The Pact by Catriona King

Author:Catriona King [King, Catriona]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hamilton-Crean Publishing
Published: 2017-02-25T22:00:00+00:00

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For the second time that week Jake and Rhonda were seated opposite Lydia Peck, but this time she was much less confused.

“It’s not like my mum. Something’s happened to her, I know it.” Her voice broke suddenly and her eyes brightened with tears. “Why is everyone disappearing on me? Why is all this happening?”

Rhonda spotted the clue first and with a sideways glance at her sergeant she began to speak.

“When you say everyone, Ms Peck, who exactly do you mean?”

Lydia looked confused for a moment and then mentally retraced her steps. “Paul. My fiancé. You met him when he came to collect me.”

“When was the last time you saw him?”

“Yesterday. When we arrived back at his flat after leaving here he got a phone call, then he rushed out and never came back. I thought maybe he’d met a mate and gone to the pub -”

“Was that likely? When he knew you were out of sorts?”

Lydia’s rueful nod said that the match hadn’t exactly been made in heaven, not unless heaven’s streets were lined with hostelries. Rhonda conceded the point and urged her on.

“But he didn’t come back last night, and I tried him this morning at least ten times.” The tears reappeared. “I wanted to tell him about Mum. I was frantic.”

Jake nodded to take over. “When did you last see your mother?”

He got a tut in reply. “The other sergeant asked me all this. He even made me write it down.”

Jake nodded, gesturing at the file in front of him. “I have it here, but I really do need to recheck the facts.”

She sighed and began retelling the story. “I think I last saw Mum on Tuesday morning. That’s this Tuesday, not last. We normally see each other every night at home, or I call if I’m staying at Paul’s.” She frowned for a moment, straining once again to remember recent events before giving up with another tut. “I don’t know if we spoke on Wednesday because I can’t remember anything that day, but I did try her last night.”

“Your statement says that you called her house today as well?”

“And her office and hairdressers and anywhere else I could think she might have been, or where someone might have seen her, but there was nothing. Her boss, Mrs Denver, she’s Mum’s best friend too; well she said Mum was going to deliver some papers to the Prosecution Service when she last saw her and that was on Tuesday. The strange thing is she said she’d already told me all that on Wednesday, but I can’t remember at all.” Her face crumpled suddenly and tears ran down her face in two mascara tainted streams.

The detectives made soothing sounds for a moment, until Lydia managed to gather herself and Rhonda signalled to recommence.

“Ms Peck, it would be helpful if you could tell us something about your mother. Did she belong to any clubs, or societies perhaps?”

It generated the scorn that Lydia felt the question deserved.

“My mum’s gone missing and you

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