After the Fire (12 page)

“They are, but it’s been several months now, with no developments. All this is strictly confidential between us and Mrs. Rafferty. She’s naturally very distraught and any information you could give us that leads to him being found will be most appreciated.”

“She’s a nice lady. I spoke to her on the phone once or twice.”

Jason nodded. “I’m sure you can understand her desire to find him or to find out what happened to him. His name is still on the sign outside. Who’s running the mine in his absence?”

“One of the directors is handling day to day affairs, while I handle things on site. If you want I can give him a call.”

Jason shook his head. “There’s no need to bother him. Perhaps you could tell me a little about the mine instead, for background purposes. Sometimes financial worries or workers disputes play a role in someone vanishing.”

Mr. Hooker hesitated for a moment, then sat at the desk. “That should be all right. Please, sit down.”

“Do you mind if we take notes?”

“Of course not.”

Jason smiled as he sat down. He pulled a pencil and notebook from his jacket pocket and handed them to Freddie.

Freddie shot him a filthy look, but said nothing. Instead she flipped the book open to the first clean page. There’d be time to berate him later.

Jason kept his gaze on Mr. Hooker. “It’s a tin mine?”

“It used to be, when the Tirrels owned it. When Mr. Rafferty took over, things changed. He expanded it, opened up new seams and tunnels. No expense spared on anything. He even replaced all the tracks, rails and lifts. He brought in new miners to work the new seams.”

“Did any of the current workforce object to that?”

“No. Mr. Rafferty is a good boss. No one disagrees with any of his decisions. The hours were longer, but with all the different gems coming out of the mine, it didn’t matter who brought them up. The mine was making a huge profit…first profit in years.”

Freddie nodded. “I saw some of them in one of the shops on the harbor. It’s pretty unusual to get so many different things from one mine isn’t it?”

“Aye, but with the mine’s history, no one was complaining if it meant it stayed open.”

“What history is that?” Jason asked.

“The reason the Tirrels sold up. They made some bad investments, and Mr. Tirrel brought in some expert from a big accountancy firm to try to fix things, but that just made it worse. The mine started losing more and more money. Men died in mysterious circumstances. Rumors started about the air, or something down there haunting it.”

“I see.” Freddie wrote furiously. She found it hard to concentrate with Jason sitting so close to her. His very presence was intoxicating and making her head spin. “What was the name of this expert? Don’t suppose you remember the name of the firm he worked for?”

“Paul Sandoval. He worked for Carn Finance.”

Freddie’s head jerked upright, her stomach twisting. He was kidding? Maybe she hadn’t heard right. Carn Finance was part of Jones Associates. She looked at Jason and then back at Mr. Hooker. “Paul Sandoval?”

He nodded. “S-a-n-d-o-v-a-l. He’s a real nasty piece of work. Some of the miners reckoned he made up the reports as the bad luck only seemed to start after he got involved. But if you complained, then you met with an accident. Men soon learned to keep quiet. The Tirrel family went bust and sold the mine and Jueve Island to Mr. Rafferty. There was some huge conglomerate interested, but they preferred the personal touch that Mr. Rafferty offered.”

“Which one?”

“High something, don’t rightly remember, sorry.”

Jason smiled. “No problem. How far do the new tunnels go? Out to the drilling platform?”

“No, they were meant to, but only got as far as the island. That one flooded three or four months ago, now. But like I said, only a few men work out that far, anyway.”

“How far away is the drilling platform? I can’t see it.”

“It’s a fair way out, below the horizon. After the tunnel flooded, plans were shelved to go any further.”

“Is there any chance we can go down there?”

“I’ll need to check with the director. I’ll get back to you. Do you have a number where I can reach you?”

“I’ll call you. Thank you for your time.”

****

Jason unlocked the car, waiting for the outburst. From the glimmer in Freddie’s eyes, he was about to get it with both barrels.

Freddie pulled open her door, glowering at him over the top of the car. “Did you know Carn Finance was involved?”

“Did I know that we’d sent someone down here to work with one of the mines? Yes I did, but there are hundreds of tin mines in Cornwall. I didn’t know when we got here it was the same mine—not until you showed me that business card.”

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“Edwin said not to tell anyone and, under the circumstances, I agreed.”

“That’s just great.” She thumped her hand on the roof of the car. “You don’t trust me anymore than the boss does. No wonder the pair of you took me off all my cases and put me under review. And don’t try to hide behind the “I’m working with everyone” line. I don’t believe it anymore—there are too many coincidences, now.”

“Freddie, calm down. The site manager is watching us from the window.” Freddie got in the car and slammed the door. She wrapped arms tightly around her middle, eyes glittering with barely contained rage.

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen her this angry over anything.

“You didn’t answer me, Jason. Do you trust me?”

“Of course I trust you. I have no idea why Edwin took you off this case, but if you’d known Carn Finance was involved—”

“I wouldn’t have done anything differently.” Freddie cut him off, her tone dripping ice. “So why didn’t you tell me earlier when I told you the name of the mine? After all that emphasis on “no secrecy” and me “keeping you in the loop”, you keep something like this from me. At least have the decency to give me the truth, now.”

“Need to know basis.” He could see the hurt in her eyes and felt bad, but there was nothing he could do.

Freddie let out a deep breath. “Fine. What are the chances the other director of Baldhu mine is Nick Steele?” She paused. “I want to get out to that island. I want to check something.”

“What?” His interest piqued.

“Need to know basis only. And you, my friend, don’t need to know.”

“I asked for that, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did. You need to remember that we’re a team and share all the information we have.” There was a hint of a smirk on her face as she tossed the notebook into his lap. “And for your information, I am
not
your secretary. Try that one again and you’ll be eating the notes, not reading them later. Now shut up and drive or we’ll be back late for dinner and they’ll clap us when we come in.”

“
Shut up and drive
?”

“Shut up and drive,
please
.”

“That’s better…only you forgot the sir.”

“All right. Shut up and drive, please, sir.” Freddie laughed, Jason’s laughter joining hers as he started the car.

****

Freddie sat down as the applause died out. “I did warn you.”

“I thought you were kidding.” Jason picked up the jug of water and filled the glasses. “Do they always clap the last people in to a meal?”

“Yeah, it’s a tradition in all small guest houses. At least the ones I’ve stayed in.”

Nick Steele smiled over at them. “Are you feeling better, Miss Price?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“That’s good. You look better than you did this morning. Did you get to do anything today? It was too lovely a day to be stuck inside.”

“We went for a drive up the coast, that’s why we were late. We went further than we intended. What about you?”

“We stayed local. I had some business in town and Hannah went shopping.”

Freddie looked at Hannah, noticing the pendant hanging around her neck. “You found the pendants, then?”

Hannah nodded. “You’re right, they really are exquisite. I couldn’t resist this one.”

“It’s firestone.” Freddie tried not to wince as Jason kicked her under the table. He’d spotted it, too. Each pendant was unique and not only was that one identical to her missing one—she’d bought the last one in the shop.

****

“I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Freddie, I don’t want you sleeping alone.”

“Jason, I’ll be fine. I’m a big girl.”

“What if they come back?”

“Then I’ll hit them with my pillow.” She laughed. “I’ll be fine. Trust me.”

“Trust me, I’m a PI?” Jason rolled his eyes.

“Something like that.”

“I want to find somewhere else to stay. We leave here on Monday whether we’ve solved the case or not.”

“It’s summer, we won’t find anywhere—we were lucky to get the extra booking at this place as it is. Besides, I want my pendant back. We know who has it, just need to work out who took it and why.” She covered her mouth with her hand as she yawned. “But I will get it back, and we’re not leaving. Not until we prove it was Nick Steele in the library with the lead piping.”

A smile crossed his lips at the mention of the children’s board game. “You are one stubborn woman, Freddie.”

“Someone told me that once.”

“Really? Who was that?”

“It was some old boyfriend, actually.” Freddie kept her face straight.

“Old?”

“Very old. Well, he is now. In fact, he’s going grey. Just here.” Her fingers reached out, tracing the grey in his hair. “But it suits him.”

His gaze caught hers and held it. Was she imagining what she saw there? His fingers rose and took hold of her hand, guiding it to his lips. They brushed against it for what seemed like an eternity before he let go.

“Goodnight, Freddie.”

“Goodnight.” Freddie shut the door, feeling as if flames were leaping from the hand he’d touched. She leaned against the door for a moment, and then opened it.

Jason still stood there. “That was quick.”

“Jason, would you sleep in the study. Please?”

“Of course.” Jason came inside. “Look, I know you don’t go to church anymore—”

“Nope. I haven’t been in fifteen years. I told you that.”

“I know, but would you come with me tomorrow? Please? I don’t want you left alone, and I don’t want to not go.”

Freddie hesitated. What harm could it do? “All right.”

“Thank you.” He smiled.

Lying in bed half an hour later, Freddie listened to him praying aloud. At first it seemed wrong, like eavesdropping on a private conversation, but then she heard her name mentioned and paid attention as he prayed for her and her safety.

God...
She broke off, not sure what to say. She hadn’t prayed in so long.
If You’re there, show me what to do. I’m so alone, and I don’t want to be alone anymore
.

12

Freddie looked up at the small grey stone and slate chapel, the wooden doors open, music pouring out. The bell from its steeple rang out a call to worship. Jason’s faith meant everything to him. Under the circumstances, staying together was probably the best move. So here she was. Here in body, not in spirit.

She glanced at Jason, took a deep breath, and then followed him inside. There had been several Baptist churches in Trelawney, but he’d been adamant on picking this one in Penarth—a ten-mile drive along the coast—and not even listed amongst the ones on the sheet in the guest house. She sat down on one of the wooden pews near the back and studied the service sheet.

Four hymns, reading, children’s talk and sermon. Same sort of thing as the church she used to go to, with Sunday School and crèche running simultaneously, the children leaving after the second hymn.

“Are you all right?” Jason asked as he sat.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Are you sure this is a Baptist Church? It doesn’t look much like it from the drum kit over there.”

“We have drums in Headley Baptist now, keyboards, violin, trumpets and clarinet, depending on who’s around to play.” He smiled. “We even have steel drums on occasions.”

“Really? What happened to the “there’ll be no drums in this church while I’m pastor”?”

“Pastor Mark became president of the FIEC and realized drums weren’t all bad. It’s not the thin end of the charismatic wedge I assure you.” Jason shrugged. “I don’t know, I kind of like it. I think when we use it with the new hymns or with the organ it just enhances worship.”

“If you insist. Is Pastor Mark still there?”

“No—Pastor Jack and Pastor Bruce share the ministry. The church is too large for just one pastor.”

“Oh, right.” She glanced down at the sheet in her hand. “I don’t know any of these hymns. Well, maybe the last one.”

“They’ll be easy to pick up. Excuse me, one moment.”

Freddie nodded, watching as Jason got up and moved to the front of the church. Her eyes widened as he embraced a man in a dark suit. Did he know him? Is this why he chose this church instead of a closer one? She tore her gaze away and glanced around the building. Small pieces of colored glass filled the windows, and a stained glass rose window was above the pulpit. To the left hung a tapestry proclaiming, “Jesus Christ is Lord.”

She shivered. She’d begged God last night to do something, anything, to stop her being alone.
Well I’m here...
She stopped, not wanting to tempt God or whatever by adding “do your worst.”

Jason came back and sat down. “Sorry. Just had to go and say hello.”

“Someone you know?”

“Yeah, that’s Pastor Victor Taylor—Debs’s husband.”

“This is your brother-in-law’s church?”

“Yes. I wanted to see how Debs is doing. And to apologize for not visiting my sister and brand-new niece yet.”

“Ah, ulterior motive for the ten mile drive, then. Why didn’t you say something? You could have gone and seen them before now. You should have gone the first day we were down here.”

“I’ll go this afternoon, if that’s all right. Debs isn’t out this morning. Mum insisted she spend fourteen days inside. She’s going stir crazy by all accounts.”