Abigail: Chapter 18
When the bored looking lad from behind the counter came and sat opposite me at the table I wanted to laugh. If he was the manager then I was on the fast train to crazy. The contents of my fruit bowl had more personality than this kid.
“Hi I’m Ryan. Beth said you wanted to speak to me.”
“You’re the manager?” I tried to keep the disbelief out of my voice.
“Duty manager, yep.” He pointed to his name badge with its five gold stars on the front.
I showed him the photo of Toby. “Do you know this man?”
I watched him for a twitch of recognition but he looked at the photo for the briefest of seconds then looked away. “Nope, can’t say I do. Sorry.”
“Are you sure? Would you look again please?”
“What’s this about? Is he in some kind of trouble?”
“You don’t know him so I can’t tell you.” I took a bite of my burger and waited, the photo on the table between us, slowly counting to ten in my head. When I got to six he picked up the photo and looked at it again, studying it more intently this time.
“It’s Jim.” He sounded sad, disappointed.
Bingo! “Jim? Hmm, that’s interesting. How do you know him?”
“He was sleeping on my sofa. Got him a job here too. Look, what’s all this about?”
I gave him the short version of the story and waited to see if he could tell me any more. “Have you seen him recently?”
“No. Not for weeks. Got a bit of stick actually. When he didn’t turn up they blamed me.”
“Sorry to hear that. And he didn’t leave a forwarding address? Phone number?”
“Nothing. If I knew anything I’d tell you. I swear.”
I nodded. “It’s okay. I believe you. Can I take your name and contact details? And I’ll leave you my card. If he shows up again, ring me right away.” I pointed to my number on the card.
He wrote his address and mobile number in my notebook then went back to his position behind the counter. I watched him as I finished my burger and saw his eyes flick to me. I looked at the time on my phone. If I wanted to keep my promise to Louise I really needed to be heading home but I was torn. I’d come all this way. What I really wanted to do now was knock on a few doors around Ryan’s place, see if anyone remembered Toby. It seemed like madness to go home now when I was a little bit closer to finding him.
I checked for travel updates on my phone. The road was moving smoothly, if a little snarled in the usual places, and based on current conditions, I could expect to be home in a little over three hours. Dinner time was relatively flexible, I decided, so after finishing my food, I got in the van and headed back towards Barnstaple.
The address Ryan had given me was for a bottom floor flat. I pressed the buzzer, not expecting any reply but trying anyway, just in case. When that didn’t rouse anyone I tried the top flat but still no one answered. Lunchtime on a Tuesday might not be the best time to find people home but it was all I had so I knocked on the house next door and was rewarded by the sight of an elderly looking lady. I showed her Toby’s photo and crossed my fingers.
“Sorry dear, I don’t see no-one without me specs.”
“And you live on your own? No family with you? Regular visitors?”
She was ancient enough looking, I couldn’t imagine she ran the whole house single-handedly. There had to be people coming and going and I wanted to know if one of them might have seen something.
“Just me and Peg.”
“Peg?”
“Me cat. Me ol’ man, God rest his soul, passed on years ago.”
“And you’ve been here on your own ever since?” At another time, under different circumstances, this was the sort of lady I’d love to sit and natter with. The stories she’d tell, oral history at its very best, but this was now and I had work to do. I thanked her for her time, gave her my card and tried the house on the other side of Ryan’s flat.
“They’re at work dear. Won’t get no joy there I’m afraid.”
I looked over to see my new friend still watching me and had an idea. I walked down the little path, out the gate and back up the path to her house. “If I left you a copy of his photo, would you show it to them? Ask if they’ve seen him around?”
“You mean like your side-kick?” Her face lit up when she said this.
I smiled. “If you like.” I leaned in and whispered. “It would need to be our little secret though.”
“Of course.” She looked a little indignant. “What do you take me for?”
I didn’t know how to answer that so I said nothing. Instead I gave her the photo of Toby and thanked her again for her help. She took the glasses that were hanging round her neck, put them on, and turned my card over in her fingers.
“Charlie Diamond?”
“That’s me,” I said with a smile.
“What sort of a name is that? Is that your real name dear?”
I felt my face flush. “Well it’s actually Charlotte, but only my mum calls me that.”
“Charlotte. Such a pretty name.”
“Doesn’t really suit my image as the smart investigator though.”
She laughed at that. “I suppose not. Well Charlie Diamond, leave it with me. I’ll ask next door, might even pop across the street. The old fella there is always home and his eyes are a damned sight better than mine. If this chap of yours turns up, we’ll know about it.”
I decided against explaining that he wasn’t my chap and instead simply thanked her. I left Barnstaple feeling a lot more positive than I had an hour ago, certain as I was that if Toby did indeed come back, I was sure to be alerted. All I could do now was go home and hope my SWAT team of elderlies came through for me.