why hadn’t she replied?
Jack came back downstairs. ‘I can’t see anything missing up there. But you should check your jewellery, honey, just in case.’
Mona nodded. ‘I will. I can’t see anything missing down here either. Did you check the laptops? What if she managed to get on to those? I have all my banking details saved on mine . . .’
Jack swore and ran back upstairs to find their laptops, which they had apparently left behind while they went on their retreat. Mona thumbed her phone, and I guessed she was checking her bank balance.
I stared at my phone, at the unanswered texts. ‘Where are you?’ I said in a whisper.
Mona lifted her face from her screen. ‘What?’
It felt as if someone had removed my bones and replaced them with jelly. ‘Ruth,’ I said. ‘Where is she?’
Jack came back downstairs with a pair of laptops under his arms. ‘They need charging,’ he said. ‘We’ll have to wait—’
Mona shushed him with a gesture, then sat beside me. ‘Remind us when you last saw her.’
‘Friday night, like I said.’ I tried to keep the impatience out of my voice. ‘I slept through most of Saturday but she wasn’t here when I woke up. She’s not answering her phone or responding to messages. And now it’s Sunday morning and she’s still not back.’
‘Did she have any plans yesterday?’
‘Yeah, rehearsals.’
‘On a Saturday?’
‘Yeah. They do six days a week. Sally Klay would have them working seven if she could.’
‘And do you know if she turned up for the rehearsal? Can you find out?’
I thought about it. I didn’t have Sally Klay’s contact details. And when I’d bumped into Cara a few days ago I had given her my number but hadn’t taken hers. I wasn’t friends with any of the actors on Facebook.
‘No,’ I said, explaining the situation.
‘I take it her phone isn’t here?’ Jack asked. ‘Or does she have a laptop or tablet with Sally’s contact info?’
‘Her phone’s not here.’ I had kept an eye out for it while cleaning the house. ‘She doesn’t have a tablet. But her MacBook should be in our room.’
I ran upstairs and checked the bedroom. I knew the password for her computer and knew that if she had stayed logged in to social media I would be able to message Cara and some of the other cast members using Ruth’s accounts. Sally’s contact details would be on there too.
But there was no sign of her computer. I searched the obvious spots, looked under the pillows, even got down on my hands and knees and peered beneath the bed. I opened the drawers where she kept her clothes and searched the wardrobe. I checked inside her empty suitcase. It wasn’t there.
While I was in the room, I had a look round, trying to ascertain if anything else was missing. A thought struck me, and I rummaged through the wardrobe again and checked the laundry basket.
I went back downstairs.
‘There’s no sign of her MacBook. I also think the clothes she was wearing on Friday night are missing too.’ I could picture her clearly; she’d been wearing a black playsuit with a scoop neck and buttons up the front. I described it.
‘I can’t believe she’d have gone to her rehearsal in the same outfit she’d worn the day before. She would never go near Sally if she wasn’t wearing clean clothes. It had got wet in the rain and she must have reeked of alcohol and Japanese food. There’s no way she would have gone out without showering and getting changed.’
Jack tried to suppress a yawn. ‘Sorry. I’m not bored. Far fucking from it. I’ve just been awake since yesterday morning. And I was expecting to be able to go for a nap when we got back. I wasn’t expecting any of this. Some woman turning up and staying here, pretending to know us.’ Almost as an afterthought, he added, ‘And Ruth going AWOL, of course.’
‘Maybe we should call Dennis,’ Mona said.
‘Who’s Dennis?’ I asked.
‘He’s a detective,’ Mona replied. ‘Brooklyn PD. He lives nearby.’
‘You’re friends with a detective?’
‘We met him through the local residents’ association.’ She turned to Jack. ‘We should definitely call him.’
The room was beginning to spin. It wasn’t just the stress. My body was still recovering from the hangover that had wiped me out yesterday. I had barely eaten all day, my sleep pattern was seriously screwed up and I was dehydrated. It must have shown, because Mona said, ‘Perhaps you should lie down.’
‘I can’t. I need to