Page 113 of She Saw What He Did

‘Damn!’ he yelled, kicking the Mini. Why the fuck did she keep coming here? Why didn’t she leave it to the fucking wankers at Porthaven? The car rental details were in the glove compartment. He cursed. He didn’t have time for this.

It took him thirty-five minutes to drive to the rental offices. He left the car as instructed in the rental agreement and phoned for a taxi to take him to the hotel. He’d throw the handbag in a dustbin along with the contents. He needed to sleep. Tomorrow was a big day. He couldn’t afford to be tired. He had to be on the ball. God knows, no one else was and he didn’t trust that bitch Abby Miller as far as he could throw her.

The receptionist smiled as he entered the hotel, and handed him his key.

‘Good afternoon, Mr Jones,’ she said.

He grunted and took the key. His legs ached, and he was desperate for a shower. He couldn’t help wondering how Ellen was feeling. Was she scared? Was she considering his offer of Brazil? His heart lifted at the thought that she might be. He ought to make plans just in case. Get another air ticket for a start. Yes, he’d do that as soon as he got to his room. She could buy clothes when she got there, as many as she liked. He’d go with her to the shops if she wanted. He was smiling when he clicked open his door. The smile disappeared the second he saw the carnage. He closed the door quickly, pulling the gun from the Co-op carrier bag. His eyes darted to the bedroom and the ripped mattress.

‘What the …?’ he uttered, hurrying in.

With relief he saw the passport lying on the floor along with his flight tickets. The fake passport in the name of Mr Jones had cost him a fortune. He didn’t doubt for one minute that whoever had done this had been looking for the box. Christ, what if they went to the Millers? No, he reassured himself, if they’d had any idea the box was with the Millers then they would never have come here. He checked everywhere. They’d taken nothing.

He’d be glad when tomorrow was over. In the meantime he wasn’t staying here. He’d grab his stuff and get out right away.

*

Weis was angry with himself. He should have gone to Fernsea with Ellen. Now he was there without her and was instead being met by Inspector Layton and Detective Rose from Fernsea police station.

‘Any news from her?’ Layton asked.

‘Nothing,’ said Weis.

He’d sent Ellen numerous messages and called her several times. At first he’d felt he’d been pestering her. That maybe she didn’t want to talk to him. But when he’d learnt Scott and Peter hadn’t heard from her either, Weis had become unsettled. He wasn’t a man prone to panic or worry, but when he’d phoned the Millers and learnt that Ellen hadn’t visited them as planned, he’d known something was wrong. The car-hire firm confirmed she had returned her car the night before.

‘We’ve checked the hospitals. There’s no record of anyone her age being admitted,’ said Layton.

Weis nodded.

‘We’ll check the hotel. Do you know the one she was staying at?’

‘Yes, I’ll take you there.’

Weis remembered his hopes that maybe something might happen on this visit and his indecisiveness at booking a double room. He’d lost courage in the end. Ellen hadn’t drunk much at dinner and he hadn’t wanted to be out of control. He lost his nerve. He didn’t give her as much as a goodnight kiss. What an idiot, he thought. Damn it. He should have gone to Fernsea with her.

Maybe she’d be at the hotel, he thought hopefully. Apologise. Tell them she’d lost her phone.

‘It may just be she’s lost her phone,’ said Rose, reading his mind.

Scott had said Ellen would have called them from the hotel phone.

‘She hates people who don’t communicate,’ he’d said. ‘That’s why I know something is wrong.’

The receptionist remembered Ellen immediately.

‘Oh yes, Miss Burden. Do you want me to see if she’s in her room?’

‘She hasn’t checked out then?’ asked Weis.

‘No.’

‘But she returned the car,’ muttered Layton.

The receptionist picked up a phone and dialled Ellen’s room.

‘She’s not in her room I’m afraid.’

‘We need to get into that room,’ said Layton, flashing his ID.

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