Behind Closed Doors by Susan Lewis Page B

sofa quietly listening. She was a compact woman with razor-cut hair and the look of someone who prized neatness and order as much as her ornaments. ‘I thought about Tania,’ she said.
    Marian Morris seemed doubtful. ‘Estelle and Sophie were quite close to one of the girls who worked at the camp for a while,’ she explained.
    ‘She left about a month ago,’ Estelle added.
    ‘We wondered if Sophie might have heard from her,’ Marian continued, ‘but even if she had, I can’t think why she’d go off without letting anyone know where she was going.’
    ‘Especially not me,’ Estelle added.
    ‘Do you know where Tania went after she left the camp?’ Leo asked.
    Estelle shook her head. ‘She didn’t even tell us she was leaving.’
    Leo’s gaze held steadily to hers. ‘Do you know where Tania was from?’ he prompted.
    Estelle didn’t seem sure.
    ‘The Ukraine,’ her mother provided. ‘I’m sure that’s what she said.’
    ‘So she’s not English?’
    Marian shook her head. ‘We enjoyed meeting her, didn’t we Estie?’
    Estie nodded. ‘Definitely.’ Then, ‘First she goes off without saying anything, and now Sophie’s done the same.’ She looked so miserable that it was clear she was taking it personally.
    ‘Do you still have Tania’s number?’ Leo asked.
    Taking out her mobile, Estelle scrolled through her contacts. ‘Me and Sophie tried ringing it a few times after she went, but she never answered, so we assumed she’d lost her phone or got a new one.’
    As Leo jotted down the number Marian suddenly got to her feet. ‘Goodness, where are my manners? I put the kettle on ages ago. Would you like some tea?’
    Deciding it might be a good idea to talk to Estelle on her own for a while, Andee said, ‘That would be lovely, thank you. No milk or sugar for me. My friend here takes both.’
    After the door closed Andee turned back to Estelle. ‘Staying with Tania for the moment, did she live at the camp while she was working there?’
    ‘Yeah, she did. In the staff quarters.’
    ‘And she would have been what sort of age?’
    ‘Eighteen – and she was dead pretty. All the blokes went after her.’
    Suspecting that was why Sophie and Estelle liked to be around her, Andee decided to store the information for the moment, and glanced at Leo, a signal for him to bring the subject back to Sophie.
    ‘So, did you see Sophie at all last Sunday?’ he asked.
    Estelle shook her head. ‘Not Sunday, no. We were supposed to get together in the evening, but she never turned up, and I couldn’t get any answer from her mobile.’ Her eyes began filling with tears. ‘You don’t think anything bad’s happened to her, do you?’ she asked shakily.
    ‘We certainly hope not,’ Andee replied.
If this girl turned out not to be on the level she had a dazzling career ahead of her in Hollywood
.
    After waiting for Estelle to dab her eyes with her fingers, Leo said, ‘So the last time you saw Sophie would have been when?’
    ‘Saturday,’ Estelle sniffed. ‘We went to the beach.’
    ‘Did she mention any plans then to leave home?’
    ‘No, nothing. We were having a laugh with these blokes from . . . Actually I can’t remember where they were from, Sunderland I think, or somewhere up north anyway. They were trying to get us to go to a party at their caravan on Saturday night, but we ended up not going.’
    ‘For any particular reason?’
    ‘When the time came Sophie didn’t feel like it. She’d had another row with Heidi, so we just stayed in her room chatting, and listening to music and making videos and stuff.’
    ‘Videos?’ Andee queried.
    ‘On our phones.’ She reached for hers, and finding what she was looking for she passed it over.
    Hitting play Andee watched Sophie coming to life on the small screen, a slight, captivating girl with a bust slightly too large for her skinny frame and denim shorts slung low on her hips. She was using her heavily made-up eyes and pouting lips to flirt with the