bedside tables – nothing. Then in an instant she saw it: the green leather journal tucked in amongst the other books on the shelf. She rushed over and pulled it out. ‘Her journal, it’s here.’
Marcus reached for it. ‘We should call Reid back.’
‘Not yet,’ Lena said, stepping away and sitting down on the bed. ‘I want to look through it first.’
Marcus moved towards her. ‘I think we should at least let him know we found it.’
Lena looked at him, considering what he had said. ‘Yes, but we don’t want to waste his time; if there’s anything useful in here we’ll call him.’
Marcus agreed, and sat beside her. ‘Why don’t we look at the last entry first?’ Lena started at the back and flipped through the pages.
‘Just some recipes,’ she said.
‘Well, that doesn’t help us,’ he said with a disappointed sigh as he stood up. ‘I don’t want to be late for Reid, so I’d better get going. Call me if there’s any news, and I’ll do the same.’ As he hurried out, Lena was still flicking through journal.
Chapter 6
H arriet Newman lived in an elegant town house off the Fulham Road. She was a very attractive tall woman with curly red hair and was wearing jeans, high-heeled knee-length boots and a cashmere sweater. Her two youngest children, who had just been returned from their junior school by the live-in nanny, were noisily having their tea in the big open-plan kitchen. The two detectives from Reid’s team, DS James Lane and DC Timothy Wey, known affectionately by his colleagues as ‘Takeaway’ because of his Chinese ancestry, were invited into a large living room that had pine wood floors, throw rugs, plush-cushioned cream sofas, and walls lined with bright paintings. The large fireplace had a gas log fire, which was lit, and above it was an enormous plasma screen television. No sooner had the two officers sat down than the two young boys came running into the living room, chasing each other.
‘Enough, you two, can’t you see we have guests? Now get back in the kitchen and stay there or go up to your rooms as I don’t want to be interrupted.’
The boys went instantly quiet and shuffled out of the room as Harriet, who had a somewhat scatty manner about her, offered the detectives tea or coffee.
‘No thank you, Mrs Newman. We need to speak to you about Amy Fulford as she is still missing and we wondered if you noticed or sensed anything untoward when you saw her on Saturday,’ DS Lane said.
She shook her head. ‘How awful for her poor parents. I’m happy to answer your questions but I’ve racked my brains since I last spoke to Mr Fulford and I can’t think of anything unusual about Amy that might help your investigation.’
‘Can you go over the course of events concerning Amy on Saturday for us please?’ DC Wey asked.
‘She had been given permission to have a sleepover with my daughter Serena, so I collected them both from the school at around eleven forty-five in the morning. We got back here at about one as there had been a lot of heavy traffic and then I prepared a lunch for the girls and my two boys.’
Harriet spoke quite quickly and was about to continue when DC Wey asked her to pause a second as he needed to take notes of what she was saying. He nodded when he was ready for her to continue.
‘After lunch I left the girls here and took the boys to the War Museum in Chelsea with my husband. They are only five and six years old and love the playground inside the museum as well as all the uniforms on display.’
‘Did the girls, or Amy in particular, say what they were going to do?’ Lane asked.
Harriet paused to think. ‘As I recall, they were going to go shopping and then see a film later in the afternoon. We were about to leave for the museum when Amy said she wanted to collect something from her father’s flat, but Serena did not want to go with her as she wanted to wash her hair. I offered to drop Amy off on the way to the museum but she said she’d
Marcus reached for it. ‘We should call Reid back.’
‘Not yet,’ Lena said, stepping away and sitting down on the bed. ‘I want to look through it first.’
Marcus moved towards her. ‘I think we should at least let him know we found it.’
Lena looked at him, considering what he had said. ‘Yes, but we don’t want to waste his time; if there’s anything useful in here we’ll call him.’
Marcus agreed, and sat beside her. ‘Why don’t we look at the last entry first?’ Lena started at the back and flipped through the pages.
‘Just some recipes,’ she said.
‘Well, that doesn’t help us,’ he said with a disappointed sigh as he stood up. ‘I don’t want to be late for Reid, so I’d better get going. Call me if there’s any news, and I’ll do the same.’ As he hurried out, Lena was still flicking through journal.
Chapter 6
H arriet Newman lived in an elegant town house off the Fulham Road. She was a very attractive tall woman with curly red hair and was wearing jeans, high-heeled knee-length boots and a cashmere sweater. Her two youngest children, who had just been returned from their junior school by the live-in nanny, were noisily having their tea in the big open-plan kitchen. The two detectives from Reid’s team, DS James Lane and DC Timothy Wey, known affectionately by his colleagues as ‘Takeaway’ because of his Chinese ancestry, were invited into a large living room that had pine wood floors, throw rugs, plush-cushioned cream sofas, and walls lined with bright paintings. The large fireplace had a gas log fire, which was lit, and above it was an enormous plasma screen television. No sooner had the two officers sat down than the two young boys came running into the living room, chasing each other.
‘Enough, you two, can’t you see we have guests? Now get back in the kitchen and stay there or go up to your rooms as I don’t want to be interrupted.’
The boys went instantly quiet and shuffled out of the room as Harriet, who had a somewhat scatty manner about her, offered the detectives tea or coffee.
‘No thank you, Mrs Newman. We need to speak to you about Amy Fulford as she is still missing and we wondered if you noticed or sensed anything untoward when you saw her on Saturday,’ DS Lane said.
She shook her head. ‘How awful for her poor parents. I’m happy to answer your questions but I’ve racked my brains since I last spoke to Mr Fulford and I can’t think of anything unusual about Amy that might help your investigation.’
‘Can you go over the course of events concerning Amy on Saturday for us please?’ DC Wey asked.
‘She had been given permission to have a sleepover with my daughter Serena, so I collected them both from the school at around eleven forty-five in the morning. We got back here at about one as there had been a lot of heavy traffic and then I prepared a lunch for the girls and my two boys.’
Harriet spoke quite quickly and was about to continue when DC Wey asked her to pause a second as he needed to take notes of what she was saying. He nodded when he was ready for her to continue.
‘After lunch I left the girls here and took the boys to the War Museum in Chelsea with my husband. They are only five and six years old and love the playground inside the museum as well as all the uniforms on display.’
‘Did the girls, or Amy in particular, say what they were going to do?’ Lane asked.
Harriet paused to think. ‘As I recall, they were going to go shopping and then see a film later in the afternoon. We were about to leave for the museum when Amy said she wanted to collect something from her father’s flat, but Serena did not want to go with her as she wanted to wash her hair. I offered to drop Amy off on the way to the museum but she said she’d
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