For Better For Worse (40 page)

‘Sarah?’ said Bear.

‘I gave up trying to understand Henry a long time ago,’ she said angrily. ‘All I know is that he is selfish beyond words and everything he does is done because of what he wants. I refuse to be bitter about him anymore. I don’t even want to think about him. The thing about Henry is that it doesn’t matter how the other person feels, he always gets his own way.’

‘Mr Mitchell?’ said Bear.

‘It’s no secret, I never liked the man,’ said Malcolm stiffly. ‘He worked in my shop for a while and was charm itself, but I long suspected him of theft. He seduced my daughter behind my back and then ran off with her. The next thing we knew, he’d married her and she was having a baby. At first I didn’t want the child and refused to acknowledge him as my grandson, but now … now …’ He broke off and, standing to his feet, went to the window, putting his back to them.

Bear looked at Mrs Mitchell. ‘And you Mrs Mitchell,’ he said kindly. ‘I know this has been a terrible trauma for you, but can you remember anything, any small detail which might help us.’

Judith shook her head miserably. ‘I’ve gone over and over everything,’ she said, ‘but there’s nothing.’

‘Go back to when you first looked into the pram,’ said Bear. ‘Was there anyone else around?’

Judith frowned. ‘The shop was quite full but the street was empty … apart from a man getting out of a taxi to go into Warnes Hotel.’

Bear wrote something in his notebook. Judith looked thoughtful. ‘I stopped a couple of passers-by and then I ran around the Steyne looking for him. The only other person I saw was a road sweeper.’

‘Road sweeper?’ Bear repeated.

‘He was sweeping near the Methodist church,’ said Judith miserably.

Sarah excused herself and went to make some tea and do some sandwiches for the girls.

‘Have you got any family nearby?’ Bear asked her. He had followed Sarah out to the kitchen after speaking to Judith and could see she was on the point of exhaustion.

‘My sister Vera,’ she said.

‘Couldn’t she come and give you a hand?’

Sarah laughed sardonically. ‘I’ve given up asking Vera for help,’ she said. ‘She’s always too busy.’

‘Where does she live?’

Sarah told him, adding, ‘But you’re wasting your time.’

The doorbell rang and a florist turned up with yet another bunch of flowers. The shrill sound brought Annie to the top of the stairs. ‘Any news?’

Sarah shook her head sadly and Annie shuffled miserably back to her room.

Bear left hurriedly and, about twenty minutes later, he came back with Vera and Mrs Goodall. ‘These two ladies are happy to do some official police business,’ he announced and Sarah blinked in surprise as Mrs Goodall took over answering the door and putting the flowers into vases while Vera sat in Kaye’s office taking the constant phone calls.

‘
Official
police business?’ Sarah smiled as Bear closed the office door.

‘Don’t mock it,’ Bear cautioned with a grin. ‘Everybody likes to feel important.’

Somehow or other they got through the rest of the day. Sarah cooked a meal, but everybody except the girls had lost their appetite. They did a puzzle together until it was time for bed.

‘Mummy, where’s Edward?’ Jenny asked as Sarah pulled the covers up.

‘He’s gone for a little holiday,’ said Sarah. She put a bright smile on her face so that everything would seem perfectly normal.

‘But why is Auntie Annie crying?’

‘She misses him a bit, that’s all.’

Lu-Lu was a bit clingy, but after all the stress of the day it didn’t take long for her to sleep. Frustratingly, she had refused to talk about what happened to Edward, becoming more withdrawn every time Sarah or Lottie tried to coax something out of her. Downstairs, the phone stopped ringing at around eight, but it was hard to relax. They all went to bed at around nine, but it was a long, long night.

*

Henry had woken up during the night. It was still dark but he could hear movement all around him. He felt stiff and there was an odd-looking light in the corner of the room. His bed felt uncomfortable and a bit damp. Where was he? It was hard to focus in this half-light. He could hear a cry in the distance. He tried to call out but his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. He could really do with a nice coffee crunch. Never mind, he’d get up in a minute. All he needed was a couple more minutes to give himself time to thoroughly wake up. He put his hand out to feel for the sheet but he couldn’t find it. He was tired. So tired. Just a short snooze and then he’d get up and see to his son.

*

‘Wicked witch come back?’ Lu-Lu had had a nightmare. She’d woken up screaming and Sarah had rushed to her bedroom. The child was covered in perspiration and clearly terrified. Jenny yawned sleepily and turned over when her mother came into the room, so Sarah carried Lu-Lu into her bed.

Sarah caught her breath. At all costs she mustn’t frighten Lu-Lu or she’d clam up again. Mustering every bit of acting strength she had, she said casually, ‘What witch is that, darling?’

‘She took Edward.’

Sarah held her breath.

‘No darling, she won’t come back.’

Sarah’s mind went into overdrive. A witch took Edward? Not a bad man? Lu-Lu had only been a few months old when Henry left. Apart from that time when she’d seen him at Annie’s place, she didn’t know her father. Could it be that the kidnapper wasn’t Henry after all and that Edward had been snatched by a woman? Stay calm, she told herself. Sound casual when you speak. It was imperative that she didn’t frighten Lu-Lu.

‘Did you see her take Edward?’

Lu-Lu nodded.

‘That was very naughty, wasn’t it?’

The child began to cry again.

‘Shh, shh, I’m sure you did everything you could, darling,’ said Sarah, stroking her hair and kissing the top of her head. ‘It’s not your fault. She was a very, very bad witch.’

She let Lu-Lu calm down and then she said, ‘How did you know she was a witch?’

‘Shh, shhh, Mummy,’ said Lu-Lu, wide-eyed. She looked around nervously. ‘She will gobble me up.’

Anger rushed through every vein in Sarah’s body. How dare she? What sort of a woman frightens a little girl with something like that?

‘No one is going to hurt you, darling,’ Sarah said fiercely. ‘I won’t let them.’

Lu-Lu looked up at her mother and Sarah snapped a bright smile on her face. ‘And Mummy, she had black hands.’

Black hands … black hands …? All at once it dawned on Sarah what she meant. ‘How did she take Edward away without anybody seeing, darling? Was she on her broomstick?’

Lu-Lu sat up on her elbow and looked her in the face. ‘Oh Mummy,’ she said with an expression which said Sarah should know these things. Sitting up properly, she spread her arms wide apart and said, ‘She had a BIG black car.’

‘How silly of me,’ said Sarah, her heart rate going up. This was dynamite. She’d have to tell Bear first thing in the morning. He was looking for Henry, but the kidnapper was a woman.

Morning brought more heartache. Edward had been gone for twenty-four hours and they were no nearer finding him. As soon as she was up, Sarah telephoned the station to tell Bear that according to Lu-Lu, the kidnapper was a woman. He wasn’t there, so she left a message. After breakfast Sarah took Jenny to school and, anxious to protect her eldest daughter from the worry they were all going through, she had a quiet word with her teacher. ‘We’ll do our best to keep it quiet if that’s what you want, Mrs Royal,’ Mrs Audus promised, ‘but I think you’ll find that everybody already knows about the kidnap. It’s in all the papers, and some of the children are bound to have heard their parents talking about it.’

‘Perhaps I should have told her then,’ said Sarah.

‘It would be better coming from you,’ Mrs Audus agreed sympathetically.

She called Jenny from the classroom and together they explained that Edward’s daddy had taken him on holiday for a while. Auntie Annie was upset because he hadn’t asked her first, but everyone hoped Edward would be home soon. Jenny accepted the explanation without a word. As Jenny went back to her classroom, Sarah lingered to go to the office and speak to the Headmistress about her concerns over William Steel.

‘We’ll keep a weather eye on the boy,’ said the Head. ‘I don’t tolerate bullying at this school.’

When she got back home, Vera and Mrs Goodall were back.

‘I’m so grateful for your help, Mrs Goodall,’ said Sarah. They were in the kitchen where Mrs Goodall was dealing with yet another bunch of flowers. Sarah was making a pot of tea.

‘That’s what neighbours are for, dear,’ she said. Sarah blinked in surprise. ‘I had no idea Kaye was so popular. I shall have to go back home and get some of my own vases. We’re running out of them.’

‘I’m sure Lottie would be happy for you to take some of the flowers too,’ said Sarah, pouring Mrs Goodall a cup of tea.

‘Do you think so?’

‘Like you say,’ said Sarah. ‘We do seem to have rather a lot.’

She took another cup of tea to the office. ‘Thanks for doing this, Vera,’ said Sarah.

‘That’s all right,’ said Vera. ‘I had no idea you were living with someone so famous.’

‘Neither did I,’ said Sarah. ‘She was a very unassuming person.’

‘Do you know what?’ Vera said, her eyes sparkling. ‘I spoke to Jack Train on the telephone yesterday … you know,
the
Jack Train.’

Sarah hesitated.

‘What?’ said Vera crossly.

‘I don’t want to seem ungrateful …’ Sarah began, but they were interrupted as the telephone rang again.

‘Miss Hambledon’s residence,’ said Vera in a posh telephone voice Sarah didn’t recognise.

She left her sister to it.

By late morning, several Fleet Street reporters had turned up. Lottie took Lu-Lu upstairs when they started knocking on the door. Sarah got Vera to ring the police station.

‘Mrs Royal,’ one of the reporters shouted through the letter box.

‘I can’t sit here all day and do nothing,’ said Annie, wringing her hands. ‘I should be out there looking for him.’

‘Where would you look?’ said Sarah. ‘We’ve no idea where he could be. Henry could have taken him anywhere.’

‘I know you all insist Henry took him,’ said Annie tetchily. ‘But why would he do such a thing? Edward is my baby too. Henry loves us both.’

Sarah squeezed Annie’s hand affectionately. ‘We can’t understand it either,’ she said. ‘But I told you what Kaye said and it’s too much of a coincidence.’

‘I can’t believe he would harm Edward,’ said Annie stubbornly. ‘I won’t believe it.’

Sarah went out into the hallway and slipped her hand into her coat pocket.

‘Mrs Royal.’ The man shouted through the letter box again.

‘Oh, I do wish they would go away,’ said Annie as Sarah came back.

‘Bear is sending a constable to stand by the gate,’ she said. ‘Hold out your hand.’

When Annie had done so, Sarah said, ‘The person who took Edward gave this to Lu-Lu.’ She dropped the coffee crunch into Annie’s hand. Annie’s face went white.

‘Mrs Royal,’ the reporter was back at the letter box. ‘Did you know that a baby was found abandoned on the steps of St Mary’s Convent this morning?’

The two women looked at each other and gasped. Annie jumped to her feet and rushed to open the door. As she did so, a photographer’s flashbulb went off and everybody started talking at once.

‘Mrs Royal how do you feel?’ ‘When did you notice the baby was missing?’ ‘Do you think your husband took the baby?’ ‘Are you breastfeeding your baby?’

‘What’s this about an abandoned baby?’ Sarah shrieked over the noise.

‘The child was found early this morning,’ someone said. ‘They’ve taken it to Worthing Hospital.’

Annie didn’t wait a second longer. With Sarah shouting, ‘Vera, tell Lottie where we’ve gone and phone the Mitchells. Annie, wait, I’ll come with you,’ and a bevy of reporters hard on her heels, Sarah ran down the drive after her.

*

As soon as he’d got the message from Sarah that Lu-Lu had described a witch with a black car and black hands, Bear had gone straight into the office to talk with his colleagues. Everyone agreed that the kidnapper must have been a woman wearing gloves. Taking into consideration what Judith had told him last night, he spent the morning tracking down the road sweeper and what he had said only confirmed Sarah’s version of events.

Fred Pickles lived in a prefab in Castle Road in the Tarring area. He was about fifty-five and apart from having few teeth left, he was in good health. He proudly told Bear he walked to work each day, and after working an eight-hour shift in all weathers, he walked back home.

Bear asked him about the previous day.

‘Yes, I heard the commotion,’ said Fred, ‘but I didn’t see ’owt.’

‘Did you see anyone carrying a baby?’

Fred shook his head. ‘The only person I saw with a baby was an older woman in a big black ’at,’ he said. ‘She looked more like she belonged at Royal flippin’ Ascot than Worthing.’

‘Have you ever seen her before?’ said Bear.

‘Na,’ said Fred. ‘She got into a big car … Bentley I think, but I don’t think it would have been ’er what took the little-un. She looked too well-off.’

Now Bear knew for sure that Henry had had an accomplice.

‘Did you see who was driving the car?’

Fred looked surprised. ‘She was, o’ course. She put the nipper in one of them wicker baskets on the back seat.’

Back in his office, Bear contacted Scotland Yard.

‘DI Garfield,’ said a voice.

‘This is Detective Inspector Truman of Worthing police,’ said Bear. ‘I’m trying to trace an ex-con, Henry Royale. He came out of the nick about two weeks ago.’

DI Garfield snorted. ‘Now there’s a funny thing,’ he said. ‘We’re looking for the same villain. What’s your interest in him?’

‘I’ve got nothing on him yet, but wherever he goes he leaves a trail of damage behind him,’ said Bear. ‘What about you?’

‘Seems that our chum is wanted in connection with a distraction burglary in a Bond Street jeweller.’

‘Tell me,’ said Bear, smiling to himself.

‘He was with an older woman, a Mrs Ada Browning,’ said Garfield. ‘She’s the innocent party, I think. Jeweller has known her for years. She wanted a watch repaired and they asked to see some brooches. When they’d gone, so had one of the brooches.’