Take Two (A psychological thriller)

‘If you carry on like this, I’ll rip it off with my bare hands,’ said Richards. ‘What’s bugging you?’

‘Okay, boss. It’s this. We’re in the clear.  She’s at the bottom of the North Sea where no one will ever find her.  We’re alibied up to the gills. Even if the cops do come sniffing around about Cohen, there’s no forensics and no witnesses.’

‘There’s still the truck driver.’

‘I’m on that case, too. Looks like he’ll be away on Wednesday, so I’ll do it then. I’ll let you know in advance, give you a chance to get your alibi set up. But once he’s gone that’s it. There’s nothing to tie us in with Cohen. And no one can tie us into the disappearance of the woman. We’re totally in the clear.’

‘So?’

‘So why go and spoil it by making waves around the sister? It’s bad enough you went around to her house. You don’t want to be doing anything that puts your name in the frame.’

‘She’s her sister. She wasn’t even in the country when we…’  He grimaced, unable to finish the sentence.

‘Exactly, boss,’ said Halpin. ‘So why are you talking to her? Why are you checking up on her? She shouldn’t even be on your radar.’

‘She’s the spitting image, it’s like she’s back from the dead.’

‘Yeah, well I can tell you for sure that’s not true. Boss, can’t you just leave it alone?’

Richards took a long pull on his cigar and then blew smoke out of the window.

‘Boss?’

Richards turned to look at him. His eyes had gone cold. ‘Time for you to shut the fuck up, mate,’ he said, his voice flat and emotionless. ‘You ever question me again like that and you and I are going to fall out, big-time. Got it?’

Halpin nodded as he stared through the windscreen. ‘Got it,’ he said.

CHAPTER 76

Billy was outside Carolyn Castle’s house at six o’clock on Tuesday morning and this time when he rang the bell, Jenny opened the door bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. She grinned when she saw him. ‘Before we go any further, none of this Mrs Hall nonsense,’ she said. ‘Every time I hear that I think about my soon-to-be-ex husband and it gives me the heebie-jeebies.’

‘It’s company policy,’ said Billy.

‘The drivers wouldn’t stand for it in Oz.’

‘I understand that, Mrs Hall. But I have to do what the company says. If I don’t, I could lose my job.’

‘What does the union say?’

‘I’m not in a union,’ said Billy.

‘I tell you what, we’ll keep it as our little secret, shall we?’ said Jenny, closing the door.  ‘Either that or I could tell them you tried to put your hand up my skirt. I’m sure that’s against company policy, too.’

Billy groaned. ‘Please, Mrs Hall…’

She walked past him to the Mercedes.  She was wearing a Gucci suit that Billy had seen Carolyn wear several times, and carrying a Gucci shoulder bag. If it wasn’t for the hair and the accent, Billy would have sworn it was Carolyn getting into the front seat of his car. He hurried over and grabbed the handle before she could close the door.

‘You can’t sit in the front, Mrs Hall,’ he said. ‘We’re not insured for passengers in the front. You have to travel in the back.’

‘This is a joke,’ said Jenny.

‘It’s the way it is,’ said Billy. ‘I can’t drive you anywhere unless you’re in the back and strapped in.’

Jenny sighed. ‘This is like a fascist state, you realise that.’

‘I don’t make the rules, Mrs Hall.’ He held open the door.

‘Did my sister put up with this crap?’

‘She understood I had to follow the company’s rules, yes.’

‘And what did you call her?’

‘Miss Castle.’

‘Never Carolyn?’

‘Never.’

Jenny’s eyes sparkled with amusement. ‘I tell you what, Billy. How about this? When there’s no one else around, you call me Jenny. If there’s anyone else around you can call me …’  She shrugged. ‘I tell you what, you can call me Miss Castle. If I’m taking her place then we might as well go the whole hog.’

Billy nodded. ‘Okay,’ he said. ‘Now, please, if you would get into the back, we can head off. I’ll be well bollocked if you’re late on your first day.’

Jenny smiled sweetly and did as she was asked. Billy closed the door, climbed into the front and started the car.

‘Actually there’s more room in the back,’ she said as Billy drove through Notting Hill.

‘It’s designed around the passenger,’ said Billy. ‘It’s a car for being driven around in.’

Jenny looked around. ‘I could get used to this,’ she said. ‘So how long have you been driving Carolyn?’

‘Three years, give or take.’

‘And what’s she like?’

Billy looked at her in the driving mirror. ‘You sound like you don’t know her.’

‘We’re not that close, to be honest,’ she said. ‘We both left home when we were teenagers, she came to London to seek fame and fortune. I went backpacking in India and traveled through Southeast Asia and, after a very long story, I ended up in Brisbane with a drug-taking husband who thought knocking me around was a great way to spend a Saturday night.’

‘Sorry to hear that,’ said Billy.

‘You make your own bed in this life, Billy, no one forces you to lie in it. Anyway, it’s behind me now. He left five years ago and if I could only find the bastard I’d divorce him.’ She grinned. ‘Or have him shot. I’m easy either way.’