“Did you argue about it?” Elise said.
“I tried to talk to him but I couldn’t get anything out of him when he was here. He was always on his computer. For hours.”
“Perhaps we could take that with us as well as his mobile?” Caro said.
Janine got up and fetched the phone and laptop from another room. She was followed back in by two tearful teenagers in their pajamas. “My children,” she indicated. “They’re very upset. We all are. My parents are on their way to pick them up.”
“We’re not leaving you,” her daughter sobbed, and her son threw his arms round her.
“Do you know the password?” Elise said.
“No,” Janine said.
“I do,” her boy said quietly. “Dad let me use it for gaming sometimes.”
Caro wrote it down.
“Thanks so much. We’ll be in touch as soon as there is news,” Elise said as she stood to go. “We’ll see ourselves out.”
“Refinancing?” Caro said in the hall. “I smell Charlie Perry.”
Sixty
SATURDAY, AUGUST 31, 2019
Toby
Toby felt safe for the first time in weeks. Kind people were talking to him, asking him questions he could answer without double-checking his story. Saul stood at the head of the bed, as white as the sheets, murmuring he loved Toby and taking his hand every time they were alone.
When they sat him up, the doctor told him he was still waiting on some results but he was pretty sure he’d had a panic attack. “Is it your first? Are you under a lot of stress at the moment?”
Toby wanted to laugh but it came out as a sort of scream and the doctor nodded sympathetically. “Let’s see what the final tests show. You get some rest.”
“But we’re supposed to be catching a flight to America,” Saul said. “Aren’t we?”
Toby nodded.
“What time?” the doctor said.
“Six thirty,” Saul said, looking at his watch. “We’ve checked in online but we’ve got security and everything to get through.”
The doctor sighed and turned to Toby. “I think you might be wise to see about changing your flight.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” Toby croaked. “I still feel very shaky.”
Saul kissed his head and swished aside the curtain to go and make the calls. “We’ve got insurance,” Toby said to the nurse who was adjusting the monitor. “It should be okay. . . .”
“Just try to relax,” she said, and smiled.
* * *
—
He’d only just got out of bed and dressed to go home when Saul tore aside the curtain.
“I’ve just had to spend an hour on hold, listening to ‘Fly Me to the Moon,’ before being totally fucking humiliated,” he spat. “My card was refused by the airline and the bank said there are no funds in any of our accounts. How can that be?”
Toby put out a hand to stop the onslaught. “I’m not well, Saul,” he gasped.
“Never mind that,” his husband whispered fiercely. “Where is all our baby money?”
* * *
—
They had to give him more sedation after Saul left and he was in a sweaty doze when DS Brennan and DI King appeared at the foot of the bed like angels of death.
“Mr. Greene?” DS Brennan said softly.
“Yes,” he murmured, trying to remember where the hell he was.
“How are you doing?”
The heart monitor at his side started accelerating and he tried slow breaths.
“You certainly look better than the last time I saw you.”
“Thank you for looking after me,” he managed.
“It’s what we’re here for.” She smiled. “Well, among other things.”
Toby took another deep breath.
DI King came round to the side of the bed. “We need to talk to you, Mr. Greene, because we’re investigating the death of Charlie Perry. And I understand he’d been asking people to invest in a scheme. Were you one of them?”
The alarm suddenly shrieked on the monitor and a nurse came rushing in.
She laid Toby back down and silenced the machine. “I’m sorry. Mr. Greene isn’t up to talking at the moment. Perhaps you could come back later to ask your questions.”
DI King looked at him and nodded. She looked as if she’d already got the answers.
Sixty-one
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2019
Elise
She rang the hospital for an update first thing and was told Toby Greene had just been collected by a friend. Elise pulled on clothes, wrestling with her bra and the stupid insert that kept falling out. She left it on the floor in the end. She couldn’t fanny about—no one else was going missing in this case on her watch.