The Missing Party-Girl: A Rags-to-Riches Cozy Mystery Romance Nhys Glover (books to read in a lifetime TXT) 📖

“The headmistress, Mrs. Amelia Everett, claimed the boy had found it very difficult to settle at the school and was distraught at being kept from his mother. She voiced her opinion that Fredrickson was a powerful and controlling man who didn’t want his ex-wife to have any contact with their son. Everett said she found the father belligerent and unfeeling when it came to his son’s needs. She felt that only the boy’s mother and paternal grandmother seemed to care about his well-being.”

Cage had selected another sheet of paper, probably the interview with Everett, and was scanning the typed information it contained. He nodded after a moment, confirming that what Adie had just read out was all the headmistress had said.

Adie began reading again. “Because both flatmates believed the ex-husband could be responsible for her disappearance, having heard him on more than one occasion to threaten Wyatt’s life, and because of the headmistress’ reservations about the man, Fredrickson became our prime suspect. At first interview (06/06/65)…”

Adie paused to give Cage a chance to locate the relevant interview then went on. “… Fredrickson could not remember what he was doing on the date Wyatt disappeared, but he subsequently produced a lady-friend, (Ruby Embers interview 12/06/65) who claimed he was with her that weekend. This alibi seems suspect.”

Once again she paused so Cage could find the second interview and that of his alibi. Ruby Embers? Really? If ever there was a dodgy name it was that one.

He’d just found the documents when there was a knock at the door. With easy grace, Cage rose from his spot to answer it. Moments later, a server was wheeling in a trolley of sandwiches and a thermos jug of coffee.

After tipping the man generously, Cage passed her the turkey salad sandwich cut into small triangles and black coffee. Pushing the papers aside, she squeezed her plate and mug onto the coffee table. For the first time, she realized how hungry she was. They hadn’t bothered with the awful cellophane-wrapped food on the train, so she hadn’t eaten since a very early breakfast at the farm.

While she munched away at her freshly made sandwich, she continued to read aloud between bites.

“Our secondary suspect was one Owen Jeffers, the owner of The Den nightclub where Wyatt danced several nights a week. There is some evidence to suggest that prostitution may also have taken place on the premises, but neither Jeffers nor any of his employees have been charged with that offense.

“What we do know is that Jeffers had a loud argument with Wyatt after her shift at the club in the early hours of Saturday morning. No one can say what the argument was about, but one dancer suggested that Jeffers had tried to get Wyatt into his bed and she refused. ‘He tried the same thing with other dancers and sacked anyone who refused his offer.’ (Mandy Tibbs 12/06/65)

“Wyatt never returned to the club, causing the other dancers to assume she’d been dismissed. Jeffers, when asked about the argument, claimed he’d dismissed Wyatt because of poor attitude and complaints from patrons. He denied propositioning the woman. His alibi for the Saturday she went missing was that he was working at The Den from midday onward. As no one remembers seeing him on the premises that afternoon, his alibi remained unsubstantiated until a shop owner across the road reported seeing him outside his premises that afternoon around 2 pm. As the exact time of Wyatt’s disappearance is unknown, it is impossible to determine whether Jeffers’ alibi fits the timeline. He was definitely at work that evening and through to the early hours of Sunday morning.”

Adie paused in her reading and looked across at Cage. “No wonder Minerva felt guilty for not reporting Georgie missing. It looks like too much time had elapsed for any viable clues to be found. The missing passport and bag seem suspicious. But that ex-husband sounds like a real piece of work.”

“And getting custody of his son in those times was difficult,” Cage said thoughtfully. “He had to have pulled some mighty big strings to get his way. Sure, her choice of careers wasn’t great, but a mother was always considered a child’s principal caregiver back then. Men’s rights tended to be overlooked.”

Adie nodded energetically. “I thought that too. It’s driving me crazy how much nepotism seems to happen in this country.”

“Not just here. I think it’s just as bad back home. Money and power matter.”

Chapter 4

“Is there a copy of the interview with the alibi for the ex?” Adie asked, glancing down to see if there was anything else worth mentioning from the interim report, which she noted had been signed by the detective Cage had mentioned.

Cage shuffled through the interviews and came up with the one he was looking for. “Okay, I think this is it. The woman Fredrickson spent the weekend with was a Ruby Embers. If that’s not a stripper’s name I don’t know what is. It can’t be real. I wonder why her actual name wasn’t recorded.”

“I guess all they cared about was that she was backing up Fredrickson,” Adie suggested, shrugging a little.

It wasn’t as if she knew much about policing. She didn’t even read Mysteries or Police Procedurals.

“So what does she say?” Adie went on.

Cage read silently for a moment before answering. “Not much. She does say Fredrickson came over for the weekend. They went out to dinner and then clubbing, before spending Saturday night at her apartment. Sorry, flat. He left Sunday evening.”

“That sounds as if he arrived later on Saturday, if the only things she could say was dinner and clubbing.”

Cage looked at her with one eyebrow raised. “He arrived just after lunch, so she said. They entertained themselves at her flat before going out later.”

The penny dropped. Of course. If