“And?”
“And maybe he’s changed his mind.”
“Oh?”
“Thing is, he’s heard from the police that the boy – you know, Krystina’s boyfriend, the one who’d disappeared – well, he’s turned up.” Jude restricted herself to a non-committal response, waiting to hear what came next. “The police won’t tell Joe anything and he was thinking, you’re interested in the case…maybe you know something. Maybe he should talk to you…?”
That was her cue. “Maybe he should. I actually spent most of yesterday with Nathan Locke.”
“Did you? How’s that?”
“I’ll tell you when you introduce me to Joe Bartos.”
The old man chuckled. “Playing hard to get, are you?”
“No, not at all. Always available for you, Wally…assuming, that is, that Mim’s not there.”
He chuckled more. She’d hit the right tone. They fixed that the meeting would take place at teatime. “Four o’clock. On the dot. That’s when Mim and I always have tea. Because I’m so English,” he added with a wheezy laugh. “Oh, and one thing, Jude…”
“Yes?”
“Mim’ll be there, so try not to make it too obvious that you fancy the socks off me.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“But that’s exactly the time I’ve arranged to meet Rowley Locke,” Carole complained.
“Well, I can’t really change what Wally’s set up. I get the impression Joe Bartos’s goodwill towards me may be short-lived. I don’t want to mess him around. Where have you fixed to meet Rowley? At Marine Villas?”
“No, I thought somewhere public was better. Safer.”
“Sure.”
“So it’s the Seaview Café at four.”
“Oh, you should be all right there. There’ll be lots of people around.”
“And I’m going to take Gulliver.”
“As a guard dog?”
“You must be joking. Gulliver hasn’t got a suspicious bone in his body. He’d lick the hand of Jack the Ripper. But if I’ve got the dog with me, Rowley’s not going to be able to abscond with me quite so easily.”
“Is absconding with you Rowley’s style?”
“I don’t think so. But who knows? It’ll be very interesting to hear what he’s got to say.”
“Certainly will. Is he coming on his own?”
“He didn’t say. I’d doubt it, though. Those Lockes seem to go everywhere mob-handed.”
“Yes, Rowley can’t function without his admiring audience. Tell you what, after you’ve talked to Rowley and I’ve talked to Joe Bartos, let’s meet up in the Crown and Anchor to debrief.”
Carole bit back her instinctive reaction to say it’d be rather early to start drinking, and agreed that that was a very good idea.
Jude was just about to leave for her tea party on the Shorelands Estate, when she had a call on her mobile. She recognized the voice immediately, Martina Rutherford’s distinctive accent. Strange how many Czechs seemed to be involved in the case. Could there be some undiscovered link between Martina and Joe Bartos? Or between her and Wally Grenston…? Another idea to stir into the soup of conjectures that was swilling around in her mind.
“The reason I am ringing,” said Martina, “is that I gather the boy Nathan Locke has been found.”
“Yes, he has.”
“And I hear a rumour that you were one of the people who found him?”
“There are always lots of rumours around down here.” Jude wasn’t going to confirm that particular one until she had a clearer idea of what Martina was after.
“All I am asking,” said the Czech woman, “is for you to confirm that the boy is in police custody.”
“I can do that. Though ‘custody’ may be too strong a word. The police are certainly asking him some questions.”
“They will charge him soon,” Martina announced confidently. “This will be a great relief to Martin.”
“Oh?”
“So long as the boy has been missing, Martin has been afraid he himself is a suspect.”
“You can see why the police would be interested in his movements.”
“I’m sorry?” Martina sounded puzzled.
“Well, Martin having been seen at Connie’s Clip Joint?”
“You mean the night the girl died?”
“I don’t know that there’s any proof he was there then, but he was certainly seen coming out of the salon last Sunday.”
“Really?” The woman tried to maintain her professional cool, but was clearly shaken by the information.
“I had not heard this. I was away in Prague at the weekend.”
“So Martin didn’t tell you? The police must have talked to him about it.”
“Oh yes, he said he had to see the police. I hadn’t connected it with him being in Fethering on Sunday. Of course, now it makes sense.” The confidence was back in her voice, but Jude reckoned the cover-up was too slick to be true. Martina Rutherford hadn’t known that her husband had been seen by Carole coming out of Connie’s Clip Joint.
“Still, all I wanted, Jude, was for you to confirm that Nathan Locke is with the police. When I tell that to Martin, he will be very relieved. Thank you so much for talking to me.”
After the phone call Jude tried to define the emotions she had heard in the woman’s voice. Shock certainly…but there had been something else as well. Suspicion. A new and sudden suspicion. For the first time Martina Rutherford had contemplated the possibility that her husband might have had something to do with the death of Kyra Bartos.
Thirty-Two
During the summer season (which was coming to an end) tables and chairs spilled out of the Seaview Café onto Fethering Beach. Carole, arriving with Gulliver early as ever, took one of the seats furthest away from the self-service counter. She didn’t go up there to order anything. She’d wait till Rowley Locke came and see how their meeting panned out. Her position, she reckoned, was well chosen. In sight of a lot of people, but good for a quick getaway. And also far enough away from the curious ears of Fethering for their conversation to be confidential.
Rowley Locke arrived on the dot of four. This time he wasn’t heading a large family contingent. Only his brother Arnold, who was immediately despatched to fetch tea. Just tea. Carole had declined the offer of sandwiches and sticky cakes.
Rowley turned his innocent blue eyes on her. “I assume it was you.”
“What was me?”
“Yesterday two women, matching descriptions of you and your friend Jude, abducted Nathan from our holiday cottage in Cornwall.”
“I’m afraid I take issue with the word ‘abducted’. It might be used more accurately to describe the means by which he was taken to Treboddick in the first place.”
“Carole, you don’t know the background to what you’re talking about. This is a family thing.”
“I’ll tell you what I do know – and that is that Nathan was being held down there against his will.”
Rowley Locke was unworried by the accusation. He shrugged and said, “Sometimes young people don’t know what’s best for them. Then someone else has to take decisions on their behalf.”
“And if it’s anything to do with the Locke family, then you’re the person who takes those decisions.”
“Someone has to be a leader,” he said almost smugly.
“A leader like Prince Fimbador is a leader?”
She had managed to embarrass him. He looked away as he said, “The Wheal Quest is a family game. You wouldn’t understand it.”
At this moment Arnold arrived with the tea. After it had been poured, Carole turned her pale blue eyes on the weaker brother. “You and Eithne must be very glad to hear that your son has been found.” He didn’t respond. “Or perhaps not, since you both connived at his imprisonment.”