“It’s probably the middle of the night over there—”
“It’s about eight at night in Sydney right now,” she cut in. “A perfect time to catch people. If it’s not a good time, you can just apologise and hang up.”
“Okay. I’ll try.” The coffee soured in my throat as I brought up Gray’s number and called him. So far, my intrusions into his life had happened at the worst possible times for him.
This time, he answered in a tired, lost kind of tone. “Constance?”
“Yes, it’s me. I’m so sorry to bother you, Gray. How’s your little girl doing?”
“I’ve brought her home. The news wasn’t good for her ongoing health, but we’re coping.”
“Oh no. I’m so sorry.” Rosemary nodded at me, urging me to ask the question. “I hate to ask, but have you heard from Evie?”
“No.” A flat, decisive no.
“Oh . . . okay. Well, I hope you do very soon.”
“The cops found Evie’s car.”
“Her car?”
“Yeah. All burned out. And some of her things, too, buried in the ground.”
My hand flew to my mouth. “God.”
The calm expression in Rosemary’s eyes switched. She made a revolving gesture, telling me to stay on the line and keep him talking. I understood. My instinct was to end the call and leave him in peace, but Rosemary wanted as much information as possible.
“Oh, Gray, that doesn’t sound good,” I managed to say.
“No, it’s not good. I don’t know what the hell is going on. The police won’t let me go out there and look myself. They won’t even tell me where. Some bushland area, apparently.”
“And someone went to the trouble of burying Evie’s things?”
“Yep. Her wallet and phone and shoes. All of them burned, too.”
“That’s terrible.”
“You’ve got that right. How about Kara? Anything?”
“No. No trace. But I found out that she flew to England. The Darling Harbour police told me. I’m here now, in London, and I’ve hired a P.I.”
Too late I noticed that Rosemary was shaking her head.
“Wish I had the money for one of those,” he answered.
Gray was in such a bad place that I could sense the weight and strain in every word he spoke. But I needed to finish the call quickly now. I’d said the wrong thing and I didn’t know how to fix it. I said goodbye and told him I’d call him if I heard from Kara.
I raised guilty eyes to Rosemary. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think—”
“It’s all right. I should have told you. It’s just a habit of mine to keep everything as private as possible. Please don’t tell anyone else about me.”
“I won’t. I haven’t even told my husband. But that’s because he’ll fuss about me going ahead with anything. He worries about my . . . state of mind. I’ve been on antidepressants for a long time. Many years.”
“We all have our crosses to bear. I’m glad you have someone who takes care of you.”
For a moment—and only a moment—I glimpsed a piece of the person Rosemary must be. I guessed she lived alone and didn’t have anyone taking care of her.
She sighed. “Sounds like things aren’t going in a good direction for Gray’s wife. I heard you say her things were found buried?”
“Yes.” I recounted what Gray had said to Rosemary.
“Oh dear. Do the police have any idea who might have done that? Was it an expensive car? An insurance job perhaps?”
“No, I can’t imagine it would be an insurance job. These people are dirt poor. From the look of Gray’s car, it can’t be worth more than ten thousand dollars, and I’d imagine Evie’s isn’t worth much more.”
“Really? Hmmm, I wonder if the police checked if Evie left the country.”
“I’m thinking she couldn’t have if her wallet and phone were found? I’m assuming Evie would now be a missing person in the eyes of the police, so they’d check all that, wouldn’t they? They did for Kara.”
“Yes, yes, you’re quite right. They would.” Her eyes clouded. “Well, let’s hope Gray didn’t have something to do with his wife’s disappearance.”
“I didn’t think of that. Oh God, I hope not.”
“In my previous career, I was a detective. It was terrible how many times the culprit was the husband. Too many times.”