Chapter 7
‘Through here?’ The man indicated the sitting room on our right, and both Clare and I nodded, Clare leading the way, the three of us following on.
‘So, I believe Felicity Sutherland lives here? She shares the house with you?’
‘Is it the parking ticket?’ I asked. Did plain-clothed detectives call round at four in the afternoon to ask about parking misdemeanours? At any time of day come to that?
‘Parking ticket?’ The woman frowned, turning to look at her boss.
‘Sorry, girls, could I have your names?’ The DI spoke slowly, his broad Yorkshire-accented voice kind. He sat down and, with a nod of his head, invited us to do the same.
‘Clare Fallon,’ Clare said, glancing in my direction. ‘And this is Anna. Anna Piasecki.’
‘And are there just the two of you in the house at the moment?’
‘Well, Fliss – Felicity – lives here and there’s Katy as well.’
‘Katy?’
‘Katy Halton,’ I offered.
DS Bamford wrote down Katy’s full name in a little notebook. ‘Is she here? Upstairs maybe?’
‘She’s still down at uni,’ I said. ‘Hang on, that must be her now. Unless it’s Fliss,’ I went on hopefully, moving to the door. But DS Bamford was there before me, catching Katy as she manoeuvred her bike through the door and into the narrow hall.
‘What’s the matter?’ Katy asked. ‘What’s happened?’
‘Look, girls,’ the DI said, ‘we just need to ask a few questions about Felicity. Just to rule her out of our investigations. Is she here at the moment?’
‘No, no, she’s not.’ Katy spoke as Clare and I exchanged glances.
‘And when was the last time you saw her? Was she here with you this morning? At breakfast time? Did she go into college with you?’
‘The thing is, we’ve not seen her for a couple of days,’ Katy said. ‘She’s got this new boyfriend she’s been seeing pretty regularly. All been a bit quick really. You know, out most nights with him.’
‘But Clare saw her this lunchtime,’ I put in. ‘You said so, Clare.’
‘Well, I think it was Fliss.’ Clare appeared slightly embarrassed. ‘I didn’t have my glasses on.’
‘You said, Clare.’ I frowned. ‘You said you’d seen her.’
‘Well, I don’t know,’ Clare admitted. ‘I wanted you to feel better because you were getting worried about her.’
‘But you said, Clare,’ I insisted.
‘Anna, just listen…’ Katy put a hand on my arm.
‘Where was this, Clare?’ The woman was back to taking notes, her pencil working feverishly over the page. ‘And the time? Can you remember what she was wearing?’
‘What’s the matter?’ I asked, feeling something akin to dread. ‘Where is she? Do you know? Has something happened to her?’
‘Why were you getting worried about her, Anna?’ DI Crowther turned back to me. ‘Had something happened? Had there been an argument of some sort?’
‘No! We just haven’t seen her for a couple of days.’
‘A couple of days? Can you be more specific?’
I thought back to the last time I’d seen her. ‘Three days ago. Yes, I chatted to her in her room.’
DS Bamford narrowed her eyes and then made notes in her book. ‘And was this normal? Did she often stay out?’
‘She’s got this new boyfriend,’ Katy said once more, appearing to have taken on the role of the grown-up. ‘She’s been staying with this Theo bloke presumably.’
‘You sound as if you disapprove?’ DS Bamford asked, not looking up.
‘No, no, not at all…’ Katy flushed slightly. ‘That’s why we weren’t worried.’
‘More envious really,’ Clare put in. ‘You know, because we knew she was with Theo. I mean, he’s gorgeous. I think everyone is after him.’ She gave a little laugh. ‘But Fliss managed to get in there.’
‘Theo? Could you give us his full name?’ The woman still didn’t look up, but when Clare obviously couldn’t recall Theo’s last name, glanced across at her.
‘It’s Theo Mandeville,’ I said.
‘Any idea where we can find him?’
‘He’s a first-year student in the Bodington Hall of residence. Flat number 15.’
Theo’s door number was still in my head.
I’d been having awful fantasies recently (wonderful fantasies): little dreams where I relived the moment I’d walked in on a naked Theo but, instead of giving the ridiculous squeal I had, I’d stood there, a knowing smile playing on my lips.
And then he’d saunter over to retrieve a towel – always a rather gorgeous black, hugely fluffy one – before he walked to where I stood in the doorway and…
‘The thing is,’ Clare interrupted my thoughts, ‘her car is down by the Co-op. It’s got a flat tyre and a parking ticket.’
‘Yes, we know that.’ DI Crowther offered up an on-off smile. ‘Thank you.’ He didn’t explain further but instead turned back to where I was sitting on the battered sofa, looking directly at me. ‘Do you know this Theo Mandeville well?’
‘Well?’
‘I mean, you actually know his room number.’ He smiled encouragingly. ‘Is there any reason for that?’
‘Fliss and I had a couple of days’ temporary cleaning work with University Services. We were sent up to Bodington Hall to clean. I met Theo there.’
‘Bit more than met, Anna. Come on.’ Clare gave a little laugh. ‘Stark bo… you know, very naked. That’s why she remembers the flat number. Well, you would, wouldn’t you?’
‘Did he attempt anything?’
‘Attempt anything? What do you mean?’ I stared at the officer.
‘Well, you’ve come across a naked man. Was there any reason he was naked?’ DS Bamford raised her rather bushy eyebrows in my direction.
‘Yes, he was having a bath,’ I said calmly. ‘It’s probably best to have no clothes on when you’re having a bath.’
‘Indeed.’ DI Crowther nodded. ‘But he hadn’t locked the bathroom door?’
‘It was the middle of the day. I wouldn’t imagine he was expecting anyone.’
He looked as though he was going to ask more about the naked Theo Mandeville but then, instead, turned to all of us, sitting tentatively, like Gilbert and Sullivan’s Three Little Maids, all in a row on the sofa. ‘Has Felicity been unhappy recently? Worried about anything?’
‘Unhappy?’ The three of us looked at each other for confirmation.
‘Just the opposite,’ I said. ‘She was really getting into her coursework, and then she’d started seeing Theo Mandeville.’
‘The thing is… Anna…? Anna, we spoke to a couple of her lecturers before we came up here. She doesn’t appear to have been going into college much.’
‘Oh, but she has,’ I said stoutly. ‘She said so. Told me she was really into Thom Gunn.’
‘Thom Gunn?’ The woman wrote down the name.
‘English–American poet,’ I said. ‘Gay, his mother, committed suicide when he was just fifteen…’ I trailed off. Why on earth was I explaining this to a woman who looked to have absolutely no interest in poets, gay or otherwise?
‘His mother is called Gay?’ The woman looked momentarily confused. ‘Oh, right, I get you.’
‘Can you think of any reason why she might have stopped going to lectures?’ The DI looked intently from one to the other of us.
‘Was she unhappy? Had you had a bit of a falling out maybe? Not always easy, you know, living on top of each other: nicking each other’s last Rolo; can’t get in the bathroom… someone taken all the hot water?’
‘What? No, no. Fliss was our mate. We all got on.’ I shook my head.
‘How long?’ Katy asked. ‘You know, how long has she not been going to lectures?’ Katy was beginning to sound like a mother trying to work out why their child had been legging it from school.
‘We all miss lectures occasionally,’ Clare put in with an apologetic little laugh. ‘You know, if we’ve been out and drunk a bit too much.’
‘Fliss never does,’ I protested. ‘She can get in at four in the morning and still be up for a nine o’clock lecture. Make-up on, clothes coordinated. Off in her Mini.’
‘A bit of a good-time girl, is she?’
‘A good-time girl?’ I stared. ‘I’m sorry, what’s that supposed to mean?’
‘That she likes to have a good time, that’s all.’ DI Crowther offered a little apologetic wave of his hand.
Katy nodded. ‘I’ll say that about her. You know, she’s always up for a laugh, up for a good night out.’
‘What else would you say about Felicity?’
‘Erm.’ Katy went pink once more. ‘Well, she’s…’
Clare turned to the DI. ‘Where is she then? Do you know? Have her lecturers reported her?’
‘Oh, don’t be daft, Clare.’ Katy tutted. ‘You’re not reported to the police for not going to lectures.’
‘The university tell us she’s from the London area. Has she seen her parents lately as far as you know?’
‘Oh, is this about her parents?’ I felt relief flood through me. Had something happened to them rather than to Fliss? ‘Her dad’s in Chelsea and her mum’s in Barbados on holiday at the moment,’ I explained. ‘Actually, possibly more than a holiday. Fliss seemed to think she’d met someone out there.’
‘Jamaica,’ Clare corrected, laughing. ‘Do you remember, I made that joke about Jamaica: “No, she went of her own accord.”?’ Clare looked across at us all, hoping for some sort of appreciation of her wit, but no one gave it.
‘Her mum and dad haven’t been together for a long time,’ I clarified.
‘But was she close to them?’
‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘You’ll have to ask her yourself.’ But then I relented. ‘Not with her mother, I don’t think. She’d been in contact with her father – been to stay with him in London recently.’
‘Could we see her room?’
‘I’ll take you up there.’ Katy appeared to have taken charge again, and I got the feeling she was actually enjoying the drama.
‘Look, is she OK?’ I asked. ‘You can’t just come in here, asking questions about Fliss and not tell us what it’s all about. Is she OK?’
DI Crowther patted my arm kindly. ‘That’s what we need to find out, Anna.’ He turned to Katy. ‘Upstairs?’
‘What’s going on, Clare?’ I asked, once the two detectives had followed Katy out of the room.
‘Do you think she’s been, you know…?’ Clare lowered her voice.
‘What?’
‘Shoplifting!’ Clare’s eyes widened. ‘All that stuff upstairs in her wardrobe. Blimey, they’ll see it all. Katy’s bound to show them.’
‘Oh, God! Do you reckon they’ve arrested her and then come to search her room?’
‘Or raped?’ Clare pulled a face. ‘Maybe they’ve got Theo…’