Free Three Steps to Hell by Mike Holman

minutes.”
    “Very well then, but please respect his privacy to a degree and I would like to be present.”
    She left the room with Dave Sweeting and went to Colin Peterson’s office.
    Tom had also engineered this opportunity in order to have a private moment in the kitchen with Jackie. In his experience cleaners/housekeepers were often more knowledgeable about their employers than they were given credit for. They would always deny prying into their employers’ personal matters but human nature usually prevailed.
    “Do you want a hand making that coffee Jackie?”
    “No I’m okay thanks Sergeant, black with sugar wasn’t it?”
    “Yes please, did you have a good walk with Jasper?”
    “Oh, wonderful, that’s one of the parts of my job here that I really love. The grounds here are beautiful and a long walk with the dog down towards the cove is just so tranquil and what’s even better I get paid for it.”
    “What are they like to work for?”
    “Really good, they look after me well, strange couple though, don’t really seem very close in the husband/wife way but seem to get on fine. What do you think has happened to Mr Peterson, Sergeant?”
    “I have no idea, thought you might have some thoughts on the matter yourself. Has he disappeared before without the police being told?”
    “No he goes away on business regularly, always on his own I think. But he’s on the phone all the time to her. He goes off to auctions all round the country I think and sometimes abroad. Don’t see much of him really.”
    “What’s he like? Mrs Peterson paints a picture of a hard ruthless business man.”
    “She always does when she’s talking about him. Yes, I think he’s quite hard by nature but she seems to wear the trousers. Maria is the one I would be more nervous of upsetting. They’re both always very private and very careful not to leave much around when I’m cleaning, particularly in his office over here, but I’m not a nosy person. As long as they pay me I’m not interested in their private lives. If you ask me I always get the impression he’s a little scared of her rather than the other way round. They always seem careful not to discuss much when I’m around other than what they want me to do or want me to hear. I only work four hours a day for them.”
    “Do you clean their offices over in the old barns as well Jackie?”
    “Oh no, she does that herself and when they’re not over there its always kept locked. I have offered to do it but she says I have enough to do in the house. But if you ask me they just don’t want people snooping around. They certainly seem to make a lot of money. Perhaps they keep cash over there, so they want to keep it all secure, who knows! They always pay everyone cash but then they all do these days don’t they. Want to hide it all from the tax man don’t they!”
    “Oh, shouldn’t have said that really should I,” added Jackie.
    “Don’t worry Jackie I’m not at all interested in his tax affairs.”
    Tom continued his chat with Jackie and established that she lived with her husband and two dogs in Brampton. She had just finished providing her address and phone number when Mrs Peterson and Sweetface returned to the kitchen.
    “All done Sarge, no further forward really, there’s nothing I can see that might suggest where he was going or who he was meeting and Mrs Peterson has been all through his desk with me.”
    Tom was thoughtful for a moment.
    “What about the computer Mrs Peterson. Does he keep a computer diary or is there anything in his e-mail inbox that might help us?”
    “First place I looked Tom, I’ve done all that, cleared all his messages, inbox and outbox and monitor it all daily. He is very suspicious about the privacy and security of computer information so he chooses to keep a hand-written diary which he carries everywhere with him.”
    Dave Sweeting was staring out of the kitchen window deep in thought about Colin Peterson’s Aston Martin, more