Elise read back through the previous week, noting Lila’s visit on Saturday and Charlie’s on Wednesday.
“Here he is—but he didn’t come the week before. I thought he never missed.”
Birdie frowned. “He doesn’t. I thought he came but . . . Well, the notes are usually accurate. He would have phoned if he couldn’t make it.” She lifted her mobile and listened to her call history, skipping back until she reached the list of recent calls on speakerphone back to “Dad. Incoming call. Wednesday the fourteenth. Thirteen forty-seven.”
“That’s probably the call,” she said. “He might have spoken to someone on the staff as well, so they could tell me if I forgot.”
“I’ll ask,” Elise said. “Can you remember how he was the last visit? It was only four days ago. What did he talk about? Did he have anything on his mind? It might help us understand his disappearance.”
“There was something, I think. He was upset but . . . I’m really sorry,” Birdie said, her head drooping.
“Don’t worry. What about e-mails or texts? Has he messaged you since then?”
Birdie opened her laptop and they listened as she scrolled through her inbox. There was only one since his last visit. The monotone ReadAloud voice recited from Thursday, August 22:
Hello, darling. Sorry I made you cry yesterday, Birdie. I hate to see you unhappy. Please don’t worry—I promise I’ll find a way through this. You know you can rely on me—I just need to juggle a few things. Love you and see you soon, Dad x
“Can you remember what upset you so much?” Elise said.
Birdie looked blank.
“Okay, do you mind if we keep going through his messages?”
On Wednesday, August 14, the day he’d missed, he’d e-mailed:
I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for our walk today but something urgent came up that I had to deal with. Nothing for you to worry about—and it is all sorted now. I’ll make up for it next time. Bring you something lovely, my darling girl. Much love, Dad
What was he dealing with? Elise wondered.
There were other e-mails—short loving messages. “Dad checks in a lot. He worries about me.” Birdie smiled, clicking on an e-mail from Thursday, August 8, with the subject line Hello, Darling Girl.
Lovely to see you yesterday. You looked so well. Keep up the physio and we’ll walk farther next time. We can go to smell those wonderful roses in the Sensory Garden. By the way, I’ve asked the staff to make sure visitors make appointments and speak to me before they see you. Nothing to worry about, darling, but I don’t want you bothered. Anyway, I’ve got some jobs to do—the charity raffle is going great guns—but I’ll ring tomorrow and see you next week. Bye-bye, Birdie. Much love, Dad
So the watch on callers started only recently.
“Did you have an unexpected visitor around that date?” Elise said, flipping over the pages in the folder. “There’s nothing in the diary.”
“I don’t know but you could ask at the desk. They’re super helpful.”
“Yes, absolutely,” Elise said. Ronnie could have a go at winning over the gatekeeper. “Okay, I’m leaving you my number in case you hear from your dad,” Elise said, keying it into Birdie’s phone.
Ronnie headed straight for reception and Elise stood back while she troweled on the charm.
“Thank you so much for letting us see Birdie. She’s so lucky to live somewhere as beautiful as this. Have you got a brochure? I have a friend who might be interested.”
The receptionist leaned on her counter to point out the many features of Wadham Manor as Ronnie hummed her appreciation.
“Birdie certainly loves it here,” she said.
“Yes, we’ll really miss her when she moves,” the receptionist said.
“She’s leaving?” Ronnie raised an eyebrow.
“Well, we are expensive. . . . Not everyone can afford it long term.”
“How distressing for everyone—Birdie’s father must be very upset. Charlie is devoted to her, isn’t he?”
“Oh, yes, very attentive,” the receptionist said.
“And very protective—well, you can understand that, can’t you?”
“Yes. Actually, he got a bit huffy when I told him there’d been a visitor for Birdie a couple of weeks ago. Said we had to ring him if anyone just turned up.”
“Oh, who was the visitor?”
“He didn’t leave a name—and he didn’t see Birdie. She was in treatment, so he said he’d come back the following week.”