I was too old for all this. It was bad enough Mina going missing. To be honest, and I know this sounds bad, but I was enjoying getting involved in trying to find her. I loved doing my bit and people actually listening to me. Calling me ‘Miss Marple of Fincham’ was going a bit far but I can’t pretend I didn’t like it.
But yesterday it all got too much for me.
Sam was in intensive care, apparently. He’d had an operation to patch him up but he was still very poorly. I couldn’t stop thinking about him. If he hadn’t spoken to me. If I hadn’t told the police. If I’d never got involved … he’d be perfectly okay. I was going to have to live with that for the rest of my life. Something else to carry with me, and I’m not sure I’ve got the strength these days.
The internet was still covering the story, but it was all nasty stuff, tainted with prejudice about estates like this, people like us.
‘Broken Britain – how one estate sums up the state we’re in’
‘Hope Fades for Missing Mina – another casualty of sink estate London’
‘Stabbed on the Streets – just another day on the Fincham Estate’
I scanned the headlines but then shut my laptop down. I wouldn’t do any more investigating. I’d done quite enough damage as it was. In fact, I wouldn’t go outside today. I liked to think I wasn’t worried walking around the estate on my own, but that was a lie, a white lie I tell myself to get me out of my front door. The truth was, I was nervous. Now, with what had happened to Sam, I was scared more than ever.
So, I would leave the hunt for Mina to the experts and go back to my routine before all this happened. Breakfast in front of the telly, a bit of cleaning, then settling down for This Morning and then Loose Women – they get on my nerves but I like the company. Then an afternoon watching the quizzes. Somehow, though, it seemed so empty and pointless (no pun intended). I’d never be able to fully settle until Mina was found. It seemed wrong to even try and I couldn’t do it anyway. Thoughts of her, of what had happened on Wednesday, of where she was now, kept going round and round my head.
True to his word, Den checked in with me. He’d been through a lot over the past few days, too, but he was turning out to be a little diamond. He sent me a text first thing, and then rang later. We chatted about this and that.
‘Have they found Danno yet?’
‘Don’t think so, Mrs C. They will, though.’
‘You opening up the café today?’
‘Yeah. Need to keep Dad on the straight and narrow.’
‘What, love?’ I wasn’t sure I’d heard him correctly.
‘Doesn’t matter. Private joke. Shall I bring you some lunch up? Fish and chips? Special delivery?’
My legs were killing me, so this was music to my ears. ‘All right, love. That’d be very nice. I’ll give you the money.’
‘Shall I bring some for Sandy?’
‘That’s a nice thought. I don’t suppose she’s eating much at the moment. I’ll tell her it’s on the way.’
I could really have done with a day off from her next door, but that was just me being selfish. She couldn’t have a day off from it all, could she? She was still stuck in this nightmare. I needed to show a bit more charity, even if she was hard to like. I gave myself a bit of a talking-to, then pottered around and knocked next door at around eleven. Jodie opened up. She looked worse than ever. This business was taking its toll on everyone.
‘Oh, Kath, I was going to call round. How are you? Nasty shock yesterday, eh?’
‘I’m okay. I keep thinking about him. That poor lad. You know it was Danno that did it, don’t you?’
‘We don’t know anything for sure, Kath. There are no witnesses yet or at least no one is willing to talk.’
‘People won’t. Too scared. I am too, to be honest, love, but I’ll stand up in court and tell him to his face if it comes to that.’
Jodie smiled. ‘I know you will, but let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. We’ll be looking at DNA and forensic evidence. If there’s enough of that, we’ll wrap things up, maybe get a guilty plea.’
‘It’s on my conscience, though. How me talking to you caused it.’
‘You can’t think like that. You were doing the right thing. Violence like this is the perpetrator’s fault. No one else’s. We all have choices.’
That was one way to think about it. I wasn’t sure I completely went along with it, though.
‘Anyway, I just wanted to let Sandy know that the café are sending a hot lunch up.’
‘Oh, that’s nice.’
I realised my faux pas at once. ‘I should’ve asked them to send one for you, shouldn’t I? I can ring.’
Jodie laughed. ‘Don’t worry about it. I’m off shift in half an hour. Naz will be here soon. Are you having some food too?’ I nodded. ‘Nice idea to eat together. I’m sure Sandy will appreciate it.’
That wasn’t quite what I’d suggested, but now Jodie had it would look mean to back out.
‘Yes, that’s what I thought,’ I said. ‘We could both use the company.’