Stone Cold Red Hot - страница 57

“I don’t need a matchmaker. I’m not looking for a match. I’m perfectly happy as I am. Just because you want…”

“Go on,” she said dangerously.

“I’m not you,” I pointed out. “You want a relationship, you’ve done the ads, you’ve met Desmond. That’s great but don’t assume I want the same.”

“You don’t want a relationship? Not ever?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“They don’t fall from the skies you know, you have to go looking. You fancied him, didn’t you?”

“I don’t know,” I muttered, trying to get my key in the bike lock.

“He’s a lovely man,” she said.

“So how come he’s available then?”

“Divorced.”

“Oh,” I groaned.

“And over it,” she insisted. “Good relationship with his ex. They share the kids, all very amicable.”

He had children.

I got the lock sorted out and put my helmet on.

“Think about it,” she said.

He might not fancy me, though.

“Anyway, if he’s such a lovely man, what’s he doing in a place like this? It wasn’t just coincidence. Did you tell him to come?” I got all agitated again.

She laughed. “No. There was a pretty good chance he’d be here, anyway. He’s the boss. This is his place.”

Later I was still a bit peeved that Diane had engineered the meeting without asking me about it first but there was also a positive side to it. My mind got sidetracked into weaving fantasies about Stuart Bowker and that left me no room to dwell on the fate of Jennifer Pickering, my row with Ray or the plight of the Ibrahim family.

Bedtime was more fun than usual.

Next morning there was a message from Roger on the ansaphone at the office. He was eager to know what I’d found out. I wasn’t ready to give him a full report yet. I wanted to talk again to Mrs Clerkenwell. I needed to try and fix as much as I could about the last known movements of Jennifer and something was niggling at me. I was sure there was some significance behind the incident when Jennifer had turned and run from Frances’s. Once I had checked that out I would tackle Mrs Pickering and see if she had anything to say that would disprove my theory. Then I’d go to Roger.

In the meantime the least I could do was give him the bald facts about my research. No baby, no marriage, no death and tell him I was making a few final enquiries to verify everything before I gave him my complete report.

When he answered the phone I proceeded to flatten the hope in his voice.

“Isn’t there anything else you can try?”

“No. I don’t think so. I’m sorry,” I concluded. “Can we meet next Monday perhaps, lunchtime, say twelve-thirty? That’ll give me time to write up all the details for you.”

“So it’s just a dead-end?” He asked.

I closed my eyes at the irony. “It looks that way.”

Mandy Bellows was off sick. When I asked if anyone was covering her work-load I got laughed at. “She should be in next week though.” And until she was, nothing was going to move forward for the Ibrahims.

Mr Poole was dismayed when I called him. “I’m going to have a word with the councillor about this. One person’s off and the whole thing grinds to a stand-still.”

“Hopefully, she’ll be in on Monday and I’ll ring her first thing, tell her to make it a priority. I’ve still got the camera so if anything happens meanwhile let me know.”

“What’s this I hear about your car?”

“It went on Monday, just as I was ready for home and there was no sign of it.”

“How did you get back?”

“I got a taxi.”

“You should have woken me, you could have rung from here.”

“No. I had my mobile. Anyway, how did you hear about it?”

“The Brennans,” he said, “making cracks about it. Took me a while to cotton on.”

“They probably took it but I can’t prove anything.”

“Have they found it yet? They could fingerprint it.”

“No. No word. Besides I’d rather see them lose the tenancies or get bound over to keep the peace than done for nicking my car. Least I’m insured.”

My last call was to Mrs Clerkenwell. I arranged an appointment with her that afternoon.

The hire car was due back but I made use of it to get some shopping from the greengrocers and the small supermarket in Withington. I stocked up on some of the basics and bulky items as I didn’t know how long I’d be without a car and they were awkward to carry on the bike. I left the lot at home and took the car in. I walked back to the office enjoying the colours of the leaves which were brilliant in the sunshine. Frost still edged the foliage in shady corners and covered puddles with sheets of ice.