Page 10 of Then She Vanished

‘He could tell that I wasn’t happy with him speaking to Molly – that’s my daughter’s name – so he backed off. He’d come in, get some books and go. I soon forgot all about him until… June this year.’

‘What happened in June?’

‘I saw them talking,again. She seemed to be twiddling her hair between her fingers, and he was leaning against a rack of books. I stood at the other side of the shelf and listened. He was telling her about his daughter and how alike they were – I thought that explained the children’s books, but I still didn’t trust him.’ She swallowed. ‘He was telling Molly how much she’d get on with his daughter. He said she was home-schooled and didn’t have many friends, and he asked if he could give her his number so that he could arrange for them to do something together. He said that his daughter was a similar age and they both loved reading. That’s when I interrupted them. I told him that my daughter wasn’t going to his house, and I grabbed the bit of paper he’d written his number on and I stuffed it back in his pocket.’

‘What did he do?’

‘He shook his head and looked at me like I was crazy, then he went on about his daughter and that he had meant every word. I didn’t believe him. Then?—’

‘Did you report it?’

She blew out a breath. ‘I was going to, but me and Molly argued like mad. She said I’d embarrassed her and myself. She said he’d told her all about his daughter before and that she was in a wheelchair. He’d even shown her some photos, andshe thought he was a great dad and that I was mean. It got me thinking that maybe I was wrong.’

‘Did you tell anyone else your worries?’

‘Only my other colleague, Francis, but she always seems stressed so I don’t like to burden her with my problems. She cares for her elderly mother who’s always having falls. I briefly mentioned him to her, but she didn’t know who I was talking about.’

‘Did you mention him to Selma?’

‘No, she’s only been here two months. I’ve been showing her the ropes. I mostly train Selma.’

Gina knew she had to ask about the last time that Rona had seen their dead man. ‘When did you last see him?’

‘Saturday, when I was on shift. I don’t see him anywhere else, though, and I use all the shops around here.’

‘How did he seem?’

She inhaled and breathed out slowly. ‘Er… he tried to avoid me, for obvious reasons. He didn’t spend long looking for books, and I saw him checking them out on the self-service. He looked a bit of a mess. When he used to come in and talk to Molly, he always looked quite, er…’ – she looked up – ‘fashionable, I suppose? Jeans, trainers, T-shirt and overshirt. Combed hair. Last Saturday, his T-shirt was crumpled and he had a short unruly beard. He looked like he wasn’t looking after himself. I was just glad Molly wasn’t there and that he left quickly. That really is everything.’

Gina glanced at Jacob. They were dealing with a man who appeared to have developed a bit of an obsession with a teenage girl. She wondered, too, if the man really had a disabled daughter at home, who needed him when he was never coming home.

Was she the girl in the photo? But it was highly suspicious that he was using a library card that wasn’t his.

She thought about the note in his car. Why would he want them to save her?

There was a girl somewhere who needed to be found.

She had to speak to Molly; find out if the man said anything to her that she didn’t share with her mother. ‘Ms Sailsbury, where is your daughter now?’

‘Her friend’s parents have taken them to Drayton Manor for the day.’

‘Can you come into the station after work to make a formal statement?’

‘Of course. Was I right to worry about him?’

Gina pressed her lips together, not knowing how much to disclose. ‘We don’t know, but it would also really help if we could speak to your daughter.’

‘She’ll be home about six this evening. Shall I come then and bring her with me?’

Gina nodded. ‘Yes, please. That would really help our enquiries.’

Rona stood and grabbed her coffee cup off the desk. ‘I’ll see you then.’

She opened the door and Gina saw a line of tiny children, all laughing and chatting as they headed to the beanbag area.

Her phone beeped. It was Detective Constable Paula Wyre, calling from the station.

‘Guv, we have a witness. Someone has come forward after seeing the board on the road. He saw a man standing on the railway bridge last night, about half a mile down the road. The witness pulled up in his car and tried to talk the man down. The man got down off the bridge and told the witness to get lost. The witness thought he saw him throwing a phone over the bridge before he walked off.’

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