Page 94 of She Saw What He Did

‘Shall we go?’ he asked.

She nodded.

She’d fill Colin in on the way to Abby Miller’s.

*

Weis listened intently to what Ellen had to say and when she’d finished, he said,

‘So, you think the Millers are hiding something they found on the island?’

‘That’s all I can think,’ said Ellen. ‘They said they went to a geocache, but we know now it wasn’t the right one. The fact they put their own things in the hiding place means they must have taken something from it. The question is what?’

‘You think that’s what the killer wanted?’

‘I don’t know, but it’s possible isn’t it? Maybe that’s what the Ukrainian guy wanted too. Perhaps that was what they were fighting over.’

‘So why didn’t the Millers hand it over to the police?’ asked Weis.

‘I don’t know,’ said Ellen. ‘That’s what I’m going to ask them.’

*

It was another warm day on St Cecilia’s and Scott decided to take advantage of it and get one of those chocolate mint ice creams he liked. After all, he didn’t have to rush back to the station as Ryan would be there now. He’d check with him about those cartridges when he got back. It wouldn’t surprise Scott in the least if Gareth and Wendy Richards were confused about them. All the same he had to file a report. He frowned at the sight of the queue at the ice-cream parlour. People looked at him. You’d think he was part of a freak show, he thought.

‘Can we take a photo?’ asked an American tourist.

‘Sure,’ Scott smiled and posed for the camera feeling slightly narked that he had now lost his place in the queue.

It was worth the wait and he savoured the crisp minty flavour as he walked back to the station. He was surprised to see the lights weren’t on and the door still locked. He walked into the hot stuffy interior and turned on the fan. From the corner of his eye he saw the answer machine flashing. He pulled off his jacket and sat in front of the fan. He wondered what the weather was like in Fernsea. He’d always fancied visiting there. He listened to Ellen’s answerphone message and made a mental note to call her back later. It was a nuisance that Ryan wasn’t in. Scott could have done with checking his report on Gareth’s gun permits. Perhaps it was in the Miller file. He pulled it up onto his computer and went through the pages but there was no gun permit report from Ryan. He must have done it, thought Scott. Maybe it was on Ryan’s computer. He made a coffee while he waited for it to fire up. He then clicked into it only to find it was password protected. Scott stared bemused at the screen. Why the hell was it password protected? What was the bloody point of that?

‘Damn,’ he muttered, punching Ryan’s number into his phone.

It rang and rang. Maybe he’s on his way to the station, Scott thought hopefully.

Twenty minutes and another coffee later and Ryan still hadn’t showed. Scott, eager to write his report, locked up the station and walked to Ryan’s flat. After all, he should have been at work hours ago. The flat was on the ground floor of a converted house at the far end of town. It was a quiet area. Scott was pleased to see Ryan’s car parked at the front of the house. Scott knocked and waited. He then knocked again. There was no sound from inside the house. Scott manoeuvred around the bins in the front garden and peeked in through the window. Where was he, Scott wondered, and why hadn’t he phoned to say he wouldn’t be into work? Through the window he could see the messy living room. Blankets and a pillow were thrown onto the couch. Half-empty glasses sat on the coffee table along with leftover pizza. Scott wrinkled his nose. It seemed Ryan was just as messy at home as he was at the station. He strained his eyes to see beyond the living room. His mobile trilled and he quickly yanked it out of his pocket. He didn’t want people to see him nosing about outside Ryan’s flat. He looked at the caller ID. It was Ryan.

‘Ryan mate I’m …’

‘I won’t be in today,’ interrupted Ryan. ‘I’m feeling really rough. I’m just going to take it easy today.’

Scott glanced again through the window.

‘Where are you?’ he asked dubiously.

‘At home, being lazy on the couch I’m afraid. I’ll watch some old westerns. Best not spread it around.’

‘Absolutely,’ said Scott.

‘Ellen around?’

‘She’s in Porthaven.’

There were a few seconds of silence.

‘What for?’

‘We realised that the geocache the Millers claimed to have taken was actually not geocache at all but …’

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