The Missing Wife by Evelyn James

Author:Evelyn James [James, Evelyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Red Raven Publications
Published: 2018-07-23T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

“Do you believe Walter Stone when he says there was nothing between him and Elaine?” Tommy asked as they caught the bus to head to the north of Brighton. They were going to attempt to track down the car that had given Elaine Chase a lift the day she disappeared.

“Not entirely,” Clara sighed. “But that does not mean he is responsible for her disappearance. I mean, you don’t run off with someone alone.”

“No,” Tommy agreed. “Unless you were being extremely careful and trying to make it look as though you weren’t running off together.”

“Why?” Clara asked him. “What would be the point?”

Tommy shrugged. He could not say.

“And this stuff about Elaine being followed,” Clara pursed her lips together, thinking it all through. “That didn’t sound made up.”

“Who though?” Tommy said.

Clara found herself once more at a stop. She hated this stage in a case when there were more questions than answers.

The bus dropped them off near Mullender Road and they strolled along looking at the large villas that had recently been built on what were once fields. The houses were set back and substantial, enclosed in their own gardens and usually with high walls barricading them from the pavements outside. Plenty of Londoners with money liked to live in Brighton; some retired to the newly appearing suburbs about the seaside town, others were prepared to commute to the capital in exchange for waking up and going to sleep with the sea air in their lungs. The villas all looked magnificent and the sort of place where people could afford to own a car. In fact, several of the properties had what appeared to be garages adjoining them.

Tommy and Clara stopped at the address where Mrs Anderson lived with her husband. The iron gates were standing open, so they could walk up the drive to the front door. Clara noted a garage here too, but the doors were closed so she could not glimpse the Andersons’ car. She stood before a honey-brown door that was pretending to be from a quaint, country cottage and rang the bell. It was only a moment before a maid answered.

“Is Mrs Anderson in?” Clara asked.

The maid was young, but not stupid. She hedged her bets, as she did not recognise the visitors.

“I shall see if my mistress is in, if you will tell me what it concerns?”

Clara had thought about this.

“Myself and my colleague work for the Rubber Regulatory Board. We are conducting a survey on car tyres and their reliability as part of a quality check on British rubber imports. We are speaking to all car owners in the area. It will only take a moment and would be of great assistance in improving the standard of tyre manufacture in this country,” Clara spoke fast and the maid looked a little baffled, but she nodded and took the message inside. Closing the door on them for the moment.

“The Rubber Regulatory Board?” Tommy raised an eyebrow at Clara.

“You would be amazed at how people like to talk about their cars,” Clara told him.

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