The Opal Pendant (A Little Crazy)

Chapter Thirty-Two

Rupert mulled over the case of six missing women. All had disappeared on his watch, and it annoyed him. One he could have lived with. How they walked out of their homes and vanished without a trace made him feel the force was incompetent. He believed he was the best for joining the dots and putting the clues together. Past experience told him if he eliminated the impossible, the truth remained.

He stood and went to his office door, opened it and waited. Maggie was the first to see him. "Problems, guv."

"You could say that. It's almost coffee time. Can you bring everyone into my office? They'll need to bring chairs, but they can enjoy my coffee for a change."

"Five minutes, guv."

He nodded, grabbed his mug, filled it with the fresh brew, sat behind his desk, and waited.

Led by Maggie, his team, carrying a chair apiece, entered his office.

He pointed at the percolator. "Fill your mugs. I need to pick your brains."

Linda laughed. "This will be a short break, girls."

Wendy was the last to seat herself.

"Good morning. You know six women are missing. But before I can talk to the governor, I must convince him his staff will not waste their time. I'm sure by now you know somewhere someone goes missing every 90 seconds. About our cold cases, my gut tells me something bad happened. I'd like to know what you think?"

Maggie raised her eyebrows. "I understand your interest in these women, but from studying the evidence, they don't want to be found. The force would be wrong to commit resources into a pointless search."

Julie went to speak but then decided not to.

Rupert noted her hesitation. "Julie, this is not an inquisition. You can say whatever you want."

"She gave a slight smile. "I'm not sure it's important, guv."

Julie was quiet. "it's the vicar's journal's guv. Maggie, sorry, the sergeant asked me to have a look at them. You know, fresh eyes.

I went through every one of them, and they are the daily activities of a vicar. But I did spot something. As you know, when these women went missing, the vicar was away from the area. His alibis are as tight as a drum in every instance. I reckon the women knew the person who gave them the message, allegedly from the vicar. On the afternoon of the vicar's return, he conducted a funeral. That's my tuppence worth."

"What does it tell us? If these women knew the messenger, who is it? Remember, they all lived in different villages but attended the same church. From that information, the vicar is the prime suspect. At a push, the housekeeper is the other alternative. Maggie, do you think she could move a body alone?"

"She's old and has difficulty walking. I would say, without help, no."

It began to feel as if they were walking in circles. Rupert continued. "Without a shred of evidence, we're wasting our time. The funerals are worth considering and force us to assume even more than before. Linda, Wendy, any thoughts?"

Linda chuckled. "I don't think I'd leave my old man for a vicar, but Our marriage is sound with no problems. He snore like a pig, so we decided on separate bedrooms. This way, he can snore and fart as much as he likes. Apart from his animal sounds, having a hand grope my boobs at some unearthly hour did nothing for my sex drive. I keep him happy with a visit when he's home. I fake my orgasms, and he thinks he's Superman."

Everyone suppressed their laughter at her comments.

"Sorry for the distraction, but these women met the vicar for sex. Doesn't say much for their morals. Could their partners have killed and buried them?"

"For what it's worth," said Wendy, "As you know, I live in the house with my mum and enjoy my relationships with men who try to please women. There are few around, and all the huffing and puffing drives me mad. The vicar must be good if they went back for more. I might give him a ring."

Rupert smiled. "Thank you for listening and commenting, but we should move on. I'll let the Chief know my thoughts. This investigation will remain live. If and when there is further information, I'll consider the options available. I will review and assess if further information is received. Maggie will create a live file to cover the whole county. I don't envisage it will ever become large."

"I'll deal with it, guv. Is it okay for Julie to return the vicar's journals?"

Rupert gazed at Julie. "They are of no use to us. The records we have are plenty. Julie, watch out for idiots when you driving. This town is full of them."

"I always do, guv."

He watched them leave the room and noticed Joyce chatting to Maggie. "The percolator is empty. If you want a coffee, you'll have to wait.

"Love to chat, but I've a meeting with the super in five minutes. I'll drop in for a coffee after."

"I'll make a fresh brew."

"She grinned. "You certainly know how to entice a woman into your lair. See you later."

In the confines of his office, he sat at his desk and mulled over his thoughts on the missing women.

***

Julie strolled out of the station in uniform, pleased to be in the fresh air. She found the unmarked police Ford Focus at the farthest point of the carpark. It needed washing. She opened the driver's door and removed

the collection of crisp packets, dumping them in the passenger's foot well. Seated, she adjusted her position. Ready, she turned the ignition, checked the fuel gauge, and drove away.

Happy, she sang the song 'Everybody' as she drove out of town.

Thirty-five minutes later, she parked outside St Andrews Church, Stonewall. When exited the car, she took a deep breath and exhaled three times. There was something about the housekeeper that made her spine tingle. With the vicar's journals in a plastic bag, she walked through the lychgate and along the path to the rectory. When she reached the steps, she saw the curtains move in the window to her right.

The main door opened before she had a chance to ring the bell. The housekeeper, wearing an ankle-length black dress and men's boots, stared at her. "Hello. What do you want this time."

Julie shivered as she said. "I'm here to return these journals we borrowed from the vicar."

"Give them to me. Don't worry, I'll make sure he gets them."

Julie regarded this woman as one who did not suffer fools. When she leaned forward to take the bag, Julie saw an opal pendant hanging around her neck. "What a gorgeous pendant. Did you buy it in town?"

"Where I buy my jewellery has nothing to do with you. You have returned the journals. Now go away. I have work to do even if you haven't."

"I apologise if I have upset you, but the colours radiating from the opal are amazing."

The main door slammed shut.

Julie walked to the car. Something bothered her, and she did not know what it was.

On the drive back to the station, the thoughts in her head spun and created a confusing whirlpool. Her headache grew like the monster within.

She could not understand why the roads were so busy. It took her over an hour to get across town and into the station car park.

She nodded to the desk sergeant and went to the records office. When she closed the office door, the photo of Joan Dickson taped on the incident board fell to the floor.

She stooped and could not believe what she was looking at.