Page 12 of Final Betrayal

‘Amy works in my pharmacy. She didn’t turn up for work yesterday morning or today. She always opens the shop on Mondays. I got a call from one of the assistants at eight thirty to say the staff had no way of getting in.’

‘And that was unusual?’

‘Of course it was. Amy rarely misses work, and if she were ill, I’d know. It’s very unlike her.’

‘What did you do?’

‘I opened up the shop and let the staff in. Turned on the lights. Set up the tills. All the stuff that Amy usually does.’

‘And did you try to find out where she might be?’

‘I was busy with the shop, and customers started coming in. The day got away from me. I was sure she’d be at home when I got there. But she wasn’t.’

‘What did you do then?’

‘I just assumed she had met a fella on Saturday night and was still with him.’

‘Has she done that before?’

‘A few times. But she’s twenty-five, not a child, Inspector Parker.’

Lottie didn’t like the rebuke in his tone. She straightened her back and tugged up the sleeves of her T-shirt. As usual, Boyd remained silent. Letting her dig herself into a big black hole.

‘Did you contact her friends?’

‘Of course.’

‘And?’

He fidgeted in the chair. ‘Well, I don’t know all of them …’

‘Can you give me the details of those you did contact?’

‘I can. But they’re no help. No one knows where she is.’

‘They might be able to tell us when they last saw Amy.’

‘At the nightclub, Jomo’s. That’s the last time anyone saw her.’

‘Anyone you’ve contacted, that is.’

‘Correct.’

‘I need the names and numbers.’

‘Sure.’

He took a page from his breast pocket and handed it over. Lottie glanced at the handwritten list. It was short. Very short. Three names.

‘I’m sure there are more,’ he said quickly, ‘but they’re all I had in my phone.’

‘Some of these might be able to provide me with further names and numbers,’ Lottie said. ‘And what about the people she works with?’

‘They told me they hadn’t see her since Friday evening, when she locked up. She was off on Saturday.’

‘Are you in the shop every day?’

‘Only when Amy is off. I trust her to run it for me.’

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