The Cold Light of Mourning - By Elizabeth J. Duncan Page 0,28
that,” Mr. Thompson told his wife angrily. “Just let me answer the questions and they’ll soon be done with us.”
As he finished speaking his wife shrank back into herself. She looked down at the hands clasped in her lap, and was silent. Morgan looked at her thoughtfully.
“Can you think of any reason why your daughter might have suddenly decided not to go forward with the wedding?” she asked.
Mrs. Thompson looked at her husband, and seemed about to say something, then, thinking better of it, went back to the quiet contemplation of her hands.
“No, I can’t,” said Mr. Thompson. “She knew she was on to a bloody good thing.”
“Can you think of any place where she might have gone?” continued Morgan. “Did she come here in a car? Is it still here or is it gone, do you know?”
Thompson glared at them.
“Look, I’ve just told you that we don’t really know our daughter anymore. She’s been on her own, living in London for some time. We live in Durham and we don’t keep in touch. She can’t be bothered with us. As I said, she’s a very independent woman, knows her own mind, and to be honest, is much closer to her friends than she is to us. So you’d be better off talking to them, because we don’t know anything. We’re as surprised by all this as anyone else.”
When he finished speaking, Morgan stepped toward Mrs. Thompson and raised her arm to pat her on the shoulder.
Mrs. Thompson’s hands flew up to cover her haggard face in a gesture that was startling and revealing.
Slowly she lowered her hands as Morgan gently touched her.
“Mrs. Thompson,” she said, “we’ll do everything we can to bring your daughter back. Sometimes people turn up again after a day or two and wonder what all the fuss was about.”
Grateful for this small gesture of kindness and reassurance, Mrs. Thompson looked up at her with tear-filled eyes.
“Thank you,” she whispered, and then added quietly, “she drove here with the girls, Anne and Jennifer. I think the three of them came in Jennifer’s car.”
Davies turned to face Mr. Thompson.
“Sir, there are certain formalities we have to go through, and one of them is to ask you, as the missing person’s next of kin, to sign this form. This will give us the authorization to release photos of her, if we feel this kind of campaign would help find her. Would you be willing to sign this?”
“I guess so,” snarled Mr. Thompson. “Do I have a choice?”
As he signed the document, Morgan asked Mrs. Thompson if she had any recent photos of her daughter.
“Oh you can get all that from her friends,” Mr. Thompson told her. “In fact, you’d be best off getting everything you need from them.
“Anyway, we’re off home tomorrow. I’ve got to get back to work and there’s nothing to hang about here for. She’ll turn up when she does.”
“Let’s hope so, sir. Oh, and by the way, what kind of work is it you do?”
A few minutes later, having learned from Mrs. Thompson where they could find the bridesmaids, the two officers were back in the hotel hallway. Morgan was barely able to contain herself.
“Men like that make me sick! The bastard! It’s too bad we didn’t learn anything.”
“On the contrary, Sergeant, we learned a great deal,” Davies told her.
“Really sir? What did I miss?”
“Oh, you didn’t miss it. You just haven’t put it together. We learned that Thompson’s a vicious, controlling bully who manages his family by intimidation. And experience has taught me that everything else we uncover here, no matter where this case leads us, will follow on from that. And it could very well lead us back to him.
“Now then, I’d like you to get on to Durham and see if they’ve got anything on him. With a drinking problem like he’s got, I’d be surprised if he hasn’t had a run in or two with the law.”
A few minutes later they had reached the bridesmaids’ room and were quickly invited in. While both women were subdued, Jennifer seemed the more distraught. Davies got right to the point.
“I understand you two were the bridesmaids. Who’s Anne and who’s Jennifer?” he asked.
“I’m Anne.”
Davies nodded at her.
“Right. Well, we’re very sorry to disturb you in your room, but we thought it would be better if we could talk in private. I have some questions I need to ask you and DS Morgan here will take a few notes.”