Page 77 of Then She Vanished

‘No, but it would be best if we came in so we could speak.’

Marie led the way to the compact lounge with its oversized sofa, and she called the boy over before putting some cartoons on the TV. ‘Can we talk in the kitchen?’

‘Yes, that would be great. Thank you,’ Gina replied, still feeling a little woozy. ‘Would you mind if I had a glass of water?’

‘Of course not. I can put the kettle on if you prefer?’

‘Water’s fine, thank you,’ Gina replied. She crunched the rest of the sweet and swallowed the remnants, her stomach still churning from the shock of seeing that photo.

Gina was grateful to Jacob for leading on this occasion. She nodded at him to continue as she got her notepad out.

The kitchen was tiny so they all stood, cramped in. She caught sight of a row of houses opposite and a queue of cars at the traffic lights outside. Placing the pad on the worktop, she pulled out her pen and headed the page up.

‘Ms Paulson?—’

‘Marie,’ she interrupted.

Jacob continued. ‘Marie, you’re listed as the main contact on Felicity Vaynor’s file.’

‘I am. She doesn’t have anyone else. Her mother, my aunt, died back in 2010, and her father left the country to take a job in Dubai soon after. He worked in construction and was in an accident there. He’s also sadly no longer with us. I put my name down as the contact. Felicity didn’t have any siblings and we were so close growing up.’

‘Can you tell me a bit about her?’ he asked.

‘Her mum used to be a top chef, travelling all over the place and contracting at restaurants. Sometimes, if it was the school holidays, Lissy used to go with her. She mostly worked on posh boats and was a private chef for rich families; special occasion stuff. The main school holidays in 2006, Lissy stayed with me for a week because she didn’t want to go with her mum. I livedin Cleevesford at the time with my family, who are no longer with us. She used to love staying at our house. I had to work in the day, but she came to see me at lunchtimes and met me outside when my shifts ended. That summer was the last time I saw her. She went back home, started back at school and then she disappeared. Of course, she lived in Solihull back then. All I know is she left school one night after the school production and never made it home. No one has seen her since. The police did all they could. We were all looked into as a part of the investigation. Lissy had a bit of a falling out with her mum over something small the night before and police wondered if she’d just holed up with a friend for a while. I think my aunt was getting a bit overprotective and stifling Lissy, so Lissy told her she didn’t want to be picked up after the school play. Something like that. It was something and nothing. Lissy was just being a bit rebellious, but she was a good girl. I was a tearaway. I used to drink on the streets with my mates at thirteen and go home hammered. Lissy was nothing at all like me. On the whole, she was happy. There was one sighting about a month after she vanished, but I don’t think it was Lissy. There was a homeless community living in an abandoned warehouse. I’m sure it wasn’t her, but the police who were dealing with the case seemed to think it was, so her disappearance became less of a priority for them.’

‘Do you know anything about her friends?’

Gina swigged the water, enjoying cleansing her mouth, and continued taking notes as Jacob questioned Marie.

‘She was friends with some of the girls and picked on by a couple of boys. That particular group were all together at the end of the night, so they gave alibis for each other. She loved her cat, Meowdon. I remember when she had him as a kitten and made that name up.’

Marie smiled warmly and pursed her lips before continuing. ‘Why are you here now? Don’t get me wrong, I want you tolook into Lissy’s disappearance. I’ve never once given up on her. That’s why I won’t ever change my mobile number because she has it.’

‘We’ve had a recent attempted kidnapping and also a woman has vanished under suspicious circumstances, and your name came up in our enquiries. We’ve been looking for someone called Marie Blaine in relation to all this.’

‘Ah, it changed to Paulson when I married ten years ago.’ She blew out a breath. ‘So, you think whoever is involved with the case you’re investigating now could be responsible for taking Lissy?’

‘We believe you might know more than you think and it could go as far back as when you worked at Crastone Foods.’

She scrunched her brow. ‘I obviously worked there when Lissy came to stay, but?—’

‘You knew a Colson Ferguson?’

‘I had a huge crush on him back then and I dated him for a while. Things fizzled out as they do when you’re young. I ended up having to cover for him at work because he kept not turning up.’ She brushed a hair from her cheek and shook her head. ‘Why would Colson take Lissy, or anyone else? He was a bit of an idiot, but he wouldn’t do anything like that. I wouldn’t trust him with money because I could have sworn he took thirty quid out of my purse, but he’s not dangerous.’

‘We’re actually trying to track down someone else. I’m going to show you a picture of the man we’re looking for.’ Gina hoped John Doe would turn out to be City Boy, the boxer or the man that Colson pushed.

Gina took the drawing of John Doe from her bag and passed it to Jacob before picking her pen back up.

Marie gasped. ‘I didn’t like him. He was really rude and I dumped him. I went out with him once before Colson and he was creepy. He brought me this hideous sweater as a gift and insistedI wear it over my crop top. We ended on an argument where he called me a slag because I refused, and then he walked out on me at the restaurant. He worked at Crastone Foods for about a week. At first I thought he was just a bit different. He was quiet, liked chess and seemed to be a real introvert – definitely not my usual type. Colson saw him pestering me once and he pushed him out of my way.’

Gina felt her heart begin to ramp up. Someone finally recognised John Doe. She caught up with the notes.

‘What was his name?’ Jacob asked.

‘Albie.’

‘Albie.’

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