both of them. But it was odd, about Roger’s sisters. She had never found them easy to get on with, especially Wendy, whom Joel resembled physically, but she still missed Miranda who had been like the daughter she had always wanted. Frank Jordan had been nothing more than an arrogant bore.
‘Did Miranda ever hint that things weren’t right at home? You two were very close despite the difference in your ages.’
‘No, she never said a word. Only that shewas sorry to be leaving but as she was going to university anyway it wouldn’t be quite such a blow.’
‘I don’t know. There’s something behind all this, Petra. I mean, especially now with someone trying to track down Frank. I know he owes me money and that he wasn’t as discreet as he might have been when it came to other women, but it makes me wonder if he was involved in something worse. It wouldn’t surprise me.’
‘Only one thing about that man surprises me, and that was putting the house in Louisa’s name.’
‘You have it there. Perhaps he was in more financial trouble than we knew and wanted to ensure he had a roof over his head. If the bailiffs were sent in they couldn’t take it away from her. A wife isn’t responsible for her husband’s debts.’
‘What exactly did Uncle Frank do?’
‘No one is certain, Joel. He had the financial services business but that couldn’t possibly have paid for the lifestyle he led. Shady dealings, I expect. That could explain why solicitors are trying to find him. We’ve all assumed it would be good news, a legacy or something. Perhaps he owes money elsewhere.’
‘I still don’t understand about Miranda, Dad. No matter what Aunt Louisa said, she’d never have gone off with her father.’
‘I know that, son, that’s why I contacted the police in the first place. But she was of age so there wasn’t much they could do about it.
‘When you see Rose on Wednesday ask her to give me a ring.’ She would have seen his sisters again by now but he didn’t want to bother her unduly
Petra poured coffee. ‘Do you really have to go out tonight?’ she asked Joel as she frowned at the window. The bare branches of the trees were bent almost double now and the rain lashed down, noisy and relentless. There would be a mess to clear up in the morning.
‘He’s seventeen, Petra, and it’s Saturday night. Of course he has to go out.’
Joel grinned. He was beginning to understand his father a little better. Once he would have taken the comment as sarcasm, now he realised that it arose from a dry sense of humour.
8
Inspector Jack Pearce was in an introspective mood, which was unusual. There were no current uncertainties where work was concerned, he got on with the job as best he could with the information available. Women were a different matter. What seemed to be information, a known fact about their character, often turned out to be nothing more than a particular mood. And he couldn’t fathom Rose’s present one or if it was to do with Anna Hicks.
Anna was good-looking, fun to be with and an easy conversationalist but the relationship was only just over a week old. Jack knew better than to believe it would not change.
But he was worried. When he had arrived at Camborne police station that morning he was told that Roger Penhaligon had been on the telephone. ‘I know we went through all this before,’ he had told the officer to whom he had spoken, ‘but it seems solicitors are advertising for my brother-in-law to comeforward. It’s more than a year now and we haven’t heard a word and, more importantly, neither has his daughter, Miranda, contacted us. I really feel this needs looking into more thoroughly.’ There was probably nothing more to it than a family feud or rivalry but alarm bells had rung when he learned that Penhaligon’s last words had been, ‘We know where my sisters are now, thanks to Joel’s art tutor, Rose Trevelyan. She not only teaches my son, she’s painting my sisters’
‘Did Miranda ever hint that things weren’t right at home? You two were very close despite the difference in your ages.’
‘No, she never said a word. Only that shewas sorry to be leaving but as she was going to university anyway it wouldn’t be quite such a blow.’
‘I don’t know. There’s something behind all this, Petra. I mean, especially now with someone trying to track down Frank. I know he owes me money and that he wasn’t as discreet as he might have been when it came to other women, but it makes me wonder if he was involved in something worse. It wouldn’t surprise me.’
‘Only one thing about that man surprises me, and that was putting the house in Louisa’s name.’
‘You have it there. Perhaps he was in more financial trouble than we knew and wanted to ensure he had a roof over his head. If the bailiffs were sent in they couldn’t take it away from her. A wife isn’t responsible for her husband’s debts.’
‘What exactly did Uncle Frank do?’
‘No one is certain, Joel. He had the financial services business but that couldn’t possibly have paid for the lifestyle he led. Shady dealings, I expect. That could explain why solicitors are trying to find him. We’ve all assumed it would be good news, a legacy or something. Perhaps he owes money elsewhere.’
‘I still don’t understand about Miranda, Dad. No matter what Aunt Louisa said, she’d never have gone off with her father.’
‘I know that, son, that’s why I contacted the police in the first place. But she was of age so there wasn’t much they could do about it.
‘When you see Rose on Wednesday ask her to give me a ring.’ She would have seen his sisters again by now but he didn’t want to bother her unduly
Petra poured coffee. ‘Do you really have to go out tonight?’ she asked Joel as she frowned at the window. The bare branches of the trees were bent almost double now and the rain lashed down, noisy and relentless. There would be a mess to clear up in the morning.
‘He’s seventeen, Petra, and it’s Saturday night. Of course he has to go out.’
Joel grinned. He was beginning to understand his father a little better. Once he would have taken the comment as sarcasm, now he realised that it arose from a dry sense of humour.
8
Inspector Jack Pearce was in an introspective mood, which was unusual. There were no current uncertainties where work was concerned, he got on with the job as best he could with the information available. Women were a different matter. What seemed to be information, a known fact about their character, often turned out to be nothing more than a particular mood. And he couldn’t fathom Rose’s present one or if it was to do with Anna Hicks.
Anna was good-looking, fun to be with and an easy conversationalist but the relationship was only just over a week old. Jack knew better than to believe it would not change.
But he was worried. When he had arrived at Camborne police station that morning he was told that Roger Penhaligon had been on the telephone. ‘I know we went through all this before,’ he had told the officer to whom he had spoken, ‘but it seems solicitors are advertising for my brother-in-law to comeforward. It’s more than a year now and we haven’t heard a word and, more importantly, neither has his daughter, Miranda, contacted us. I really feel this needs looking into more thoroughly.’ There was probably nothing more to it than a family feud or rivalry but alarm bells had rung when he learned that Penhaligon’s last words had been, ‘We know where my sisters are now, thanks to Joel’s art tutor, Rose Trevelyan. She not only teaches my son, she’s painting my sisters’
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