Gristhorpe introduced himself and Richmond, and the young man let them in. The place was furnished exactly the same as next door: sideboard along one wall, a small television on a stand, two armchairs, an open fireplace, wall-to-wall dark carpets and wallpaper patterned with grapevines against an off-white background. Job lot, no doubt. The young man had made his mark by arranging a row of books along the sideboard, using wine bottles as bookends. They were mostly poetry, Gristhorpe noticed, and a couple of local wildlife guides.
“This won’t take long,” he said to the youth, who had introduced himself as Tony Roper. “I’d just like to know if you can tell me anything about your neighbours.”
“Not really,” said Tony, leaning against the sideboard. “I mean, I came here mostly for the isolation, so I didn’t do much mixing.” He had a Scottish accent, Gristhorpe noticed, leaning more towards Glasgow than Edinburgh.
“Did you meet them?”
“Just in passing.”
“Did they introduce themselves?”
“The Manleys. Chris and Connie. That’s what they said. They seemed pleasant enough. Always had a smile and a hello whenever we bumped into one another. Look, what’s wrong? Nothing’s happened to them, has it?”
“When did you last see them?”
Tony frowned. “Let me see… It was a couple of days ago. Thursday, I think. Thursday morning. They were going off in the car.”
“Did they say where?”
“No. I didn’t ask.”
“Had they packed all their stuff, as if they were leaving?”
“I’m afraid I didn’t notice. Sorry. I was out walking most of the time.”
“It’s all right,” Gristhorpe said. “Just try and remember what you can. Did you see or hear them after that time?”
“Come to think of it, I don’t reckon I did. But they never made much noise anyway. Maybe a bit of telly in the evenings. That’s about all.”
“Did they ever have any visitors?”
“Not that I know of.”
“You never heard them arguing or talking with anyone?”
“No.”
“Were they out a lot?”
“A fair bit, I’d say. But so was I. I’ve been doing a lot of walking, meditating, writing. I’m really sorry, but I honestly didn’t pay them a lot of attention. I’ve been pretty much lost in my own world.”
“That’s all right,” Gristhorpe said. “You’re doing fine. What did they look like?”
“Well, he… Chris… was about medium height, with light, sandy-coloured hair brushed back. Receding a bit. He looked quite fit, wiry, you know, and he had a pleasant, open kind of smile. The kind you could trust.”
“Any distinctive features?”
“You mean scars, tattoos, that kind of thing?”
“Anything.”
Tony shook his head. “No. He was quite ordinary looking, really. I just noticed the smile, that’s all.”
“How old would you say he was?”
“Hard to say. I’d guess he was in his late twenties.”
“What about the woman?”
“Connie?” Tony blushed a little. “Well, Connie’s a blonde. I don’t know if it’s real or not. Maybe a year or two younger than him. Very pretty. A real looker. She’s got lovely blue eyes, a really smooth complexion, a bit pale…”
“How tall?”
“An inch or two shorter than him.”
“What about her figure?”
Tony blushed again. “Nice. I mean, nice so’s you’d notice in the street, especially in those tight jeans she wore, and the white T-shirt.”
Gristhorpe smiled and nodded. “Did you notice what kind of car they drove?”
“Yes. It was parked outside often enough. It was a Fiesta.”
“What colour?”
“White.”
“Did they always dress casually?”
“I suppose so. I never paid much attention, except to her, of course. Now I think of it, Chris was a bit more formal. He usually wore a jacket and a tie. You don’t think anything’s happened to them, do you?”
“Don’t worry, Tony,” Gristhorpe said. “I’m sure they’re fine. Just one more thing. Did you ever hear sounds of a child there at all?”
Tony frowned. “No.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’d have noticed. Yes, I’m sure. They didn’t have any children.”
“Fine. Thanks very much, Tony,” Gristhorpe said. “We’ll leave you to enjoy the rest of your holiday in peace.”
Tony nodded and accompanied them to the door.
“You’ll let me know, will you, if they’re all right? I mean, I didn’t really know them, but they were neighbours, in a way.”
“We’ll let you know,” said Gristhorpe, and followed Richmond to the car.
“Will you be needing me any more?” asked Patricia Cummings.
Gristhorpe smiled at her. “No, thanks very much, Mrs Cummings. You can go home now. Just one thing, could you leave that set of keys with us?”
“Why?”
“So we can let the scene-of-crime team in.”
“But—”
“This is important, Mrs Cummings, believe me. I wouldn’t ask it otherwise. And don’t rent the place out again until we give the OK.”
Her cheeks quivered a bit, then she dropped the keys into Gristhorpe’s outstretched hand, climbed into her car and drove off with a screech of rubber. Gristhorpe got into the police Rover beside Richmond. “Well, Phil,” he said, “what do you think?”
“I’m not sure, sir. The description doesn’t fit.”
“But it would if they dyed their hair and got dressed up in business clothes, wouldn’t it? Both descriptions were vague enough — Brenda Scupham’s and Tony Roper’s.”
“That’s true. But what about the car?”
“They could have stolen one for the abduction, or rented one.”
“A bit risky, isn’t it? And we’ve checked all the rental agencies.”
“But we used the descriptions Brenda Scupham gave us.” Gristhorpe scratched his ear. “Better get back to the rental agencies and find out about any couples their general age and appearance. Mention the man’s smile. That seems to be a common factor. And the woman is clearly attractive. Someone might remember them.”
Richmond nodded. “You think it was this Manley couple, sir?”
“I’m not saying that, but I think we’d better treat them as serious contenders for the moment.”
“It certainly seems odd the way they left the place in such a hurry.”
“Yes,” Gristhorpe muttered. “And that cleaning job. Why?”
“Just a fastidious couple, maybe?”
“Maybe. But why did they leave in a hurry?”
“Could be any number of reasons,” Richmond said. “A family emergency, maybe?”
“Did you notice a phone in the cottage?”
“No. I suppose that’s part of the rustic peace.”
“Mm. There is one thing.”
“Sir?”
“Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that they did have to leave because of a family emergency. Nobody could have phoned them, but they could have used the nearest phonebox if they had to keep checking on someone who was ill.”
“You mean they wouldn’t have stayed behind to clean up the place, sir?”
“There’s that, aye. But there’s something odder. The money. They paid cash in advance. How much do these places go for?”
“I don’t know, sir. I forgot to ask.”
“It doesn’t matter, but it must be a fair whack. Say a hundred and fifty a week.”
“Something like that. And probably a deposit, too.”