‘Have you found her?’
‘Can we come in please?’ Though the words were not forceful Jack’s actions were. Finishing his sentence, he swelled his chest and marched forward.
Toby Alexander moved to one side letting Jack brush past him.
Fabi followed into the oak-panelled hallway and Toby closed the door behind them. ‘Shall we go into the lounge?’ Toby said, extending an arm.
The room Jack and Fabi were shown into appeared dull and drab and smelt fusty. Heavy drapes covering the window hadn’t been fully opened, and the furnishings were dark wood and leather, adding to the dowdiness of the surroundings. Jack quickly scanned the room. The furniture was jaded but he knew it was antique; a writing bureau and an upright glass fronted book case crammed with old books that he identified as Georgian, and although not currently fashionable he guessed they must have cost the owner a packet. As he took another look around he couldn’t help but think how dreary and unfashionable the surroundings were, especially given how relatively young Toby Alexander was, and then he remembered Tammy Callaghan telling them that Toby had inherited the house from his parents and instantly the visual aspect made sense. Shifting his gaze to the open fire, straight away he was drawn to a large painting hanging above the mantelpiece. The picture was of an auburn, long-haired woman wearing a black silk kimono, standing by a set of French windows, bathed in warm sunlight. Her head was half-turned looking out into the garden, as if captivated by something she had seen or was just day-dreaming. Though the features weren’t clear because of the loose painting style, Jack couldn’t help but think that, in a mysterious way, she looked stunning. He found himself roaming his eye around the canvas. The painting and its subject had grabbed him.
‘That’s Carrie.’
Jack pulled back his gape and met Toby Alexander’s studious look.
Toby nodded back to the painting. ‘That’s my favourite of Carrie. It was the first one I did of her. I decided to keep it instead of putting it in the gallery.’ His eyes seemed to linger over it for a couple of seconds as if lost in thought. Then, dragging back his gaze he turned to the wall opposite.
Jack followed his look to where another six paintings hung. They were all figurative, and appeared to be of the same auburn-haired woman, in one of them she was nude, although she was elegantly portrayed reclining on a green velvet chaise lounge.
Toby continued, ‘Those are also my favourite of her.’
Jack gave each of these paintings the once-over, though he didn’t labour his eyes over any one of them like he had the one above the fireplace. Returning to Toby he muttered, ‘Very nice.’
Toby gave a half-smile and offered them the large Chesterfield sofa in front of the window overlooking the drive. He dumped himself down in a button-leather high-backed chair next to the fireplace, facing them.
Jack lowered himself onto the sofa but unexpectedly found himself sinking with the cushions, and he quickly shuffled sideways to the arm where he found the springs more supportive. He re-arranged his jacket and made himself comfortable.
Fabi set herself down close to the other arm. She opened up her folder and unclasped her pen.
Toby looked from one detective to the other. ‘Do you mind me asking? Who told you about Carrie?’
‘Told us what Mr Alexander?’
‘That she’s gone missing. I’m presuming that’s why you’re here?’ Then his face morphed into a look of concern. ‘Nothing’s happened to her has it?’
‘Jack shook his head, ‘We’re here because someone expressed their concern about her.’
‘Tammy. It’s Tammy isn’t it?’ he exclaimed with an edge of annoyance in his voice.
Keeping a straight face Jack responded, ‘Mrs Callaghan has reported to us that she has tried to make contact with Carrie over the past couple of days, but has been unable to do so. Therefore, she is concerned as to her whereabouts. Gathering by what you have just said I’m presuming she is missing and, if that is the case, then Mrs Gallagher has every right to be concerned and contact us.’
Toby huffed, ‘I didn’t mean it to come out like that. Course she has a right to be concerned, but I don’t think Carrie is missing as in “missing persons contact the police” sort of missing.
‘Well how do you define the meaning of her being missing?’
‘We had an argument. She got mad with me and drove off, and now she’s making me stew on things for a couple of days before she comes back. You’ll see.’
‘Have you been in touch with her then?’
‘No. She’s not answering her phone.’
‘So how do you know she’ll be back?’
Toby seemed to think on the question, all the time his mouth setting tighter and tighter. After several seconds of silence, he answered, ‘I don’t. I’m just hoping she will. She’s not taken anything with her. Her clothes are still in the wardrobe.’
‘When did she go missing?’
‘Last Sunday. Early hours, I think.’ He shrugged his shoulders.
‘You didn’t see her go then?’
He shook his head. ‘To be honest I’d had a good drink. We had an argument and when I woke up in the morning she’d gone. Taken her car. I tried ringing her but she wouldn’t answer. I left her a couple of messages but now I can’t get through at all. Her phone’s not even going to voicemail. It’s just dead.’
10
‘Did you have a fight Mr Alexander?’ asked Jack.
‘How do you mean fight?’
‘As in the physical sense. Did you come to blows?’
There was a split-second pause and then Toby answered, ‘No. We just rowed.’
Jack caught a brief flicker of Toby’s eyelids just before he answered. It was hardly noticeable but his years of experience told him it was something he should register. He mentally stored it and said, ‘What was your argument about Mr Alexander?’
His mouth pursed, ‘It was nothing really.’
‘Well Mrs Callaghan didn’t think it was nothing. She told us that you started it and that throughout the evening you had frequent digs at Carrie.’
Toby started fidgeting in his chair. ‘If you want to know things have been little fractious between us just lately. Carrie knows exactly what buttons to push to fire me up. She had a go at me about my art and I just snapped.’
Jack thought about Toby’s answer. Tammy Callaghan’s version of events had been different but he decided not to develop anything at the moment. He said, ‘When you say things have been fractious between you lately, what do you mean?’
‘Just that things have been a bit rocky of late between us.’ He let out an exasperated sigh, ‘Look, I make my living from art, especially painting the female form. The bank crash in two-thousand-and-eight was devastating for artists like me and it’s been a slow recovery ever since. It’s put a strain on things and I guess it’s got to me at times. When Carrie has a go at my art she’s having a go at the way I make my living. I know I shouldn’t react like I do, but I do. And Saturday night I’d had a drink. Probably too much to drink. I know it’s my fault we argued.’
Jack watched Toby’s face take on a look of mild-embarrassment. Nodding slowly, he said, ‘So you had an argument at Mr and Mrs Callaghan’s place and then Carrie drove you home. Did you argue in the car?’
Toby glanced up to the ceiling, studying the question. Then, returning his gaze he replied, ‘No, I don’t think so. I think I must have dropped off on the way home. To be honest I can just remember James helping me into the car and I can’t remember much else.’
‘What about when you got home?’
‘I said I don’t remember anything. When I woke up the next day Carrie had taken the car and gone.’
Jack again thought there was something worth registering about Toby’s look as he answered. Pushing himself forward he said, ‘Do you think she’s run away then Mr Alexander?’
‘I think that’s what she’s done. I think in a couple of days' time she’ll be back.’
�
��Is there anyone she’s likely to be staying with?’
‘Carrie’s from Australia. She hardly knows anyone here. The people she knows are the people I know, so I don’t think so. The only place I can think she’d likely to go to is James and Tammy’s and I’ve already spoken to them.’
‘Okay, we’ll need to take down a few details.’
‘Why? Do you think something’s happened to her?’
Jack threw him a phoney smile, ‘This is just procedure Mr Alexander – so we can circulate her details.’ Maintaining the sham pretence, he added, ‘Is Carrie Jefferies her full name?’
Looking thoughtful Toby nodded, ‘I’m saying it is, but to be honest I don’t know if she has any other names beside Carrie. I haven’t actually seen anything with her name on. We met eighteen months ago and we’ve been together just under twelve months. She modelled for me after we met at one of my exhibitions and we just hit it off. As I say Carrie’s from Australia. When we first met in London she told me she’d been made redundant from her job back home and was using some of the money to tour Europe which she’d always wanted to do.’
‘And whereabouts in Australia was home for Carrie?’
‘The exact place?’ He offered up a surprised look, ‘Do you know, again, I don’t actually know. She told me she came from New South Wales. Like I say, I’ve never seen anything with her name or address on it and I’ve never thought to ask her.’
‘Not seen her passport then?’
Toby seemed to think about the question for a few seconds then answered, ‘No I don’t recall seeing it. As far as I remember she’s never needed to prove who she is and I’ve never gone through her things.’
‘What about her family? Her friends?’
‘As far as I know she had no family. She told me her parents were dead and she’s never mentioned having brothers or sisters. I know she’s never been married.’ He paused before continuing, ‘Or at least that’s what she told me and I’ve no reason not to believe her. As to her friends, I can’t recall any names. I’ve heard her chatting on her mobile quite a few times and afterwards she’s told me it’s either one of her mates, or an ex-colleague who’s been asking after her, but as to any names I’m afraid not.’
‘Okay Mr Alexander no problems we’ll make a few phone calls. She’ll have had to register with the Border Agency when she came into the country. We’ll be able to get some information from her passport details to give us a starting point.’ Jack glanced across to Fabi who was busy making notes. He brought back his look to Toby, ‘Now you say she took her car?’
‘It’s actually my car. I bought it for her to use. It’s a mini. I’ve got the registration documents in a drawer in the kitchen.’
‘Good. We’ll be able to put a marker on it on the Police National Computer and then we can track it down the minute it uses a major road.’
Toby acknowledged with a nod.
‘What was she wearing the last time you saw her – Sunday wasn’t it you said?’
‘Well it was just after midnight on Saturday when we left James and Tammy’s so it would have been about half twelve when we got back here. As I say I can’t remember anything after that, but that night she went out dressed in a black and white striped jumper and a pair of black skinny jeans.’
‘Now what about a photograph of her so we can circulate what she looks like?’
Toby stroked his chin and gave back a considered look. Shaking his head, he replied, ‘I don’t have any of her.’
Jack screwed up his face, ‘Not one?’
Toby shook his head again, ‘Nope.’
‘Not even on your phone?’
‘No.’
Jack pointed to the large painting above the wall. ‘Didn’t you take any of her when you were painting her?’
‘No I’ve painted every picture of her from life. She’d pose for me for a couple of hours at a time. We’d do the paintings over several sessions and I’d finish them in my studio – put in bits of light effect here and there to give the painting its zing.’
‘What about social media.’
‘As far as I know she never used it. The only time she went on the computer was to do some online shopping.’
Jack took another look at the paintings and quickly determined that none of them had enough detail in the face to enable their use in a missing person’s circulation. An idea popped into his head. ‘What about her driving licence or her passport?’
‘She’ll have her driving licence with her in her bag. I don't know where her passport is. I think she carries that around with her.’
‘You say you’ve tried ringing her mobile?’
Toby nodded. ‘Yes, but like I say she’s either turned it off or it’s dead.’
‘Have you got her number?’
Toby reached into his pocket and pulled out his mobile. Searching his contacts, he brought up Carrie’s mobile number and showed it to Fabi. She copied the number onto her report.
‘We’ll be able to do a location search now we’ve got this. We should be able to find her.’
Toby’s expression signified hopefulness.
Jack pushed himself up from the sofa. ‘We’ve got everything we can get for now Mr Alexander. There’s just one more thing we need to do before we leave you in peace, and again, this is just procedure. We need to do a quick search of the place, just for my own piece of mind.’ The grin Jack shot Toby was once again false. Intended to make Toby think that he shouldn’t be worried about anything, but hidden behind Jack’s smile was suspicion, and as he straightened and took another look at Carrie’s portrait above the fire he couldn’t help but think that things were not quite right.
11
Jack and Fabi sat in the CID car watching Toby Alexander close the porch door.
‘Not much to go on,’ said Fabi staring out through the windscreen.
Toby Alexander remained in the porch, watching them.
Jack played with his bottom lip, ‘I’m not happy about this one bit. There were a few times when I was questioning him I caught a hesitancy before he answered. I can’t put my finger on what it was but mark my words there’s something not right here.’ He turned over the engine, revved gently and pulled away slowly. As he coasted down the drive he looked back through his rear view mirror, Toby was still there, watching. He continued, ‘There’s no sign in that house that she made any preparations to leave. Her clothing’s all there. Her toothbrush is still in the bathroom and most importantly all her lotions and make up are still on the dressing table. You tell me what woman would do a runner without their makeup.’
‘Ooh Jack Buchan, you sexist.’ Fabi grinned to show him she was only joking.
‘Something I was taught at detective training school – look at everything, leave nothing unturned, challenge everything, and it’s always stayed with me and that’s why I say that.’
‘What next then?’
‘We need to find out who else knows her, beside Toby and the Callaghans. We’ll speak to Tammy again and see if she can help. We’ll also get the car circulated, see if we can get any sightings of it. And, we need to e-mail the techie people and feed them her mobile number and see if they can get a location of it for us. Finally, for now, we make some enquiries with The Border Agency and just check she’s not left the country. Though, my guess is she won’t have, so we’ll also see what information they’ve got on her which will help fill in the gaps.’
‘Back to the station then?’
Turning out of the driveway onto the single track road Jack replied, ‘After a little diversion. I need to let my dog out into the garden because you and I will not be home on time today. We’ve got quite a bit of work ahead of us.’
***
On the way back to Penzance Jack pulled off the narrow winding road and followed the sign to Mousehole, where, on entering the village of Paul, he deviated right off the main street and into a side road, reducing his speed as he pulled towards the kerb. As the offside tyres scraped the edge of the pavement
he braked, set the handbrake and turned off the engine.
Fabi eyed the front of the detached stone cottage they had stopped outside, with its original wooden windows and white four-panelled door. ‘This yours?’ she asked.
‘My humble abode,’ he replied getting out of the car.
‘Beautiful,’ she responded following him onto the footpath.
Inserting the key in the lock Jack called back over his shoulder, ‘Don't mind dogs do you Fabi?’
‘I love dogs. We had one when I was a kid. A golden lab –Honey. She died when I was fourteen. I think about her from time to time and I’d love to have another dog but my lifestyle wouldn’t be fair on it.’
He turned the key and pushed open the front door. Instantly a brown and white Springer Spaniel darted through the gap launching itself at its master’s legs. Jack bent down, ruffled its neck fur, shepherding the dog backwards into the hall while still fussing it. ‘Meet Mollie’ he said without looking up. As soon as Fabi stepped over the threshold the dog turned its attention to her, targeting her with its big brown eyes, feverishly wagging its tail.
‘My, you’re a cutie,’ Fabi said, fondling the Springer’s ears as it brushed against her.
‘She’ll have you doing that all day,’ Jack half-laughed. ‘I’ll let her out in the garden and stick the kettle on. You make yourself comfortable.’ He chinned towards a room on the left and pulled Mollie away from his colleague. ‘Come on girl,’ he called heading to the kitchen.
As the Springer scampered away Fabi pushed open the door and stepped into a small, but bright and inviting lounge. It had a low beamed ceiling, polished wooden floor, partially covered by a floral pattern rug, cream plaster walls and a feature log burner set in an open hearth. It was simply furnished with two, two-seater sofas set around a light oak coffee table, which she couldn’t help but notice was untidily littered with an array of photographs and magazines. More photographs were scattered across the cushions of one of the sofas. Intrigued, she picked up a handful and began leafing through them. In almost every photo a much younger Jack was posing with an attractive brunette. She diverted her gaze and viewed several of the other photographs on the coffee table. These were similar in nature – Jack with the pretty brunette, but in different settings and in different locations. A lot of them appeared to be holiday snaps. Jack looked to be between his late twenties to late thirties, and she couldn’t help smiling to herself as she ran her eyes over them. His sandy coloured hair hadn’t changed much, especially its wavy, collar-length, untidy looking style, though a little grey had crept into the temples since these had been taken. And he had put on some weight. Looking at one of a beach location, in which she guessed he was early thirties, Jack was well toned, with a flat stomach. Now he was a lot broader and his stomach had developed a slight paunch. The sparkle in his intense blue eyes hadn’t changed though. She was just thinking to herself ‘quite a handsome man in your time’ when the door opened and in trotted Mollie followed by Jack holding out two steaming mugs. Still clasping the handful of photographs, she couldn’t stop herself blushing – as if she’d been caught out doing something she shouldn’t be doing. She responded, ‘I was just looking through your photo’s – I hope you don’t mind?’
Chasing Ghosts: A Detective Jack Buchan Novel Page 4
