Inspector Rames

Chapter 36

"We're very sorry, Mrs Temple," I said a while later as we sat down in the living room of a flat on Flicker Street. A fluffy blue rug lay beneath my boots, and heavily-scented yellow flowers were arranged on the windowsill behind Janet Temple. Artificial light was streaming through the pane, casting a visual sense of cheer over the tangible gloom that had descended.

Janet had offered us tea, but she'd clearly not wanted to make it and so we'd both declined. Now I was thankful, because I didn't know where under earth we would have put our mugs down. The centrepiece on the coffee table was a sewing box, and around it lay swathes of fabric, lengths of ribbon, odd buttons, and paper patterns. It looked like several sewing projects were taking place at once, clamouring for Janet's attention.

Right now, her attention was on us. She was a housewife, and dressed luxuriously for it, in a designer dress with a heavy diamond around her neck. She'd twisted her fiery locks into a bun, leaving a large nose and red-rimmed eyes unobscured. The news had been broken to her before Alex and I had arrived, but the shock wave was a long way from dissipating.

Her lips trembled as she spoke. "You...you said you wanted to ask some questions?"

"Yes, just a few. When did you last see your husband?"

She clasped her hands over her kneecaps and swallowed. "Yesterday evening. He came in straight after work. Frankie, his niece, was already here. They talked about their day while I cooked dinner. We sat down and ate not long after that. It was just like every other Thursday evening."

"What did you do after you'd eaten?"

"We all sat in here for a while, talking." She bit her lip. "Then he went to meet some drinking pals at The Black Horse. That was at seven."

"Did he go to The Black Horse often?" Alex asked.

"No, no, just every once in a while. And I never went with him. I don't even know who he met there."

I leaned forward. "Did you have any idea that he was planning to go back to his lab at the university?"

"No. Sometimes he stays late at work, but he always comes home on time every Thursday to see Frankie. And he never goes back once he's come home. I don't know what he was thinking."

"Did you hear anything from him after he left the flat last night?"

"No."

"Did you try to contact him?"

"No." Her eyes filled. "I didn't even know he was missing until I woke up this morning. I went to bed very early last night. I had a terrible headache."

"What time was that?"

"Oh...something like eight o'clock."

Alex crossed one leg over the other and looked at her carefully. "Did Lonn ever bring his work home, Mrs Temple?"

She frowned. "No, I don't think so. Why?"

"We're trying to locate a missing folder from his office."

The doorbell buzzed and cut across our questioning in a robotic monotone. "Janet, Frankie is at the door. May she come in?"

"Yes," Janet said softly. "Oh, Frankie..."

Half a minute later, a dark-haired teenager burst into the room. She flew straight to her aunt. "Janet? Is it true?"

Janet's face crumpled. "I was going to call you. How did you find out?"

"It's all over Xplora."

I sighed. I would bet my cat that the first person to write about it had been Clyde Edwards.