‘It’s odd behaviour but well after Amy went missing,’ Reid remarked.
Douglas sighed. ‘It may be something or nothing, DI Reid, but nevertheless needs to be checked.’
‘Yes, sir. Did the neighbour see Mrs Fulford in the garage?’ Reid asked the officer.
‘Only briefly. I did ask him if he knew Mrs Fulford, but he said he had very little to do with her and though polite she was not very friendly. He knew Marcus Fulford moved out two years ago and he had not seen or had any conversation with him since. However, when he was there he was always pleasant and had often chatted to the neighbour. He was unable to give details of regular visitors, or any vehicle regularly parked in the front of the house.’
‘What about Amy? Did the neighbour know her and when did he last see her?’ Douglas asked impatiently.
‘He knew who she was and would say hello if he saw her, but never engaged her in conversation. He last recalled seeing her about two weeks ago getting out of the Lexus in her school uniform.’
Statements from all the neighbours surrounding Mrs Fulford’s property virtually said the same thing. Not one of them was friendly or associated with the family. Basically it was apparent that neither Lena nor Amy made any effort to be neighbourly.
DI Reid listened and like Chief Superintendent Douglas was becoming impatient as nothing appeared to have any important connection to Amy’s disappearance. It was hard to believe how lacking in attention or interest Mrs Fulford’s neighbours could be.
‘Right, what about the team that visited Marcus Fulford’s neighbours? Who was in charge of that?’ Reid asked.
A detective put up his hand. ‘The couple living next to Marcus Fulford knew who Amy was, but were unable to recall ever having a conversation with her. An elderly lady occupying one of the flats below had likewise seen but never spoken to Amy and rarely if ever left the apartment as she was very infirm. She suggested that perhaps the reason for not noticing the comings and goings was that her sitting room was at the back of the property and she always had her TV turned up as she was very deaf.’
The detective’s remark caused some laughter in the room, but Douglas was not amused. ‘Get to the point, officer. Did any resident see Amy Fulford at or near her father’s flat on the Saturday – or Sunday for that matter?’
‘No, sir.’
‘So the house-to-house in Mayfair takes us no further forward either,’ Douglas remarked.
‘Did any of them have anything of interest to say about Marcus Fulford?’ Reid asked, hoping that there would be something positive.
‘Only the man who occupied the flat above, divorced ex-Guards officer who said he knew Marcus reasonably well as he had been on very good terms with Simon Boatly, the owner of the flat. He described Boatly as from a wealthy aristocratic family and was eager to give some rather lurid details about Mr Boatly and the “lovely girlies” he often had coming and going…’
‘What exactly did he mean by “lovely girlies”?’ Reid asked.
‘He was sort of non-committal at first, but when I pressed him he suggested that Boatly may have paid for their company.’
‘You mean prostitutes,’ Douglas said in a blunt manner.
‘Yes, sir, but from the description maybe more like high-class call girls,’ the officer said.
Douglas shook his head in bafflement. ‘They’re still prostitutes, Detective.’
The detective then generated a few laughs, even from Douglas, when he mimicked the gentleman’s posh army accent: ‘Absolutely gorgeous totty, old chap. Dear Simon’s a bit of a party animal and I must say I wouldn’t have minded a bit of the action on manoeuvres myself, but I never even got a bloody invite!’
‘Did he say anything about Amy?’ asked Douglas, bringing the laughter to a stop.
‘He recalled meeting Amy on the stairs a few months ago when she was with her father. At first he wondered if Marcus had the same predilection as Boatly for young girls, but Marcus introduced her and he discovered she was his daughter.’
Reid looked around and then they moved on to Detective Wey. He had been assigned to examine Marcus Fulford’s finances.
‘Marcus Fulford is bankrupt and running up quite extensive debts. He was paying Simon Boatly rent every month by direct debit, but he’s currently behind by six months. His previous business ventures appear to have been financed mostly by his wife and have been a litany of failures. He’s been surviving on benefits for the last eight months.’
‘Other than the location of the Mayfair premises there were no signs of luxurious living in the flat,’ Reid added.
DC Wey continued. ‘I also spoke with Mr Jacob Lyons, a very expensive and renowned divorce lawyer, who is representing Marcus. He wasn’t very helpful, underlining client confidentiality as the reason for not disclosing many details about his fees and how Mr Fulford paid. He did say Marcus would be asking for alimony, plus a share in the sale of the Richmond property which is in both their names, so maybe the fees will come out of that.’
‘Usually it’s the wife who would attempt to gain a secure financial settlement, but nowadays equality reigns,’ Douglas said as if having some personal experience of such matters.
Reid asked Wey what Lena’s divorce lawyer had to say and he described Mr Henshaw as a completely different type of man to Lyons.
‘He was a gentleman, and although mindful of client confidentiality, intimated that the divorce was not as amicable as had been implied to us by the Fulfords. Marcus Fulford wants a substantial settlement of half the value of the house and a big monthly alimony payment. As yet no settlement has been agreed, but if Marcus gets what he wants he’ll never have to work or claim benefits again.’
‘Were they both telling the truth about the time and place of the meeting?’ Reid asked.
Wey nodded and said that both Henshaw and Lyons confirmed the fact, but Henshaw added the meeting ended acrimoniously shortly before lunch.
‘Okay, moving on, what do we know about Mrs Fulford’s bank and business accounts?’
DS Lane spoke next. He had been through lengthy Customs House papers, bank statements, and business transactions as well as speaking to an accountant, who was very helpful ‘off the record’. His last comment seemed to please Douglas who smiled as he was an ‘old school’ type of police officer, who was happy to cut corners where necessary.
‘On paper she’s in a very strong financial position, however, the numerous different companies are at present in reality robbing Peter to pay Paul, but once the dust has settled on Kiddy Winks she stands to make huge profits.’
‘How much?’ Douglas asked.
‘Millions… which may explain why Marcus wants a big payoff, but if the new venture fails she could, within six months, be in a critical situation financially as her outgoings are high. To maintain supplies for her cottage industry endeavours requires a number of staff and she owns two small vans and has drivers who make the deliveries and collections, not to mention sales assistants and a receptionist.’
‘Does that leave much in her business account?’ Reid asked.
‘Currently just over quarter of a million, but this fluctuates because of the salaries and rents due, and she has to pay in advance for orders. She pays herself a monthly salary of ten grand from the business into her own private account, which currently has a hundred and twenty thousand in it, and from this she pays the domestic staff’s monthly salaries and all the household bills.’
‘What about the house in Richmond?’ Wey asked.
Lane shrugged his shoulders. ‘It appears Marcus has never paid a penny towards it, even though it’s in both their names. The accountant remarked that the Fulfords were not exactly War of the Roses but might possibly be in rehearsal for it.’
There was some laughter round the room then Reid asked about Amy Fulford’s financial situation and DS Lane said that he had checked into it. ‘She’s in far better shape than her father, with ninety thousand in a trust account and five thousand in a current account.’