Deadly Lies Read online

  Grant spread his hands in an apologetic manner. ‘Please, if it wasn’t important I wouldn’t ask. Let’s go through it one more time.’

  Natalie groaned and rested her head back against the sofa.

  Jack started talking. He wasn’t good looking though Ruby quickly realised she’d misjudged him because Jack was the sort of man who attracted women’s attention. He had a deep voice and charisma and a lot of masculinity. She found herself staring at him. Jack told them how he and Alice had been at a dinner party hosted by a friend.

  ‘Like I already told you, Inspector, they aren’t our friends,’ Alice said. ‘I don’t even know why we go there. Carmichael is a business associate.’

  Picking up a piece of paper, Grant ran his finger down it so slowly it was like torture. Even Ruby wanted to jump up and snatch it out of his hand. The more the DCI stretched this out the more the tension ratcheted up. Ruby licked her lips. He was doing it deliberately – playing them to see if they made any slip-ups. Putting on the pressure to find out what or who would give. She’d seen him work like this before, cool and stealthy, and the DCI would keep squeezing until he was satisfied. There was a reason his nickname at the police station was the grey panther.

  Jack clutched at his own knees. ‘For God’s sake, Inspector, shouldn’t you be out there!’

  ‘I see you’ve not put the host on your list of potential enemies.’

  ‘Of course not,’ Jack said, pursing his lips. ‘He and I get on well. Carmichael puts a lot of business my way and I do the same for him. I don’t want to have to assess all our friends as potential traitors, surely you’re not asking us to do that? How horrible. It would be like saying we can’t trust anyone.’

  ‘But can we?’ Alice said, narrowing her eyes.

  ‘And you told me you were both at the dinner party for the whole evening.’

  ‘Yes! How many times do we–’

  ‘What sort of business are you in?’ Grant asked.

  Jack ran his fingers through his hair. ‘I run Hardman Construction for Alice’s father. We construct and renovate properties. My father-in-law built the company up from nothing.’

  Jack was talking as if Grant was an idiot who needed things repeated several times – which was a mistake on Jack’s part. Ruby could see Alice was barely coping, and with her children taken and her father deceased on the same night, no wonder.

  Alice’s green eyes were red-rimmed as she turned to Grant. ‘My father was what everyone calls a self-made man. When Dad retired he put Jack in charge.’ Alice started crying and Jack put his arm around her.

  ‘Where did the two of you meet?’ Grant asked.

  ‘Why the hell is that relevant? If you must know, at work,’ Jack said. ‘I was a manager at Hardman Construction and back then Alice worked in the office.’

  Ah, Ruby thought, so Jack married the boss’s daughter. That was interesting.

  ‘I see you don’t have many enemies because you’ve only put three people on this list.’

  ‘Like I said we can’t scrutinise everyone we know – it would make us go crazy,’ Jack said. ‘I’ve probably pissed off a lot of people in the business and that’s normal. Bidding and winning on a big building project is competitive and Hardman Construction has an edge which I work hard to keep. There’s no one I know I’d think capable of abducting Lisa and Emily. Whoever it is that person’s got to be someone who’s plain mad.’

  ‘Have either of you had any strange encounters or noticed people hanging around the house? Has anything out of the ordinary happened?’

  ‘Nothing,’ Jack said.

  Alice shook her head.

  ‘You told me your au pair left?’

  ‘I asked her to leave,’ Alice said. ‘You asked about who we can trust and well, we trusted her and she betrayed us.’

  ‘Don’t make it more than it was, darling,’ Jack said.

  ‘Perhaps you could tell us what happened,’ Grant said.

  Alice made a half-hearted attempt to push her hair off her face. ‘I’m not exaggerating. She betrayed my trust and she lied. Basically, I found out Sylvie Delacourt had been leaving the children unsupervised. It happened in the changing rooms at the swimming pool which I know for a fact because one of my friends rang to tell me and it freaked me out. I mean, it was chance my friend was there and saw it. I’d had my suspicions about Sylvie and I don’t think it was the only time. I think Sylvie had a habit of sitting them down while she went to get a drink or a snack or went to the toilet, and not just at the pool, at the shopping centre too and at the park. She was strictly not allowed to leave them on their own. They’re too young. She promised me it wouldn’t happen again and then it did.’

  ‘I see,’ Grant said. ‘So you didn’t feel she was reliable?’

  ‘She was deceitful and she lied to me and I think she told the children not to tell me and I didn’t like that either.’

  Grant nodded. His questioning was almost over and Alice and Jack Glover would stay under scrutiny. He wasn’t done with them yet, not by a long way, and he intended to post Ruby and Delaney at the house to keep an eye on them.

  ‘Right. Though nothing happened during the episodes the children were alone?’ Grant asked.

  ‘No, but it could have done!’ Alice said.

  ‘The children weren’t approached by anyone? They didn’t mention anything specific to you?’

  Alice shrieked and shot her husband a dirty look. ‘See Jack! I told you it was dangerous.’

  ‘Mrs Glover, I’m not suggesting something actually happened, what I’m trying to find out is if anything did,’ Grant said.

  ‘The children didn’t mention anything,’ Jack said.

  ‘Of course they didn’t, she told them not to!’

  ‘Please, Mrs Glover, we need to stay factual. It’s the best way for me to get a clear picture.’

  ‘You need to know Sylvie made it difficult when I asked her to leave because she tried to argue her side rather than accept responsibility.’

  Jack shook his head. ‘We can’t point the finger. Sylvie was a twenty-something young woman, how can she be involved? She came all the way from Australia and being asked to move on was a shock. After working with us, Sylvie was hoping to continue working in England.’

  Alice cut Jack a cold look. ‘I told her there was no way in hell I’d give a reference and I doubt the au pair agency did either.’

  ‘Going back to your list of enemies, who are these three people?’ Grant said as he held the list in his hand.

  ‘They’re business competitors,’ Jack said. ‘It’s all I could come up with. They could have something against me and Alice or against Ronnie. Basically Hardman Construction trumped them on big deals, which means we got contracts which they were bidding for and there have been some pretty hefty contracts we’ve won. I’m sure they were green with envy.’

  ‘And you think it might give someone a motive to kidnap Lisa and Emily?’

  ‘I didn’t say that, why are you twisting my words? Like I said, I can’t imagine anyone we know would take our children. It’s the best we could come up with.’

  They would check out Jack and Alice’s alibi for the evening and the list, going through alibis and people’s stories. Close to the family, he had the au pair and the cleaner and on the face of it, neither seemed very likely suspects.

  ‘In the next few hours I’d like you both to take some time with Ruby. I want you to work with her to map the movements of the children in the past few months. I’d like to know who they’ve seen and where they went. And then there’s the keys to Mr and Mrs Hardmans’ house. Are you certain neither of you have mislaid your sets? You’ve not lent them nor lost them?’

  ‘Of course not,’ Alice said. ‘Like I told you, Mum and Dad’s keys are on my main key ring. They go everywhere I go.’

  Jack held up his keys and jiggled them. ‘Like I already said, they’re in my pocket or they’re on the hook in the kitchen. Your officer already checked, didn’t they? And it’s
hanging exactly where it should be.’

  ‘Right. And I’m sorry but we’ll need to thoroughly search the children’s bedrooms,’ Grant said.

  ‘What for?’ Jack asked.

  ‘It’s surprising what can turn up in a kidnap case and any small clue can be important. I know the children are very young but it’s vital to be thorough.’

  ‘Anything you need. Anything. May my wife have a rest now?’

  ‘She can as soon as the technical team have set up your mobile phones. With your permission, we’ll be monitoring your incoming calls and social media accounts. If the abductor contacts either of you by any other means you must notify me immediately.’

  Grant knew the number one reason for failure to recover kidnap victims came down to families communicating with abductors without keeping police in the loop. With threats being made against loved ones, families could be tempted to deal direct – with disastrous consequences.

  ‘We need to work together on this and you need to trust me. Ruby, please can you start working with Jack?’

  Ruby licked her lips. Oh gosh, this was a tough case and the emotional pain in the household was almost unbearable. Alice looked close to a breakdown. She was shaking and having difficulty walking so that both Jack and Natalie had to help her to her feet. Alice was staring at DCI Grant and her eyes were full of torment. Ruby wondered how Grant could stay so focused.

  ‘My babies.’

  ‘Yes, Mrs Glover. I know this is a terrible time for you,’ Grant said.

  ‘Please.’

  DCI Grant nodded slowly. His patience was remarkable and he certainly seemed to be giving Alice Glover a lot of scrutiny.

  ‘P-please bring my babies home.’ Alice Glover collapsed into her husband’s arms.

  6

  Joan and Ronnie’s cleaner, Halina Badawi, lived in an apartment on the fifth floor of a social housing block. DS McGowan knew the area and he knew it wasn’t a block with current drug-dealing residents. The problem with these places was they always teetered on the edge of crime. It only took one or two bad tenants to move in to make it an unpleasant place to live.

  There was graffiti on the walls although no burnt cars out the front. McGowan took the stairs which were free of rubbish bags and didn’t stink of urine so overall it was a good sign. The Badawis had a two-bedroom apartment with a balcony overlooking the back of the railway station. Even with the secondary glazing, it must be noisy.

  When Mr Badawi answered the door he was wearing a sleeveless vest hanging over baggy pyjama trousers. Like any normal person, he kept the chain on while he checked out who it was. When he learned there was a problem with the Glover children Mr Badawi asked DS McGowan to wait in the lounge.

  The room was clean and neat and a healthy flowering plant hung in the window. The place had a cosy looked-after feel and smelled faintly of coconut.

  A few minutes later, Halina Badawi appeared wearing a floor-length kaftan and with her long hair knotted onto the top of her head. Halina and her husband looked to be in their fifties.

  She made mint tea for the three of them while McGowan asked what they did for a living. They were both cleaners. Mrs Badawi worked for private clients and her husband was employed by a company which had contracts to clean offices. They had two daughters who were away at university. One of their daughters was studying law and the other engineering.

  ‘They’re much more clever than us,’ Halina Badawi said with pride. ‘They’re going to get great jobs and have great careers, not be cleaners.’

  ‘There’s nothing wrong with what we do,’ Mr Badawi said.

  ‘I know, dear.’

  She put a mint tea on the table for McGowan.

  ‘Thank you, Mrs Badawi. I need to ask you where you’ve both been in the last few hours.’

  ‘Please call me Halina. We’ve been here, asleep.’

  ‘Can anyone corroborate that? Did you have any contact with neighbours or friends?’

  ‘Well, no. We went to bed around eleven and the next thing was you came knocking on our door.’

  McGowan took out his notebook. ‘And I need to ask about your employment with Mr and Mrs Hardman.’

  ‘You told my husband you’re here because of Mrs Hardman’s grandchildren. Has something happened?’

  McGowan made sure he was looking straight at the couple so he could gauge their reaction. ‘Emily and Lisa have been abducted.’

  Halina clutched at her throat. ‘No!’

  ‘I’m afraid so and I need you to keep all details of our discussion to yourselves. An alert has gone out to the public with the children’s details and it’s important you don’t tell anyone about the Hardmans or your work there or about what we talk about today. Any information you can give me might be vital. Could we start by you telling me about your work for the Hardmans.’

  ‘Of course – I clean bathrooms, kitchen, living room, study – I do the whole house once a week and I’ve worked for Joan for almost seven years. What do you want to know?’

  ‘Do you see the grandchildren when you’re there?’

  ‘Never, though I hear about them often. I go there on a Thursday and I’ve been going there from before Emily was born so I get all the news and, of course, I clean their bedroom too with all their things in it.’

  ‘Right. And you have a set of keys for the house?’

  ‘I have front door and back door keys and that’s because usually Joan isn’t there when I arrive. Plus, I have to take out the trash and that goes out the kitchen door. And I prefer to take my equipment out through the garden not through the house.’

  ‘And you keep your keys where?’

  ‘I’ll show you.’

  Halina took McGowan into the kitchen and she opened the door of a cupboard. On the inside there were several rows of hooks, each with a set of keys on them. He counted fifteen in all.

  ‘Some people I clean for let me in and out. These are the owners who don’t.’

  ‘Lots of people trust you.’

  ‘Of course, why not? People want a clean house and I do a good job. Only I know which key is for which house and not even my husband knows. I haven’t written it down anywhere because I keep it in my head.’ Halina tapped her temple. ‘That was my oldest daughter’s idea in case we had a break-in.’

  ‘That was smart of her. And have you ever had a burglary?’

  ‘Never.’

  ‘What about the keys to Mrs Hardman’s house, have you ever misplaced them or left them anywhere? Think carefully, Mrs Badawi, and please don’t think I’m accusing you, we simply need to work quickly to establish the facts and find the children. That’s what we’re interested in.’

  ‘Of course, I understand.’

  Halina thought for a few moments, then she shook her head. McGowan felt his hopes sinking.

  ‘I’m certain that’s not happened. They’re in my bag to and from Joan’s house and when I get back I always put them on the hook.’ She went to tap Mrs Hardman’s hanging keys and McGowan stopped her.

  ‘Please don’t touch them. You’re certain you’ve never mislaid them nor given them to anyone else?’

  ‘Definite.’

  ‘I’ll need to take these for testing,’ he said. ‘And you’re sure no one else apart from you knows which key belongs to Mrs Hardman’s house?’

  Halina drummed her fingers on the counter. ‘Only me. Except maybe my oldest daughter might have guessed. Because she’s clever like that.’

  7

  Sylvie Delacourt wished she could go to the gym. It was her usual place for de-stressing and she really needed it. She was feeling so strung out after seeing the abduction of Emily and Lisa on the news and the early morning rush at work had been awful. She’d tipped a milkshake into a customer’s lap and spilled a whole canister of chocolate powder on the floor. When she dropped a tray of glasses, the manager had confronted her and Sylvie spilled her story of having known the Glover children. At least it got her a bit of sympathy and the manager rolled his eyes and
told her to take a couple of hours’ break.

  Sylvie needed to think straight. Should she contact the Glover family? What would she say to Alice? The woman hated her and yet the children were missing so shouldn’t Sylvie at least call? And what about Jack?

  The streets of Brighton were always busy. Walking amongst the crowds, Sylvie headed for the promenade. Along the seafront she could smell the salty air and the gulls called out over the water.

  Sylvie hadn’t wanted to leave Himlands Heath. She’d imagined herself staying with the Glovers for another six months which would have given her time to set up her website and sort out graphics and a proper advertising strategy for her new business. Jack Glover had promised to support her business idea and to lend her money to start it up. Of course, it all went down the pan when Alice made a fuss. Stupid woman. Alice had no ambition. All Alice had was looks which were fast fading and a body which hadn’t got back into shape after two children. Why did Alice have to ruin everything?

  With no waitressing experience, Sylvie had been lucky to be taken on at the coffee bar. She had even more luck when another waitress offered her a room. Sure, the lodging the two of them shared was poky and basic. Sylvie didn’t care. It was cheap.

  Going back to her room, she rummaged for her towel and costume. She couldn’t go to a gym anymore because the running machine and the weights would be too strenuous and too risky. Instead, she’d go to the swimming pool. A few gentle lengths might help stop the turmoil because she really needed to calm down.

  Her phone buzzed and when she looked at the screen she saw her big sister. It was Chloe sending photos again – several of Chloe in a bar with friends and one taken at Chloe’s desk showing a huge pile of files. As Sylvie scanned, she felt tears prickling the back of her eyes. She was more emotional these days which must be down to her hormones. There was no way she could tell Chloe she’d got herself into a terrible mess. She knew what her big sister would say – she’d criticise and pick fault and get to act like the superior one again. Sylvie’s parents would do the same – they’d point out how Sylvie was always the one to get it wrong and how her sister was just so perfect. No, it was impossible. This mess was something she must face alone.