Chapter Twenty-Three #2
“Miss Hart.” The sergeant turned to Jack and nodded briefly, a million questions visible in his eyes, but he refrained from asking any, instead turning back to Tobias and staring at him for a fraction of a second before shaking his head.
Jack could tell several things from the brief interaction; namely, that the inspector and the sergeant had worked a long time together and more importantly, they were friends. There was an ease in how they silently communicated that was like what Jack had with Cordy and Sera.
“Mr. and Mrs. Brunham, this is Inspector Flint, and Miss Hart,” the sergeant said, introducing them.
“The Brunhams’ daughter, Mary, hasn’t been seen since Friday last week.
” He reached over onto the table and picked up a framed photo that depicted the Brunhams standing next to a young lady. “This is a picture of her.”
“It’s the only photo we’ve been able to afford,” Mr. Brunham said from the window. “We got it done before I got sick and lost my job a few months ago.”
“She’s very pretty,” Jack said, starting down at the picture of the young woman with dark hair and somber eyes.
“She is,” Mrs. Brunham agreed.
“And she hasn’t been seen since Friday?” Tobias asked.
“That’s right. She never came home after her job interview,” Mrs. Brunham cried, her voice an agonized whisper, echoing around the small room as she looked pleadingly up at Tobias.
“Please, help us to find her. She’s a good girl, our Mary, and she wouldn’t have run off like the other police were telling us she did. ”
“You reported her missing?” Tobias asked.
“Of course we did,” Mr. Brunham answered, twisting around from the window to face Tobias, his body held rigid and his jaw locked, but there were tears in his eyes.
“When she didn’t come home for dinner, I went straight to the police station, but them bobbies said she must have run off, and to not worry about it.
” The man scoffed. “Not worry about my daughter not coming home. I’ve never heard of anything so foolish to say to a parent, but they were too busy having their dinner to want to investigate anything.
” The man almost spat out the last few words, his disgust at the police and their inaction crystal clear.
It was a sentiment Jack shared. “So typical of the local police, isn’t it?” she couldn’t help but say. “They are lazy and entirely incompetent. An absolute disgrace.”
Mr. Brunham swung his eyes over to her. “That they are.”
“Miss Hart,” Tobias warned, his expression anything but happy. “Might I remind you you are a consultant now for the police.”
“Yes, and as a consultant, Inspector, I’m more than happy to advise you of the appalling behavior these police officers displayed to Mr. and Mrs. Brunham,” Jack replied, with a decided raise of her chin towards Tobias.
“They deserve far better service from their local constabulary than what they got. Clearly, they are owed an apology for the dismissive behavior to which they were subjected.”
Tobias plastered on a smile. “Not the sort of consulting I’m after, but you are correct,” he conceded before turning and facing Mr. and Mrs. Brunham.
“My apologies to you both. Your concerns shouldn’t have been dismissed like that and I will make certain the officers involved are disciplined for their unprofessional behavior.
Detective?” He glanced over to Detective Rollings.
“Head down to the local station again and find out who spoke to the Brunhams on Friday night, and also see if anything else untoward was reported that day too.”
“Of course, sir.” Detective Rollings nodded before striding out the door to carry out Tobias’s instructions.
“You remind me of my girl,” Mr. Brunham said suddenly to Jack, a small smile on his face. “She calls a spade a spade.”
“The only way to call it,” Jack said with a return smile.
Mr. Brunham turned back to Tobias, and his face hardened. “Tell me this, Inspector… Has our girl been taken by the Coffin Conjurer?”
Jack could see the effort it had taken for him to ask that question, and though his voice didn’t waver, his hands were shaking, and his wife’s eyes were starting to shimmer with tears.
“And I’ll have the truth from you,” Mr. Brunham added, not mincing his words. “I’ve read the papers. I know a girl was found murdered on Saturday, taken just like I’m beginning to think my Mary might have been too.”
Mrs. Brunham clutched her chest and gasped lightly at the words. “Please, God, no,” she whispered up to the ceiling.
“Well? Has she been taken, do you think?” Mr. Brunham asked, his jaw clenching tightly.
“The honest truth, Mr. Brunham,” Tobias replied, his tone steady, “is that I don’t know. I pray she hasn’t been, but the truth of the matter is, I don’t know. However, I promise you I’m going to do all I can to find her, including putting all of my men and resources into the task.”
Mr. Brunham stood there silently assessing Tobias, who didn’t flinch away from the man’s scrutiny. After a moment, Mr. Brunham nodded, clearly satisfied by whatever he’d seen in Tobias’s eyes. “I believe you, Inspector.”
“To find your daughter, however, I’m going to need to know all I can from you both about what she was doing on the day of her disappearance, and in the days prior to that as well,” Tobias said.
Slowly, Mr. Brunham hobbled over to the table and collapsed onto a chair, his breathing labored from the few steps he’d walked. It took him a moment to regain his breath, but when he did, he glanced over towards both Jack and Tobias, his face now a pale shade of gray.
“I’m an unwell man, you see,” Mr. Brunham began, reaching over and taking his wife’s hand in his own.
“My old ticker isn’t much up to the job of ticking anymore, and my Mary was trying to get a job to help pay for my medicines.
” He pressed his lips together before taking in a wobbly breath.
“I didn’t want her to give up her dream of studying to be a nurse and instead have to find work as a secretary in a warehouse, but with my wife and I not being able to work anymore, and my damn medications costing so much, she insisted on doing it. ”
“It’s not your fault, Bert,” Mrs. Brunham said, squeezing her husband’s hand. “Mary is as stubborn as you, and you know neither of us could change her mind when it was made up.”
“I suppose,” Mr. Brunham conceded before glancing back up to Tobias and Jack.
“She went to the Manaheim warehouse over on Yorkdale road to interview for a secretary position there. Her interview was at ten in the morning, and I was expecting her back around lunchtime. But she never returned. I didn’t originally think much of it, as she sometimes volunteers at the local soup kitchen over lunch, but then when she didn’t come back in time for dinner, I started to get a real bad feeling. ”
“We both did,” Mrs. Brunham added.
“So, I slowly made my way down to the station,” Mr. Brunham said.
“It took me a fair while to get there, as I had to stop a lot on the way, on account of my heart not doing so well with the exertion. But I got there shortly after about eight, and that’s when the officers behind the counter asked me what I needed, and then when I told them my daughter was missing and hadn’t come home, that’s when they didn’t want to have anything to do with me.
Tried to convince me that she must have run off with a young bloke, and to not worry about it.
Said she’d probably show up in a day or two after eloping. ”
“And you’re certain that’s not the case?” Tobias asked.
Mr. Brunham raised his head, the fire in his eyes a direct contrast to his body’s frailty.
“I’d stake my life on it. My Mary didn’t run anywhere.
She’s always looking after her mum and me, and is a good girl, and only something bad would’ve stopped her coming home.
I think someone must have taken her.” The man’s voice broke on his last word and a hoarse cry rose out of his mouth.
“Please find her for us…” His gaze swung over Tobias before then landing on Jack. “She’s all we have left.”
Jack’s chest clenched. The raw pain radiating from the man was heart-wrenching and felt so similar to what she’d felt when she’d lost her parents.
She stepped over to him and took his hand in hers.
“We will find her. And we’ll find whoever took her too, and we will make him pay. I promise you that.”