He looked at her and shook his head incredulously. ‘Willis – you have to start trusting someone. You can’t live your whole life thinking that everyone is a liar. What happened when you went back to see your mum?’
‘I have my dad’s name and his picture. I know a bit about him but not a lot.’
‘Enough to trace him though, I expect.’
‘Maybe.’
‘What, you haven’t started yet?’
‘No. I’m thinking about it. Plus, it’s a busy time here at work.’
‘It’s always a busy time. And you know – you should think about taking that holiday. Make it to the Caribbean and go and find him.’
‘He may be over here.’
‘Exactly. Start looking.’
‘I’m not sure I want to feed my mother the hope that she’s looking for.’
‘She has a plan?’
‘Oh, yes, and she must be getting careless because she told me it. She thinks that if she wanted, if she really wanted it, then she could get out of there. My father is just to feed her ego. Give her hope, as she calls it. She hopes to use him, the same way as she uses everyone. It’s still all about her. She shows no remorse for anything she’s done.’
They walked into Robbo’s office.
‘Robbo? I got your message; what’s up?’
‘Has Harding had a reply from the message she sent the Dogger?’
‘No, not yet.’
‘We checked the messages she’s exchanged over the last year. The ones where the words “I’ll be waiting” were used is basically the Dogger and one other. We’re still tracing that one other. By the way – Toffee’s friends and protégés? We found Spike – dead in a doorway. Martine was seen at the railway station but she’s not been seen again. Mason still hasn’t been seen since his encounter with Willis in the garage. And Lolly, we know, is dead.’
‘What happened to Spike?’
‘Stabbed.’
‘Any witnesses?’
‘None. What do you want to do about the letter and the list of women? My feeling is that we might be getting sidetracked, concentrating too much on them?’
‘I don’t believe we are,’ replied Carter. ‘Harding was attacked; she’s on the list.’
‘But Gillian Forth was also murdered in a completely different manner and she lives over a hundred miles from the hostel.’
‘But, Ellerman connects them all,’ said Carter. ‘We need to check out his alibis more thoroughly now. We still need to talk to the core of women he sees regularly.’
Carter turned back to Willis, who was signing in to a spare PC on Hector’s desk. ‘Ring Scott, Willis, and get him to go and see Megan Penarth – that’s his neck of the woods – and we’ll go and see Lisa Tompkins, the gym manager in Brighton.’
Chapter 45
‘Megan Penarth?’
‘Yes, come in.’
Tucker could feel himself being looked over as he walked past her.
She closed the door behind him.
‘Sorry to disturb you,’ he said, wiping his feet thoroughly on the doormat.
‘That’s okay. I like being disturbed. Otherwise my day is only punctuated by the postman coming and the rising and setting of the sun, the noise when the wind changes direction.’
He looked at her with slight wonderment. Her looks were distinctive. Now as she reached her mid-fifties her hair was streaked with a seam of silver in a black mane. He wasn’t sure whether he found her beautiful or strange.
‘You can tell you’re a landscape artist. This is a great place to hide away.’
‘Yes, it is. Come in, I’ve just made some coffee.’ She indicated that he should sit at the kitchen table and brought over a cafetière.
‘How can I help you? Our phone conversation seemed a little odd.’ She poured him a coffee and pushed the sugar and cream towards him.
‘Thanks very much. Yes, sorry I was a bit brief. I didn’t want to talk about things over the phone. I need to talk to you about a personal matter. Do you know a man named JJ Ellerman?’
She nodded. ‘Is he okay?’
Tucker answered with a nod and took out the copy of Harding’s letter that Willis had emailed him.
‘Have you seen this letter before?’ he asked, handing Megan the three sheets.
She glanced at it and nodded. ‘Yes, I got one in the post.’
Tucker looked at her and had the feeling he was part of a stage play. Enter stage left, assume look of surprise. She knew what he had come about.
‘You were expecting me?’
‘I was expecting one of these women on this list but I presume you’re not in drag?’
He smiled and shook his head. ‘Not a drag day for me. So you have had contact with the other women on this list?’
‘No, not yet, but I intend to start phoning, once I hear what you have to say.’
He took out his notebook. ‘Can I ask you a few questions about your relationship with Ellerman?’
‘Of course.’
‘How do you know him?’
‘I met him on a dating site for wine lovers. We got on. He was working all over the country and I like to get out of here when I can, so we arranged to meet at venues around the country. Once in Harrogate, another time in London, then in Bristol. We had met three times before he came here.’
‘How long have you known him altogether?’
‘From the first time we talked on the phone? It’s got to be nine months.’
‘It must have been quite a shock to get the letter?’
‘It was a disappointment.’
‘Did you have any idea he was seeing other women?’
‘I had made it quite clear to him that I wouldn’t accept that. I suppose I thought that maybe he was too good to be true.’
‘What kind of person is he? He seems to be very attractive to the opposite sex?’
‘Yes. I suppose it’s a sad fact that he made it his job to be attractive to us. What’s the old saying: if it seems too good – it probably is?’
Tucker smiled. He was staring at her again. She could feel his scrutiny. She realized how bizarre it must seem to anyone from the outside.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘It’s a pity that that’s so true.’
‘But, luckily, I hadn’t yet invested much of my time in the relationship. It suited me while it lasted.’
‘You talk about investing – did you invest any money in his company, Hacienda Renovations?’
‘No.’
‘Did he try and sell you anything?’
‘No, not yet. He showed me photos of properties, some finished, an old farmhouse he was working on. He said the other projects were all going towards funding this one farmhouse that he intended to keep for himself – and me of course. Ha… it would have been a bit crowded in there with all these other women.’
‘Yes…’ Tucker grinned. ‘He might have had a hard job introducing everyone. So, when you looked at this list of women, did you recognize anyone you knew?’
‘No. Why? Should I?’
‘No, I was thinking along the lines of whether he’d ever mentioned any of these names.’
She looked at the letter again and ran her eyes down the list.
‘No. What’s the problem?’
‘We’re investigating some issues around this list. Some issues concerning two of the women. I can’t say any more than that. What do you intend to do about Ellerman now? Has he been in touch in the last week?’
She shook her head. ‘I guess he’s lying low.’
But what will you do?’
‘Ummm…` I haven’t decided. Is this a criminal matter? Can you get him for being a multiple philanderer, for breaking hearts, lying?’ She smiled but he could see how sad she was. There was also more than a hint of anger in her eyes.
‘I can tell you that he in under investigation, but only in a broad sense of the word.’ Tucker shook his head apologetically. ‘I’m sorry, all I can suggest to you is that you don’t allow him to come and visit you at the moment, until we clear these matters up.’