Hot on the Trail (15 page)

* * *

David sat in the car a little way down the road, every minute seeming like an hour. Why had he allowed Eve to persuade him to do this? It was a foolhardy and dangerous plan. Say Marion had a gun? She could be rash enough to use it. But what if they were mistaken? They could be sending the police up the wrong road. Granted they believed Vera was the perpetrator, but Eve had planted the seed of doubt.

I’ve got to stop thinking about all the things that could go wrong. It’s getting me nowhere; just more confused. I don’t know how Eve’s coped with being involved in so many crimes. However, she’s guessed the killer many times, so perhaps she’s right about Marion, but why would that woman do it?

When twenty five minutes were up, David had had enough. He got out of the car, feeling very nervous. Surely Eve would have called him if everything was alright. Something must have happened.

David started walking towards the house, his pace quickening the nearer he got. He looked up at Marion’s house and the curtains weren’t twitching. He was frightened. Had she got Eve already? David rushed to the front door. Luckily, they had more than one set of keys so he was able to open the door himself.

Once inside, he started calling Eve, but there was no reply. He rushed round the whole house, but she was nowhere to be found. Panicking, he ran out of the house and into Marion’s front garden. Then he started banging at her front door and ringing her doorbell. Finally, Marion came to the door.

“Where is she? What have you done with Eve?” David shouted, grabbing Marion by the shoulders.

Marion gasped in horror.   

“Please, leave me alone. I’ve done nothing,” she whined, sounding genuinely scared of him.

David took his hands off Marion, seeing how terrified she looked, but he was still angry. She had to have Eve. Where else would she be?

“”I don’t believe you,” David said a little more calmly.

‘You’re welcome to look around my house, but why would you think....ah, you believe I poisoned her, not Vera.”

“It’s possible. Either of you could want this house.”

“You’re a clever man, Mr. Baker, or was it Eve’s idea?”

David said nothing.

“As for Eve,” Marion continued. “I saw her leave through the back way with another man. He had his arm around her.”

“What? I don’t believe you. And what back way?”

“There’s a back gate to these houses that leads to an alley way.”

“Eve doesn’t know any men here and she wouldn’t leave with one. I was supposed to come to the house in half an hour.”

“Well, it’s pretty obvious then, isn’t it, Mr. Baker. She’s been kidnapped.”

“And you did nothing.”

“It didn’t occur to me until now.”

“I’m sure it didn’t.” David said angrily. I’m also sure the police will want to speak to you as you’re a witness.”

David got out his phone to ring the police. He was trembling, wondering if the day could get any worse. As he finished the call, a thought suddenly came to him.

    Who on earth would want to kidnap Eve and what on earth for? It makes no sense whatsoever.

A little later the police were sitting in Eve’s lounge with David. Detective Chief Inspector Jameson was not a happy man.

“I can’t believe you and Miss Masters went against my advice, Mr. Baker, and attempted to take on police work alone.”

“There’s no stopping Eve when she’s made her mind up, sir. She’s a very determined woman....and now I may never see her again.”

David looked as if he were about to burst into tears.

“Now, now, Mr. Baker, don’t go getting too upset before we know all the facts. I’m pretty sure we’ll get a phone call from whoever has taken her. This man will want something in exchange for Eve, though I have no idea what.”

“How do you know? It could have been a random assault for all we know and he’s killed her already. Of course, Marion could be lying and Eve could be locked up somewhere in that dark, dismal house of hers. Mind you, even if she had nothing to do with it, she’s partly to blame. She sat at her window and watched this man take my Eve away. She let it happen. Has she no conscience at all?”

‘Well, I shall be going to get a statement from her shortly and if we hear nothing from this man, we will get a warrant to search Marion’s house. “

Before David could tell him they should be searching Marion’s home now, a couple of other officers came in. One of them spoke.

“We’ve been to Vera Ryan’s house. Her son, Trevor’s there and so are his wife and two kids, plus a woman from across the road, Sarah Marshall. They say they’ve been there all afternoon and that they didn’t see a thing.”

“Well, that rules Trevor Ryan out.” Jameson said. “I did wonder if it could have been him who took Miss Masters. He must have a bit of a grudge against her, but with Sarah Marshall there, it gives him a bit of an alibi.”

David was beginning to despair. Who on earth had taken Eve?

They all became quiet and then the inspector’s mobile rang. He waited as a call was put through to him.

“I have Eve Masters. To get her back you must hand over Victoria Castle to me, or Joanna as you call her. Then we want safe passage out of this country.”

Jameson was silent for a moment. He was stunned by the man’s words, but he managed to quickly gather his thoughts.

“I’m afraid we can’t simply give you Joanna Neonakis. She’s a kidnapper and possibly a murderer. We don’t exchange a person with this sort of background under any circumstances. In addition, I’m certain that there won’t be many countries that will accept her.”

“Rubbish. Even if the States won’t take us, we’ll get into South America or Africa. I’m pretty sure of it.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Silence,” Charles bellowed. “If you don’t do this, Eve will die.”

“Who are you and why do you want Joanna,” Jameson asked, ignoring Charles’s demand for him to be silent.

“All you need to know is that my name is Charles and I love Victoria. I’ll give you three hours to sort this out. If you don’t, you will never see Eve again.”

Charles closed the call abruptly, leaving Jameson in a state of panic. He was certain he wouldn’t be allowed to exchange Eve for Joanna. If only they knew where this Charles lived, but without a surname they had no chance of finding him and rescuing Eve. Jameson looked at David who sat there waiting expectantly. How was he going to tell him that his fiancée could be dead in a few hours’ time?

* * *

Jameson decided to visit Joanna in jail. He also made up his mind to only tell David the bare facts about the phone call. The inspector informed him that a man called Charles had taken Eve and wanted to exchange her for Joanna. He didn’t tell him that he had been given a time limit of three hours to arrange this. David was already a nervous wreck. Why make him worse?

An hour later, the inspector arrived at the prison, having already arranged the meeting and dropped David off at the police station. 

“Well, well, if it isn’t Inspector Jameson come to see me. What can I do for you today, sir?” Joanna asked with a sarcastic note in her voice.

“Who is Charles?” he asked brusquely.

“What?” Joanna replied, flabbergasted.

She couldn’t imagine what he had to do with anything.

“Just tell us about Charles, please.”

Joanna regained her composure quickly, knowing he must have got involved in this business somehow. However, she was determined not to give much away, not that there was anything of importance to say about Charles, not of importance to the police at least.

“Oh, Charles; I remember. He was just a guy I went out with a couple of times. It was nothing serious. How could it be? We barely knew each other.”

“Really? Are you sure about that?”

“Of course. Why, what’s he been saying?”

“He has told us the complete opposite, so I think you’d better tell us the truth, Mrs. Neonakis.”

“I am telling you the truth. We went out twice and yes, there was chemistry between us, but you arrested me before anything could happen, remember?”

‘Tell me his surname and it’ll go in your favor.”

“Do you expect me to believe that? Anyway, I told you, I didn’t ask for his full name. It’s hardly important. We weren’t planning to get married.”
Jameson didn’t believe Joanna at all, but he knew he wouldn’t get any more out of her. It had been a wasted visit. He wasn’t sure what to do next.

As Jameson left the prison, his mind was working overtime. There had to be something he could do. Finally he came up with an idea. It wasn’t much of a plan, but it was all he could think of at the present time. He needed to get Joanna’s photo out on television and the internet again and ask the public if anyone saw her with a man a few days ago. There could be someone out there who saw them together and recognized Charles. It was a shot in the dark, but it was the only one he had.

* * *

David sat in the police station with Dimitris Kastrinakis after finally being told everything. He was a bag of nerves, barely able to believe that this was happening. All the worries about who was trying to poison Eve had disappeared with this new development.

Jameson came into the room after speaking to his superiors and David jumped up.

“Have you done it yet? Have you got a plane ready for Charles and Joanna?”
“Look, Mr. Baker, We’re trying to find him first. It’s highly unlikely he’ll kill Eve. She’s all he’s got to bargain with.”

“That’s your opinion. He could be a crazy lunatic for all we know and he could kill her. It’s not your fiancée who could be dead in an hour’s time, but mine.”

David collapsed back down onto his seat and put his head in his hands. Jameson was at a loss as to what to do. He found it easier when women broke down, but he never knew what to do when men couldn’t cope with the situations they were in. He went and sat with Dimitris.

“We’ll negotiate more time with Charles,” he said.

“And you think he’ll accept that?” Dimitris asked.

“Yes, I’m pretty sure he will. He wants Joanna.

They sat for another half an hour without saying much. David finally got up and started pacing and then Jameson’s mobile rang again. Another call was put through to him.

“Hello,” a quiet voice spoke.

“Could you speak up, I can barely hear you.”

“Sorry,” she said a little louder. “My name’s Julie Gardner and I may know this man called Charles who you’re looking for.”

Jameson stood up and both David and Dimitris looked at him hopefully.

“Carry on,” he said.

He knew the calls were being listened to and recorded so he didn’t have to make notes.

“I think it’s a man I went out with earlier in the year. I saw him a few nights ago in an Italian restaurant with a woman who looked like Joanna, but with different hair. They said on television that she’s changed it. Charles didn’t notice me. He only had eyes for her. He’s not a well man.”

“In what way?”
“He has mental problems and when he takes his meds, he’s lovely, but he hates taking them and he goes a bit mad and obsessive when he isn’t on them. I became very frightened of him and it took me ages to get him out of my life.”

“Do you know his surname and by any chance, where he lives?”

“Yes, unless he’s moved of course.”

Jameson breathed a sigh of relief as Julie gave him Charles’s details.

“It looks like we might be able to get that bastard,” Jameson said to David as he ended the call.

For the first time since he’d last seen Eve, David smiled.

* * *

Eve was becoming more and more uncomfortable. Charles had tied up the ropes around her wrists and ankles very tightly and they were hurting dreadfully. She was also thirsty, but she refused to ask Charles for anything. He had stopped talking to her since he had made the phone call about the exchange and she wondered what was going through his mind. Was he reconsidering? It was such a stupid idea and she was certain that the odds were stacked against him getting away. However, what would he do otherwise? She doubted if he would let her go, so he would probably kill her. She shuddered, but she wasn’t afraid. At the moment Eve was numb, as if this was happening to someone else and she was watching it from the outside. However, she knew that the reality of the situation would soon hit her and then she would be overwhelmed and would probably collapse.

Charles was thinking about Joanna, about their reunion and about how he would take her in his arms and kiss her before whisking her away to some exotic country. Yes, America probably wouldn’t welcome them with open arms, but some tropical paradise would and it would be so much better. He could see them now, lying on a sun kissed beach all day and making love when the sun set. He knew she felt the same about him as he did about her. He had seen it in her eyes and she would love him even more when she found out what hell he had put Eve Masters through. It was a pity he couldn’t kill Eve. Then Joanna would be indebted to him forever.

Eve looked at the clock. There was only half an hour to go. She was certain the police wouldn’t negotiate. Was this really the end? David and Dimitris had been right after all. Her great love of solving crimes was going to end up being the death of her.

All of a sudden there was an almighty crash, one from the front of the house and one from the back. Eve dived onto the floor as Charles jumped up to try and grab her.

* * *

Eve and David sat in their hotel room, both sipping very large brandies.

“Am I glad that today is over,” Eve said, sighing with relief. “I think that this is the luckiest escape I’ve ever had. I really didn’t think I would get away this time.”

“Let’s not talk about it, Eve. It’s been a terrible day. I can’t believe...”

“What that the police weren’t going to negotiate?”  

“I said let’s not talk about it, please. I don’t want to think of what might have happened.”

“As you wish. I don’t think I do either.”

Eve wasn’t surprised that the police weren’t prepared to bargain. Despite being such a self-centered woman, she knew she wasn’t a particularly important person in the greater scheme of things, so why would they negotiate with Charles? She took another sip of brandy and realized that her hand was shaking. For once, it was taking her a while to get over what had happened. She usually brushed aside bad things almost as soon as they had taken place, but today had shaken her up more than she had initially thought.