“I don’t want to bother them. Would have saved time if we could lodge a report in person and get the ball rolling though. I’ll contact the Historical Society to make sure they haven’t seen her first. Doubt the police would like to be sent searching if there’s a reasonable explanation.” One final question. “Tell me, what do you know of the summerhouse?”
Pete scratched his head. “Nothing. Didn’t even know there was one. Where is it?”
“In the forest. Bit of a hike to find it. Needs work of course, but you’d know more about that than I would.” Hamish smiled at the ferocious glare Pete sent his way. “And you don’t have time, I get that.”
“No I don’t, not if they want this house open on the due date. Only given me just over three weeks to finish. I’m going to be pushing to make it as it is. Probably have to do weekends too now or they’ll have my hide.”
Hamish gave him a good-natured slap on the back. “Thanks for your help. We’ll head into town now and might see you again tomorrow, depends on what we manage to find out.”
“Sure, I’ll be here.” Pete threw the sawhorse on the back of his ute and grabbed a rope from the tray. He looped it over the little hook on the side of the panel before throwing it across to the other side. “May as well bloody sleep here, that way I might get things finished on time.”
Hamish got into the car and waited for Alex and Maggie to get settled then he started the engine. They both waved as they drove off.
“Don’t get despondent, okay? I have a meeting with the Historical Society contact. She might be able to shed some light on what’s going on.” From the corner of his eye, Hamish studied Alex as he shrugged his shoulders and stared out of the window.
When he parked outside the Council Chambers he broke the silence. “You can come with me or you can take Maggie out to the park for a run. After I’ve spoken to Mrs. Ferris, I’m hoping we have time to speak to at least one of the servants before we have to admit we need help. I know I’m getting hungry so you must be too.”
“I’m good. You go ahead, we’ll go sit on the grass and wait for you.”
Once inside, Hamish put on his best smile at the reception desk and asked for Mrs. Ferris.
“Professor Abbott, I’m Janice Ferris. How do you do?” A tiny woman wearing a severe navy suit came out to meet him.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Ferris. Thank you for seeing me without an appointment.”
She indicated a couple of chairs near the doorway and together they took a seat. “Now how can I help, Professor Abbott?”
“Please, call me Hamish.” Janice battered her eyelashes and primped her lavender hair while giving him a smile that forty years ago must have melted hearts. “As I said when I asked to see you, I’m looking for Billie Stanford. She should have come back to Sydney by now, but we’ve not seen anything of her for some time.”
“I must say, I was bitterly disappointed when she failed to keep her appointment with me. I had such high hopes when I was told she would be the one doing the article. I’ve followed her career, you see. A Sydney girl even though she married an American and lived overseas for ages, I still consider her one of ours, so I was thrilled to hear she was doing the article for us. It was a great let down. I was left with no choice but to call the paper and tell them I’d given the job to someone else.” She pursed her lips, making a disapproving noise that came out like a half-hearted squeak.
“I totally understand your position. I’d probably do the same faced with the urgency of your project.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his legs, face closer to hers as if they were conspiring together and didn’t want to be overheard. “I did a quick tour of the house today. Billie’s car is still parked out the front in the driveway.”
She reared back, shock making her mouth gape open. “But that’s terrible. It would mean she’s met with foul play. We can’t have that.” She held a hand to her chest. “I’m going to call the police. This must be reported.” She fanned her face and took a couple of deep breaths. “Her employer thought she may have gone AWOL. I had to agree with him after he explained her past history, the real reason why she moved back home to Australia.”
Hamish patted her hand, consoling her before she managed to work herself up into a frenzy. “She lost her husband just over a year ago. I believe her nerves are stretched rather thin at the moment. But I’m inclined to agree with the foul play theory. I don’t think she would have left her son alone, and why would she go off and leave her car at the house? It doesn’t make sense to me, I’m afraid.” He paused. “I wonder if you could help me out. I understand Billie was to interview a couple of the old servants who used to work at the house. Could you tell me who they are so I can make enquiries? I do think the sooner the better.”
“Don’t you think we should leave this to the police to deal with?” The colour had come back to her face, but she still had spots of cherry red high on her cheeks that didn’t come out of an Estee Lauder compact case.
“I have every intention of lodging a missing person’s report as soon as I’ve spoken to the people Billie
