She shivers with her hands in her pockets. The stubby-fingered bald man with the bulbous nose comes up behind her and places a hand on her shoulder as he pops his vape in his pocket. She flinches. I know she hates him being anywhere near her but as always, I revel in her misery. ‘Coffee?’ he asks. I know he just wanted to touch her and she knows too.
I creep forward, watching from the gap between the industrial bin and the wall as she turns away, both of them facing the door at the back of the building. ‘Get your hands off me.’ She shoves him hard, almost knocking him off balance.
Feisty! I do enjoy a challenge.
‘Don’t lose your shit. I was just asking if you wanted a drink,’ Bulbous nose shouts. He holds his hands up, waving them, jazz hands style.
‘You were at my house last night. Stay away or I’ll report you to HR, I mean it.’
I let out a smirk and step back behind the wall as I carry on listening.It was me at your house, Stephanie, me!I love that chubby red nose is getting the blame.
‘Stupid mental bitch, you’re batshit crazy. I was only offering to get you a drink. I’ll go and get everyone else’s and you can just go ahead and get your own. You need to see a shrink or something. I was not at your house.’ The man kicks the door before heading back in to work.
‘I could smell you and your revolting vape,’ she yells as she kicks the air, her long black hair swishing as she moves.
I peer around one more time and you’re weeping. Pulling my vape from my pocket, I inhale deeply and blow out a plume of vanilla-scented vapour in your direction before scurrying off between the terraced houses that back on to the main road. I know that will have messed with your head, Stephanie; you were always so easy to mess with.
I don’t need to stay and watch, I’ve seen enough to know that you’ll be hyperventilating as you fight to control one of your stupid panic attacks. The right time will come soon and I’ll be there, lurking in the wings waiting to pounce. Now, I have work to do, people to see, and the others won’t look after themselves. A vengeful person’s work is never done.
Thirteen
Gina made a note of the addresses Mary had just given her and headed to the main office. O’Connor and Wyre were sitting at their desks, facing each other. Jacob had his own booth at the end and there were a handful of spare desks for other officers that joined them in their investigations.
‘He’s here,’ Kapoor said as she ran into their office, grinning excitedly.
‘Welcome back,’ Jacob shouted as he let a party popper off over PC Smith’s head, the little streamers settling on the shoulder of his pristine uniform. He winced as he hunched his shoulders.
After being stabbed on their last big case, PC Smith had recovered enough to be allowed back on desk duty only, and Gina was thrilled that he had been assigned to back up their department, along with Kapoor. He hobbled towards one of the spare desks, flinching as he turned, a bead of sweat dripping down his face until it reached the tiny piece of tissue that he’d stuck to a shaving cut. Gina rubbed her chin and caught his eye. Covering his embarrassment with a smile, he wiped the tissue away. ‘Grab us a chair will you.’ Jacob wheeled one across the room and placed it beside Smith. ‘I can’t tell you how glad I am to be back even though I do feel as though my shoulder is frozen. If I sit around eating any more biscuits in front of the TV, I won’t fit out of the house.’ He chuckled, putting everyone at ease.
‘We are so glad to have you back.’ Gina hurried to the kitchenette with Jacob. She grabbed the cake that Detective Constable Harry O’Connor’s wife had made, while he carried the coffee pot and cups on the tray. ‘Welcome back!’
‘Look at this timber.’ He grabbed a chunk of his stomach over his shirt. ‘Between you lot and my wife, dieting is going to be hard.’ He laughed as he cut into the cake. ‘You only live once and all that.’ He took a bite and smiled. ‘Mmm.’
‘Mrs O sends her love.’ O’Connor pointed to the cake.
Gina smiled. ‘It goes without saying that we’ve deeply missed you and we’re all thrilled to have you back. It definitely hasn’t been the same. Right, I’d love to sit here all day and have a tea party with you all, but we have work to do. I know it’s early days for our missing woman, Susan Wheeler, but it’s a huge concern that she hasn’t returned home yet. Smith, did you read the file I sent you?’
He nodded as he swallowed the sponge cake. ‘I think you’ve all read the notes, but just to summarise, Susan was reported missing yesterday after failing to pick her son up from nursery on Tuesday. Susan’s mother, Mary Hudson, picked the little boy up and he has been with her since. Susan was also meant to pick her two daughters up from their father’s flat at eight on Tuesday evening. Again, she didn’t turn up. In the meantime, there’s an ANPR on her car and we haven’t located her phone’s current position as yet as it’s switched off or lost its charge. Did I do good?’
‘A-plus,’ Gina replied. ‘That is the sum of what we have. We’re waiting for a more detailed report of what was on her phone before and that may tell us where she’s been and who she’s messaged and called.’
‘Is that all we have to go on at the minute?’ O’Connor asked as he wiped cake from the side of his mouth and licked his lips. The strip light reflected off his bald head as he leaned forward.
Gina forced a smile as O’Connor chewed on the cake, the noise grating on her. ‘Up until a few minutes ago, yes. As you know, Jacob and I went to Susan’s house this morning with Mary. We were rudely ushered out after a quick look. I know something is going on with this family, the way they act, the way they pushed us out, and I intend to find out what they are hiding. Mary called after we left as she found a few notes on Susan’s desk. These notes included two addresses and a postcode.’
‘Local?’ Wyre leaned back, her chair creaking.
‘Yes. I’ll come onto those in a moment. Going back to Mary. When I spoke to her last night, she seemed to say that things were fine in her daughter’s life, which made us rule out that she may have hurt herself. After visiting Susan’s house this morning, it looked to me like Susan wasn’t coping at all given the state and smell of the place. Going back to the addresses in the torn-out page of her notebook, I want them followed up on ASAP. If these people were the last to see Susan on Tuesday, they may be able to tell us how she seemed or if she said she was heading somewhere. Are we all clear on what we’re doing next?’
Detective Constable Paula Wyre nodded. O’Connor passed her a piece of cake. ‘No thanks,’ she replied.
‘I wish I had your willpower.’ Smith finished off his slice and spun in his chair, ready to turn the computer on. ‘I’m totally at your disposal, guv. What should I get going on?’
‘Look into the two addresses for me and let me know what you come up with. We need to know who lives at them. As well as those, we have a postcode. I need to know which streets this covers. Also, see if we have any records on Susan’s family. O’Connor?’
‘Yes, guv.’
‘If you could work closely with Smith that would be great. Since visiting Susan’s house and meeting her family, I feel we know a little more about her life and circumstances, and I am worried for her safety and state of mind so we need to crack on. I want her found.’
