Abigail: Chapter 55

“Really William, that’s no way to speak to a lady!” Mrs Winkleman turned to me. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what’s come over him.”

Bill raised his hand and pointed at me. “That’s no lady. That’s Charlie Diamond, the biggest pain in the arse this side of the River Severn!”

I smiled. “Thanks Bill. I must add that to my website.” I turned to Rob. “I’m not sure if you two have met. This is Bill Winkleman, director of Winklemans, amongst other things. Bill, this is Rob Morgan, one of South Wales’s finest police detectives.”

Rob stood up and offered Bill his hand. “Delighted to meet you sir.”

“A detective?” Mrs Winkleman sounded scandalised. “They told me they were from the lottery.”

“And you believed them?”

Mrs Winkleman shrugged helplessly.

“I don’t even buy a ticket you stupid woman!”

“That really isn’t any way to speak to your wife Bill. She’s been making us very comfortable. A fine hostess.” I smiled at Mrs Winkleman.

“Cut the crap Charlie. Why are you here?”

“We’ve found Toby. He’ll be home this weekend.”

“Really? That’s incredible! Where did you find him?”

“Never mind that. I know about his directorship of Winkman and Sons. Did you really think I wouldn’t find out?”

“I rather hoped you wouldn’t.”

“What I don’t understand is how Toby got himself into this mess in the first place. Abigail’s father told me that he was responsible for Toby’s job with you. How did he get mixed up in all the insolvency nonsense?”

Bill sat down at the table with a sigh. “You really do know about all of that?”

I nodded. “Told you I was good.”

“And he’s on his way back?”

“Home in time for Christmas.” I decided not to mention the slight detail around Ryan’s involvement for now. If Bill had anything to do with that, he was an amazing actor.

“Pour me a cup of tea would you Marie. This could take a while.”

Rob and I sat in silence as Bill laid out all the details of Toby’s financial involvement with Winkman & Sons. From an expensive office in Cardiff to the slightly suspect contracts at service stations up and down the M4, it quickly became clear that Toby Rogers had his greedy little fingers in a lot of pies. What Bill couldn’t explain was how Toby had ended up getting himself kidnapped.

“Kidnapped? Don’t be ridiculous! He hasn’t been kidnapped. He ran away because he couldn’t keep up with his bills. Had that silly little life insurance policy that he said would make sure Abigail and the children were taken care of. Except he even messed that up, didn’t check the small print. Kidnapped! Honestly, the things you dream up.”

I turned to Rob. “Can I borrow your phone?”

I scrolled through the voice memo to the final fifteen seconds of audio, turned the volume up, and pressed play. Ryan’s voice blared out at us.

“Do me a favour and stop lying Charlie Diamond. I know it’s you and you can tell your friend Abigail that if she doesn’t get her pretty little arse to Barnstaple woods with my money by one o’clock on Saturday afternoon, I’m going to start chopping pieces off her precious husband. Let’s see how keen she is to have him home in time for Christmas then eh?”

I stopped the recording and looked at Bill. His face had gone white. “Who was that?” he asked.

“I was rather hoping you could tell me. His name’s Ryan Taylor.” I took my phone out of my pocket and showed him Ryan’s photo. “Do you recognise him?”

“Never seen him before in my life.” He looked from me to Rob. “I swear! If I knew anything I’d tell you.”

“It’s okay Bill, I believe you. It does leave us in a bit of a tight spot though. You say Toby left of his own free will but we only have your word for that.”

“What do you want me to say?”

“I want you to start by telling the truth Bill. Abigail trusted you. Her father called you a nice chap. How do you think it’s going to look when they find out that you’ve known all along about the reasons for Toby’s disappearance. The police might be very interested to hear about your involvement.”

“You can’t tell them. It would ruin me. Please Charlie, I’m begging you.”

“I dunno Bill.” I turned to Rob. “What do you think detective? Is there anything we can do here? We have to be sure to follow correct procedure.”

Rob smiled. “There may be one way this could all be settled.” He leaned towards me and we spoke in whispered tones.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Just keep playing along and I’ll explain everything back in the car.”

Rob turned back to face Bill. “I think Charlie and I are in agreement. I’ll leave it to her outline the specifics.”

“Thank you detective. Okay, so here’s the thing Bill … as you’ve already heard, Toby’s wife is expected to make a ransom payment on Saturday. Toby’s parents were going to reportage their house but if I was able to go back to the Rogers family with the financial assistance of an interested third party, I’m sure that would go a long way towards compensating for any emotional distress caused these past six months.”

Rob leaned over and whispered in my ear again. “Don’t forget the bailiffs.”

I smiled. “Thank you detective. Detective Morgan has just reminded me of the other financial matter still outstanding. You might remember I told you Mrs Rogers had been visited by bailiffs recently. That too is a debt that will need payment. If you understand my meaning Bill.”

Bill Winkleman sighed and turned to his wife. “Get me my phone please Marie.” He turned to me. “If you can give me a few minutes, I’ll need to move some funds. Can’t expect a man to have that kind of money sitting around doing nothing. Bank transfer okay for you? I assume you’d be content to look after the money for Abigail. How much?”

Twenty minutes later I squealed with delight as Rob drove us back towards Gloddfa Bont.

“Bloody brilliant!” Rob said. “You were absolutely bloody brilliant! What a star!”

“All in a day’s work detective.” I grinned. “I was pretty amazing though wasn’t I.”

With the ransom payment now quite literally in hand, all that was left to do was arrange the drop-off and safe recovery of Toby. I knew we weren’t in the clear yet and I still had to find out how Ryan fitted into all of this, but that could wait until tomorrow. Right now I was quite content to revel in the joy of a job well done. Long may it continue!