Free She's Not Coming Home by Philip Cox Page A

watch: it was almost one thirty.  He considered if there was any value staying there any longer. If he was going to catch Ruth leaving the building for lunch – and that was if she was working there – he would have seen her by now. He needed to get back to Beacon Hill to pick up Nathan, and the last thing he wanted was to bump into – what were their names? Danny and Aki – as they returned.
    He gave it another ten minutes, then stood up, stretched and began to walk up the street.  He called in at a Starbucks on the next block and bought himself a coffee and a roast beef sandwich.
    Pausing at a trash can to throw away the empty cup and sandwich wrapper, Matt wiped his mouth with a napkin, tossed that away also, and started to walk briskly up Washington Street. He passed the Medical Center, decided against taking the T, and continued up the street. The heavy clouds he saw earlier had come to nothing: now the sky was a clear blue, crisp and cold. He crossed over Kneeland, and made a left at Boylston Square.  Soon he was back at the Common, and the Central Burying Ground.  Rather than cross the Common, he carried on Boylston and took a right up Charles Street, which is the division between Boston Common and the Public Gardens. He checked his watch again: even though he now had plenty of time before Nathan finished, he wanted to get home first, get online, and check their bank accounts.
    He got home just before two thirty, logged onto the Bank of New England website, and retrieved his and Ruth’s accounts. As well as the joint checking account, they had a savings account, also in joint names, and an account for Nathan. First of all, he went to the checking account. The screen confirmed what Larry had told him earlier: the two withdrawals totalling five hundred dollars from the ATM at the Safeway store. Matt went back three months, but there were no unusual transactions. Then he clicked onto their savings account. It occurred to him that if Ruth had drawn the five hundred to finance her disappearance, she may have done the same with their savings account. Withdrawals from there might not come to light for months.
    Matt checked the account: all was in order.
    He logged off and sat back in his chair. Now he felt guilty. Sure, there was still the question of those two withdrawals, but what was he doing suspecting his wife of absconding with their savings? When he first saw that office manager – Danny – and his girlfriend, he was sure that it was Ruth he was with, that they were having an affair, and that was the explanation. But of course it wasn’t. Once again, it all came back to Nathan – she would never ever leave him.
    Nathan. He checked his watch: almost time to go to Bambinos. Time for one more phone call. One call he was not looking forward to making. To his parents.
    Matt’s parents – Matthew and Estelle – were both retired, now in their early seventies. When Matthew Snr retired from his job with the City of Charleston, they bought a small white clap-board house a short walk from the coast in Sandwich, the first town you find when arriving on the island of Cape Cod. Matt was relatively close – he felt – to his parents, but for some reason they and Ruth never quite hit it off. It had always been as if they had reservations about her suitability as a wife for Matt, and for her part, Ruth was always reserved towards them. All parties denied this, saying it was Matt’s imagination. Ruth’s own parents had died long before Matt met her. One thing which was in no doubt, however, was how much they loved their grandson. Matt would visit them at least once a month, always with Nathan; sometimes Ruth was unable to accompany them, due to work commitments. Neither Matthew Snr nor Estelle would seem particularly bothered that Ruth had to work.
    How would they react now? Matt picked up the phone and dialled. His mother answered the phone.
    ‘Hello, Mom. It’s Matt.’
    ‘Oh hello, dear. What’s the time? Are