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“Did he say where he was going on this job?”
“No.”
“Was that unusual?”
“No, not really. He doesn’t always give a full account of his comings and goings. I don’t expect him to. I find that sort of thing can stifle a relationship, don’t you?”
Chance would be a fine thing, thought A
“Yes.”
“Has he done this before? Stopped out all night?”
“No. Not like this. I mean, once or twice he’s stopped over at his father’s, if they’ve had a few drinks, like, and got to talking, or if it’s really late. But he always phones or texts.”
“Not this time?”
“No, nothing. I’ve tried ringing him, and texting, but I got no response.”
“No need to worry,” A
“It’s always doing that. Like his camera. He’s not very good with keeping his stuff charged.”
“Which mobile provider does he use?”
“Virgin pay-as-you-go.”
“Did you phone the farm? I noticed Mr. Lane has a landline when we were there earlier.”
Alex glanced away. “Yes. His father just grunted, like, said he hadn’t seen him. Then he hung up.”
“You said that Mick Lane and his father still have a problematic relationship.”
“Michael. Yes.” Alex paused. “I can see you’re both a bit confused. I think I know what you’re thinking. I don’t mean to be rude, but you’re police, and you have a very narrow way of seeing things. You saw that Michael was on probation, that he did community service for the stolen car, and then you found out he was living with me, an older woman in a council flat, with an illegitimate child and a conviction for shoplifting. Well, you put two and two together and make . . . I don’t know what. Bo
“What happened?”
“Ian’s father walked out on me when Ian was little. I was flat broke. Le
Pity that doesn’t work for everyone, A
“I’m doing a part-time course. Travel and tourism. Eastvale College. Ever since I was a little girl I’ve dreamed of seeing the world. I’ve got a part-time job at GoThereNow—you know, the new travel agency in the Swainsdale Centre—just taking bookings for stag weekends in Prague or Talli
“Won’t you be away a lot?” A
“I’ll take care of Ian, don’t you worry about that. Michael and I will. We’ll work it out. Maybe they can come with me? Michael can take photographs for travel magazines.”
“Sounds ideal.”
Alex shrugged. “Besides, there’s school, and the neighbors are great. Well, most of them. Michael helps a lot, too, of course.”
“How did you meet Michael?”
“It was a year ago. He was up at the college seeing if he could get into a photography course through the back door. He likes taking pictures. Drawing, too. He’s very good at both, got a real eye. He did those.” She gestured to the photographs and drawings on the wall that A
“Thank you, but to be honest, he might have the talent, but he doesn’t have the qualifications, not even A levels, so they turned him down. He spent too much time off school helping out around the farm when he was a young lad. He doesn’t have the right equipment, either. All Michael has is an old Cyber-shot. About six pixels. They’re up to sixteen or more these days. He needs a better camera, a DSLR, with all the lenses.”
“You understand about that sort of stuff?”
Alex cocked her head and gave A
“So you met at the college?”
“Student pub. He was a bit depressed when he came in, and I was serving behind the bar—my previous part-time job. The place was nearly empty. I was revising for my exams. We got talking over a couple of drinks. He told me about his mum leaving and how miserable he was up at the farm with his dad, how he’d gone off the rails a bit, stolen a car, he didn’t know why. Didn’t know why he was telling me, either. Neither of us really came on to the other. . . . It just . . . you know . . . happened. It felt totally natural. I was lonely, too. I’ve been here with Ian now for about six years. We got the place when I was still with Le
A
“God knows. Or cares. Last I heard of him he was working on the ferries from Immingham to Rotterdam. Up to something, no doubt, some scam or other. Le
“I presume that if Michael does a lot of digital photography, he’s got a computer, right?”
“We share mine. I’ve had it for ages, since before we met. He’s just about computer illiterate. I pretty much had to teach him everything he knows. He hadn’t used a computer before we got together.”
“Not even at school?”
Alex shrugged. “Maybe. He never spoke much about school. He certainly didn’t know his way around a computer, anyway.”
“We might need to examine it later.” It was a delicate situation. A