Richard took the cue: ‘There’s not an awful lot to tell you that I didn’t send over yesterday.
Nicholas was a very normal teenager. He was at college and his reports seemed to be good. He’d been talking about going to university when he finished and had stepped that up over new
year.’
‘What about friends?’
‘We wrote down the names of the ones we know but you know what it’s like being young. You know all sorts of people; some of them are close friends, others are just people you say
hello to. Then you’ve got the issue that most teenagers do all they can to keep their best friends away from their parents. I know the police went into the college to interview everyone.
It’s even more awkward now, of course, because Nicholas was in his final year so people are spread all over. One of his older friends is at a university in Europe: France or Germany or
something. I’ve passed on all we know.’
Andrew glanced down at the notes Richard had emailed the previous evening. ‘How much do you know about “Lara”?’
The two Carrs exchanged a quick glance but it was Richard who answered again. ‘Not loads but a bit. She’s an orphan – his girlfriend and, of anyone, they spent the most time
together. We’ve not really seen her since he disappeared. I think she’s at university somewhere around here.’
‘Did she ever stay over?’
‘Once or twice. You can’t say “no” nowadays.’
‘Generally, were there any other problems at around that time?’
Richard Carr shook his head. ‘Only the usual things with teenagers. One minute they’d be shouting the house down because there was no Marmite in the cupboard, then it’d be all
sweetness and light five minutes later. He was just normal.’
That may well have been true but Andrew suspected that was what a lot of parents thought about their children until something happened. When it came out they’d been acting as a rent boy
for the local MP, no one would be able to believe it. There would definitely be something there, though probably not the rent-boy thing.
Andrew opened his mouth to speak again when Jenny breezed into the room, expertly balancing a tea tray on the tips of her fingers like a waitress in a posh restaurant. She placed four sets of
cups and saucers on the table, with a pot in the centre, a small jug of milk, and a separate egg cup of sugar next to each of the Carrs’ drinks.
Elaine Carr stared up at her. ‘Where did you find those?’
Jenny sat on the spare armchair, twiddling a strand of her hair. ‘That cupboard over the sink, right at the back behind the butter dish. Sorry, I hope you don’t mind. I was looking
for the teacups and they were just there.’
Elaine snorted slightly. ‘No, dearie, I didn’t mean it like that. I spent
ages
looking for them the other week. I thought Richard had thrown them out.’ She leant forward
and poured tea into the four cups, emptying the egg cup of sugar into her own and stirring twice clockwise, twice anti-clockwise like a James Bond villain. Muhahahahaha, Mr Bond. Just watch how I
stir my tea.
Andrew picked up his own and took a sip, mainly to be polite, before returning to his notepad.
‘Can we talk about the actual night Nicholas went missing?’
Richard was tugging at his jumper. ‘What’s to say? We weren’t there.’
‘But tell me what you understand happened.’
‘He went to some sort of gig, or perhaps just the pub with his friends and Lara. They all say he and Lara left the pub at around nine, he walked her home, and hasn’t been seen since.
She said he’d set off to walk back here. It’s perhaps a mile or two but he’d regularly walk to the city centre, so it wasn’t that rare.’ Richard leant forward, taking
out a padded envelope from underneath the coffee table and handing it over. ‘That’s everything we emailed you yesterday, plus a few other odds and ends. I found his mobile number after
all. When he went missing, we called it over and
Nicholas was a very normal teenager. He was at college and his reports seemed to be good. He’d been talking about going to university when he finished and had stepped that up over new
year.’
‘What about friends?’
‘We wrote down the names of the ones we know but you know what it’s like being young. You know all sorts of people; some of them are close friends, others are just people you say
hello to. Then you’ve got the issue that most teenagers do all they can to keep their best friends away from their parents. I know the police went into the college to interview everyone.
It’s even more awkward now, of course, because Nicholas was in his final year so people are spread all over. One of his older friends is at a university in Europe: France or Germany or
something. I’ve passed on all we know.’
Andrew glanced down at the notes Richard had emailed the previous evening. ‘How much do you know about “Lara”?’
The two Carrs exchanged a quick glance but it was Richard who answered again. ‘Not loads but a bit. She’s an orphan – his girlfriend and, of anyone, they spent the most time
together. We’ve not really seen her since he disappeared. I think she’s at university somewhere around here.’
‘Did she ever stay over?’
‘Once or twice. You can’t say “no” nowadays.’
‘Generally, were there any other problems at around that time?’
Richard Carr shook his head. ‘Only the usual things with teenagers. One minute they’d be shouting the house down because there was no Marmite in the cupboard, then it’d be all
sweetness and light five minutes later. He was just normal.’
That may well have been true but Andrew suspected that was what a lot of parents thought about their children until something happened. When it came out they’d been acting as a rent boy
for the local MP, no one would be able to believe it. There would definitely be something there, though probably not the rent-boy thing.
Andrew opened his mouth to speak again when Jenny breezed into the room, expertly balancing a tea tray on the tips of her fingers like a waitress in a posh restaurant. She placed four sets of
cups and saucers on the table, with a pot in the centre, a small jug of milk, and a separate egg cup of sugar next to each of the Carrs’ drinks.
Elaine Carr stared up at her. ‘Where did you find those?’
Jenny sat on the spare armchair, twiddling a strand of her hair. ‘That cupboard over the sink, right at the back behind the butter dish. Sorry, I hope you don’t mind. I was looking
for the teacups and they were just there.’
Elaine snorted slightly. ‘No, dearie, I didn’t mean it like that. I spent
ages
looking for them the other week. I thought Richard had thrown them out.’ She leant forward
and poured tea into the four cups, emptying the egg cup of sugar into her own and stirring twice clockwise, twice anti-clockwise like a James Bond villain. Muhahahahaha, Mr Bond. Just watch how I
stir my tea.
Andrew picked up his own and took a sip, mainly to be polite, before returning to his notepad.
‘Can we talk about the actual night Nicholas went missing?’
Richard was tugging at his jumper. ‘What’s to say? We weren’t there.’
‘But tell me what you understand happened.’
‘He went to some sort of gig, or perhaps just the pub with his friends and Lara. They all say he and Lara left the pub at around nine, he walked her home, and hasn’t been seen since.
She said he’d set off to walk back here. It’s perhaps a mile or two but he’d regularly walk to the city centre, so it wasn’t that rare.’ Richard leant forward, taking
out a padded envelope from underneath the coffee table and handing it over. ‘That’s everything we emailed you yesterday, plus a few other odds and ends. I found his mobile number after
all. When he went missing, we called it over and
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