He takes off his cap. “Good afternoon to you.”
“You work here?”
“I do, Sir.”
“Where is everyone?”
“Gone. The place is up for sale. I'm just keeping the gardens tidy.”
I notice boxes of leaves and grass clippings.
“What's your name?”
“Harold.”
“Did you ever meet the owner, Mr. Kuznet?”
“Oh, yes, Sir. I used to clean his motors. He was very particular about what wax and polish I used, with no abrasives. He knows the difference between a wax and a polish—not many people do.”
“Was he a good boss?”
“Better 'n most, I reckon.”
“A lot of people were scared of him.”
“Yeah, but I can't see why. You hear stories, don't you? 'Bout him killing his brother, burying bodies in the basement and doing them other terrible things. But I say it like I see it. He was always good to me.”
“Did you ever see a young girl around here?”
Harold scratches his chin. “Can't say I remember any children. Good house for a kiddie—look at them grounds—my grandkids would love this place.”
Joe has wandered off, staring upward at the eaves, as though looking for nesting pigeons. He drifts sideways and almost falls over a sprinkler head.
“What's wrong with your mate—he got the shakes?”
“Parkinson's.”
Harold nods. “My uncle had that.”
He sweeps more leaves into a mound.
“If you're thinking of buying the place you missed the agent. She was here earlier showing the police around. I thought you were another copper.”
“Not anymore. Do you think we could have a look inside?”
“I'm not allowed.”
“But you have a key?”
“Yeah, well, I know where she keeps them.”
I take a tin of hard candies from my pocket and remove the lid, offering him one.
“Listen, Harold, I don't have much time. There's a little girl who we're trying to find. She went missing a long time ago. It's important I look inside. Nobody is going to know.”
“A little girl, you say.”
“Yes.”
He contemplates this for a moment while sucking on a candy. Having made a decision, he puts down the rake and starts walking up the gentle slope toward the house. The ground levels out on a boggy croquet lawn in front of the conservatory. Joe catches up with us, trying not to get his shoes wet.
The side door of the house opens into a small entrance hall with a stone floor and room to hang coats and deposit boots and umbrellas. The laundry must be close by. I can smell detergent and spray starch.
Harold unlocks the next door and we emerge into a large kitchen, with a central bench and brushed-steel appliances. It opens out through an arch into the conservatory, where the breakfast table could seat a dozen people.
Joe has wandered away from us again. This time he's peering beneath chairs and the table, following the edge of the baseboards. “Have you noticed anything unusual about this place?” he asks.
“Like what?”
“There are no telephone lines. The house isn't even hooked up.”
“Maybe they're underground.”
“Yes, that's what I thought, but I can't even see sockets in the walls.”
I turn to Harold. “Are there any telephones?”
He grins. “He's sharp, your mate. Mr. Kuznet didn't believe in normal phones. I don't think he trusted 'em. We all got one of these.” Reaching into his jacket he pulls out a cell phone.
“Everyone?”
“Yep. The cook, the driver, the cleaners, even me—s'pose I'll have to give mine back now.”
“How long have you had this one?”
“Not long. He made us swap numbers all the time. I never had the same number more than a month before he changed it.”
Aleksei was obviously paranoid about his telephones being tapped or monitored. He must have leased hundreds of cell phones, doling them out to his employees at work and at home, rotating them, swapping his own number among them, making it almost impossible for anybody to keep track of his calls or fix on a particular phone number and trace it back to him. The list of numbers must read like lottery results—all put through the one account.
My mind clings to this idea as if for some reason I know it's important. They say elephants never forget. They remember watering holes hundreds of miles away that they haven't visited in twenty years. My memory is a bit like that. It throws away some things like people's birthdays, anniversaries and song lyrics, but give me eighty witness statements and I can remember every detail.
Here's what I remember now. Aleksei had a phone stolen. He told me about it when we were outside Wormwood Scrubs. It was a new model. He loves his gadgets.
Turning suddenly, I head for the door, leaving Joe scrambling to keep up. He chases me across the gravel trying to hear what I'm saying on the phone.
“New Boy” Dave answers but I don't give him a chance to speak. “Aleksei had a phone stolen a few months back. He said he reported it to the police so there should be a record.”
I pause. Dave is still on the line. I can hear him tapping at a keyboard. The only other sound I hear is the soft stirring of every wet thing inside me.
Pacing across the driveway I wander along a path of crushed marble that circles the rose garden. At the far end, beyond an arbor, is a sandstone column supporting a sundial. It has a small plaque at the base. The inscription reads, FAMILIES ARE FOREVER.
Dave comes back to me. “He reported a cell phone stolen on August 28.”
“OK, listen carefully. You need to pull up the phone records for
“Why?”
Dave doesn't have children. He doesn't understand. “Because a parent never forgets a birthday.”
39
Birch and elm trees are etched on the ridges like charcoal drawings and the clouds are white breath against a blue sky. The black Gallant rattles and bumps over the pitted tarmac, sliding through patches of black ice in the shadows.
Our driver wrestles with the wheel, seemingly oblivious to the deep ditches on either side of the road. Two identical black Gallants are following us, being sprayed with mud.
The surrounding marshland has iced over at the edges, forming a fragile layer that creeps toward the center of pools and ponds. A refinery with a flaming orange tower reflects from the oily surface.
On one side of the road, separated by a ditch, is a railway track. A clutch of wooden shacks huddle alongside it, more like woodpiles than dwellings. Icicles hang from wet gutters and mounds of dirty snow are piled next to the walls. The only signs of life are thin wisps of smoke from the chimneys and the emaciated dogs picking through the trash cans.
