Free The Lady Vanished by Gretta Mulrooney Page B

Rachel Breen’s insults.
    ‘Sounds like you got involved in a domestic there.’
    ‘The unwitting fate of the private detective.’
    ‘But what can have happened to this woman? Surely if she’d been murdered, a body would have been found?’
    ‘You’d have thought so. Maybe it’s well hidden.’
    ‘You do hear about skeletons being found behind walls and fireplaces. Her family must be so worried.’
    ‘Hardly. I’ve yet to meet the stepson but there seems to be no love lost.’
    They had coffee. She knew far more of his world than he did of hers, being familiar with his extended family. He updated her on Cedric and told her about Mary having a new partner. She spoke of her work and her plan to study for an MSc. Then they were silent for a while. There were only two other customers, men in suits with laptops, discussing sales margins. Krystyna polished glasses and bottles at the bar, making busywork for herself on a slow day. There was usually a point like this, when it became too painful to talk.
    ‘We’re like secret agents,’ Ruth said at last. ‘Regular clandestine meetings, walks in the park, lives compartmentalised.’
    He nodded, touching her hand. ‘I’ve missed you.’
    ‘Yes. I never stopped loving you, Ty; I temporarily misplaced the love, lost my way. And I am so fond of Emlyn and I married him. We both go through so much pain and I’m the cause of it. If it’s of any comfort, I feel it too, every day. But regrets are pointless. I keep hoping that one day you’ll email me to say you’ve found someone special and you need to say goodbye. Then I could stop tormenting you and myself. I could stop feeling guilty, selfish.’ She rubbed the back of his hand gently.
    ‘We both know that I would need to say goodbye for myself, for my own reasons alone, and that I probably won’t be able to focus on anyone else until I do.’
    She nodded. ‘Then you should, you should.’
    They had time for a short walk under the trees in the park before turning back for the station. He walked her to the ticket barrier and kissed her forehead. He could feel her trembling and backed away, holding up a hand in farewell. He walked through back streets as far as World’s End, hardly noticing his route, where he caught a bus to Hammersmith. Closing his eyes, he dwelled for some moments on Ruth’s face, bathed in the lemony light from the stained-glass window, thought of the roughened skin on her fingers, from where she had been sanding a door. Then, annoyed with himself, he rubbed his head vigorously and raised and lowered his shoulders three times, causing a woman sitting opposite to give him a strange look. He took out his phone and rang Lilac Grange. He asked for the name of the manager and was told it was Maria Berardi. He asked to speak to her and after a brief wait he was put through and explained his reason for calling.
    ‘I don’t see how we can help you,’ Ms Berardi said, her voice rising and falling with Italian inflections. ‘Mrs Langborne only came here once.’
    ‘I don’t know if you can. I just need to follow up anything that might contribute to understanding her disappearance.’
    She sounded hesitant. ‘Why have the police not been in touch?’
    ‘They don’t know about this. Her GP just remembered today and informed me. I advised her to tell them but I don’t know if they’ll think it significant enough to follow up on.’
    ‘Well, we are very busy here . . .’
    He softened his voice. ‘I do appreciate that but Mrs Langborne’s family are very distressed about this and so far there has been no trace at all of her. I will be as brief as possible when I come. If I could just speak to you and any staff who worked with her. It would mean a lot.’
    She capitulated and agreed to see him on Wednesday afternoon. Back at the office, he wrote up a synopsis of the information he had gleaned that morning, then polished off the casserole Cedric had given him for supper. He sat watching a game show