The Stalker by Alex Gray

Author:Alex Gray
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780751572278
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Published: 2019-03-20T16:00:00+00:00

It gave Molly an inkling of the woman right away; she wanted to show that she had a hint of class, the detective decided. And it intrigued Molly to see if she was correct.

The doorbell was silent from outside and Molly stood patiently, hoping that it actually worked. Soon enough, the door opened and a small woman stood, her grey hair cut into a severe shape close to her skull, looking up at Molly with an expression that was far from welcoming.

‘DS Newton,’ Molly began. ‘We spoke on the telephone.’ She smiled encouragingly.

‘Better come in.’ The woman’s deep voice was gruff, the sort that indicated a lifetime’s smoking habit.

‘Through here,’ Janet Gemmell directed, walking ahead of Molly into a small sitting room that was furnished in pretty pastel shades, the two-seater sofa and matching armchair covered in a floral fabric with pink roses and butterflies. Here and there Molly noticed well-polished silver-framed photographs and an array of china ornaments, the whole effect reminding her of a great-aunt’s house where children had been terrified to touch a thing lest it break. Floor-to-ceiling bifold doors led out to a small terrace where a chair and table sat; Janet Gemmell’s smoking spot, she guessed, as the sitting room itself had no smell of cigarettes.

‘It’s about Celia, then,’ Mrs Gemmell began, fixing Molly with a pair of dark eyes that held no trace of sympathy. ‘What’s she done now?’

‘You haven’t heard from her?’

‘Not a thing,’ Janet Gemmell snapped. ‘Typical of her just to swan off and leave me to pick up the pieces.’

‘Oh? How was that?’ Molly ventured.

‘Had to pay her outstanding rent, didn’t I? She pushes off and I have to fork out. Again.’ The woman bristled with indignation.

‘Celia had a habit of disappearing?’

Janet Gemmell’s eyes slid away from Molly’s gaze. ‘Well,’ she began, ‘she wasn’t what you would call very dependable.’

That was vague enough to be a no, thought Molly. ‘She didn’t disappear like this before, did she?’

Janet Gemmell looked down, hands twisting in her lap. Molly saw the slight shake of the head.

‘She didn’t even call to tell me where she was going … ’ The words came out as a whisper and Molly watched as the old woman swallowed hard, trying to keep her emotions in check. Was this a sort of grief? Or a simmering anger? Hard to tell.

‘You reported her missing after she failed to turn up for work,’ Molly said, consulting her notebook to check on the dates. ‘Yet you didn’t persist in asking Missing Persons to locate Celia. Why was that?’

The sigh and the silent shrug were all she gave in answer.

Could she push the woman on this? It might just make her clam up, Molly decided. And that was the last thing she wanted.

‘I need to ask you about Celia,’ Molly told her firmly. ‘We are trying to establish her whereabouts in connection to an ongoing case, so anything you can tell us will help to create an idea of what sort of person she is.

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