Evan Blessed (21 page)
Authors: Rhys Bowen
Two hours later, Evan was staring at a complete list of his case history and was still none the wiser. In none of the cases had he been the lead officer. Until recently he'd only been a uniformed constable. He'd had a few lucky breaks and helped to crack some big cases, but why should anyone's wrath be directed so exclusively at him? Besides, those men in the high-profile cases should still be in prison. He glanced over the list in front of him. The next thing to do was to check that there had been no early releases. After that, someone should talk to family members of the persons he had arrested, to get a sense whether a brother or a son might be the kind who harbored a grudge. But it all seemed so nebulous and so hopeless.
Evan sank his head into his hands.
“Here, I brought you a cup of coffee.” He hadn't heard Glynis come into the room. She put a hand on his shoulder. “Only if you tell Inspector Watkins, I'll deny it.” She smiled at him. “Any luck?”
“None at all. I've been over and over this list and I still can't think how anyone would bear such a personal grudge against me. Why me and not Inspector Hughes? He was in charge of all the cases.”
Glynis nodded. “It does seem strange. In fact, nothing has made sense to me from the moment this case started. It's as though we've
got isolated facts and each of them raises a red flagâgirl missing on mountain, bunker found, threatening notes, and now Bronwen missing and you shoved into that bunkerâbut we don't exactly know that they tie together. It's just possible that the first missing girl has nothing to do with the bunker, that the musical clues have nothing to do with the bunker, that Bronwen vanishing has nothing to do with it either.”
got isolated facts and each of them raises a red flagâgirl missing on mountain, bunker found, threatening notes, and now Bronwen missing and you shoved into that bunkerâbut we don't exactly know that they tie together. It's just possible that the first missing girl has nothing to do with the bunker, that the musical clues have nothing to do with the bunker, that Bronwen vanishing has nothing to do with it either.”
“Oh, come on,” Evan said. “Someone tried to kill me at that bloody bunker.”
“Right. I admit that. But what if the chap who dug the bunker simply was guarding it and didn't want anybody snooping around it? What if he didn't build it to kidnap anybody?” She looked at him. “You see what I'm saying, don't you? We need the common thread, the thing that links all of this together.”
“All I know is that my fiancée is missing,” Evan said.
“You know what was interesting in that last note.” Glynis held his gaze. “That he also appeared to have a personal grudge against Bronwen as well. Bad EE, Bad BE. Is it possible that the grudge is against both of you? Something you've done together?'
“Such as what? Who could possibly have a grudge against anyone as sweet as Bronwen?”
“For example,” Glynis said, “you are getting married in a week's time. Someone might not want that to happen.”
Evan frowned. “You're suggesting someone who might secretly be in love with Bronwen and resent the fact that she's marrying me?”
“Just a thought.” Glynis shrugged. “It could be the other way around, but I can't see a spurned woman doing the kidnapping, or digging the bunker.”
“I don't have any spurned women in my past.” Evan had to laugh. “Only Betsy, the local barmaid, and she's happily hooked up with the local bulldozer driver. Mostly it was the girls who did the spurning.”
“Surely notâgood-looking, healthy chap like you?” Glynis smiled back at him.
Evan shrugged. “But Bronwenâwhat kind of secret admirer could she have recently? She doesn't exactly meet a lot of men up
there at the schoolhouse. And before she came here, she was married to someone else.”
there at the schoolhouse. And before she came here, she was married to someone else.”
“Maybe her ex-husband doesn't want to let her go.”
“No, it wasn't like that at all. I know her ex-husband. He left her for someone else.” Evan wisely left it at that, since Bronwen's ex had left her to live with another man.
“How would you ever know if someone was yearning for her secretly?” Glynis asked. “It could be someone she only meets on the most superficial level.”
“The antiques chap,” Evan said, bitterly. “I could see that he fancied her.”
“But it seems he was in the clear.”
Evan merely grunted.
“They're still keeping an eye open. Inspector Watkins has put a tail on him.”
Evan sank his head into his hands. “This is hopeless, isn't it, Glynis? What are the statistics on someone being recovered alive if you don't find them in the first twenty-four hours? Not very good, are they?”
“We'll find her,” Glynis said. “In fact, I have a hunch that this man wants you to find her.”
“So that he can kill both of us at once?”
“You can handle him, Evan. He wants you to match wits with him. So, match them. He's given you clues that he expects you to solve. Take your time and solve them.”
She closed the door behind her, leaving him staring at a screen. A few minutes later the dispatcher poked her head around the door. “Phone call for you, Constable Evans.”
Evan looked up.
“It's a woman,” she whispered. “Says her name is Price.”
Evan almost mowed her down in his rush to get to the phone. “Bronwen?” he shouted into the receiver.
“No, it's Emmaline, dear. Your future mother-in-law. Where are you both? We've just arrived and not a sign of you. Don't tell me
you're working on a Saturday, and I expect that daughter of mine is out arranging last-minute details, if I know her.”
you're working on a Saturday, and I expect that daughter of mine is out arranging last-minute details, if I know her.”
“Something like that.” Evan could not bring himself to tell her the truth over the phone. It would have to be broken gently at the right moment.
“Well, then, I think we'll go and find our room at the Everest Inn and maybe you'll both be able to join us for lunch in the bar there. Shall we say one o'clock? Lovely. Looking forward to it.”
She hung up and Evan gave a sigh of relief. At least he'd given himself some time to work out what he was going to tell them. They'd blame him, of course. He was the one who had put their daughter in danger. That didn't even matter. He blamed himself. He went back to the notes he had scribbled and realized that Bronwen's parents might be able to help him. They'd know if she'd had an annoying boyfriend, a stalker, someone who wasn't quite stable in her past.
Evan slipped out of the building and went to his car. He knew he shouldn't be driving himself with one arm in a harness, but he didn't want to tie up another officer who could be doing something useful. He freed his left hand enough to balance it against the wheel, shifted into gear, and drove off.
Last night's storm had finally passed over, leaving the day crystal clear and sparkling. Dewdrops made leaves and grass appear to be dotted with diamonds. All the colors were enhancedâwhite sheep against a background of emerald grass and rich blue sky. For once Evan hardly took in the scenery. He stared straight ahead of him, going over and over in his mind what he was going to say to Bronwen's parents.
The Everest Inn was a recent addition to the landscape. A luxury hotel in a decidedly unluxurious setting, it seemed to be flourishing nevertheless, judging by the number of Jags, Mercs, and BMWs in the car park. Evan turned off the road above Llanfair and drove in through the massive stone gateway. He parked his old bone-shaker
next to a Jag and wondered if it belonged to the Prices. Bronwen's mother drove a Jag, he knew. He had no idea what her father drove. Evan felt his pulse rate quicken as he pictured facing that formidable man. He took a deep breath and pushed open the etched glass doors that led into the Everest Inn.
next to a Jag and wondered if it belonged to the Prices. Bronwen's mother drove a Jag, he knew. He had no idea what her father drove. Evan felt his pulse rate quicken as he pictured facing that formidable man. He took a deep breath and pushed open the etched glass doors that led into the Everest Inn.
The cavernous foyer was deserted. Harp music was playing softly in the background and a fire burned in the river-rock fireplace, even though it was August. The receptionist looked up as Evan crossed the tiled floor. Evan didn't think it necessary to explain himself. He strode through to the bar beyond the fireplace. Bronwen's father's distinctive upper-class voice came through even before Evan spotted them.
“That's the problem with the blighters these days. You should have seen India when I was a child. Trains ran on time.” He looked up and noticed Evan. “Ah, here's the wandering bridegroom now. Good to see you, young Evan. So what have you done with my daughter?”
He held out a big, meaty hand.
Evan shook it.
Mrs. Price looked up from her barstool. “Evan, darling. How lovely to see you.” A look of concern crossed her face. “Oh no. Don't tell me you've been injured. Not before your wedding. What have you done? You won't have to wear that sling for the ceremony, will you? It will ruin the photos.” As usual Mrs. Price conducted a monologue that didn't often require an answer. She looked around behind Evan. “So where's Bronny? She must be run off her feet, poor thing. We mustn't let her get too tired or she'll look pasty-faced and it won't go with white.”
She paused and Evan realized that they finally wanted him to speak. He swallowed hard. “Mrs. Price. Mr. Price. I'm afraid I've got ⦠I'm not quite sure how to tell you this.”
“She hasn't decided not to marry you? Oh, don't tell me the wedding's off.” Mrs. Price groaned.
“No, nothing like that. Look, she can't be here, but we're doing our best and I'm sureâ” He babbled on until he noticed that the
television was on above their heads at the bar. Mrs. Price's gaze was suddenly fixed on the screen.
television was on above their heads at the bar. Mrs. Price's gaze was suddenly fixed on the screen.
“If you've seen this woman, if you saw her yesterday, the number to call isâ”
“Bronny?” Mrs. Price whispered. “That's our daughter they're talking about, isn't it?”
Evan nodded. “We've been on the case of a missing woman all this week and last night IâI couldn't find Bronwen. So we have to assume the worstâthat he's kidnapped Bronwen too.”
“Surely not,” Mr. Price said. “You say she's disappeared? There must be other explanations. She may have needed time to think about the wedding. Not kidnapped. Not our daughter.”
“I'm afraid so,” Evan said. “You can see my arm. Someone tried to kill me last night. And there have been threatening messages. We have to assume that this person has got it in for me particularly, or for me and Bronwen.”
“Oh my God.” Mrs. Price pressed her hand up to her mouth. “What are we going to do?”
“This calls for a stiff drink,” Mr. Price said. He snapped his fingers at the barman. “Three large cognacs, please.” Then he spun round to Evan. “So exactly what is being done to find my daughter?”
“Everything possible, sir,” Evan said. “We're pursuing any angle we can think of. I've been through a list of all the cases I've worked on, just in case someone is still harboring a grudge from a prior arrest. But my fellow officer, D.C. Davies, suggested that this person's anger might be directed against both of us. Someone might want to stop our wedding.”
“Who could that possibly be?” Mrs. Price demanded.
“I've no idea. I wouldn't say that Bronwen had an enemy in the world. You can't meet a sweeter person. I just wonderedâyou wouldn't have any suggestions, would you? Any unsuitable boyfriends in her past, young men who frightened her?”
“The young man she married turned out not to be very suitable,” Mrs. Price said shortly.
“I know,” Evan said. “But he left her, didn't he? Anyway, I plan on speaking to him today.”
“I can't see him kidnapping her,” Bronwen's father said. “Not Edward. Not the type.”
“This is someone to whom music is important,” Evan said. “All the letters were written in code, using musical notes. Was Bronwen ever involved with anyone who was obsessed with music?”
“Of course she didn't exactly confide in us about what she was doing at Cambridge,” her father said. “She could have had any number of unsuitable young men there and we wouldn't have heard about it.”
“We haven't always been close.” Mrs. Price stared at him with wide, hopeless eyes. “Not as close as I would have wished. Our fault partly, I suppose. We left her with her grandmother while Alan was working in the Middle East and then we sent her to boarding school. But she always was independentâdidn't take kindly to our trying to run her life.”
Bronwen's father cleared his throat. “So do they have any ideaâany idea at allâwhat this chap might have done with her?”
His question was loaded with unspoken fear. Is she likely to be alive or dead? Has he taken her for sexual reasons? That's what he was asking.
“We discovered a fully equipped bunker on the lower slopes of Mount Snowdon,” Evan said slowly. “It was unoccupied and apparently had never been used. He may have prepared more than one.”
“Oh God.” Mrs. Price gasped again.
The barman had placed three brandy snifters on the counter.
“Here, drink this, old girl. Do you good.” Mr. Price handed the glass to his wife. She took it mechanically, sipped, and then coughed. Evan received the glass that was handed to him but couldn't force the fiery liquid down his throat. In fact, every second that he stood there, doing nothing, was pure torture to him. He had to be out, rushing around, trying to find her.
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