some kid and run off with him?’
Agnes picked up a damp cloth and began wiping down the already pristine worktops. ‘If Natalie had ever met a boy I didn’t approve of, I’d know about it, but with Amy staying here one minute and the next at her father’s flat, well I doubt either of them knows who Amy is mixing with. I tell you, I’d never have sent Natalie to a boarding school.’
‘I’m taking my coffee over to the garage. If she needs me, gimme a bell on the mobile,’ Harry said.
She picked up the wrapper from his biscuit and tossed it into the pedal bin just as Marcus knocked to be let back in. Agnes breathed a heavy sigh, and went into the hall to open the front door.
‘Mrs Fulford is upstairs,’ she said and Marcus nodded, thanking her and heading towards the stairs himself. She could smell smoke on him and it made her instantly crave a cigarette, so she shut the kitchen door, opened a drawer and took out her mobile, a packet of cigarettes and a lighter. Lighting a cigarette, she sank onto a chair and rang her daughter.
‘Hello darling, I hope I’m not bothering you at work, but we’ve had quite a time here – Amy is missing and the police are making enquiries.’ Natalie asked her to hang on as she was talking to a client.
Agnes dragged on her cigarette, and let smoke drift from her snub nose, taking another drag immediately. Mrs Fulford did not approve of smoking and she rarely if ever lit up at the house, but this was an exception. She’d use the expensive Floris lilac room spray so that ‘she who required scented candles from the White Company to permeate the house to avoid any domestic smells’ would not detect her nicotine addiction. Natalie came back on the line, and Agnes repeated that Amy was missing, but before she could continue her daughter had another call to take so she hung up. She took a few more drags before running the cigarette butt under the cold-water tap, and then she wrapped it in a tissue and tossed it into the pedal bin. It was now three o’clock and she sighed, realizing she had another two hours before she could leave. Meanwhile the dual phone lines on the kitchen telephone were blinking, but she saw that it was the business line, which seemed to be ringing continuously. It was very unlike Lena not to take business calls but under the circumstances it was quite understandable that, as she had said, she was only answering calls on the private line.
Agnes went up the stairs and along the corridor towards Lena’s bedroom; she thought that perhaps she should ask if she was required to stay on later than usual. She hovered outside the bedroom door, listening to Lena and Marcus talking but unable to make out what was being said. She hesitated and gave a light knock. Lena snatched open the door, and Agnes had to step back hurriedly.
‘What do you want?’
‘Just to say I will be going off at the normal time but if there is anything you need from me I can stay.’
‘No, thank you, you can go; sorry if I sounded sharp, I am just at my wits’ end with worry.’
‘I understand, and I hope you’ll get some news. Having a daughter of my own I know how you must be feeling; I don’t know what I would do if it was me and Natalie was missing. So if you need anything please let me know.’
‘Yes, thank you, Agnes.’ Lena closed the door and returned to Marcus, who was sitting on the edge of the bed; she sat beside him, curling up close.
‘You really should get some rest,’ he said gently, touching her arm.
‘I can’t, I feel like I must do something, anything that can help. I need her home, Marcus, I can’t bear this.’
‘I know.’
Lena got up. ‘I’m going to check her room again. There’s got to be something . . .’ Marcus stood up; even though he wanted to go home to shower before Reid got there, he followed Lena into Amy’s bedroom.
Lena began searching through the drawers, and then again inside the wardrobe. She looked under the bed, and inside the
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