she just put her career first I’ve no idea. When I last had contact with her she was working for PWC.” In response to Carole’s interrogative eyebrow, she spelled out, “PricewaterhouseCoopers. But we’re talking some years ago. Goodness knows if she’s still there. These City high-flyers tend to move around a lot these days. Different in Ronald’s time. He was at NMB most of his career. Climbed his way up the management ladder. But then that’s how things worked in those days. People had a sense of loyalty to their employers. Whereas today’s young people don’t even seem to understand what the word ‘loyalty’ means.”
“So you don’t have any other means of contacting Nuala Dennis?”
The expression on Deborah Wrigley’s face told Carole how odd her question must have sounded. “No,” came the reply. “We are talking about someone I only met a few times through my husband’s work. And I can’t imagine any reason why you might want to contact her.”
“No, I’m sorry. I just…well, I’ve met Philly Rose…”
“Have you?” The words were not enthusiastic.
“Yes. And I know how cut up she is about Mark’s leaving, and I thought if he had gone back to his wife, then contacting her might be a way of –”
“I’m sure if Mark Dennis has gone back to his wife – which I very much hope he has – the last thing the two of them would wish for would be a call from his former floozy.”
“You’re probably right. Well, Gulliver and I had better be on our way.”
“Yes, perhaps you had.” Deborah Wrigley’s smile of dismissal had all the warmth of a low-energy light bulb.
¦
When Carole got back to High Tor she rang Curt Holderness’s mobile. Prompted to leave a message, she asked if he could phone her back, though without great confidence that he would. When they had parted on the Sunday in the Crown and Anchor, the security officer hadn’t shown much enthusiasm for the idea of their ever speaking again.
Since it was not yet five o’clock, Carole – again without much optimism – thought she might try PricewaterhouseCoopers to get a contact number for Nuala. Using her laptop to check the number on their website, she rang through to the main London office near Charing Cross. No, they did not have a Nuala Dennis working for them. And no, they couldn’t divulge details of former employees.
As she put the phone down, it struck Carole that a City go-getter like the Nuala Deborah Wrigley had described would quite probably have worked under her maiden rather than her married name. And trying to guess that would be a hopeless task. She wondered whether Philly Rose might know. It didn’t seem very likely. Few women are interested in their lovers’ wives’ maiden names.
Later that evening, as they shared a bottle of Chilean Chardonnay in her cluttered sitting room, Jude agreed that it was worth trying to get a bit more information from Philly and rang through to Seashell Cottage. But no, the girl had no idea what Nuala had been called before she married Mark.
“So you don’t have any means of contacting her?”
“Why should I have?”
“That wasn’t really the question I was asking, Philly.”
“No.” There was a silence from the Smalting end. Then, “I do actually have a mobile number for her.”
“Oh?”
“I copied it from Mark’s phone once when he was out. I don’t know why. I think perhaps I’d always been aware of the risk Nuala represented. But then when he left, I didn’t dare ring the number. I kept wanting to, but something stopped me.”
“The thought that Mark might actually be with her?” Jude suggested intuitively.
“Yes, just that. It was what I was afraid might have happened, and I suppose I was equally afraid of having my fears confirmed.”
“I could ring her,” Jude proposed gently.
“But why should you?”
“For the same reason you would – to find out if Mark’s with her.”
“Yes, but how would you explain why you were doing it?”
“I’d be trying to contact Mark and say I’d been given that number.”
“And who would you claim to be – someone trying to sell him double glazing?”
“If I can’t think of anything better, yes.”
“Okay, you try. And make sure you let me know if you find out anything about where he is.”
“Of course I will. Could you give me the number?”
After Philly had done so, she said, “And of course if you call you might also find out whether anything’s happened to Nuala.”
Clearly Philly’s anxiety of that morning had not gone away. She was still worried that Mark Dennis might have done away with his inconvenient ex-wife.
? Bones Under The Beach Hut ?
Twenty
“No time like the present,” said Jude, and instantly she was keying in the number that Philly Rose had given her.
It was answered almost immediately, but the voice was male. “Hello?”
“Good evening. I was trying to contact Nuala Dennis.”
“Oh, were you?” The name didn’t seem to prompt happy memories.
“I’m sorry. I was given this number as Nuala Dennis’s mobile phone.”
“Well, it used to be hers. Now I reckon it’s mine.”
“Oh. Erm, who am I speaking to?”
“My name’s Cyrus Maxton. Who are you?”
“Jude.”
“A friend of Nuala’s?”
“More an acquaintance, really.”
“And what do you want with her?”
It was one of those moments when the truth might be as effective as any falsehood. “I’m trying to track down her husband Mark.”
“They’ve separated.”
“Yes, I know that, but –”
“Listen, I know nothing about Nuala’s bloody husband! All I know is that Nuala and I were in a relationship for about three months and then the cow walked out on me, having managed to take quite a lot of my money with her. So you might understand that I don’t welcome calls from her friends or acquaintances and I’m damned if I’m going to –”
“Why have you got her mobile phone?”
“She left it here when she stormed out. I was about to upgrade mine, so I thought I’d use hers. Get something out of three wasted months! And so far she still seems to be paying the bill – which suits me fine!”
“Have you had any contact with Nuala since?”
“Texts. I’ve tried ringing her, but she won’t talk.”
“So you do have a current mobile number for her?”
“What if I do?”
“If you could give me that number, I –”
“Why should I? After the way the bitch treated me, I don’t feel particularly inclined to help her maintain her social life with her girlfriends.”
“I’m not one of her girlfriends.” That was true, though what Jude said next wasn’t. “She stung me for a lot of money too. That’s why I’m trying to contact her.”
Cyrus Maxton’s manner changed immediately. Now that he appeared to be talking to someone keen to make Nuala Dennis’s life difficult, he was all cooperation. He gave Jude the new mobile number. “But I should warn you,
