“No idea,” I snap, and Elise’s eyes narrow. “Sorry,” I say. “I’m just worried about him. He’s had a lot to cope with lately.”
“Like what?”
I take a deep breath and try to control the telltale squeak in my voice.
“Well, like that huge house they can’t afford. Pauline won’t let it alone. Nagging him all the time about the repairs and the cost of keeping his daughter in a home. And then there’s Bram. . . .”
“The man at the garden center,” Ronnie pipes up. “Always taking his shirt off unnecessarily.”
“Look, I never gossip about clients,” I carry on. “Ask anyone. But I’m worried about Charlie. All I’m saying is that people are saying Bram calls round to the caravan when Charlie’s out and the grass isn’t being cut.”
Elise looks at me hard. “Does Charlie know?”
“I don’t know. But he and Pauline row about sex a lot. She says terrible things to him.”
“In front of you?”
“People forget I’m there.”
“Right.”
And her eyes narrow and I expect she’s wondering what I know about her. That she takes antidepressants. That she’s got a vibrator in her bedside table drawer.
“How do you think Pauline is coping with his disappearance?”
“Well, she doesn’t seem that upset to me. She’s always saying she’d be better off without him. Poor man. Everyone says he’s a sweetheart except her. I just hope he’s okay.”
“We all do. . . .”
She’s looking too closely at me and I try to stop my hand shaking as I dust.
Twenty-seven
MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2019
Elise
Wow!” Ronnie said as soon as Dee left. “It must have been very tense in that caravan.”
“I know. There’s a lot to unpick,” Elise said, already reexamining Pauline’s earlier answers. “She said she was a woman with needs. What is this Bram like? Would I have seen him?”
“Probably. You’ll definitely have heard him—he drives one of those monster four-by-fours that shake windows. How much do you think Pauline knows about Charlie’s past life?”
“No idea but I think I ought to be talking to Caro about this.”
Elise picked up the phone and dialed. Engaged. “I’ll try again later,” she said.
“Well, I’m going to see Pauline,” Ronnie announced. “I said I’d take her my old buckets, didn’t I? Do you want to come? We could ask her who does her garden.”
When they got to the caravan, they were startled by Pauline throwing open the front door of the big house as they walked past. She was carrying a blue washing-up bowl and looked as surprised as they did. She whooshed the contents over a clump of weeds at the side of the steps.
“Just emptying the water from the leaks,” she said, slamming the door behind her. An overpoweringly rank smell made Elise put her hand to her nose.
“Sorry. My treatment makes me oversensitive.”
“It’s been standing for a while,” Pauline said. “Why are you back?” She didn’t sound friendly anymore.
“I’ve brought those buckets,” Ronnie said. “They’re in the car.”
“Oh, just leave them on the steps.”
“Has there been any word from Charlie?” Elise said as Ronnie wrestled the Mini’s boot open. “It’s been more than two days. . . .”
“I am well aware, but there’s no need for you to concern yourselves in my business any further,” Pauline snapped. “I’ve heard from him.”
Both women stared at her.
“Well, that’s good. When?” Elise said.
“This morning. He’s fine,” Pauline said, not looking anyone in the eye.
Elise could see how jangly she was, her mouth pouting and stretching and her hands plucking at her clothes.
“That’s great news!” Ronnie said. “You must be so pleased.”
“But where did he go?” Elise asked, and Pauline’s mouth tightened.
“As I said, it’s really not your concern.”
“For goodness’ sake, Pauline,” Ronnie said. “We’ve been so worried—we’ve been running round trying to find him.”
“I didn’t ask you to. Look, it was just a quick call,” Pauline muttered. “He didn’t say where he was.”
“Have you told the police? They’ll still be looking for him,” Elise said.