“No.”
Annie sighed and sat down without being invited.
“I didn’t ask you to-”
Annie raised her hand to quiet Martin down. “Look,” she said, “there’s no point pissing about any more. I know what’s going on.”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“Come off it, Mr. Armitage. I followed you.”
“You did what?”
“I followed you. After I left this morning I waited in a lay-by and followed you to the shepherd’s shelter. What were you doing there?”
“None of your bloody business. Why, what are you going to do? Charge me with disobeying government regulations?”
“Let me tell you what you were doing, Mr. Armitage. You were leaving a briefcase full of money. Old bills. Tens and twenties, for the most part. Around ten thousand pounds, at a guess, maybe fifteen.”
Armitage was red in the face. Still, Annie pressed on. “And now let me tell you what happened. They got in touch with you last night on your mobile, said they’d got Luke and you were to hand over the money. You told them you couldn’t lay your hands on that much cash until the banks were open, so they gave you until this morning to leave it at the prearranged drop.” Which means they know something about the area, Annie realized, or that they’ve been watching, scouting for some time. Maybe someone had noticed them. Strangers usually stood out around these parts, especially as the tourist numbers were down. “How am I doing so far?”
“You’ve got imagination, I’ll certainly give you that.”
“They said no police, which is why my arrival scared the living daylights out of you.”
“I’ve told you-”
“Martin.” Robin Armitage spoke for the first time, and though her voice was soft and kindly, it was authoritative enough to command her husband’s attention. “Can’t you see?” she went on. “She knows. I must admit that I, for one, feel rather relieved.”
“But he said-”
“They don’t know who I am,” said Annie. “And I’m pretty certain they didn’t see me around Mortsett this morning.”
“Pretty certain?”
Annie looked him in the eye. “I’d be a liar if I said I was a hundred percent certain.” Birds in the trees filled in the silence that followed, and a light breeze ruffled Annie’s hair. She held Martin Armitage’s gaze until she saw it waver and finally wane into defeat. His shoulders slumped. Robin leaned over and put her arm around him. “It’s all right, darling,” she said. “The police will know what to do. They’ll be discreet.” Robin looked at Annie as she spoke, as if daring her to disagree. Annie didn’t. Martin ran the backs of his hands across his eyes and nodded.
“I’m sorry about what’s happened,” Annie said, “but Mrs. Armitage is right.”
“Robin. Please. As we’re involved in such an intimate matter, at least you can call me by my first name. My husband, too.”
“Okay. Robin. Look, I have to tell you that I’m not a negotiator. This isn’t my area of expertise. We have people specially trained to deal with kidnappers and their demands.”
“But he said no police,” Martin repeated. “He said if we brought in the police he’d kill Luke.”
“What did you say?”
“I told him I’d already reported Luke missing.”
“And what did he say to that?”
“He was quiet for a moment, as if he was thinking, like.”
“Or consulting with someone else?”
“He could have been, but I didn’t hear anyone. Anyway, when he came back on he said that was fine, but to make sure I told you Luke had rung and said that he was coming home. Which I did.”
“It was a man who made the call, then?”
“Yes.”
“What time?”
“About half past nine. Just before Robin rang you.”
“How much did he ask for?”
“Ten thousand.”
“Accent?”
“None, really.”
“He didn’t sound local?”
“He could’ve been, but he didn’t have a strong accent. Sort of bland.”
“And his voice?”
“What do you mean?”
“High or low? Husky, reedy, whatever?”
“Just ordinary. I’m sorry, I’m not good at this sort of thing, especially recognizing voices on the telephone.”
Annie favored him with a smile. “Not many people are. Think about it, though. It could be important. If there’s anything at all you remember about the voice.”
“Yes. I’ll think about it.”
“Did he let you speak to Luke?”
“No.”
“Did you ask?”
“Yes, but he said Luke was being kept somewhere else.”
“And he called you on your mobile?”
“Yes.”
“Who knows the number?”
“Family. Close friends. Business colleagues. I suppose it would be easy enough to find out. Luke, of course. He has it programmed into the electronic phone book of his own mobile. At first, I thought it was him because his name was displayed when the call came.”
“So the kidnapper used Luke’s mobile to call you?”
“I suppose so. Why does it matter?”
“At least it tells us he’s in an area where there’s a signal. Or he was when he made the call. Also, if he’s used it at other times, we’ll be able to get the information from the phone company. It might help us pinpoint him. Of course, it would be better if he left it switched on, but he’s not going to make things that easy for us.”
“Tell me,” said Robin. “In your experience, in how many cases do they… how many times do the victims…”
“I don’t have any statistics offhand,” Annie admitted. “But if it makes you feel any better, kidnappers are essentially businesspeople. They’re in it for the money, not to hurt anyone. There’s every chance that this will be resolved and that you’ll see Luke back here safe and sound.” Annie could feel her nose growing as she talked. Too much time had passed, she suspected, for a happy ending, though she hoped she was wrong. “In the meantime, while appearing to go along with his demands and not alarming him in any way, we want to make sure that in addition to getting Luke home safely, we take every opportunity to discover the kidnapper’s identity and bring him to justice.”
“How can we help?” asked Robin.
“You don’t have to do anything,” said Annie. “You’ve already played your part. Just leave the rest to us.”
“Maybe you’ve scared him off,” Martin said. “Luke should be back by now. It’s been hours.”
“Sometimes they wait a long time just to make sure nobody’s watching. He’s probably waiting till dark.”
“But you can’t be certain, can you?” Robin said.
“Nothing’s certain in this world, Mrs. Armitage.”
“Robin. I told you. Oh, how rude of me!” She got to her feet. “All this time and I haven’t offered you anything to drink.” She was wearing denim shorts, Annie noticed, cut high on her long, smooth legs. There weren’t many women who could get away with the bare midriff look at her age, either, Annie thought. She wouldn’t even think of it herself, though she was only thirty-four, but what she could see of Robin’s stomach looked flat and taut, with a ring of some sort glinting in her navel.
“No,” she said. “Really. I’m not stopping long.” There wasn’t much else Annie could do for Luke except wait, and she had promised herself a nice pint of bitter at the Black Sheep in Relton, where she could sit in peace and mull things over before calling it a day. “I just want to make certain that you’ll report any future communications, if there are any, straight to me. You’ve got the numbers where I can be reached?”
Both Martin and Robin nodded.
“And, of course, you’ll let me know the second Luke turns up.”
“We will,” said Robin. “I just hope and pray that he does come home soon.”
“Me, too,” said Annie, getting up. “There’s one more thing that puzzles me.”
“What?” asked Robin.
“Last night, when you rang to tell me you’d heard from Luke, you said he would be back tonight.”