same. Some would call her tight, but not me.” The barmaid smirked.

  “Fair enough. It’s her business, she runs it how she sees fit. There are a lot of pubs going out of business, I suppose she’s cautious about that.”

  “Yeah, I hear you. She’s a sweetheart, wipes the floor with most of the male bosses I’ve had in this trade, I can tell you.”

  “I can imagine.”

  Bella appeared in the doorway, and the conversation ceased. “Why do I sense I’m being spoken about?”

  The barmaid laughed. “Because you’re super sensitive. I was only saying nice things, I promise.”

  “I should think so. The machine is all set up ready for you.” Bella gestured for Sara and Craig to follow her through the bar.

  They ended up in a large office that was surprisingly tidy. All the other public houses’ offices she’d seen the inside of lately left a lot to be desired. The difference between men and women at play, Sara suspected.

  “Why don’t you take a seat, Inspector? I can work the controls over your shoulder, if that’s okay?”

  “Go for it. Craig, get ready to take notes.”

  “Yes, boss,” Craig replied, getting out his notebook and pen.

  “Right, you can see here, this is the car park at the side, our main one, if you like. In the corner, you can just make out Amanda’s BMW.”

  Sara blew out a frustrated breath. “Only just. Can you run the disc from the time Amanda left the pub?”

  “I can.” Bella whizzed through the disc and stopped as a brunette wearing jeans and a T-shirt walked out of the main door. “That’s her. Gosh, it’s so upsetting to see her leaving without a care in the world, not knowing what lies ahead of her.”

  “Let’s hope we pick something valuable up. Just before she left the pub, I noticed a man exiting the door, looking a tad drunk. Do you know him?”

  “Ah yes, that’s old Barry, can’t remember his surname. He’d received some bad news yesterday about an old friend who had passed away. He hit the bottle to drown his sorrows and to celebrate his friend’s life. He was buying drinks for all the punters at one point, until I had a word with him. He hasn’t got much money to his name as it is, so to be wasting it on others was just silly, and I told him so.”

  “How did that go down?” Sara asked.

  “Not too well. He called me an interfering old biddy. I bristled at that, I can tell you. Old biddy my eye. Bloody cheek. Good job I like him when he’s sober, otherwise he would have woken up this morning having been barred from the pub he frequents most nights.”

  “So he’s harmless. Can we follow his movements on camera?”

  “Sure. It can’t be him, though. He was in a terrible state. I offered to call a taxi to take him home, but he was having none of it.”

  “Men can be very stubborn, especially when they’ve got drink inside them. What’s that?” Sara peered at the screen. The image was dark as it took place in the farthest corner of the car park. “Is he on the ground there?”

  “Seems to be… oh crap!” Craig muttered.

  Sara peered harder and then prompted her partner, “What are you seeing, Craig?”

  “You don’t want to know.”

  “Umm… yes, I do. Spit it out.” Sara shuffled forward in her seat. Her eyes adjusted a little better to what was playing out on the screen. “Oh bugger, I must be seeing things.”

  “You’re not,” Craig insisted.

  “Would someone mind telling me what’s going on?” Bella demanded.

  “It would appear that Barry missed the toilets on the way out and decided to drop his trousers in front of Amanda’s car.”

  “Jesus, that’s about the grossest thing I’ve heard this decade. You wait until I see him, he’s going to wish… maybe I shouldn’t say any more, just in case I find it difficult to restrain myself.”

  Sara laughed. “It’s nothing a couple of buckets of bleach won’t solve.”

  “You reckon? Crikey, I’m shuddering at the thought of dealing with that mess. I actually saw it on the way in and forgot about it. I cursed an unknown dog for leaving his mark, never dreamed it could be human faeces. Filthy bastard. I’ll throttle him when I get my hands on him.”

  “He was probably too drunk to realise what he was doing.” Sara had no idea why she was sticking up for the vile individual, except she was keen to avoid being called out for a possible assault charge in the days ahead.

  “He did have a skinful, double what he usually drinks. Maybe I’ll make an exception this time. He’s still a filthy bastard, though, I have no intention of taking that back.”

  Sara sniggered. “He is. I think we can all agree with you there.”

  Bella pressed the button on the machine to see what happened next. Amanda left the pub and walked towards her BMW in the corner. Unfortunately, the camera was too far away to pick up her movements once she reached her vehicle.

  “What about other cars parked in the area, can you vouch for them?”

  Bella went back and forth on the disc and finally pointed to a light-coloured make and model that none of them could distinguish at the rear, next to Amanda’s car. “That one there. Can’t say I recall ever seeing it here before, but then again, I might be wrong.”

  “If you can get a copy made for us, we’ll hand it in to the lab on the way back, see if they can come up trumps with anything. As it stands, all we have is that it’s a light car. It’s not ideal, granted.”

  “I’ll create a copy now. Shame I couldn’t make your job any easier. So you think she’s been abducted?”

  “It would appear to be that way to me, given the evidence we have. She didn’t confide in you about any fears or anxieties she may have, did she?”

  Bella slotted another disc into the machine and set it recording. “No, can’t say she did. What about Rod, couldn’t he fill in those details for you? No, wait a second, you’re not telling me that you suspect him of some form of foul play, are you?”

  “No, I don’t believe that for an instant. We need to start somewhere, though.”

  “It’s a mystery, that’s what it is. I’d hate to be in your shoes trying to solve the case.”

  “Two cases,” Sara blurted out without thinking. She cringed and then peered over her shoulder at Bella. “That’s between you and me. I shouldn’t have divulged that fact.”

  “Goodness me. I had no idea. Are you telling me the women of Hereford are at risk? That someone is targeting and abducting women in this area?”

  “Let’s just say we’ve got two cases of abduction we’re dealing with at present. Both incidents have taken place within a few days of each other.”

  Bella slapped a hand on her face and shook her head. “Oh my! Poor Aman
da. What the hell would someone’s motive be for taking these women?”

  “That’s for us to find out, if we find the two cases are linked. At this stage of an investigation, it’s virtually impossible to tell which direction we’re going to take, that’s why it’s imperative we ask all the right questions and get to know the victims inside and out.”

  “I get that. As far as I’m concerned, Amanda hasn’t said or done anything to anyone which might endanger her life in this way. Let’s face it, that’s what we’re talking about here, aren’t we? No one kidnaps another human being unless they mean them some harm, right? Shit, what am I saying?”

  “More often than not. However, looking on the bright side, my team have had enough experience in dealing with other cases of this nature, to know that sometimes things work out for the best. So we really need to cling on and not let the hope slip away from us.”

  “That’s great to know. I’ll keep my eyes and ears open and report back to you if I hear anything strange being said in the bar, how’s that?”

  Sara smiled. “You read my mind, I was about to ask you to do the same.”

  Bella ejected the duplicate disc and handed it to Sara. “Just bring her home, she doesn’t deserve to be treated this way.”

  Sara stood and walked towards the door. “We’re going to try. Thanks for all your assistance today.”

  Bella followed her and Craig back through the bar. “No problem. Have you got a card? If I think of anything else I can call you.”

  “Thanks, again, you pre-empted me.” Sara slid a card across the bar, and she and Craig left.

  Outside, they studied the area, and then Sara called SOCO to come and pick up Amanda’s vehicle.

  “May I ask why?” Craig queried.

  “Mainly so I can say I’ve dotted all the I’s on the case, Craig. Let’s face it, the abductor might have been hiding by the car; there’s a succinct possibility that the perpetrator might have touched the vehicle. It’s better to be cautious and get it checked out. Sod the cost, if that’s what you’re going to say next. That’s not my concern, not when two women’s lives are at risk. Now, let’s get back to the station.”