Page 46

FORTY-FIVE

Jacob knocked on Eric Hathaway’s front door. Gina checked her messages as they waited.

‘Are there any updates, guv?’

She scrunched her eyes to read the writing on her phone. ‘The search of Gary Pritchard’s house hasn’t brought much else up, and there is still no further news on the contents of his computer. Wyre has left Kapoor with the missing persons’ files and gone with O’Connor to Gary’s place of work. They’re at the farm now.’

Jacob shook his head. ‘We badly need a break.’

‘Oh, Briggs has just called a press release appealing for witnesses at the nature park last night. Someone has to have seen something. Teens sometimes hang around there.’ She popped her phone back in her pocket.

The sound of feet thundering down the stairs came from behind the door. A tall, smart, grey-haired man answered. ‘Hello.’ He sighed and pointed to the tiny sign on his wall beside the door: no sales, junk mail, religion or politics.

‘We’re not any of those.’ Gina held her identification up. ‘I’m DI Harte, this is DS Driscoll. May we come in?’

He glanced back. ‘Err, what’s this about? We’re a bit tied up at the moment. Our daughter is in labour and we have to get her to the hospital.’ He dropped the large bag he had looped around his arm onto the carpet.

‘I’ll try not to keep you but it is important. You’re currently in a relationship with Ruth Pritchard?’

He swiftly stepped onto the coconut doormat and closed the door. ‘Okay, you want to talk about Ruth. I don’t have long because our daughter’s waters have already broken, so we need to get her to the hospital.’ He led them towards his double garage and stopped just far enough away from the house where his wife wouldn’t hear them talking.

‘Ruth Pritchard has gone missing and we have reason to believe that she’s been taken against her will.’

He slowly breathed in and paused. ‘What? Someone has taken Ruth? Are you sure?’

‘She’s gone missing under suspicious circumstances and you were in a relationship with her.’

His shoulders dropped. ‘I can’t believe it. Ruth is the nicest person ever. Who would take her?’ His right fist clenched. ‘Her ex-husband is a psycho. He’s damaged my car on more than one occasion. Have you spoken to him? His name is Gary and he lives directly opposite her.’ He shook his head. ‘He moved out of their marital home and bought the house opposite so he could watch her all day like a creep. He stands in the window, staring, and making her uncomfortable.’

Gina was disappointed that they still didn’t have Gary in custody. ‘Do you have a key for her house?’

He nodded. ‘I’ve had one for about a month.’

His daughter opened the front door. ‘We need to get going. My contractions are speeding up.’ She let out a pained sigh.

‘Just another minute.’ He nodded and she closed the door. ‘Can we talk about this later? We need to get our daughter to the hospital.’

‘I’m sorry, but locating Ruth is our primary concern, as you can appreciate. Can your wife take your daughter?’

‘She doesn’t drive and my daughter isn’t in a position to drive herself.’

Gina nodded. ‘Of course.’

‘You should know, I saw Ruth yesterday. She was parked just there, on the road.’ He pointed. ‘When I came out to get into my car, I saw her. She drove off looking upset.’ He paused. ‘I don’t know how Ruth found out that I was married. I do love Ruth, but it made me think long and hard about what I really want, and that’s my wife. I don’t want to lose her, and I know my kids would turn their backs on me if they found out I’d cheated on their mother. I am not that man. I don’t know why I did it.’ His cheeks began to flush. ‘I was flattered that Ruth looked twice at me and we genuinely had a laugh together. So stupid.’

Gina sighed. ‘We will need you to come to the station to make a formal statement.’

He slowly nodded. ‘Great. I can come tomorrow. Hopefully my daughter will have had her baby by then.’

Gina checked her watch. ‘We need you there today. Mrs Pritchard is missing and her safety is our main concern.’

‘Of course. I understand. I’ll drop them at the hospital and head to the station. There is something that has been worrying me, and I did tell Ruth of my concerns.’

Jacob began making notes, using the garage wall to write against.

‘Some evenings at Ruth’s, I’d go out into the back garden to have a cigar… I thought I saw someone lurking around the back, through the slats in her fence, but she dismissed it. It was Gary. I think he’s been watching her. She said I was just being paranoid and accused me of being jealous of him, so I dropped it. He still has a key to the house, you know, which I think is absurd considering his obsession with her. Ruth forgets where she leaves things and loses her stuff all the time.’

He paused.

‘I don’t think it’s Ruth, though, I think Gary comes in and moves things around, trying to make her think she’s going mad. Once, I found a chess piece on her garden furniture – Ruth doesn’t even have a chessboard. I kept asking myself, how did it get there? She told me that Gary used to play for Cleevesford Chess Club, but that was years ago and the club is no longer going. It’s just odd, don’t you think? Whenever I brought these things up and suggested she get her key back off Gary, she dismissed me and told me she’d do it when the time was right, but she never did. She never wants to upset him and I believe that’s because she’s scared of him. Do you know about the divorce?’

Gina nodded.

‘I bet that has really enraged Gary. He didn’t want a divorce. Do you also know that Ruth blames Gary for Elissa’s disappearance?’

Furrowing her brows, Gina cleared her throat.

‘No, Gary wouldn’t tell you that, would he? Gary was horrible to the girl. He used to shout at her, insult her, get drunk and ground her for next to nothing. He once dragged her out of work calling her all kinds of names because she was dressed in a short skirt. Elissa was mortified, apparently. Ruth blames herself for not intervening more, or sticking up for Elissa. She thinks that Gary’s treatment of their daughter made her more vulnerable, or maybe it made her run away.’

He blew out a breath. ‘I know what I’ve done is wrong. My wife doesn’t deserve it and I am a bad husband, but Gary is on another level. Do you know the reason Ruth asked him for a divorce in the first place?’

‘We didn’t get a chance to speak to Mrs Pritchard before she went missing, and we’ve been unable to locate Gary.’

‘She caught him looking at some questionable porn. It was legal, from what she tells me, but the young women were all dressed up like teens and being held in captivity. And worst of all, Ruth said they looked like Elissa.’ Eric stood still, his mouth downturned.

Gina felt like the breath had been sucked from her. ‘Mr Hathaway, it’s routine, but I have to ask: where were you between eight last night and two a.m. this morning?’

‘Me and my wife were at my daughter’s house putting a cot together with my son-in-law. My wife and I were at their house from around seven until about midnight. We ordered a takeaway. At the end of the evening, my wife and I came home and went to bed.’

His eyes widened and he let out a long breath. ‘My wife is going to find out, isn’t she? About my affair?’ He nodded as if answering his own question. He sighed again and raked his hands through his hair. ‘I guess my own divorce will be the next one.’

Jacob spoke. ‘We need the details of your daughter and son-in-law to confirm your alibi.’

‘Of course. Oh, and one more thing. When I was at Ruth’s a couple of weeks ago, Gary knocked and he was really drunk. Ruth told me to go into the living room and leave her to deal with him. She closed the door, but I managed to hear a bit of what was being said over the sound of the TV. He said that Ruth might be able to divorce him, but a piece of paper was nothing. He said she was his, forever, for better or worse. He said he’d never let her go.’

The front door burst open and Mrs Hathaway emerged, carrying the hospital bag for her daughter, who followed behind her looking a bit clammy. The young woman yelled as a contraction tore through her.

‘I’m sorry. I have to take her to the hospital.’

Gina’s phone rang and she turned to Jacob. ‘Excuse me a moment. Can you please take Mr Hathaway’s daughter and son-in-law’s details?’ She wondered if it would be okay to question the woman in labour but the young woman screamed again and sat in the back seat of the car.

He nodded. Gina stepped towards the end of the drive and spoke into her phone. ‘Jhanvi.’

Eric Hathaway’s car pulled off his drive, leaving her and Jacob there. She knew they’d have to catch up with the Hathaways later.

Trainee DC Kapoor spoke fast. ‘Guv, it’s about Edmundson’s Farm, where Gary Pritchard works. We have a link to the horses that have cropped up in the case. They rent stable space out. There is a paddock for the horses, too. I’ve checked out their Facebook page. The Edmundsons post a lot about their organic ice cream and butter. In one video, Mrs Edmundson talks about the farm and the fact that they have loads of outbuildings, even an Anderson shelter. They also have two white vans registered to them, both with sliding side doors.’

‘We’re on our way. Tell the team to hold back until Jacob and I get there. We’ll approach them first as they may not even be aware of what’s going on, but make sure all potential exits are covered. If Gary Pritchard is hiding out on the farm, we’re going to get him.’