The police are obviously talking to all the people who know Annabel so all I have to do is keep a low profile. It’s only a matter of time before they get to me. My mum will go ape.
The man who lives next door to Annabel saw me staring through the front window one morning. I think he’s called Evan. He thought I was probably going to play some teen prank so he told me to clear off. I’ve been careful since, only returning at night-time or hiding behind the trees. All I wanted to do was get to know her better and now look where that got me. I am in such big trouble. I should have kept away and not become so obsessed but it’s harder said than done. It’s true that love makes a person do crazy things. I’ve gone too far this time.
Splashing my face with a bit of cold water, I stare into my brown eyes.Omar, just get back to class and let it go. You’re making yourself look suspicious.I know that police detective isn’t worried about me. I’m one student out of many. She sees people every day, there’s no way she’ll think I know anything.
Tonight, I’ll continue with my plan. I haven’t been good lately. These past few weeks, I’ve been doing things that are totally out of character. I’ve started driving my mum’s car. It’s easy to take. She never goes out of an evening, which gives me a chance to take it. If only she knew what I’ve been doing. She’d never trust me again, and I’ve bumped her car. It’s only a matter of time before she sees the damage to her bumper. I’ve been lucky that she leaves the house in a daze.
Everything I do is for Annabel. Love is deep. It’s a powerful, all-encompassing emotion. Just thinking about it makes me feel as though my throat might close up.
The toilet door bursts open. ‘Yo, dickwad.’ Adam slaps me across the head and as usual I take it. If I hit him back, he’d floor me.
I sidle past him and he pushes me into a urinal. I get up and scurry out, running all the way to the maths department. Just as I dart around the last bend, I crash head first into Ms Law. ‘Omar, my office. Now.’
‘Yes, miss.’ I know I’m in trouble for bunking but I don’t know if she’ll quiz me on other things. She’s already had words with me about boundaries when it comes to Annabel and I can’t make her think about that. If she mentions me to the police, they will definitely haul me in for questioning. I’ll get accused, then blamed. I’ll go to prison. My palms feel sticky as I take the long walk to her office.Keep your mouth shut, Omar.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Gina walked alongside Wyre in search of Tom Whittle’s house. ‘The car parking spaces are numbered.’ Gina checked Whittle’s address again. ‘We’re looking for number seventy.’ She glanced up and down until she saw that his parking space was empty. ‘I don’t think he’ll be in.’
‘Let’s find out.’ Wyre stepped into the road in her heavy black shoes.
The seventies council estate was filled with a mixture of properties. Maisonettes, apartment blocks and terraced houses, all finished with a pebbledash render. ‘The numbering is terrible on these houses.’
‘Over here, guv. Number seventy’s down here somewhere.’
Gina hurried and at last they spotted Whittle’s house on the end of a row. Three storeys with water stains down the front. The wooden window frames looked rotten compared to the UPVC frames on the other houses. She knocked and the hallway echoed as if hollow. Bending over, she peered through the letter box. ‘Whoa, the smell.’ She recoiled and stood. ‘I don’t think he’s in.’
‘He’s in alright.’ A woman came out of the next house, pushing a toddler on a red plastic tricycle. ‘He just slammed his back door so loud, it woke my little boy up. You just need to knock harder.’ The woman paused. ‘He’s a bit weird, having all those cats. I had to complain about them the other day, they keep coming in to my garden and crapping everywhere.’
‘Thank you.’ Gina smiled at the child and knocked again. The woman carried on down the path, pulling her hood up. A few specs of rain landed on Gina’s nose.
‘What?’ A voice came from within.
‘Mr Whittle? Police.’
He slid the chain and opened the door. As his vision met with daylight, he closed one eye. So far, Gina wasn’t getting the superficial charm that people had described but then again, Kirsty Law had said that he was off with anxiety and depression. Without knowing his side of the story when it came to Miriam and Annabel, she tried to hold back any judgement. ‘What?’
‘May we come in?’
‘Err, no.’
‘You probably won’t want to talk on the doorstep. We’re investigating the disappearance of Annabel Braddock.’
‘What’s that got to do with me? She was a bit funny in the head. Probably just had enough of her husband.’ He half huffed out a sneer. She had just told him that Annabel was missing and he’d probably seen the news too about the hit-and-run, yet he could stand there and sneer.
‘Well, we’ve been speaking to your colleagues and unless you want to put your side to the story with your neighbours hearing, I suggest you let us in. I’m DI Harte, this is DC Wyre.’ Gina held her identification up. ‘Or maybe you’d like to come down to the station.’
A cat meowed and ran down the stairs. ‘You best come in.’ He let the door open and picked his cat up, before heading through the hallway into his living room.
Gina stepped in first. The pungent smell was cat urine. She spotted three dirty litter trays lined up against the wall. Grit peppered the tiles. As they stepped into the living room, it felt like they were entering another world. A newish-looking pillow backed settee faced a huge television and the wooden floor was fresh and clean.
Three cats hurried towards him. He sat on the chair and they jumped up on the arm. ‘You going to sit or what?’
Gina sat first and Wyre followed. Wyre removed her notebook from her bag.
‘Must be serious if you’re going to write all this down. Do I need a solicitor?’
‘We’d just like to ask a few questions. We’ve been to the school and spoken to your colleagues too. Do you feel you need a solicitor? If you do, we can take this down the station. I’m more than happy to do that.’
