by Helen Phifer
Lucy did her best not to groan out loud. She would bet Shannon a tenner that Lauren was currently shacked up with some bloke having a great time.
‘Have you rung 101 and reported her as missing?’
‘Yes, I did. They didn’t seem particularly interested.’
‘I’m sure they were. Have you spoken to her family and friends?’
The woman actually rolled her eyes at Lucy. ‘Yes, detective; do you not think that I would do that before I even bothered the police? I do understand how stretched you all are with the budget cuts, I appreciate that there is a lot of strain on your resources. But I’m telling you now that something is wrong. I’ve checked, and the last time she posted on Facebook was yesterday morning before she went to work. Even when she’s ill, Lauren likes to tell the whole world just how ill she is and what disease it is she’s suffering from. The same if she was going away or doing something like going to the corner shop. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve told her to stop telling the whole world her business.’
Lucy nodded. ‘Right, I see.’
‘No. I don’t think that you do. I know that you’re very busy and it’s terrible what has happened here. But if you could just take a look at it or ask someone else to when you go back to the station, I’d really appreciate it.’
‘Boss, can we get going now?’ Mattie was standing some distance away. Lucy turned to him and frowned.
‘Look, I’m really sorry about your friend,’ she said to Shannon. ‘What is Lauren’s full name?’
‘Lauren Coates; her birthday is the thirty-first of October 1990. Do you want the incident number they gave me?’
Lucy patted her pocket for her notebook and a pen, to scribble it down.
‘Yes please.’
‘It was log 241 of this morning.’
‘Thank you,’ Lucy said. ‘I’ll try my best to make some enquiries. I take it your contact details are all on the log?’
Shannon nodded.
‘I’m a bit up to my neck in it at the moment, so it might be one of my team who ring you back. Is that OK?’
‘I suppose so, but I’d rather it was you,’ Shannon said. ‘Something is very wrong and I don’t want to waste precious time when we could be out looking for her. When we were watching the news about that poor woman and her kid you tried to save, Lauren said that she liked you. She thought that if she ever needed help from the police, she hoped they’d send you because you were “kick-arse and wouldn’t take any shit”.’
Lucy laughed. ‘Did she, now? Well, I like the sound of Lauren. Leave it with me and as soon as I can, I’ll take a look into it.’
‘Thank you. I’m really scared that something bad has happened to her.’
‘Well, I’m pretty sure she’s just fine. Most missing persons turn up with their tails between their legs, not realising what a fuss they’ve caused.’
‘Yes, I suppose most of them do and I really hope that’s the case with Lauren. Thank you.’
Shannon turned and began to walk back towards the cordon. Lucy watched her go, then turned to speak with Mattie. Despite her reassuring words to the other woman, her stomach was churning. She felt that there may just be something very wrong about Lauren Coates’s disappearance.
Mattie raised his eyebrows. ‘Who was that? The press?’
She shook her head. ‘No. I wish it had been, it wouldn’t have been so bad.’
Mattie pulled a face.
‘I’ll tell you in the car,’ she said. ‘Come on, let’s get back to mine before those coffees are stone cold.’
Lucy walked towards Mattie’s car, feeling as if her head was about to explode with all the stuff going on inside it. Two bodies, one serious assault, and now a missing person who just happened to live in the same street as the assault and one of the murders. She would have a read of the missing person’s report and speak to the officer in charge, maybe even the sergeant. Then she could speak to Shannon Knowles and tell her that everything was all in hand. The last thing Lucy needed now was to get involved in a case that wasn’t even hers. Unless, of course, there was some connection. Then she would have to.
Lucy could feel a migraine beginning that wasn’t going to be pushed away with two paracetamol.
28
Lucy carried the coffees into her kitchen whilst Mattie ran upstairs to use the toilet. She took the huge slices of coffee cake out of the bag, put them onto two plates and got forks out of the drawer. She heard the toilet flush and Mattie come thundering down the stairs.
‘Did you wipe the seat?’ she asked as he entered the kitchen.
‘Of course.’
‘You’d better have; I hate it when you piss all over it.’
Mattie choked on the huge forkful of cake he’d just shoved into his mouth. ‘Lucy. Ladies don’t talk like that, and I’ve never done that in your house.’
She grinned. ‘No, but you do it in yours.’
He shrugged. ‘My home is my castle; it’s different there.’
‘Not when I sit on it.’
They both started to laugh. Lucy managed to finish her mouthful of cake without choking. ‘I don’t believe you; I’m going to check,’ she said. But she winked at him before she left the room.
She was pleased to see the toilet seat was still up. After she’d finished and come out onto the landing, she noticed her bedroom door was shut. She’d left it open. She knew that she had. She walked across and went into the room. Her bedside drawer was slightly open. She had definitely shut that. Opening the drawer further, she saw that her diary had been moved.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. Ellie, I’m not having this.
She stormed back downstairs. Mattie looked at her.
‘We need to go and call at George’s first,’ Lucy said. ‘I have to speak to Ellie.’
‘Whatever you say. You’re the boss.’
They drove to George’s large, detached house in silence. Lucy felt her heart strings tug when it came into view. She’d loved that house so much, and had cried when she’d left.
Mattie parked on the double drive and Lucy jumped out.
‘I’ll just wait here then, should I?’ Mattie said.
She didn’t answer him, but jogged up the steps to the front door and hammered loudly. The door opened and she pushed past George to go inside.
‘Where’s Ellie? I need to speak to her.’
She was dimly aware of George lifting his hand to wave at Mattie as she shouted up the stairs: ‘Ellie? Please can you come down here now? I need to speak to you!’
‘Lucy,’ George said, ‘I don’t know what’s wrong, but she’s only just come home from an induction at work.’
‘What do you mean, she’s been at work?’ Lucy frowned. ‘When did she get a job? Or more importantly, where did she get one?’
Ellie appeared at the top of the stairs in a fluffy pink dressing gown, a towel wrapped around her wet hair. ‘If you’d bothered to read the messages I sent you, then you’d know all about my new job.’
‘I’m at work,’ Lucy said, shortly. ‘I haven’t had the time. Look, Ellie, I don’t mind you coming home when I’m not in, but keep out of my bedroom. You know that’s the only room that’s off-limits. Have you been reading my diary?’ She was trying her best to keep calm, but her voice had risen sharply. Ellie was looking at her as if she was insane, which was even more infuriating.
‘I haven’t been in your stupid fucking house,’ Ellie said. ‘And why would I want to read your diary? All you do is work and drink; it’s not like you have anything exciting to write about. You come home stinking of dead bodies. Why would I want to read all about your sad, shitty life?’
Lucy watched as her daughter ran towards her bedroom, slamming the door shut behind her. All the anger she’d felt moments ago dissipated as her daughter’s words sank in. They hurt. Ellie was right: she did have a pathetic, sad, shitty life.
George took hold of her arm, leading her into the kitchen. He closed the door behind him and pointed to a chair, which
Lucy slumped in.
‘Bloody hell, Lucy, what’s wrong with you? She’s really tried today and wanted to make you proud of her. Do you know how upset she was when you didn’t even bother to message her back and congratulate her? Now you come here and pull this crap.’
‘I’m so sorry, George; I was called out again last night. There’s been another murder. I’m knackered, and then I went home and thought that she’d been rooting through my stuff instead of going to that shitty place for delinquents.’
‘Well she hasn’t been to “that shitty place for delinquents” because they told her she couldn’t go back until Wednesday. And anyway, it’s Saturday.’
Lucy stood up. ‘Can I go and apologise?’
The front door slammed and George looked even more uncomfortable than he already was.
‘Hello, darling,’ a voice called from the hallway. ‘You’re going to love what I’ve just bought for the baby.’
George began to shake his head, as if he wanted this whole mess to not be true. Rosie walked in. The smile on her face dropped when she saw Lucy standing there.
‘Hello, Rosie,’ Lucy said. ‘Congratulations. I’m leaving; I just popped in to see Ellie.’
Rosie nodded at Lucy, keeping her distance. She’d once got too close to Lucy the first time they’d ever met, and had ended up in a very unpleasant screaming match.
‘I’m sorry, George,’ Lucy said. ‘Please can you tell Ellie how sorry I am? I’ll ring her later when she’s calmed down a little.’
Lucy walked past them both, feeling like the worst mother in the world once more. Her heart ached to see Rosie standing in what had once been her kitchen, with her family. It was a shame, Lucy thought, that she wasn’t as good a mother as she was a detective. Solving crimes was easy compared to being a parent. Still, at least she could do her job now and find the killer who was currently on the loose. That way she would prove to herself that she wasn’t a complete loser.
She went outside and got in the car. Mattie took one look at her face and muttered, ‘Oh fuck, Lucy. What have you done now? Do you want to talk about it?’
He was greeted by a deadly silence.
‘I guess not. Come on, let’s go and see Alice. She’s always happy to see you, and she might be able to help with our case.’
29
OCTOBER 1975
Alice was awake, yet she couldn’t open her eyes. She was so tired. Had she dreamt last night or had it been real? Poor Tommy, being cornered in the shower room, to start with. Then there had been that single beam of light as someone had dragged something heavy towards the cemetery in the early hours of the morning.
She forced her eyelids to open and stared across at Tommy’s empty bed. His beloved scruffy bear was lying at the bottom of it. She decided she ought to grab it and keep it safe for him for when he came back from wherever it was they had sent him. Before she could move, though, she heard the familiar footsteps of Nurse Stone click-clacking down the corridor.
Alice pretended to still be asleep, watching the nurse through a tiny slit in her eyelids. The woman had a rubbish bag in her hand. She scooped up Tommy’s bear with one hand and threw it in.
Alice couldn’t help herself. She sat up. ‘Where’s Tommy?’
Nurse Stone turned to glare at her. ‘He’s unwell. They had to move him to the general in the early hours.’
‘What are you doing with his bear?’
‘I’m taking it with the rest of his stuff so that he has it when he wakes up.’
‘Are you sure you haven’t hurt him?’
Nurse Stone gave her a look of quiet fury. ‘Don’t talk utter rubbish, girl. Why would we want to hurt him? He’s only a child.’
Alice didn’t push her any further. Instead, she lay back on her arms and watched as Nurse Stone walked towards the ward exit with the rubbish bag in one hand and her handbag in the other. One of the porters was pushing the rubbish cart into the ward, and the nurse handed him the rubbish bag with Tommy’s bear inside it. He took it and threw it in with the rest of the crap.
Alice knew then that Tommy was never coming back. Whatever they’d done to him last night had killed him. Poor Tommy was probably lying stone cold dead somewhere. If only she could tell someone. But who would believe her? They would think she was trying to cause trouble. If only she could get out of here.
She heard a loud yawn come from Lizzy’s bed, and wondered if she should tell her what had just happened.
‘I’m starving,’ Lizzy said. ‘And what is that horrible screaming?’
Alice had been so absorbed in her thoughts, she hadn’t even noticed the screaming coming from the floor above them.
‘Oh, it’s just the real crazies upstairs,’ Alice said. ‘They always scream before they get their morning happy pills.’
Lizzy nodded. ‘Where’s Tommy? His bed is still empty.’
Alice shrugged. ‘He never came back.’
‘Oh.’
‘Look,’ Alice said, ‘the nurses this morning are nice, so make sure you eat everything they give to you. The witch has gone home, but she’ll be back at teatime. Some days she doesn’t even dish the food out, depending on what sort of mood she is in. She’ll leave it on the trolley so we can smell it, but we can’t eat it and no one dares to ask her for it because if you do, she won’t feed you the next time either. I don’t know why she does that because it tastes awful most of the time anyway, it’s not as if it’s something to look forward to. I only eat it to keep my strength up, and so should you.’
‘OK.’
* * *
Lizzy settled back down in her bed. She decided that she would do what Alice had said, because her mum or dad would surely be coming to get her today anyway. They wouldn’t leave her in this cold, smelly hospital with its mean nurses much longer, would they?
She tried to stand up so that she could go to the toilet, but she felt dizzy. She sat back down. She couldn’t take her eyes off Tommy’s empty bed. The nurses, who were gathered around the station in the middle of the room, were all watching her. She knew that they had been whispering about her – about what she’d done – when they’d thought she wasn’t listening. She didn’t care. Alice had told her to do what they said, and then she’d be all right, so she would. She didn’t want to get into any more trouble before her dad came to collect her. Hopefully it wouldn’t be long before he did, because now she wanted to go home more than ever. She wanted to sleep in her own bed and play with her own toys.
30
They drove to Alice’s house in a comfortable silence. Mattie liked that about Lucy. Some women chattered away, feeling the need to fill an empty void, but not her. She was quite happy to sit quietly, which he found refreshing.
He parked outside Alice’s small terraced house, which wasn’t too far away from the old pier. He inhaled the salty sea air. This part of town was run down. The majority of houses were all rented properties with a fast turnaround of tenants, some of them well known to the police. Alice had always lived here, though, and wouldn’t think about moving. Mattie knew for a fact it wasn’t for the lack of her daughter Beth trying.
The curtain moved and Alice peered at them through the glass. She waved, and Mattie waved back.
Lucy smiled for the first time since she’d left George’s house. ‘I like your aunt Alice. She’s one of life’s nice people. What you see is what you get. A lovely, kind, decent lady.’
‘Yeah,’ Mattie said. ‘Let’s just hope she doesn’t turn out to be our killer, then, because that will blow your theory right out of the water.’ He winked at her and began to laugh.
Lucy shook her head. ‘I can’t believe you just said that. You know, sometimes you’re a complete cock.’
The front door opened and Mattie stepped in first, kissing Alice on the cheek before going through to the kitchen to put the kettle on. He listened to Lucy and Alice talk as they followed him through.
‘How are you, Alice?’ Lucy was saying. ‘It’s so lovely to see you.’
&
nbsp; ‘And you, dear. I’ve been at work. Did Matthew tell you I have a job now?’
Lucy shook her head. ‘No, he didn’t. Everyone has jobs now, and I have no idea about any of them! That’s wonderful news. Are you enjoying it?’
‘Well, it’s harder work than I thought,’ Alice said, ‘and at fifty-six I did wonder if I was too old to learn, but the girls I work with are nice and it’s a little bit of pocket money for me.’
‘Right, the tea’s brewing,’ Mattie said.
Alice laughed. ‘You’re doing a cracking job of getting him trained up, Lucy. You two make such a nice couple; I can’t wait for the day that you both realise it and stop skirting around each other.’
Mattie felt himself flush as Alice crossed to take the teapot off him.
‘You sit down, I’ll finish off,’ she said. ‘You might make me ill if you carry on; I’m not used to it.’
Lucy began to laugh and Mattie stuck his tongue out at the pair of them. He sat down as requested, and waited whilst Alice poured the tea into pretty china teacups and passed them around.
‘Now,’ Alice said, ‘to what do I owe the pleasure of a visit from my favourite nephew?’
‘I’m your only nephew.’
‘Same thing, dear.’
It was Lucy who took the lead. ‘We have a very bad situation on our hands at the moment, Alice. There have been two murders and we think they’re connected, but we don’t know how. What we do know is that both of the victims worked at The Moore before it closed down.’
Alice crossed herself, then took a sip of her tea. She stared across the kitchen into space, as if she’d just been sent back to another time and place. Mattie wondered if they’d upset her. Finally, she composed herself and looked at them.
‘That was a bad place. A very bad place.’
