Page 6 of Indefensible
Brody’s hire car was still parked on the street outside the house, and Deryn parked behind it. Murphy must have taken a taxi from the hotel. The weather was warm enough to sit outside with the cat and chickens, so Deryn opened the back gate, and sure enough, Brody was there.
A night’s sleep appeared to have restored him; the shadows were gone from his face and his eyes were bright.
“Hotel OK?” Deryn asked.
“Good. Better than I expected, and the breakfast was huge. But that’s not important. I think Mason’s been kidnapped. Come and listen to the woman in the next house.” Murphy moved impatiently towards the garden gate. Deryn followed as Murphy led the way to the street and rang the neighbour’s doorbell.
“Mrs Davies,” Murphy said, “this is Detective Constable Kent. Could you tell him what you told me?”
Mrs Davies was in her seventies, maybe older; a small, stooped woman with white hair and a lot of wrinkles. She looked up at Deryn. “I know who he is,” she said, and she didn’t seem impressed. “You’d better come in.”
The door opened straight into the living room, shaded by spotless lace curtains, and well filled with everything from Harlequin romances to china dogs, via crochet blankets, and a small army of cuddly toys. A large television stood on one side of the gas fire, and on the other, by the window, a dining table and chairs. One of the chairs was pulled back from the table as if Mrs Davies had just risen from it to answer the door.
“I like to see what’s going on,” she said, gesturing at the chair. “When you’re on your own, you want to know who’s in the street. I used to know everyone. But it’s all changed now.”
“You know Mason, from next door, though?” Murphy asked.
“Funny lad, but good-hearted. He took me shopping to the supermarket most weeks. Gave me some of his eggs when he could.”
“Tell DC Kent about yesterday morning,” Murphy said.
Mrs Davies sighed. “I was eating my tea, looking out of the window. I mostly watch the telly at teatime,Escape to the Country, but there was cricket or something like that. Anyway, this big car rolls up and stops outside. Two men get out and go into Mason’s house — round the back; no one uses the front door. So, I finish my tea and take my things in the kitchen to wash up and when I come back, Mason is getting into the big car and it drives off with one of the men. The other one gets into Mason’s car and drives away as well.”
“You told me that the manpushedMason into the big car,” Murphy said. “That you didn’t think he went willingly.”
Mrs Davies looked at Deryn and back at Murphy.
“I can’t be sure about that. Not to say so in court or to the police.”
“Could you tell us anything about the car, Mrs Davies?” Deryn asked. “Did you see what make it was? What colour?”
“I don’t know anything about cars. It was big, sort of a grey colour. That’s all I know.” Her face had closed up, as if she was going to start sayingno commentto any further questions.
“Thank you for your time,” Deryn said.
Murphy took the hint, and they left. Once out of earshot of Mrs Davies, Murphy burst out, “She told me he was pushed into the car! That’s why I wanted you to hear it from her directly.”
“I believe you,” Deryn said, because he did. Mrs Davies, like so many others in Cwmcoed, didn’t want to get on the wrong side of the Kent family. Which suggested that the Kent family was somehow involved in the disappearance of Mason Abruzzi. Or at least, Mrs Davies thought that they might be. Everywhere he turned, the malign influence of his family stopped him doing his job properly. Two people were dead and a baby orphaned because of Phillip’s greed. Deryn had told himNo morebut if Phillip told what he knew …
Harry Styles could walk the red carpet and be photographed in a dress; Deryn Kent, Welsh detective constable, not so much, not judging by the ‘banter’ of his colleagues.
Brody Murphy’s friend was missing, and this pleasant woman wouldn’t tell him the truth because of his surname. He would protect his family if he could, but he was done with covering up. Sammi, Ky, and little Joe deserved his best efforts. Mason Abruzzi’s disappearance deserved a proper investigation. Maybe there was an innocent explanation for his absence, and for the blood on the floor, but finding out the truth and bringing villains to justice was Deryn’s job and he was going to do it.
Dee and all her clothes, shoes and, make-up, would have to go.
A resolution Deryn had made before.
CHAPTER 5
DAY TWO
Brody Murphy wouldn’t have noticed if Deryn had turned up as Dee — he was too disturbed by what Mrs Davies had told him about his friend.
“It looks like kidnapping to me,” he said. “Or some kind of coercion at the very least. This makes all the difference. There should be a search.”
“If Mrs Davies won’t give a statement, there’s no reason to start a search. You know that as well as I do,” Deryn said. It was true. He believed that Murphy had fairly reported what Mrs Davies had told him, and that she had seen Mason pushed into the car. But unless she was prepared to say it on the record, they had nothing. “Tell me more about Mr Abruzzi. Why did he come here, of all places? Why did you come to visit? What help was he looking for from you?”
“Is there somewhere we can get coffee?” Murphy asked.
