Which one do you think? I want classy. I think I prefer the cream with gold but I’m not sure. The printer needs a decision today otherwise we’ll lose our place in his queue.
How could he forget this? Not think of the date. Notice the date.
‘Excuse me, but have you finished?’
Ed turns to find a woman waiting behind him for the coffee machine. He almost tells her to push off but just stops himself. ‘Sorry. Sorry. Distracted.’
He grabs the two coffees and casts around for somewhere to put them down safely, all the while frantically doing maths in his head. A chair’s the only option. He huffs his annoyance, placing the two cups down near the centre of the seat, but it’s not flat and one cup tips instantly, spraying hot coffee everywhere. Oh, sod it.
Ed leaves the mess, the woman at the machine tutting loudly as he takes out his phone to dial DI Sanders. It goes to voicemail so he rings Matthew Hill – the PI he went to see, who’s now working as Mel’s sidekick. Which Ed doesn’t quite understand. Don’t the police have their own people?
‘Matthew Hill.’
‘Matthew, it’s Ed Hartley. I can’t get hold of DI Sanders and something’s just occurred to me. She asked if there might be a trigger. For Laura – my ex-wife.’
‘I hope you’re not going to just leave that.’ The woman from the coffee machine has walked right up to Ed, leaning in to confront him.
‘Look. Could you just mind your own—’
‘What did you say?’ Matthew’s tone is confused.
‘Sorry. Not you. Someone this end.’
‘Oh right. Go on.’
‘Well, there might be. A trigger for Laura. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before.’
CHAPTER 56
THE PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR
Matthew punches in the search to his sat nav. An hour and a half. Damn. Mel will need to send a local unit but he wants to be there too. In fact he wants to lead on this. He’ll ask them to wait for him.
‘I’m sorry Wendy but I’m going to have to make a detour. Emergency.’ He carries on round the roundabout while the sat nav recalculates and then takes the right exit.
‘So where are we going now? I thought we were going to the station to wait for your boss. I have work I should be doing, you know.’
Matthew doesn’t answer but instead is doing the calculation in his head. He should make it to Wells just after 11 a.m. if the traffic’s OK. Doable. It’s a long shot but the best use of his time while Mel focuses on finding Sam’s wife. And he wants to be the one who brings Laura in.
He thinks again of her standing at the railings by Amelie’s school, handing her the note.
‘I asked you a question.’ Wendy’s curt, her arms crossed.
‘OK. Start talking and I might answer. Tell me everything you told Lily about her husband. Everything. We need to find her.’ Matthew’s head is practically bursting with the possibilities. Laura, or Sam’s wife? Or Alex hiring someone? What the hell is really going on with this case?
‘Tell me first where we’re going.’
‘Detour to Wells.’
‘That’s bloody miles. You can’t just kidnap me. Let me out.’
‘Sorry. No can do. We’re on a dual carriageway and it’ll take too long. You need to help me out here so cut the victim act. You know full well you should have checked in with the police the minute Gemma’s name was released.’
Wendy stares again out of the passenger window. ‘People don’t trust you if you go running to the police. My clients like to be sure everything we do is confidential. I have the right to make a living.’
Matthew bites his tongue; Wendy was never in the force. She came to PI work via security. Has a whole different take. It’s a waste of time arguing with her. Outcome’s the issue now. Also time. Wendy’s another pair of eyes; he might not rate her moral compass, but word is she’s very good at what she does. She probably has more undercover hours under her belt than any backup he can get at short notice for this. Fact is, she just might be useful if he can get her to cooperate.
It’s all a long shot, but if Ed is right and Laura’s going back to the cathedral for their anniversary, they’re going to need a very careful approach. They have no way of knowing if Laura is armed. Just how dangerous she may be. Mel might want to clear or close the cathedral but Matthew doubts they’ll have time or a mandate for that at such short notice on a hunch.
He’ll just have to keep this as low key as possible. Bad news is Laura knows what he looks like. Must have checked his website and address to reach him through Amelie. He could request an undercover female officer to assist but – no time. The fallout will be horrendous if they get this wrong. Last thing they need is another scene in a cathedral.