‘Perks of the job, I guess. He’s been here a long time and things seem to work just fine. Plus he can do his job from anywhere, really. He just goes in through his VPN thingie and he’s away. He did explain it to me once, but it went well over my head.’
‘And mine, too,’ Caroline replied. ‘How long’s he been working here?’
‘Oh, easily ten years. If not more. Yes, he started a few months before me, so it must be nearly twelve years now.’
‘Is that fairly normal here? Do staff tend to stick around?’
‘Oh yes. We don’t have a high turnover in that respect. I think Amie’s probably one of our newest staff members, and she’s been here years. It was Tom who got her the job, actually.’
Caroline started to feel the cogs turn. ‘Really? Did they know each other before?’
‘Yes, from school I think. It’s a while ago, but I seem to recall he recommended her to Martin.’
‘I see. Is that normal?’
Monique shrugged. ‘What’s normal? And in any case it seems to have worked out well. Creo quia absurdum est. I think that sums this place up.’
‘I’ll have to take your word for it,’ Caroline said, trying her hardest not to look in the direction of Dexter, who was doing his best not to laugh.
‘It means “I believe because it is absurd”. It’s effectively the opposite of Occam’s razor. It’s not always the simplest or most logical solution that turns out to be right.’
The sudden hit of clarity was both invigorating and alarming. ‘Monique, do you know where Tom is today?’
‘At home, I presume. He called in to say he wouldn’t be in the office. He’s a bit unpredictable like that, but he always does us the courtesy of letting us know, even if it is a little bit last minute.’
‘How last minute?’
‘Last night, after he’d already got home.’
Caroline shot a look at Dexter, who seemed a little slower to cotton on, but had noticed Caroline was on to something. ‘And is that normal for him?’ she asked Monique.
‘Oh yes. That holiday he had in Scotland the other week? He decided to let us know the night before. I mean, he can do his work from anywhere, really, but still.’
Caroline felt her heart hammering in her chest. All of a sudden, things were starting to make sense.
48
Caroline closed the door of her car and held her hand in the air. She needed to think and she didn’t want Dexter interrupting her train of thought unnecessarily. But it was the ringing of her phone that jolted her back to the here and now. She looked at the screen. It was Aidan.
‘Aidan. What is it?’ she said, immediately realising she’d perhaps sounded a little brusque.
‘We’ve had data back from one of the online nurseries we contacted about those roses, the Black Baccaras? There’s a small handful of people within a reasonable radius of Rutland, but only one who’s ordered repeatedly over the past few years, just before Valentine’s Day.’
‘Let me guess,’ Caroline said, rubbing her temples with her free hand. ‘Tom Mackintosh.’
‘Well, it says Thomas here, but yeah,’ Aidan replied, sounding slightly deflated.
‘He’s the IT guy from Allure Design.’
‘Why would he have been sending roses to Amie Tanner every year since her dad died?’
Caroline sighed. ‘I don’t know. Presumably for the same reason he got her the job at Allure in the first place. And the reason why the email from Gavin Tanner to Martin Forbes saying he hadn’t turned up had been deleted at Martin’s end, but not Gavin’s. Because Tom had access to Martin’s computers and accounts.’
‘Christ. Where are you? Did you find the car?’
‘Yeah. We’re in Uppingham. Tom didn’t turn up for work today. He called in at about nine o’clock and said he’d be working from home, but there’s no way that’s where he is. It’s him who’s taken Amie. I know it is. Think about it. She willingly got into someone’s car, so it must’ve been someone she knew. I bet you any money he’s made damn sure he was driving behind her and has flashed her over and told her he’s spotted something wrong with her car. “Jump in with me, we’re going the same way anyway”. I can see it now. Aidan, can we get an emergency trace on Tom’s phone please?’
‘Alright. I’ll go to the Chief Super now.’
‘Cheers. Please be as quick as you can.’
They sat in silence for a minute or two, listening to the sound of the occasional passing car.
‘Want to place a bet?’ Caroline said.
Dexter shrugged. ‘Wouldn’t like to guess. I doubt he’ll have gone into Uppingham. Not if he wanted to get away and take her somewhere. We know he’s not taken her to work, so it’d be too risky going that way. If he took the A47, he’s heading towards either Leicester or Peterborough. I don’t think he’ll be going to either city, but there’re a thousand places along that corridor where he could’ve turned off. Thing is, the second he doesn’t go straight over that Uppingham roundabout, Amie’s spooked. As far as she knows, her colleague’s giving her a lift to work.’
‘Shortcut? Petrol en route?’
‘More like a longcut. And the petrol station’s in the centre of Uppingham. They’d literally drive straight past it on the normal route in. My money’s on the A47. The only question then is how he managed to get away with it. He’s either come up with a cracking excuse, threatened her or incapacitated her.’
‘Last one’s difficult while driving,’ Caroline replied, leaving them both to think for a few moments longer. ‘I just feel like we should be doing something other than sitting here,’ she said eventually.
‘Got to sit tight. Can’t risk flying off in the wrong direction. Phone trace won’t take long.’
Moments later, Dexter’s phone rang. It was a response from the control room. He listened and jotted down a couple of details, then ended the call.
‘Right. Tom’s phone’s been off
