Like False Money

by Penny Grubb

  The refit of the sixth-floor landing was complete. Annie paused to look round at the bright walls, the fresh new paint, the polished glass panels in the partition. She felt a compulsion to savour it. What must the residents feel who were in and out every day? Was it better or worse to see how it could be when they knew what it would be like tomorrow night?

  Annie knocked at the door of the flat. It swung open and Mrs Earle stood in front of her. Music and colour pulsed out. She recognized the light glaze of alcohol in Mrs Earle’s eyes but nothing else was familiar. Everything shone with bright colours, including Mrs Earle who was dressed in yards of flowered material, her hair packed on her head and studded with glittery baubles. The flat was full of people, all shapes and sizes. She’d arrived in the middle of a party.

  ‘Come in. Come in.’ Mrs Earle’s tone was effusive as she grabbed Annie’s arm and pulled her inside.

  Annie stared at the gleaming polish on the furniture, the fresh smell of the place, the way everything was ordered, making it a homely welcoming space. She found herself surrounded by grinning faces and almost knocked off balance as a gang of small children raced through the throng at knee-height on some mission of their own.

  ‘Have a drink. Have a drink.’ A giant glass of layered blue and purple liquid was thrust into her hand. Her other hand was enveloped in a huge hot palm. The meaty fingers closed around hers.

  She looked up at Mrs Earle’s burly brother who gave her an uneven-toothed grin as he raised her hand above her head and shouted over the din. ‘This is the one what did it. Cleared ’em out. And not a scrap of muscle on her.’ He pinched her upper arm and laughed. ‘Friends in ’igh places, eh, love?’

  Annie laughed back and surreptitiously pushed the garish glass behind a pot plant on a shelf at her side. So the refit was of lasting duration. She felt her face crease to a grin as she realized what had happened. Vince had stepped in here. Of course he had. The refit was his bribe to the sixth-floor residents to keep them quiet. He’d provided his favourite nephew with a sophisticated setup in that top flat and the guy had jeopardized it with some amateurish dealing on his own doorstep. Vince must have been livid. She had no desire to know the detail because she wouldn’t like Vince’s methods no matter how cheerful the outcome.

  ‘I know you’ve come for your money, love.’ Mrs Earle was at her elbow again. ‘And you’ve earned it. I’ll be honest, I didn’t think you ’ad a cat in hell’s chance of shifting them, but fair do’s.’ As she thrust a slim wad of notes into Annie’s hand, a sly smile slid across her features. ‘It’s a bit short,’ she said, ‘but you can call round in a week or two and I’ll have the rest.’

  Annie returned the false smile as she pocketed the money. She wouldn’t be back. She knew it and Mrs Earle knew it.

  A blood-curdling shriek made her jump. Two small children battled briefly round her legs and then raced off. Mrs Earle smiled fondly after them. ‘Just look at them bairns. Having the time of their little lives, bless ’em.’

  As she sauntered across the sixth-floor lobby to the lift bay on her way out, Annie looked round. Someone else would move in and wreck the place she supposed, but maybe not for a long time. Whatever was in her pocket was all the cash she’d get and however much it came to was that much more than Pat expected out of the job.

  She shunned the stairs and jabbed the lift call button. It was no penance to wait on this landing now. Good result.

  Her phone rang as she drove across the city. She fiddled to attach the hands-free and took a quick look at the screen. Tina Hain.

  ‘Hi Tina. Has she turned up?’

  ‘No, she hasn’t.’ The tension in Tina’s voice made Annie decide to pull over to take the call. ‘No one knew she’d gone till I called in. Kay’s mother called the aunt but she hasn’t seen her. She’s been away. She’s only just back. Laura wouldn’t have bargained on that.’

  ‘But you’ve got to get the police.’

  ‘Don’t worry, that’s the first thing we did.’

  ‘What did they say? Do they know what’s happened?’

  ‘They still think she’s done her usual stunt, but had to hide out somewhere with the aunt being away. They think she’ll turn up there if she doesn’t turn tail and come home. They’re talking to anyone who talked to Laura at the weekend.’

  That nearly included her and Pat. Something nagged at Annie, but she couldn’t bring her thoughts into line. The awful notion dawned that Laura’s e-mail might have had a role in her decision to bolt. Was she hanging about all Sunday waiting for a reply?

  ‘Have you any idea if she planned it before her parents went, or if something happened to trigger it after they left?’

  ‘Oh, it was planned OK. And planned to disrupt her parents’ trip, too, but she overplayed her hand. I think Kay was supposed to notice she’d gone and raise the alarm before they left, but of course she was ill.’

  Annie didn’t follow Tina’s reasoning. ‘What d’you mean?’

  As Tina explained, Annie tried to remember what she’d assumed and why. Someone had told her Laura’s parents left on Sunday. She’d made assumptions, hadn’t dug out the detail. It matters. Something hammered at her. She listened to Tina tell her how the Tunbridges made this trip every year. They always left early on Sunday morning. Laura was taken to whichever friend was to have her and goodbyes were said on Saturday afternoon. No one now was quite clear when the Tunbridges thought the handover had taken place, but they’d clearly got on with their packing and preparation on Saturday evening assuming Laura was tucked up in her temporary berth.

  ‘I’m sure she expected either the Dearloves or Colonel Ludgrove to ring her parents on Saturday night to say she hadn’t turned up, but however it happened, everyone thought she was somewhere else. She hasn’t been seen by anyone since Kay carried on down the railway to come back here and Laura cut across the fields supposedly to go to Mally’s.’

  ‘Oh my God, but me and Pat saw her and Kay riding down the railway.’

  ‘I suppose you should tell the police then, but there’ll be no shortage of witnesses to them riding out. It’s where the little minx went next that we need to know. I shouldn’t be too hard on her. She’ll be scared to death after being out at night in the open. She’ll never do it again after this. But really, Annie, there’s no need to worry too much. She’s safe with Boxer. Even if she gets lost, he won’t. And now we’re out looking for her, she’ll be found in no time.’

  ‘OK, well, thanks for letting me know. Will you ring me the minute she’s found? I don’t care what time it is.’

  Annie set off again for Pat’s, but it took no more than a couple of minutes for the clamour that whirled in her mind to spiral down into a terrible spike of fear. She screeched the car to a halt as though Laura herself had stepped out into the road. The front wheel bumped up the kerb and rolled back. She felt the jolt, felt her jaw drop as she worked it out.

  Last seen Saturday lunchtime? It was now late Monday afternoon.

  Terry Martin … Charles Tremlow … For two days and a bit they’d vanished from sight and then they’d died.

  Laura Tunbridge had been missing for two days already.

  CHAPTER 26

  ANNIE LEAPT UP the stairs to the apartment, burst through the outer door and dived straight into the living room. She stopped, taking in the scene in front of her.

  Barbara, on all fours, hung over a swathe of paperwork spread out on the floor around her. Pat balanced awkwardly over the edge of the settee to watch her sister.

  Barbara shot Annie a hostile glare. ‘Oh, it’s you.’

  ‘Well, don’t take it out on her,’ Pat snapped. ‘She’s the one who uncovered it.’

  They both turned their attention back to the mass of documents.

  ‘See there … and there …’

  ‘Where? Move your hand. I can’t see. Is that…?’

  Annie’s gaze ran across the complex mass of papers, tables of figures, lists, dense official-looking text. She couldn’t t
ake it in, didn’t know how to cut through it with her own news.

  ‘Uh … Hi … sorry …’ She spoke without direction, without expecting to be heard as she picked her way across the paper maze and headed for the sanctuary of her room.

  Telling Pat wasn’t the priority. It could wait. But what she’d worked out couldn’t. She clicked through her phone for Jennifer’s number.

  You have reached the voicemail of …

  Shit! Should she leave a message? What to say? She ended the call before Jennifer’s voicemail message finished. She had to call Scott. There was no alternative.

  ‘Annie?’ His voice was guarded, cold.

  ‘Scott? It’s about Laura Tunbridge. She’s missing.’

  ‘Yes, we know that.’ His tone was measured. ‘We’re already dealing with it.’

  ‘Yes, but it’s linked.’

  He didn’t try to hide a heavy sigh. ‘How do you mean, Annie?’

  ‘To Terry Martin and Charles Tremlow. And maybe the woman on the cliff too, I don’t know. But—’

  He interrupted, his tone curt. ‘Do you have information about Laura Tunbridge that we need to know?’

  ‘Well … I’m not sure … I …’ She should have rehearsed this. ‘I just want you to know you have to take it seriously.’

  ‘Annie, when a twelve-year-old girl goes missing, especially for this length of time, we take it seriously. Have you any new information?’

  ‘No, but—’

  ‘Do you know where Laura is?’

  ‘No, but—’

  ‘Then keep your nose out and let us do our job. OK?’

  Before she could articulate a response, he ended the call. She thumped the bed in frustration. He hadn’t understood. None of them realized the urgency. Anger at Scott mixed with the fear she’d be proved right. She must go out to Milesthorpe, find someone who’d listen to her, find something that would show she was right. But she’d looked for Terry Martin’s missing days in Milesthorpe and found nothing. Where to head for, where to focus? She fell back on to the bed, hands over her face trying to find a way through.

  The ring of her phone shot her back upright. Jennifer!

  ‘I’ve spoken to Scott, Annie. I’m sorry I missed your call. I’m supposed to keep my phone off at the moment, but listen, you mustn’t worry. We’ll find her.’ Jennifer’s tone was kinder than Scott’s, but it wasn’t kindness she needed.

  ‘But Jennifer, you need to think about the others. There’s a link. Laura’s been gone for two days just like they were.’

  ‘We won’t leave any stone unturned. We’re on the case here. Now, I don’t want you to pass this on to anyone, but it might help set your mind at rest. She’s done this before.’

  ‘I know that, but it’s two days, Jennifer.’

  ‘She was out all night the first time.’ Jennifer sounded annoyed at how much Annie already knew.

  ‘Yes, but she was safe at her aunt’s. This is different.’

  ‘The only reason she hasn’t been found is that no one’s been looking.’

  ‘Jennifer, listen to me. There’s more to it. How could she possibly stay hidden for two whole days?’

  ‘No Annie, you listen to me. I know you don’t mean any harm, but you haven’t gone into the detail of this. On previous occasions she’s gone to great lengths to hide.’

  ‘But Jennifer, two days?’

  ‘Did you know about the time they knew she’d set off for her aunt’s? They tried to catch her on the way and they couldn’t. These are people who know the area and knew where she was going. She managed to avoid them. She knows the countryside round here. She’s done pony treks. She’s been all over the place with those other girls. It might not look a huge area but there are all the big country estates, Burton Constable, Wassand, all round the Mere, the old army ranges. Without anyone actively looking for her, she’ll have found it easier to hide than she bargained on, but she’s bullheaded. We’ve talked to a lot of people. She’ll stay under cover for sheer obstinacy.’

  ‘But two days, Jennifer. Someone should have seen her.’ Annie heard the plea in her tone, knew that Jennifer’s logic had won the argument. It made no odds. The certainty knotted tighter inside her.

  ‘Chances are plenty of people have seen her,’ Jennifer went on. ‘But no one’s given it a second thought. A girl on a pony. She’s probably been seen by people who know her, but why would they bother? She hasn’t officially been missing. Listen, Annie, I don’t mean to be unkind, but melodramatics aren’t going to help anyone, much less Laura.’

  Annie admitted defeat. Jennifer said all the right things and she supposed she and her colleagues did all the things they should, but underlying it all was the conviction they had it wrong. They wouldn’t find Laura.

  She felt bleak as she clicked off the phone and trailed back into the living room where the scene was more chaotic than when she’d left it a few minutes ago.

  ‘Ah yes, Annie …’ Pat looked up.

  Annie took her chance while she had Pat’s attention and dived into the conversation to tell her about Laura.

  A troubled expression flashed across Pat’s features. ‘Tunbridge? Sorry, I should have said when you first came in. I was tied up in this lot. There’s a message.’

  A sudden rush within her had Annie gulp in a breath. ‘What do you mean? Has Laura been in touch?’ Apprehension churned her stomach. This could be very good or very bad.

  ‘It’s on the answer-phone.’

  Annie dived for the machine.

  It was Laura’s father asking for Annie by name. ‘We’re on our way back. We want you to take on a case for us. It’s urgent. We’re not satisfied with the police investigation. Please ring as soon as you get this message.’

  They’d sensed it too. No doubt the police had been more tactful with Laura’s parents than Jennifer had been with her, but they were her parents. They knew Laura. They’d have sensed the misdirection at the core of it.

  Mrs Tunbridge answered her call. Annie heard the worry in every word she spoke. The background noise of traffic came through too. She hoped they’d drive carefully.

  ‘We’re on our way back. We’ll be a couple of hours at least. I don’t believe she’s run off this time. She wouldn’t stay out this long. You must help. We don’t care what it costs. I have a terrible feeling about this.’

  ‘I’ll do everything I can. Is there anything you can tell me, anything that might help? When did you last speak to her?’

  ‘It was when she rang on Saturday afternoon to say she was at the Dearloves and they were all going out.’

  At the Dearloves? But Kay had already been tucked up in bed ill on Saturday afternoon. Laura had made that up. Where had she really called from?

  ‘We know now she wasn’t there. We’ve been in touch with her friends, with anyone who might know where she is. That’s how we got your number. Laura talked about you. She trusted you. The police said they can trace the phone records to see where she rang from on Saturday, but it’s no good. She’ll have used her mobile. Listen, we want you on the spot. You’re to use our house as a base. We leave a key with a friend in the village, that’s how the police got in, but we’ve rung and told her to let you have the key. She knows you. Doris Kitson. The police have been into our house and searched already, but I’d be happier to know you’d done it too.’

  She wouldn’t find Laura there. But a base with a landline was a good idea. She thought of the e-mail.

  ‘Can I check her PC?’

  ‘Of course. Hers is the bedroom on the right at the top of the stairs. The police may have taken it. You don’t think she’s met someone on the internet, do you? We warned her time and again about that sort of thing.’

  ‘No, I don’t think it’s anything like that. But I’d like to check her e-mails.’ Annie thought of the e-mail to Pat – minimal. Maybe Laura had been more verbose to a close friend.

  Annie gave Pat as good an explanation as she could in the few seconds it took to grab the car keys and
dive back out of the apartment. She accelerated along the now familiar route out of Hull and swung the car off the main road. The quickest route to Milesthorpe was on the back roads. Wind buffeted the car as the storm that had been threatening to break the heat-wave rumbled low overhead. The sky darkened and the air grew heavy.

  She headed straight for the prosperous outskirts of the village. Doris would have planted herself at the heart of the drama and be waiting at the Tunbridges’ house, Annie was sure.

  There were no lights at this end of the village. She had to slow as she peered into the dark looking for the turning into their lane.

  Suddenly, a figure was in the road in front of her, its arms waving.

  Annie slammed her foot down on the brake. Shock coursed through her. She jerked up the handbrake and scrambled to untangle her seat belt as she leapt from the car.

  ‘What the hell…? Mally? Mally, what are you doing? I nearly ran into you.’

  Mally’s face was tight with emotion. Her hair blew across it in the strengthening wind. ‘You got to help me. You’ve got to. It’s not my dad. It’s nothing to do with my dad.’

  ‘Calm down, Mally. Of course I’ll help you. What is it? Come on, get in the car and we’ll go to Laura’s house.’

  Mally knew something. She must keep her here, keep her safe, get her to the official enquiry. Jennifer … Scott …

  ‘No.’

  As Annie reached out to put a reassuring hand on the girl’s arm, Mally backed off. Annie looked into her eyes as a gust of wind spiralled round them. Mally pushed the hair out of her face and shot Annie a hostile stare. ‘I won’t. They’ll stop me. I’ll go by myself if you won’t come with me. It isn’t my dad; they all think it’s my dad.’

  Annie knew what had nagged at the back of her mind when Tina had said, ‘They’re talking to anyone who talked to Laura.’ She remembered Mally’s outburst when she heard her dad had been seen talking to Laura. But wasn’t he supposed to be away? The police needed to talk to Mally’s father. They all think it’s my dad. Hadn’t he been involved in a surreptitious visit to the ex-marital home? Someone had told Doris he’d been seen entering the house next door to Tremlow’s, but, by the time she’d hurried round, he’d gone. There was more to this.