Jessica now seemed to be insinuating that Avril was the aggressor, and Adam was the victim. Jack encouraged her to keep talking.
‘Her husband died of a heart attack... supposedly. Don’t trust her little-girl-lost routine. It’s fake. Avril Jenkins is a hard, crafty old bitch, who thinks she can hide in that mansion of hers, protected by all the money her husband left behind. Avril plays the naive housewife card when you ask her about business, but she did his books. I know she did ’cos Adam told me.’ The tears came again. ‘Maybe he got to know too much, living under the same roof as her? Maybe...’
Jessica had brought to light two clear possibilities: either Adam had been scared away by the accusations of theft and sexual impropriety and decided to run, leaving his bereft girlfriend behind; or he’d been murdered by a pensioner and was buried in the overgrown mess of a garden he used to get paid to tend. Jack knew which one of those possibilities was more likely. But then, nothing about this case was straightforward. The main thing Jack couldn’t get his head round was why a good-looking, well educated, Porsche-driving young man ended up being a gardener and odd-job man for a batty old eccentric in the first place. The relationship between Avril and Adam simply didn’t make sense. Annoyingly, Jack was back to being intrigued.
Later that afternoon, Jack, Anik and Laura talked through everything they knew — which was a lot less than everything they didn’t know. How and why had Adam gone completely off grid? This could be the trait of a man who didn’t want to be found, so was there more to him than met the eye? Or had something happened to him, just as Jessica feared? On the other hand, if Avril had done something illegal, such as murdering her ex-lodger, why would she get the police involved by claiming he was stalking her?
‘I’ve just got an email back from Avril’s insurance company,’ Laura said. ‘Items of jewellery reported stolen... diamond stud earrings, gold necklace, an emerald and diamond ring, three silver bangles... total value, around the £40k mark. Reported stolen on a series of different dates between, let’s see... three and seven months ago.’ Laura frowned. ‘So Adam and Jessica were randomly nicking off the old girl?’
Anik piped up. ‘My guess is that he’s a chancer. He wheedled his way in, thinking he’d con the old girl out of some stuff, but met his match. He’ll be playing the gigolo with someone else now. And the stalking’s all in her head. The neighbours say so. Even you and the boss say so.’
‘OK...’ The reluctance in Jack’s voice was clear. ‘Check Chelsea College about Adam’s next of kin, then we’ll call it a day. Laura, the paperwork’s on my desk, already signed off. But don’t give it to Ridley till tomorrow morning. I want to mull everything over one final time this evening.’
As Jack headed home for his pre-arranged babysitting duties, something deep in his gut was telling him that this wasn’t finished.
The moment Jack stepped through the door, Maggie and Penny rushed past him, giving him a kiss on the cheek and an assurance that Hannah was sleeping soundly upstairs as they hurried off to their appointment.
In the centre of the kitchen table was an open bottle of Malbec and a white paper bag which Jack knew from years of experience would contain two random cakes from the hospital canteen. Their home bakes were phenomenal, and Jack loved them all.
In the microwave was a bowl of chilli on a bed of cooked rice. Jack set it to reheat and poured himself a glass of wine.
He then slumped onto the sofa. He opened the nursery camera app on his mobile, propped it against the wine bottle, put his feet up on the coffee table and tucked into his chilli whilst scrolling through Netflix. Hannah had started sleeping through, but Jack still liked to watch her when he was babysitting alone. The first time, he had the sound on the app turned up high so that, through the distorted static, he could hear her breathing. If she skipped a breath, or sighed, or coughed, he’d race upstairs and watch her from the bedroom door until he was satisfied that there was nothing wrong. He was calmer about it now — but still liked to keep her in sight.
At half past ten, the doorbell rang. Jack opened the door and was stunned to see a young Marilyn Monroe lookalike, wearing a skin-tight dress, and carrying a bottle of champagne. She swayed on her stilettos and had to cling on to the wall just to stay upright. From Laura’s description, Jack guessed this had to be Tania Wetlock. But why the hell was she on his doorstep? He didn’t want to let her in, but she was clearly drunk and therefore vulnerable, so he didn’t want to leave her outside either. As soon as she stepped through the front door, giggling and waving the champagne bottle in the air, Jack could see her pinpoint pupils — not only was she pissed, she was also as high as a kite.
‘I want to speak with... Maggie.’ She was hard to understand because, as well as slurring, she was also pouting and doing an exaggerated Monroe impression. Jack was trying to imagine a scenario in which Maggie would have told Tania where she lived. He eventually asked her outright. ‘Daddy has the CV of everyone on his team.’ Tania shook her head and tutted playfully. ‘I think Maggie’s been playing detective.’
Jack told Tania that Maggie was out, but she wasn’t deterred. She stumbled uninvited into the lounge, kicked off her shoes and, with both legs tucked beneath her tiny body, she made herself comfortable on the sofa. ‘Call the police if you like. I’m not leaving until I speak to her.’
Tania held the bottle of champagne out to Jack with a flirtatious look, but with her smudged make-up and pupils the size of a grain of rice, she just looked like a vulnerable little girl. Jack picked up his mobile and called Maggie. Her phone wasn’t even on, so he was sent straight to voicemail.
Tania waggled the champagne bottle at Jack, but he wasn’t playing. ‘I am the police. And you’re 17.’
A wry smile crept across her enhanced red lips, and she faintly breathed the amended words to a familiar tune. ‘...going on 18.’
Jack said that he was going to call her a taxi. She asked his name and he saw no reason not to tell her. ‘I’m seconds from stardom, Jack. It’s just around the corner. But if Daddy Dearest continues to cause trouble, I could lose it all.’ She pouted. ‘I’m going all the way. As the great lady once said, “A wise girl knows her limits, a smart girl knows she has none.”’
Tania untucked her leg, reached out her perfectly manicured red toes and touched the inside of Jack’s thigh. He wasn’t expecting it and he instinctively jumped back. ‘Oh, don’t be scared, Mr Policeman.’ She slowly and seductively looked him up and down. ‘I was just thinking, maybe you could put Daddy back in his box for me? So that I can follow my destiny and be a star. Is that too much for a girl to ask?’
Tania spotted Jack’s glass of wine on the coffee table. She leapt up, snatched the glass and scooted around the other side of the sofa, out of his reach. Then she kept the sofa between them as she polished off the contents.
‘Who’s making you a star, Tania?’ Jack hated being a man in the company of such a volatile, yet vulnerable young girl. But with his policeman’s head on, he also knew that this could be the perfect time to question her about the currently nameless talent scout. He forced himself to smile. ‘Whoever he is, he’s doing a great job.’
‘We’re not ready to go public yet,’ she whispered, putting a finger to her lips. Tania started to move back around the sofa. ‘Will you help me, Jack? I can be very grateful... if you’d like me to be.’ Tania put her hands on her thighs and slid them upwards, taking her skin-tight dress with them. Jack gently grabbed her wrists and moved them away from her legs before she exposed her underwear. Jessica Chi’s words came back to him, about the police always having to listen to a woman who claimed ‘sexual impropriety’ against a man — here was Tania, with a face and figure that would sexually arouse any red-blooded male, offering herself to him. Fortunately for Tania, Jack was not only a decent man, he was also a father. And all he saw when he looked at her was a child.