Bill.’
‘Right, Harriet, I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me.’
‘Please, under the circumstances you must be frantic. I hope nothing serious has happened and would appreciate it if you keep me updated.’
‘I will – thank you, Harriet.’
It was now approaching eleven a.m. Marcus rang Lena, who sounded really tense, to give her a brief rundown of what he’d been doing. He suggested they go to the school to talk with the headmistress, but Lena said that she’d have to call him back as a policewoman had just walked in.
Lena accepted a cup of tea, as the uniformed officer apologized for keeping her waiting but DC Burrows was having a meeting with her superior, DI Reid, and he would be coming in to talk to her in a moment.
‘If you think of anything more that might be important, often just the smallest thing can be extremely helpful,’ the policewoman said.
Lena closed her eyes and sighed. ‘I just can’t understand it. She has never done anything like this before, it’s totally out of character.’
‘Would you like a notebook and pen?’
‘What?’
‘Just thinking, before DI Reid comes in to talk to you, if there is anything you think might be of use, it’s very difficult to be kept waiting, but he has only just come on duty and is going over all the information.’
The tea tasted stewed and Lena was exhausted. She shook her head and then burst into tears. ‘I don’t understand it. I mean, she’s very clever and has no problems with exams and I’ve wracked my brains thinking what could possibly be the reason she’s not contacted us. My husband has been trying to talk to someone that might know, but . . .’ She took a tissue out of her coat pocket and blew her nose.
‘Will he be coming here to be with you? Your husband?’ Lena wiped her eyes, and gave a shrug. ‘I don’t know – we’re actually going through a divorce so we don’t live together, but she was not staying with either of us but had a sleepover with a school friend. I’ve told all this to what’s-her-name, the other policewoman that interviewed me. I have been here for hours and I am really getting very anxious. How long do I have to wait until somebody does something?’
‘I’ll go and see what’s happening. Would you like another cup of tea?’
‘No, I really want to get some guidance as to what I should be doing – better still, what the police should be doing.’
Left alone, Lena blew her nose again, and stuffed the crumpled tissue back into her coat pocket. She drew the notebook closer, picked up the pen and stared at the empty page. She truthfully could think of no reason why Amy would have gone for such a length of time without making contact with either her or Marcus.
In his office on the first floor of the station, DI Victor Reid was still thumbing through the neat meticulous notes made by Burrows. He had been late getting into the station as he had been held up by a gas leak that had made the traffic snarled up around Richmond town centre. Before that he had been stuck behind a long line of traffic over Twickenham Bridge, and the build-up had turned a journey that usually took ten minutes from his flat in St Margarets into almost an hour.
Barbara sat in front of him, watching as he read each page, back and forth, before he stood up to put his jacket back on. DI Reid was quite a snazzy dresser. Today he was wearing a pale blue shirt with a dark blue tie, a well-cut grey suit and suede shoes. He had the kind of thick curly hair that made his chiselled face boyish, but there was a steely quality to his dark eyes. She’d noticed that often he needed to shave twice a day as he had a five o’clock shadow by early evening.
Although in his late thirties, Reid only had ten years’ police service, all of which had, up until his promotion to detective inspector, been as a uniform officer. A ‘late joiner’, he had previously worked for a very reputable estate agents for many years, gradually
‘Right, Harriet, I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me.’
‘Please, under the circumstances you must be frantic. I hope nothing serious has happened and would appreciate it if you keep me updated.’
‘I will – thank you, Harriet.’
It was now approaching eleven a.m. Marcus rang Lena, who sounded really tense, to give her a brief rundown of what he’d been doing. He suggested they go to the school to talk with the headmistress, but Lena said that she’d have to call him back as a policewoman had just walked in.
Lena accepted a cup of tea, as the uniformed officer apologized for keeping her waiting but DC Burrows was having a meeting with her superior, DI Reid, and he would be coming in to talk to her in a moment.
‘If you think of anything more that might be important, often just the smallest thing can be extremely helpful,’ the policewoman said.
Lena closed her eyes and sighed. ‘I just can’t understand it. She has never done anything like this before, it’s totally out of character.’
‘Would you like a notebook and pen?’
‘What?’
‘Just thinking, before DI Reid comes in to talk to you, if there is anything you think might be of use, it’s very difficult to be kept waiting, but he has only just come on duty and is going over all the information.’
The tea tasted stewed and Lena was exhausted. She shook her head and then burst into tears. ‘I don’t understand it. I mean, she’s very clever and has no problems with exams and I’ve wracked my brains thinking what could possibly be the reason she’s not contacted us. My husband has been trying to talk to someone that might know, but . . .’ She took a tissue out of her coat pocket and blew her nose.
‘Will he be coming here to be with you? Your husband?’ Lena wiped her eyes, and gave a shrug. ‘I don’t know – we’re actually going through a divorce so we don’t live together, but she was not staying with either of us but had a sleepover with a school friend. I’ve told all this to what’s-her-name, the other policewoman that interviewed me. I have been here for hours and I am really getting very anxious. How long do I have to wait until somebody does something?’
‘I’ll go and see what’s happening. Would you like another cup of tea?’
‘No, I really want to get some guidance as to what I should be doing – better still, what the police should be doing.’
Left alone, Lena blew her nose again, and stuffed the crumpled tissue back into her coat pocket. She drew the notebook closer, picked up the pen and stared at the empty page. She truthfully could think of no reason why Amy would have gone for such a length of time without making contact with either her or Marcus.
In his office on the first floor of the station, DI Victor Reid was still thumbing through the neat meticulous notes made by Burrows. He had been late getting into the station as he had been held up by a gas leak that had made the traffic snarled up around Richmond town centre. Before that he had been stuck behind a long line of traffic over Twickenham Bridge, and the build-up had turned a journey that usually took ten minutes from his flat in St Margarets into almost an hour.
Barbara sat in front of him, watching as he read each page, back and forth, before he stood up to put his jacket back on. DI Reid was quite a snazzy dresser. Today he was wearing a pale blue shirt with a dark blue tie, a well-cut grey suit and suede shoes. He had the kind of thick curly hair that made his chiselled face boyish, but there was a steely quality to his dark eyes. She’d noticed that often he needed to shave twice a day as he had a five o’clock shadow by early evening.
Although in his late thirties, Reid only had ten years’ police service, all of which had, up until his promotion to detective inspector, been as a uniform officer. A ‘late joiner’, he had previously worked for a very reputable estate agents for many years, gradually
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