Their first meeting with Cameron Jennings went as planned. The reports confirmed what they already knew about Carla. Lucy jotted down as part of his statement something that seemed a little bizarre. It was one of Carla’s favourite sayings, ‘Life is for living – just live it!’ It seemed to be an irony. According to Cameron, it was written on one of the walls of her flat, and she wondered why he had drawn her attention to that. He also informed them that she had gone missing once before – two days in the Lake District. It was to help her overcome an upset. What that upset was he was unsure.
Tony entered Nic’s Nails and Beauty first and the woman behind the work station peered at them over her glasses, the white protective face mask covering her mouth and nose. She called out for assistance. A man in his early twenties came out from behind a beaded curtain. He walked, toes in, taking small but precise steps.
‘How may we assist?’ His lilting voice was mellow and gentle and seemed to match the pinks and yellow mix of his shirt.
Tony held out his ID. ‘That’s me, and this is DS Warlock. We’d like to speak with the boss.’ Tony’s voice seemed to have dropped an octave as if in contrast to that of the assistant. Skeeter chuckled internally understanding his psychology.
‘Please,’ Skeeter added and then smiled.
‘I’ll be at least fifteen minutes,’ the person working on the nails called. ‘If you’re happy to wait. This is my last client today. Carlos, offer our guests a drink.’
Both refused. As Carlos left, Tony turned to Skeeter, pulled a face and mouthed ‘Carlos?’
It was twenty-five minutes before Nicola slipped the mask from her face and dropped it in the bin. Skeeter watched her stretch and then rub the small of her back before moving across to the waiting area.
‘Sorry, took longer than I thought. How can we help? Any news of her? It’s not like her this is it Carlos?’
A distant voice called back like an answering echo. ‘Not at all. Regular as the Atkinson Gallery clock is our Carla.’
‘May I have your full names, please?’ Skeeter asked whilst opening her notepad.
There was a pause as if she was not expecting the question. ‘Yes, sorry. I’m Nicola Turner and that’s Brian Briggs. We call him Carlos as he always copied the way Carla worked when he first started with us.’
Carlos popped his face through the beads. He blushed.
‘Can you tell us how Carla was on the day she worked late, the day before she went missing, a Wednesday? Her physical and mental state? That was the last time you saw her, yes?’
‘Yes. It was a normal day, busy, but then midweek we can be. She chatted about meeting Debbie. We know Debs don’t we, Carlos? She seemed her usual carefree self.’
Carlos parted the beads again. ‘Lovely lady is Debs. Great fun, as is our Carla.’
‘So, the last time you saw her was when she stepped out of that door to go home?’ Tony asked whilst pointing.
Carlos slipped back behind the screen as if he did not want to answer.
‘Yes. Thursday’s always her off day. If we’re busy she’ll usually help out and work. She’s been with me for a few years now. Reliable, professional and you could say, a friend.’
‘We know about a failed long-term relationship. Did that cause any issues as far as work was concerned? We know she moved house too. Did she need time off?’
‘He was a bit of a dick to be honest. Treated her like a rubbing rag. Handsome bugger though. He was playing away a lot, his clients she told us. I knew it to be a fact. One was another of my friends. Carla had given him a number of chances. He’d send flowers when he was guilty and she’d soon turn and run back to him.’
‘Do you know if there was any violence?’
‘No, she’d have said. She was more likely to give him a thick ear …’ She stopped as she glanced at Skeeter’s cauliflower ear. ‘Carla could give as good as she got especially when she’d had a few gins.’
‘Life is for living – just live it!’ The raised voice from the back called swiftly followed by Carlos’s face. ‘Her motto, her mantra for a happy life.’
‘Neither of you have heard from her nor seen her since the evening she left here?’
Skeeter repeated Tony’s question but this time concentrated on Carlos’s expression.
He shook his head.
Nicola immediately chipped in. ‘As I said to you earlier. No.’
The interview was quickly wound up and Tony requested Carla’s client list for the last twelve months to be mailed through to the station. He handed her a card containing his contact details.
‘I’d like to photograph your appointment diary for this month so we can start to check against your CCTV.’ He removed a memory stick and placed it on the table between them. ‘I need you to copy all recordings made the week prior to Carla’s last day and disappearance. We need you to keep anything else you have until notified. Is that clearly understood?’
Nicola was taken aback but agreed. She went to the desk returning with the diary. Tony started to photograph the pages whilst Nicola took the memory stick. On receipt of everything, they left.
The day was clearly retreating as streaks of orange and yellow blazed the sky. The west coast offered many fiery sunsets at this time of year and tonight’s was going to be special.
‘Shepherd’s delight, Tony. Beautiful colours. Turner would be enthralled.’
Carlos slipped passed them and smiled. ‘Hope you find her soon.’
Tony nodded and watched as he turned out of sight before returning his gaze
