‘What’s wrong, mate?’ he asked. ‘You don’t sound right. You aren’t letting all this business get to you, are you?’
‘No, well... I’m trying not to,’ said Tiny.
‘Look, Greg’s thing and this, well, like Greg himself said, stuff happens in inner cities. It’s got nothing to do with Sunday Club, surely? Those pranks had nothing to do with this. Though I do think it might help now if whoever played them just owned up—’
‘Fonz, stop,’ commanded Tiny. ‘I’m sure you’re right. It’s just, well, something else has happened...’
Alfonso waited for him to continue but there was silence on the other end of the line. ‘What? What are you talking about?’ he asked.
‘It’s Daisy, she’s gone missing.’
‘Oh my God. When? How?’
Alfonso wasn’t mad about dogs, but he knew both Tiny and Billy were devoted to their pet chihuahua, and that Tiny was generally considered to be the most besotted. The spectacle of the big man lolloping around Covent Garden with his tiny dog on the end of a shiny pink lead had become virtually a tourist attraction. Certainly he and Daisy were frequently asked by passers-by to pose for photographs.
‘I took her to the park as usual first thing this morning,’ said Tiny. ‘She was running around, like she does, in the bushes and everything. I lost sight of her for a bit and when I called her she didn’t come. I wasn’t worried at first. I thought she was having a poo or chasing a squirrel or something. Then after a bit I went looking for her. I scoured the park for her. There were other people there I knew, with dogs. They all joined in. We combed every inch of the place. She just wasn’t there. She’s disappeared, Fonz. Our little girl has clean disappeared. And with all these other incidents... Well, we’re afraid some bastard’s taken her. The same bastard who’s been responsible for everything else, more than likely.’
Alfonso could hear Tiny stifling a sob. Maybe Sunday Club members really were being targeted by some unknown antagonist. And maybe it was one of their own. Alfonso could not reasonably deny the possibility. Maybe even the probability. But he continued to explore all avenues.
‘Couldn’t Daisy have just run off?’ he asked. ‘On her own?’
‘She’s never run off before. Never. Well, not for more than a minute or two. It’s been hours now, Fonz. I’m worried sick.’
‘Oh my God,’ said Alfonso again. ‘Do you really think someone’s taken her?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Tiny. ‘I just don’t know.’
‘Oh shit,’ said Alfonso. ‘Look, don’t worry. I’ll get one of the others to pick up Marlena. If necessary, I’ll swap shifts with someone at work and do it myself.’
There was yet another brief silence at the other end of the line.
‘No,’ said Tiny. ‘I’ll do it. Really. It’ll give me something else to think about.’
‘But don’t you want to carry on looking?’
‘I don’t know where else to look, to be honest. Anyway, Billy’s coming home early from work. He can take over. He may bring some new ideas with him. That’s what I’m hoping for, anyway.’
‘Well, if you’re sure.’
‘I’m quite sure, yes.’
‘Maybe Daisy will have turned up by then.’
‘Maybe she will,’ said Tiny. But he didn’t sound at all convinced.
Later that day Greg received a call from George.
‘Have you heard about Marlena?’ asked Greg straight away.
‘Yes. It’s awful. I’m so sorry. Alfonso called me last night. I should have been in touch to see if I can do anything to help, only...’ George hesitated. ‘Only something’s happened. Chump’s disappeared.’
‘Are you sure?’
Greg was a dog person, and would have been devastated if anything happened to his and Karen’s pair of Westies, but unlike George, and indeed Tiny and Billy, he’d owned dogs all his life. When he was a kid people had still just let their dogs out on the street to exercise themselves. As a rule, Greg didn’t worry too much about dogs appearing to go missing. He also knew that George’s Maltese terrier was a rescue dog with an unknown past.
‘Of course I’m sure.’ George sounded tetchy. ‘I took him to Lincoln’s Inn Fields mid-morning. One minute he was there at my feet, the next he was gone.’
‘Couldn’t he have gone off chasing something? That place is full of squirrels.’
‘Yes, and Chump’s terrified of them. He might be quite an old boy now, but you know what a baby he is. God knows what went on in his little life before I had him. He’s scared of his own shadow. Sticks to me like glue.’
‘So what happened?’
‘My phone rang. We were by a wooded bit and Chump was sniffing about. I took the call because it was Marnie next door. You know how I look out for her. She can’t get about much any more. She rang to ask me to get some shopping for her, but I think she was lonely and just wanted to chat. I couldn’t get rid of her. When I eventually did, there was no sign of Chump. At first I thought he must be behind a bush or something, you know, doing his business. But no. I looked everywhere. No sign of him.’
‘Where are you now?’
‘I’m in the park. I’ve just come back here. I went home to make sure he hadn’t taken off for there, and I’ve got Marnie waiting in my place just in case. So I thought it was best for me to be here. I’m making myself stay where I last saw him. That’s where he’d be most likely to return to, looking for me, isn’t it?’
‘Probably.’
‘Would you help me, Greg? Nobody knows this area like you do.’
Greg cursed. He had his own problems. But George knew he was a dog person, and Greg responded accordingly.
‘Sure I will, George,’ he said. ‘Where are you exactly?’
‘I’m by the bandstand.’
‘I’ll be there in fifteen.’
Greg lit a cigarette as he made his way along Long Acre. At least the walk gave him the chance to have a smoke. Karen thought Greg had given it up, but although he’d cut down he still couldn’t quite kick the habit. He found his friend exactly where he’d said he’d be, right in the middle of the park sitting on a concrete step beneath the old bandstand. George looked pale and drawn.
‘I don’t like this,’ he told Greg. ‘Looks like we can be damned certain now that some maniac is targeting us lot, can’t we? And it sure as hell ain’t funny any more.’
‘No,’ said Greg. ‘It’s not, if that is what’s happen—’
‘What else can it be?’ snapped George, before immediately apologizing. ‘It’s just that I’m in such a state. You hear about these cases of dog-napping and stuff all the time, don’t you?’ George continued.
‘Not all the time, no,’ said Greg. ‘Honestly, George, the odds are Chump’s just wandered off, got himself lost. He’s chipped, isn’t he?’
George nodded and looked as if he were about to speak again, when both men saw Billy walking towards them. Billy was talking into his phone and didn’t notice them until he was practically alongside.
‘Hiya, guys, you haven’t seen our Daisy, have you?’
George turned even paler. Greg stared at Billy. It seemed things were turning nastier by the minute.
‘Did you lose her here?’ he asked.
‘Yes,’ said Billy. ‘Tiny was walking her...’
He stopped dead, staring at white-faced George. Intuition struck.
‘No, not you too? Not Chumpy?’
George nodded and explained how the little dog had disappeared while he was on the phone.
‘Tiny said he thought Daisy was chasing a squirrel,’ said Billy. ‘But she’s been gone for nearly six hours now. Oh my God. The Mr Tickle thing, Bob’s plants, Greg’s van, Marlena run over. Now two of our dogs are missing. It’s too much happening to one small group of people. More than a series of coincidences, surely. No one can think that any more, can they? What the fuck is going on?’