by Alex Lake
No. He had wrapped the body in a tarpaulin, weighted it down, and tied it closed. There was no way she could have escaped.
Yet you read about stranger things, about people crawling out of the mass graves at Nazi concentration camps, or surviving at sea on a raft for a thousand days.
It didn’t seem possible, but it would fit.
But then why would she have involved Claire? Why not simply go to the police? Even if she had escaped, impersonating Henry Bryant seemed so unlikely.
And she had not escaped. She was dead when he dragged her from the car on to the tarpaulin. He knew she was. He had seen her eyes grow dull, felt her body slacken. There was no way she had tricked him. He had watched her die.
That was why it had been such a thrill.
So there was something else. There had to be. And he would find it.
He glanced at his watch. It had been twenty minutes since Simpson had left. He needed to call the police, then get in touch with Mick. If he delayed any longer, he might ask why, and Alfie did not need any awkward questions.
He picked up his phone.
iv
‘What the hell do you mean?’ Mick said. ‘She was having an affair with someone?’
Alfie had called Mick and told him he had news and they needed to talk, but it would be better in person. Mick had tried to get him to spill the beans on the phone but Alfie had stuck to his guns.
Alfie gestured at the computer screen. ‘I found this.’
‘You read her emails?’
‘Simpson – the guy you sent – suggested it. He thought there might be useful information there.’
Mick clicked on the most recent email and read the thread. As he did, his expression softened.
‘Jesus,’ he muttered. ‘This is ridiculous.’ He looked at Alfie. ‘I’m sorry. I can’t believe she’s been stupid enough to do something like this. You deserve better.’
‘Maybe, but I’m not thinking about that now. I just want her back.’
‘Then you’re a better man than me. Daughter or not, if this was my wife I’d never want to see her again.’
‘I love her, Mick.’
‘You must do.’ He turned away from the screen. ‘So you think she’s with this guy Bryant?’
‘It seems so.’ Alfie stood up and paced the room. ‘There’s more, Mick. It gets worse.’
‘Worse than this? What is it?’
‘Henry Bryant was also seeing a friend of Jodie’s. Pippa. Claire only knew her in passing.’
‘Fucking hell,’ Mick said. ‘What is it with these women? It’s like they’re back in the sixth form.’
‘That’s not the bad part,’ Alfie said. ‘Pippa disappeared a week ago.’
Mick’s head shot up. He looked at Alfie, his eyes narrowed. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I got this from Jodie, so I don’t know the whole story, but Henry Bryant had broken up with Pippa at some point and she’d more or less moved in with Jodie. I gather she’s a bit unstable.’ He knew this was a detail Mick would like. ‘But anyway, Bryant got back in touch with her and they went on a date – and she’s not been seen since.’
‘You think he did something to her?’
‘I don’t know. But I don’t like the idea of Claire being with him.’
Mick rubbed his temples. He suddenly looked like an old man, the aura of uncompromising strength falling away.
‘God,’ he said. ‘My poor girl. You said you called the police?’
Alfie nodded. ‘They’re sending someone over.’
‘OK. You want me here when they come?’
‘I think so,’ Alfie said. ‘That would be good.’
The police arrived an hour later: a woman in her fifties who introduced herself as Detective Inspector Wynne, and her colleague, another woman, maybe twenty years younger, who gave her name as Detective Sergeant Lawless.
‘Funny name for a cop,’ Mick said.
DS Lawless smiled a thin smile. Alfie guessed she had been told that on more than a few occasions. She looked at Mick, and Alfie took advantage of her attention being elsewhere to let his eyes move over her face and body. She was pretty, although she looked tired, and she clearly kept herself in good shape. Good body, nice backside. Under other circumstances, he might have been interested in a more intimate relationship with her, but not while he was supposed to be a worried husband.
He looked up to see DI Wynne watching him. He stared down at his hands.
‘My dad was a judge,’ DS Lawless said. ‘Judge Lawless. I think the careers adviser had a sense of humour.’
DI Wynne leaned forward. ‘So,’ she said, her voice low and steady, her vowels flat. ‘Your wife is missing?’
Alfie nodded. ‘You’re not from here?’
‘Warrington,’ DI Wynne said. ‘I moved south. Temporary thing. They needed some reinforcements down here. But your wife? Could you walk us through what happened?’
Alfie explained it all: how Claire had gone out to dinner with some clients, and how she had not been there when he woke up.
And how he had found the emails from Henry Bryant, and how Henry Bryant had been going out with a woman called Pippa who had moved in with a woman called Jodie Pierce who was friends with Claire.
And how Pippa had disappeared and Jodie was – so Alfie had been told – freaking out about it.
DI Wynne glanced at DS Lawless. ‘Do we have contact details for Ms Pierce?’ she said.
DS Lawless nodded.
‘We’ll need to talk to her,’ DI Wynne said. ‘As soon as we’ve finished here.’ She looked at Alfie. ‘Did Mrs Daniels mention who the clients were?’
Alfie shook his head. ‘She just said she had to go to dinner.’
‘Would she normally do that? Or would she give the name?’
‘She might,’ Alfie said. ‘But not necessarily.’
‘You mentioned the dinner was arranged at the last minute?’ DS Lawless said. ‘Which was presumably out of the ordinary?’
‘Yes,’ Mick said. ‘But there was no dinner. It was an excuse. We already know that.’
‘We do,’ DI Wynne said. ‘But we’re trying to go step by step. It helps us. I apologize for any inconvenience.’
‘Fine,’ Mick muttered. ‘Carry on.’
‘I think it might be time to look at the emails,’ DI Wynne said. ‘Could I see them?’
‘Of course,’ Alfie said. He gestured at the computer. ‘Her account is open. There are three from Bryant. You can see Claire’s responses if you open them.’
DI Wynne and DS Lawless read the emails. After a few minutes, DI Wynne moved the cursor to the Sent Items folder and clicked on it.
There was one more email, from Claire to Bryant. Wynne opened it.
From: Claire Daniels
To: Henry Bryant [email protected]
Subject: Re: Tonight?
Yes, it is more than I bargained for. I think we may have to do something about it soon. Claire, XOXO
‘Hmm,’ DI Wynne said. ‘Interesting.’
DS Lawless looked at her. ‘Why so, boss?’
‘Perhaps their relationship is more established than we thought. There may be a simple explanation, Mr Daniels. They may have gone away together – for a few days, weeks, months – and have decided to ignore any attempts to contact them.’
That, Alfie knew, was not what had happened, because Henry Bryant did not exist, but he could hardly tell DI Wynne that. ‘What about Pippa?’ he said. ‘She disappeared too, and she had been seeing Bryant. If he was …’ He looked away. ‘If he was in love with Claire, he’d hardly be seeing Pippa on the side.’
‘Yes,’ DI Wynne said. ‘That is odd.’ She got to her feet. ‘I think we ought to talk to Ms Pierce.’
‘Aren’t you going to look around the house?’ Mick said.
DI Wynne raised an eyebrow. ‘Do you think Mrs Daniels is here somewhere?’
‘No,’ Mick said. ‘But maybe there’s some … you could get the forensic people in.’
> ‘There’s no evidence a crime has been committed here,’ DI Wynne said. ‘Unless you are suggesting that Mr Daniels may have something to do with your daughter’s disappearance?’
‘Not at all,’ Mick said. ‘I just want to be sure you lot are doing whatever you can.’
‘We are,’ DI Wynne said, and looked at DS Lawless. ‘OK. Time to go.’
‘I’ll call Jodie and tell her you’re on your way,’ Alfie said.
DI Wynne shook her head. ‘No,’ she said. ‘It would be better if you didn’t do that, Mr Daniels.’
v
Jodie called ninety minutes later.
‘Hey,’ she said, slightly breathless. ‘I had the cops here until five minutes ago.’
‘Yes,’ Alfie said. ‘They were here first. What did they ask?’
Alfie was interested to know what they were thinking – whether they thought he was a suspect, or whether they were starting to come to the conclusion that Claire was in trouble. It was an odd feeling – it was as though this was a trial run and he was finding out whether his plan would have worked, whether he could have killed Claire and tricked the police into looking for the fictitious Henry Bryant. If he found out he could, though, there was little he could do with the knowledge, since this was not a trial run.
He had no idea what it was.
‘I’ll get to that,’ Jodie said. ‘But what’s changed? Why are they involved? I asked, but they were very cagey. They said I should call you.’
‘It’s … it’s not great, Jodie.’
‘What’s going on?’
‘Claire was – it looks like she was seeing someone. I found some emails.’
‘Oh my God,’ Jodie said. ‘I don’t believe it. Alfie, I—’
‘There’s more. The emails were from Henry Bryant.’
There was a long silence. ‘Pippa’s Henry Bryant?’
‘I think so.’
‘What were the emails about?’
‘Dates. And how their relationship was getting out of control. Their feelings for each other.’
‘This is ridiculous,’ Jodie said. ‘I don’t believe this. It explains what the police were asking me, though. They were interested in whether I thought Claire had been having an affair.’
‘Did they mention Bryant?’
‘No. They kept it more general. They wanted to know whether I thought she might have had any affairs during your marriage. I said no, Alfie. And I was telling the truth. She loves you, and she’s been faithful. I know she has.’
‘It doesn’t look that way,’ Alfie said.
‘There’s some other explanation. The more I think about it, the more certain I am.’
‘What else did they want to know?’
‘If you two had a good marriage. If Claire had ever talked to me about problems between you. Arguments, that kind of thing.’
‘And?’
‘And I said no. All she’s ever said about you is how much she loves you and how lucky she is to have you. That’s how I know she’s not having an affair. She wouldn’t have lied to me.’ Jodie sniffed and Alfie realized she was crying. ‘She’s my friend, Alfie, and she hasn’t been deceiving me – or you. She’s not capable of it.’
‘People aren’t always what they seem,’ Alfie said.
‘Not Claire. No way. And they stopped asking about you and her. They moved on to Pippa. They became very interested in her. I told them what I know, which isn’t much. I gave them her laptop. I think they think Pippa and Claire are linked, and that can’t be good. I’m getting really worried.’
‘Me too,’ Alfie said. ‘Me too.’
Alfie sat on the sofa. On the television, a cricket match unfolded. He wasn’t paying attention, but he liked the noise in the background. Without it, the silence was oppressive. Both Mick and Jodie had offered to stay with him but he had told them he wanted to be alone. As far as they were concerned, he was dealing with both a missing wife and the discovery that his wife had been cheating on him. It was no wonder he wanted some time to himself.
Which he did, because he had no idea what was going on and he needed to think. The problem was he didn’t know what to think about. All he knew was that Claire was gone and someone was impersonating Henry Bryant, and Alfie could only think of one reason why.
It was, at best, the beginnings of an explanation, but it was all he had. It was possible someone was using a fake identity to target women, but, instead of inventing their own, they had simply stolen someone else’s. It made sense; you could go on a hook-up website, find a profile that looked promising and borrow it. Then, when you met the women, you would use that name and no one would know who you really were. It was an easy way to hide your identity.
Yes, it was a coincidence that ‘Henry Bryant’ was the identity someone had stolen, but not that much of a coincidence. Henry was a good one to target – young, a doctor, the photo didn’t show his face – so in a way it was no surprise.
At least he had a theory that worked. Someone was using Henry Bryant as a cover, and in doing so they had met Claire.
Now that was a surprise. He’d have sworn blind Claire was faithful to him and that, if she ever wasn’t, it would be because she fell in love with someone. He would never have even contemplated the thought she would be looking for sex on the internet. But like he’d said to Jodie, people aren’t always what they seem.
Just look at him. Everyone thought Alfie Daniels was a devoted, loving, slightly unimpressive, husband, when he was anything but. So yes, he had a theory.
The problem was, he had no idea what to do about it.
Saturday
i
He was awake early. The house was quiet. He smiled. He liked it like this. It was a glimpse of the future: him, alone in his big house, his bank stuffed with cash, the day waiting for him, the world his to do what he wanted with.
But not yet. First he had to get through whatever the fuck was going on.
After his shower, he shaved. The blade was blunt and he clicked it off into the bin. He wrapped a towel around his waist, pausing to glance at himself in the mirror – he really did have a great body – then went downstairs.
In the kitchen he brewed a pot of coffee. As he poured a cup, his phone rang. Alfie did not recognize the number. Normally he would have assumed it was some automated calling system selling cheap holidays and ignored it, but not now. Now every call could be vital.
It could be Claire.
‘Hello,’ he said. ‘This is Alfie Daniels.’
‘Mr Daniels. This is Detective Inspector Wynne.’
Alfie glanced at his watch. It was nearly eight a.m. ‘Is everything OK?’
DI Wynne did not answer the question. ‘Mr Daniels, we discovered something in relation to Pippa Davies-Hunt which might be of interest in your wife’s disappearance.’
‘What was that?’
‘It’s not something I can really share with you, other than to say it may be important.’
Alfie had a good idea what it was, but DI Wynne didn’t need to know that. ‘Then why are you calling?’
‘Because we found it on Ms Davies-Hunt’s computer, and we would like to take a look at your wife’s to see if there is anything similar on hers.’
‘What kind of thing did you find?’
DI Wynne paused. ‘At this point, I’d rather not say. But we would like to examine your wife’s machine as soon as we could.’
‘I can be available in a few hours,’ Alfie said.
‘I was thinking of right now.’
Alfie opened the door and gestured to DI Wynne to enter. DS Lawless followed her in, along with a young man who looked like he should be in school. Alfie was about to ask whether the cops had picked him up for truancy when DI Wynne introduced him.
‘This is Brad,’ she said. ‘He helps us when computers or other kinds of information technology are involved. I’m afraid that’s not a skill DS Lawless or I have.’
‘OK,’ Alfie said. ‘What can I do to help?’
&nbs
p; Brad coughed. ‘Could I look at your wife’s laptop? If you have any passwords, that would be helpful. If not, I’ll be able to do what I need, although I think you’ll have to sign something authorizing it.’
‘Of course,’ Alfie said. ‘Anything to help bring Claire back. It’s through here.’
He showed Brad to the laptop. It wouldn’t take long for him to find what Alfie had left there, but he took a seat as though settling in. DI Wynne and DS Lawless remained standing.
‘Could you give me an idea of what you are looking for?’ he said.
DI Wynne was about to say something – probably a refusal – when Brad interrupted.
‘It’s here,’ he said. ‘Same website as the other one.’
Alfie glanced at the computer tech, and then looked at DI Wynne. ‘What website?’ he said. ‘What’s going on?’
DI Wynne looked solemn. ‘One minute.’ She turned to Brad. ‘What exactly did you find?’
‘A cookie,’ he said. ‘Everything else has been deleted, but the cookie is there.’
‘So you don’t have any messages?’
‘No. Not yet. But if we can get into the account we can get them. The company that runs the website would be able to provide them.’
‘If we can get a warrant,’ DS Lawless said.
‘Which I’m sure we will,’ DI Wynne muttered. ‘Given what I think is going on.’
‘Excuse me,’ Alfie said, his tone indignant. ‘But what exactly do you think is going on?’
DI Wynne sat opposite him. ‘When we examined Ms Davies-Hunt’s computer, we discovered she was a user of a certain type of website.’
‘What kind of website?’ Alfie said.
‘A hook-up site,’ DS Lawless replied. ‘People meet on these sites in order to have affairs, if they’re married, or to find casual sexual partners. That was what Ms Davies-Hunt was doing.’
‘And in the course of this she met Henry Bryant,’ DI Wynne continued. ‘And it seems, from some of the emails we recovered, their initial meetings for sex developed into something more. Into a relationship. At least, that is what Ms Davies-Hunt thought. According to Ms Pierce, Henry Bryant broke up with her when it became clear she wanted more. And then, after arranging to meet him, she disappeared.’
