Lost Souls by Jenny O'Brien (android e book reader txt) 📕

job application form. She heaved her shoulders in annoyance as she plucked her jacket from the back of the chair. With a bit of luck she’d alleviate their fears and avoid a media storm into the bargain.

‘Show them into interview room two, would you please, Clancy, and teas all round. By the sound of things they’re the sort that demand the little extras.’

In the time it took for her to pop into the incident room to check that, as she suspected, there was no news about Ellie, Clancy had worked his magic with a tray of tea presented in matching china mugs, which he must have had stashed away in one of the cupboards in the back room for just such an eventuality. But it only took Gaby one glance at the ramrod-straight spines and identikit purse-string lips of the trio in front of her to realise that it would take a lot more than a mug of Tetley’s finest to get the three pensioners to agree to any solution apart from the one that demanded maximum effort on her part.

After the usual introductions, she settled down in her chair and set an A4 notepad in front of her, instinctively focusing her attention on the thinnest, for no other reason than the woman acted as if she was in charge.

‘I believe you’re concerned as to the whereabouts of your friend? Mrs … er?’ Her pen was poised over her pad.

‘I’m Mildred Pennyworth,’ she said, her voice as sour as the resident expression on her face. ‘To put it bluntly, our dear friend, Barbara Matthews, is missing and we want to know what you intend to do about it.’

‘I’m not sure quite what you want from us? We’ve already sent a car around to check on the property, in addition to an ambulance in the unlikely event that she’s been taken unwell. There was no sign of any disturbance. They’ve checked all the rooms, including the grounds and didn’t find anything suspicious. Surely it’s not outside the realms of possibility that your friend forgot about the arrangements or indeed that something else cropped up? After all, no time has passed.’ She sat back in her chair, more determined than ever to send this lot on their way in time to catch the six o’clock news, which was due to feature an appeal for Ellie Fry.

‘Absolutely no chance of that,’ Mildred Pennyworth said, hugging her bag tightly, the skin on the back of her hands mottled and thin, the only jewellery a fragile thread of gold on her wedding finger. ‘Barbara would have been very keen to recoup last week’s losses.’

‘Losses?’ Gaby laid her pen across her pad, her polite smile frozen in place. ‘I thought you played bridge?’

‘And what of it? A little bet on the side doesn’t do anyone any harm. It’s not as if we were playing for anything big. The odd fiver here and there. It’s fun, especially as Barbara hates to lose.’ She relaxed her lips to allow a glimmer of grey teeth. ‘No. There’d be no way on earth she wouldn’t be there to meet us in her second-best skirt – she saves her best for church on Sunday – and a plate of designer nibbles. She even phoned yesterday, bragging that she’d managed to get some of that Castell Gwyn cracked black pepper cream cheese that we’re all so fond of. Her way of rubbing it in that she’s far better than the rest of us at preparing a spread. Isn’t that right, Doreen and Iris?’

The sight of both women nodding their heads in unison did little to calm Gaby’s mind. All she wanted was to send them on their way but that was looking increasingly unlikely. The three of them, with their matching salon-set hairdos and determined expressions meant business and any palming off on her part would probably lead to her photo on the front of tomorrow morning’s Chronicle – exactly the type of negative media attention that would skew her chances of getting the job.

Picking up her pen again, she turned over to a fresh page and jotted down the date and time in her illegible scrawl, resigned to her fate. If she got home at all tonight she’d be lucky. The thought that she’d need to text Rusty about being late perversely elevated her mood. For the first time in what felt like ages it was nice to have someone on her side, someone who would be waiting with the kettle on standby.

‘Right then, ladies. Let’s take it from the beginning. Tell me everything you know about Barbara Matthews and what makes you so determined that something awful has befallen her. But before you start …’ She looked up. ‘Tell me if your friend ever had any kind of joint surgery. A hip replacement for instance?’

Chapter 21

Ronan

Monday 3 August, 6.15 p.m. Caernarfon

The walk from Caernarfon to Dinas Dinlle was very different to the short car journey he used to take with his grandparents. Then there’d been laughter and little games like I-spy to pass the time. But the stress of the train ride compounded by his silent companion made any form of communication an effort Ronan wasn’t prepared to make. He knew it was the ideal opportunity to get her to open up about why she’d left home. Having a child in tow with no idea as to what desperation had driven her to such an extreme act was stupid. She could be anyone and not only that. After the experience they’d been through with his father, Ronan knew more than most the darkness that some people hid under the cover of normality. There was so much he wanted to ask her but, with the sun beaming down and the weight of their rucksacks increasing with each step, he felt instinctively that now wasn’t the time. She probably wouldn’t tell him the truth but that wasn’t his main reason for staying silent. There was a gentle trust building, something