Tags:
Literature & Fiction,
Thrillers,
Crime,
Mystery,
Mystery; Thriller & Suspense,
Crime Fiction,
London,
Noir,
northern,
private eye,
eddie flynn
but I gave Gina my experience which was that in the investigation business thereâs no such thing as coincidence. When youâre looking at one funny going-on and stumble across another there tends to be a correlation between the two.
âLarry may be searching for Rebecca,â I postulated. âMaybe sheâs eloped with some rich guy.â
Gina shook her head. âRebecca didnât run off, Mr Flynn,â she said. âShe wouldnât mislead her friends like that.â
âIntentions change,â I suggested.
Another emphatic shake. âSheâd have called Sadie at least.â Gina thought of something else. âIf sheâd run off, why are the Slaters keeping it a secret?â
I gave her a grim smile. That was my own question, the one which made me doubt the elopement theory. Would a family hide the fact that their daughter has run away out of sheer embarrassment? Sure they would. But there was a factor that argued against it.
âIf Rebecca had run off,â I said, âthe Slaters would be talking to Sadie. Sheâs the one person who might know something.â
Gina nodded. We were on the same track. âTheyâve done the opposite,â she said. âTheyâve cut Sadie out, just like me.â
âWhich means that they know Sadie knows nothing,â I said. âTherefore they know that Rebecca hasnât run away.â
The old lady unsealed a new pack and lit up. âSo someone really has taken her?â She looked at me like Iâd let her down.
âItâs beginning to look that way,â I said. âWe just need to figure a reason that would explain why the Slaters havenât gone to the police. Kidnap for ransom might keep them quiet, but the Slaters donât stand out from the crowd as an obvious target. There are far richer pickings around town. Unless financial extortion wasnât the purpose.â
Gina sucked at her cigarette and watched a couple of swifts squabbling in the garden.
âThe Slaters may have something the abductors need,â I said. âSlaterâs line of work suggests possibilities. But we may be wide of the mark with abduction. Itâs still possible that the thing is to do with the family itself.â
âYou think Larry and Jean might have harmed her?â Gina was right back with her first supposition.
I held up my hands. âThe question is,â I said, âdo we take this further? If we dig then weâll find out whatâs going on. But my feeling is that weâll be fighting the family all the way. Iâll need to put in the hours, ask my partner to help, maybe grease a few palms. Itâs going to be expensive, Gina.â
Gina shook her head, blew smoke.
âDo whatever you need,â she said. âLetâs get Rebecca back safe. Iâll handle the bill.â
âFine,â I said. âWeâll step things up a gear. Give us three or four days. Weâll find her.â
Gina nodded but her expression told me that she was thinking the same as me. Three or four days was a long time if the girl was in trouble; something bad may already have happened. I was confident we could find her, but that didnât mean sheâd be okay.
I headed to the Slater house. If Larry was out then I wanted to take a look at Jean Slaterâs day.
The early morning drink Iâd spotted yesterday didnât point to anything particularly productive in her schedule. If Jean just stayed cooped up inside the house Iâd waste another half day. But it was the best shot I had before bringing Shaughnessy in and starting the heavy digging.
In the event Lady Luck presented a better option. As I turned into the lane I had to pull the Frogeye hard into the verge to avoid becoming roadkill under the wheels of a four-by-four coming out. My mind was on avoiding the agricultural-size Michelins, but I caught a peripheral glance of Jean Slaterâs face up behind
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