Abigail: Chapter 20

True to my word, I drank water all night and woke the following morning with a clear head. It was another beautiful sunny day so after waving the girls off to catch the bus to school, I sat outside with my coffee and Abigail's folder. I needed to update her on everything that had happened in Barnstaple but first I wanted to get the details documented. Paperwork done I phoned Abigail and arranged to visit her within the hour. As much as I didn’t want to upset her, I needed to know if she and Toby had any connections in Barnstaple that might explain why he’d been there. I also needed to know more about his family. They were still a mystery to me. For all I knew he had an identical twin living and working in Devon. Unlikely but I had to cover all possibilities.

When I pulled up outside her house, Abigail’s front door stood wide open. I knocked and when there was no reply, walked into the hallway.

“Hello? Anyone home?”

I could hear voices coming from the kitchen so I headed in that direction. I’d expected to maybe find Abigail doing the dishes with the radio blaring, or if not the dishes, some other mundane chore that didn’t require her to be fully engaged. What I hadn’t expected was to find her sitting at the kitchen table in front of a laptop with two men watching her.

“Abigail?”

All three of them looked up at me. Abigail smiled and stood up. “Charlie! Thank goodness you’re here!”

I looked from her to the men. “What’s going on?”

One of the men offered me his hand. “Steve Parsons, County Court Bailiff. And you are?”

I shook his hand. “Charlie Diamond, private investigator. What’s all this about?”

“I’m not at liberty to disclose that to you ma’am.”

I ignored him and turned to Abigail. “Abigail?”

“Toby owes money. Something to do with work.” She handed me some paperwork to look at. 

“Forty-eight grand?!?” I couldn’t keep the shock out of my voice.

“And if I don’t pay it they say they’re going to take the car and stuff. Can they do that?”

“Maybe. I guess. Although, it’s kind of tricky.” I lowered my voice. “Have you told them Toby’s missing?”

She nodded. “Said it doesn’t matter, they’ll just catalogue what we’ve got then I’ve got five days to pay.”

I turned to Steve. “Can I have a word with you in private?”

“I can’t discuss the details with a third party.”

“I’m not asking you to. I just need to speak to you privately.” He nodded and I led him out of the kitchen into Abigail’s front room. “Her husband is missing, has been for six months now. I know you can’t discuss details with me but is there nothing you can do to give her a bit of space?”

I saw a flicker of emotion pass across his face. “What’s your relationship to Mrs Rogers?”

“She’s hired me to find him, dead or alive.”

His eyes widened. “You think he might be …’ He drew a finger across his neck and pulled a face.

“Too soon to say. But that’s why we need some time. He has a policy that’ll cover the debt. That’s got to be easier for you than trying to find stuff here to cover it.”

He nodded and went back into the kitchen without saying anything more. When I walked in I saw him whispering in his partner’s ear. The second man nodded and then looked at Abigail. They stayed like that, deep in conversation, for nearly a minute and I was about to suggest to Abigail that she might like to put the kettle on when Steve turned to Abigail.

“Mrs Rogers, I understand this is a difficult situation for you. You should have had letters …”

“There’s been nothing. I swear.” Abigail turned to me. “Charlie tell them, if I’d known. This has to be a big misunderstanding.”

Steve held up his hand to silence her. “You should have had letters, but I understand they might have gone to your husband’s place of work instead.”

“Oh. Well that’s not much good, seeing as he hasn’t been there in months.” She gave a bitter laugh. “You could have sent a letter every day and he wouldn’t have received them.”

“Under the circumstances, we’d be willing to give you a grace period. Maybe if Ms Diamond here can find your husband he’ll be able to sort this all out himself.”

“I’m sure that’ll be top of his list of priorities when he escapes. Send the bailiffs some money? Check. Hug the wife and kids? Check.” Despite her feistiness, Abigail looked like she might cry and that was one scene I was keen to have away from prying eyes.

“A grace period sounds terrific,” I said. “Thank you so much. If there’s nothing else, Mrs Rogers and I have a meeting.”

I tried to shepherd the pair in the direction of the front door but Steve would not be rushed. He scribbled his signature on a form on his clipboard, tore a copy from the top and put it on the table. “I’ll leave a copy of our writ here for you Mrs Rogers. Plus my card. If you need anything, give me a ring.”

I showed the two men to the door and closed it firmly behind them. I waited there for a moment, enjoying the peace of the now near-empty house. I’d only come to update her on my trip but instead had got dragged into a whole new mess. I didn’t know when Toby had run up the debt or why he’d chosen to keep it a secret from Abigail. It felt like the closer I got to figuring him out, the less I actually knew about him and I was having a hard time reconciling this new version of him with the picture painted by his wife of the happy family man. There was no way I could tell her about Barnstaple now. The poor lady would probably have a nervous breakdown at the thought of her precious husband flipping burgers and sleeping on sofas. Instead, after calming her down and reassuring her that I’d help her sort the mess out, I made an excuse about needing to follow a new line of enquiry. With a promise that I’d be in touch again soon, I got in my van and headed back along the M4 in the direction of the building site. It was time Bill Winkleman understood that I meant business.