No Safe Place(Detective Lottie Parker #4)(5)

Lottie had to admit that little Louis was a great tonic for the rest of the family. Chloe and Sean doted on him. But Katie was struggling, while stubbornly refusing all the help Lottie offered. She’d secured a passport for Louis, and was adamant she was heading to New York. There was still the conversation to be had about the cost. Tonight, maybe. Maybe not.

‘A trip away might benefit her,’ she said. ‘But I’m not sure.’

‘You’re afraid she won’t want to come home. Is that it?’ he said, seriousness furrowing his brow.

She watched as he leaned back and folded his arms over his pressed blue shirt and immaculate navy tie. His greying hair was cut short as usual, and his leanness verged on being too thin, but not quite. Mid forties suited him better than it suited her, she had to admit. She liked sparring with Boyd and she knew he liked her, but her life was too complicated to embark on anything serious.

‘I’m not sure about anything with regards to my children,’ she said.

‘One day at a time, eh?’

‘Sure.’ She picked up the CCTV image before Boyd began asking awkward questions. ‘A twenty-five-year-old disappears without trace from the 17.10 Dublin to Ragmullin train on Monday evening. Are we positive she actually boarded that train?’

‘She was a regular commuter. I talked to a few people leaving the station yesterday evening. Most said they saw her but then weren’t sure of the day, but two people swear she was on it. They remembered her standing in the aisle before she secured a seat after Maynooth. Neither of those witnesses can tell us anything further, though, because they both disembarked at the next station, Enfield.’

Lottie said, ‘But Elizabeth never arrived home.’

‘Exactly.’

‘Maybe she got off at Enfield too.’

‘Enfield station CCTV confirms she did not.’

‘So back to Ragmullin station. You have a CCTV image of her that morning. What about the evening?’

‘All the cameras are focused on either the ticket desk or the car park. But we know she has no car so she must have walked to the station Monday morning.’

‘She might have stayed on the train and ended up somewhere else.’

Boyd shook his head. ‘I’ve checked with all the stations up to and including Sligo, where the train terminates, and there’s no evidence she was on it other than the witnesses who think they saw her before Enfield.’

‘The media will be calling this “the girl who disappeared from the train”.’ She printed off the photograph and handed it to Boyd. ‘Tell me what you see.’

‘A young woman. Hair cut to her shoulders. A scattering of freckles across her nose. Dark brown eyes and full lips. Can I say she’s pretty?’

‘Boyd! I’m asking about her personality.’ She shook her head in exasperation.

‘It’s just a photograph. I’m not a psychic.’

‘Try.’

He sighed. ‘She looks sensible enough. No nose or eyebrow piercings. No visible tattoos, though it is only a head shot. Eyes appear clear and bright. Probably no drug use.’

‘That’s what I thought. Anything show up on her social media accounts?’

‘Nothing since Sunday night.’

‘What did that say?’

‘Just a Facebook post with a GIF of a drowned-looking cat and the caption “Don’t tell me tomorrow is Monday. Just don’t.”’

‘Do you think she did a runner?’

‘She lives at home and her mother says all her stuff is still in her room.’

Standing up, Lottie grabbed her jacket and bag. ‘Come on. Let’s have a look round her house and see if we can find out anything.’

‘It’s not yet forty-eight hours.’

‘Are you a parrot? You keep repeating yourself.’

‘Elizabeth is an adult. I think you’re being a bit premature about this.’

‘Oh, for Christ’s sake, stop whingeing. Better this than being out in the freezing cold chasing boy racers or trying to get information about illegal bare-knuckle fights.’

‘God help me,’ he muttered.

She opened the door and looked back over her shoulder as Boyd slowly rose to his feet and joined her. Catching his soapy scent as he passed, she had to stop her hand from reaching out to his. She couldn’t do anything that might compromise the contented truce they were experiencing at the moment.

‘Why the sour puss?’ he asked.

‘None of your business,’ she said with a smile, and marched through the main office, leaving the jangle of cooling radiators in her wake. In the corridor, she walked straight into Superintendent Corrigan.

‘I was just coming to get you,’ he said. ‘My office. Now.’

Staring after his bulk, Lottie stood open-mouthed. She’d been good recently. Hadn’t she?

‘What did you do now?’ Boyd said, retreating to his office.

‘Nothing. I hope.’ She crossed her fingers as she took off down the corridor after Corrigan.



* * *



‘Sit down, Parker. You know it makes me nervous looking at you hopping from foot to foot.’

‘I’m not …’ Lottie clamped her mouth shut, folded her jacket over her arm and did as her boss commanded.