Page 73 of Then She Vanished

Then the light goes out.

FORTY-SEVEN

Jacob and Gina hurried towards the huge wooden front door to the house. Ivy coated the whole frontage, thick like a carpet of dark-green hues. She spotted a collection of industrial buildings behind it. Long buildings and greenhouses of factory-like proportions. ‘Everyone’s in place, so we’re ready to go,’ Gina whispered. The area was surrounded, just in case Gary decided to run.

Jacob rapped his knuckles on the door.

A woman in a wax jacket and green wellies opened it and smiled. ‘Hello.’ She looked them up and down. ‘You want to see the stable. Just let me grab my phone and I’ll take you across.’

Gina shook her head. ‘No, sorry. I’m DI Harte and this is DS Driscoll. We need to talk to you about an employee called Gary Pritchard.’

‘Okay. What’s this about?’

‘We’re looking for him regarding a case we’re investigating. Has he come into work today?’

‘Quite the opposite.’ The woman rolled her eyes and her messy bun began to shed a few strands of mousy-coloured hair. ‘He didn’t turn up, so I’m short-staffed, which is why I’m doing his work as well as my own.’

‘May we come in?’

‘Of course.’ She opened the door fully and led them to a farmhouse kitchen where something delicious and brothy simmered in a pot on the Aga.

Gina’s stomach rumbled slightly as she inhaled onion and chicken. ‘Could I take your name, please?’

The woman gestured for them to sit on the long bench seat at the rustic table. ‘Amelie Edmundson.’

‘When did you last see Mr Pritchard?’

‘He came in yesterday, but said he felt ill, so went home around eight in the morning. Actually, his absence is becoming an inconvenience. He’s had numerous warnings for being late, not turning up to work and generally skiving off. We keep finding him hanging around and smoking by the outbuildings, and I’ve even caught him drinking a few times. This is a problem because, as you might guess, we have machinery and vehicles. Should he be in charge of any of those and someone were to get hurt… it doesn’t bear thinking about.’ She paused and shook her head. ‘And, he’s been quite aggressive and angry. His ex-wife has met someone else, and since then, he’s definitely got worse. Has he done something?’

‘That’s what we’re trying to establish, and I’m grateful for your cooperation.’ Gina hoped that would continue when she asked for a look around the outbuildings and vans. It would make their lives much easier if they were granted access.

‘I hate speaking like this about him. Up until this year he’s been an asset to Edmundson’s, and he’s worked here for so long. We know he’s been dealt a bad hand, what with his daughter going missing all those years ago. I can’t begin to imagine how that would feel. We have two grown-up kids and grandchildren now, and if something happened to any of them, I don’t know how I’d carry on.’ Mrs Edmundson bit her bottom lip.

Gina pulled out the drawing of John Doe. ‘Do you know this man?’

She shook her head.

‘What does Gary do here?’

‘He looks after the cows and milking, and general farm duties. He’s very handy, so he does maintenance too. We all muck in and do a bit of everything around here.’

‘You have two white vans registered to the business. Can we take a look at them?’

‘Why?’

‘A white van with a side door was used in an attempted kidnapping.’ Gina didn’t know what vehicle had been used to take Ruth, but she suspected that, too, was a white van.

Mrs Edmundson opened her eyes wide and raised her brows. ‘And you think one of our vans was used for that?’

‘We just need to rule them out.’

‘Of course. Gary uses them all the time. You don’t think…?’

‘As I said, we just need to rule them out. Mr Pritchard ran from us this morning and got into a white van.’

Grabbing a set of keys, Mrs Edmundson led them back towards the main door. ‘Follow me. I’ll take you to the vans now. They’re both onsite.’

They followed her over the muddy driveway until they reached a churned-up tarmac car park full of farm vehicles and the two white vans. Damp began to seep through the side of one of Gina’s boots. Mrs Edmundson pulled out a key with a purple tab on it and opened the first van up. It was full to the roof with tools and parts. Cobwebs stretched across the opening like they’d been there for days or even weeks. Mrs Edmundson opened the door to the second van and that was in a similar state. She glanced into the cabs of both. There were no chess pieces dangling from the rear-view mirror.

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