Local Gone Missing(82)

Sixty-three


MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2019





Elise


Her other second-in-command’s phone was answered immediately when Elise rang.

“What’s up?” Ronnie said.

“How old is your daughter?”

“Er, thirty-six. Why?”

“Good. Can you get in contact with her and ask her if she knew a Philip Golding when she was thirteen?”

“Phil Golding? The dead Phil Golding? How would she know him?”

“He was here in 1996. On the at-risk register—neglectful mother, it says. I need to find out why he and his family came and why they left Ebbing. I know it’s a long shot but worth a go.”

“It’s late in Sydney, but Meggie will be up.”

Half an hour later, Ronnie was back on. “He was in her class! Just for a year. She remembered him because he had the same birthday as one of Meggie’s friends and they had to share a cake because he hadn’t brought one in. His mother hadn’t known—or hadn’t bothered—and everyone felt sorry for him. She doesn’t know why he was in Ebbing. Phil never talked about life at home. Meggie thinks he just disappeared during the school holidays.”

“But did he come back?” Elise said, noting it all down.



* * *



—

Caro was standing in the door of her office when Elise put the phone down, head on one side.

“Ronnie’s just helping with a bit of background,” Elise said quickly. “Her daughter’s the same age as Phil Golding—they were in the same class.”

“When? Could he have known Charlie here?”

“No, the Perrys didn’t move here until 2013. But Phil’s link to Ebbing must mean something. There’s something there.”

“All very fascinating but I still think you’re chasing ghosts. We’ll find the truth a lot closer to home. I’ve had a call from Dover. We put out a missing-person alert on Scott-Pennington when his clothes were found and he’s turned up at the port, trying to hop a ferry. They’re sending him back to us.”

“Wow! His wife will be relieved,” Elise said. “For five minutes, anyway. Until she hears what he did in Charlie Perry’s basement.”

“I’ll ring and tell her he’s alive,” Caro said. “And check with the team on the forensics.”



* * *



—

“We’ve got matches for Toby Greene’s and Kevin Scott-Pennington’s DNA in the cellar and on Charlie’s clothes,” she told Elise when she joined the team. “But negative for Bennett. If he was there, he left no trace.”

It’d been a long shot, Elise knew, but she had to push back against the disappointment that instantly clouded her mood. She’d been so sure the roots of the crime went back to the burglary.

“Come on, we’ve got our men,” Caro said. “Greene is on his way back in for an interview.”



* * *



—

“So, Mr. Greene, how are you feeling now?” Elise asked.

“Terrible,” Toby murmured.

“Well, the doctors have discharged you, so I take it we can pick up where we left off? With Charlie Perry’s head injury?”

“My client would like to make a statement to help your investigation,” Mr. Grimes said, and Toby looked at his solicitor and took a breath.

“Kevin did it,” he said quickly. “He said it had to look like Charlie had fallen, so he hit him with a wrench.”

“A wrench? Was the weapon there in the cellar?”

“No, he brought it with him.”

“You saw it? You knew he was intending violence to Mr. Perry?”

“I told him not to do it.” Greene looked away.

“When? When did you tell him? When he came armed to do grievous harm to Charlie?”

“It was just to frighten him. That’s what Kevin said. He wanted to show him we meant business. But Charlie was dead. And when I realized what he was going to do, I told him to stop.”

“But he didn’t.”

“No. No, he didn’t. It was awful. . . .” He faltered.

“I imagine it was,” Elise said. “Did Kevin have the weapon when you visited the Perrys’ house the first time that day?”

“I got there after him. I can’t remember seeing it,” Toby stuttered.

“Try,” Elise said. “I would have thought the events of that day are etched on your brain. You saw your first dead body. You saw Charlie’s head being bashed in.”

Toby’s mouth trembled.

“Inspector,” Mr. Grimes chirped his warning.

“Okay, let’s try again. Why did you go to Tall Trees on Sunday afternoon?”

“Because Kevin rang and told me to come. When I got there I realized he’d found Charlie. I wanted to ask him for my money. I just wanted it all to be over.”

“Where had he found him?”

“At the house. Kevin told me that someone had seen Charlie’s passport in the caravan that morning, so we were taking it in turns to watch the place in case he came back for it. Kevin caught him trying to leave and took him in the basement—in a little kitchen. He had him in there when I got there.”