A Lesser Evil - Lesley Pearse [155]
Roper appeared surprised, then related how Fifi had come to the police station on the previous Saturday morning to report what she’d seen and been told at the depot. ‘Apparently as she was leaving she saw a man in a red Jaguar, whom she had seen going into the Muckles’ house with John Bolton some weeks earlier.’
‘She didn’t tell me about any of that,’ Dan said in puzzlement. ‘But then I suppose she thought I’d be angry she’d been down there poking her nose in.’
Roper nodded. ‘So we have some proof she doesn’t tell you everything,’ he said dryly.
Dan ignored that little dig for a thought was flashing through his mind. ‘This man! He could’ve been there at the last card party, one of the ones you haven’t found yet. If he discovered Fifi saw him, he’d want her out the way, wouldn’t he? And maybe Yvette knew him too, and that’s why they’ve both disappeared!’
‘Hold on, Mr Reynolds, I think you are getting carried away. As soon as your wife told us about this man, we followed it up. We have established that there are no employees at the depot who fit the description she gave us, and none of the men could confirm any such person had called there that day. Your wife might have been mistaken that he drove into the depot.’
‘What about this Frieda woman who made the complaint about Stan? Have you checked her story out?’ Dan asked with a touch of belligerence. It seemed to him that Roper wasn’t doing anything much at all.
‘We established that the woman is unreliable,’ Roper said.
‘Unreliable!’ Dan exclaimed. ‘I’d call her a bloody liar. But why did she make all that up if it wasn’t to get the Muckles off the hook? Someone must have put her up to it.’
Roper shrugged. ‘Believe me, we have checked her out thoroughly. We know now that her allegations were totally false, but so far it appears that she was acting on her own, a purely spiteful act against Mr Stanislav because he rejected her. But you didn’t answer my question about whether you saw the man your wife described to us.’
Dan shook his head. ‘Fifi’s the one that watches out the window, not me.’ He paused as another thought came to him. ‘After Fifi came to see you, did you contact John Bolton about this man?’
‘He was out when we called late on Saturday afternoon. Sadly we didn’t get to speak to him before his body was found.’
To Dan that was confirmation. ‘So he was killed because he knew the man’s identity!’ he exclaimed heatedly.
‘Calm down, Mr Reynolds,’ Roper said reprovingly. ‘There is no evidence to support such a theory. As I’m sure you know, Bolton associated with dozens of shady characters and we are in the process of sifting through them right now. Go on home now, we’ll send someone round later to check if Miss Dupré really is missing.’
Dan didn’t like Roper’s dismissive tone. ‘I want you to start an investigation to find Fifi,’ he said forcefully. ‘Don’t tell me to calm down either. My wife comes in here and tells you she recognizes a man who has been at number 11 and suddenly his mate is found dead, my wife disappears, and so does another neighbour. If that isn’t enough to alarm me, I don’t know what would be.’
Roper had a ‘you’re over-reacting’ expression on his face.
‘You must start an investigation,’ Dan ordered him, putting his fists on the desk between them and leaning towards Roper. ‘You can’t let it just drift on. I know perfectly well she isn’t tucked away making me sweat a bit. Someone’s holding her.’ He broke off as emotion got the better of him and his voice began to quaver and his eyes filled with tears. ‘Please find her,’ he begged. ‘Before they kill her. Her parents are on their way here, at least let me be able to tell them you are pulling out all the stops to find her.’
Roper’s expression softened then. He got up and came round the desk, putting one hand on Dan’s shoulder. ‘Okay, we’ll start an investigation. We’ll call in on you later to pick up a photograph of your wife. Do you have a recent one?’
‘One from our wedding,’ Dan said shakily, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.
While Dan was at the police