Both of You by Adele Parks

Author:Adele Parks [Parks, Adele]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2021-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

24

DC Clements

Friday 20th March

When DC Clements returns to the station after visiting Daan Janssen, she is immediately called into her boss’s office, she doesn’t even have time for a fag. She tells herself that is a good thing, that she should give them up soon anyway. Filthy habit.

‘Where have you been?’ Her boss doesn’t normally keep tabs on her in this way. He respects her judgement, her work ethic – besides, he is swamped himself and doesn’t have time to micromanage. However, when she explains, he looks irritated, impatient. ‘I see. Look, Clements, we’re too busy for this. File the report, put out an alert but other than that, drop it. I’m not giving any more man-hours over to it. There isn’t a body, so there’s no case.’

Clements is being given an order. She should accept it, but she feels her mind and body resist slightly. No, there isn’t a body, but there is something. The woman with two husbands – two lives – flung herself forward, jumped up and down, insisted she was interesting enough to be noticed. Clements is fascinated by her. Mystified by her. She doesn’t even know what to call her. Leigh Fletcher? Kai Janssen? Maybe Kylie Gillingham is best. The name she had before she had any husband. Before she got herself into this mess.

‘I just feel, sir, that there might be more to this than—’

‘We work with facts, DC Clements, not feelings, as well you know.’ He only ever gave her the full-title thing when he was reminding her of rank, her place. ‘Most likely the woman has run off to ruin some other man’s life. From her profile, I’d say she’s quite the survivor, not the sort to get into danger. She’s the sort that looks after herself.’ Clements stiffens at this. Women frequently find themselves in danger, irrespective of what ‘sort’ they are. ‘If she turns up, we’ll press charges for bigamy. She might get a few months inside. Most likely just a fine, but I don’t suppose we’ll see her again anyway.’

‘But there’s no indication that she planned to leave,’ Clements points out. ‘Neither husband can recall anything out of the ordinary in her behaviour before she disappeared. Neither man believes any clothes to be missing, both her passports are in the drawers that they usually lived in.’ One of the husbands could be lying, though. Probably was. Maybe both of them. The thought skitters across Clements’ mind.

‘Two passports?’

‘Yes.’

‘One in each name?’

‘Yes.’

‘Well, she’s clearly wily.’ It isn’t a compliment. ‘It takes some cunning to have two passports, two names on the go. If she ever does turn up, that charge will need to be answered to as well.’

‘How do you think she managed it, sir?’ Clements has already considered the matter, she’s drawn her own conclusions, but she wants to draw in the Detective Inspector, get him to engage in the case. Not actively, just enough for him to give Clements the nod to continue investigating.

‘It’s tricky but not impossible if she had deed poll documents, wedding certificates, household bills in different names.

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