Maggie chose the moment Clive and Mandy’s room service order arrived to go downstairs to reception to find a quiet corner in which she could call Walker and tell him about the man who’d approached Mason. He’d given her a fairly decent description: around six foot tall, somewhere in his early thirties, average build and wearing plain black shorts, a white T-shirt and a scruffy red baseball cap that, combined with how dark it was, unfortunately meant Mason hadn’t seen what colour his hair was. He did sound British but he was so drunk and slurring his words so much that Mason couldn’t say for certain which part he came from.
To Maggie’s frustration, Walker didn’t pick up. She was about to call Paulson’s number, in case the boss was with him, when her phone began to ring. It was Umpire.
They’d spoken every day since she’d arrived in Majorca but she suspected the purpose of his call now, which he was making from his office, was not just to see how she was.
‘Has the news broken then?’ she asked upon answering.
‘It’s everywhere. Someone who was on the beach tweeted it and now it’s snowballed because of the Pope anniversary. Is there a connection though? Someone’s also tweeted there’s been a sighting of Jade in the next town.’
Maggie bristled. It was becoming harder and harder for police to stay ahead in investigations when social media users broke new leads before they had a chance to.
‘What’s Walker’s take on it?’ Umpire asked.
Not wanting their conversation to be overheard, Maggie left the hotel reception and crossed the walkway to sit on a bench next to the beach, hidden behind the spreading branches of a tree. Only a handful of families were on the beach compared to the usual hoard: news of Jade’s disappearance must’ve sent the tourists running for the safety of their holiday lets.
‘He’s taking the same view, that until we have concrete proof of a link it should be treated as a separate incident. There are a few dissimilarities,’ said Maggie, and she told Umpire about Jade having money and her phone on her.
She held back from mentioning the chewing-gum man, though. Much as she liked discussing cases with Umpire and thrashing out theories, and however much she trusted him never to impart information she shared, she felt it would be disloyal to DCI Walker to disclose it when she hadn’t told him about it yet.
‘I’m with the family at the moment,’ she finished. ‘We aren’t officially involved, but the police here are happy to let me liaise for the time being. The parents don’t understand a word of Spanish and it’s causing friction.’
‘They’re lucky to have you. Is it still hot out there?’
‘Boiling. What’s it like where you are?’
‘Damp. It’s been drizzling all day.’ Umpire paused. ‘What do you reckon the chances are of you coming home on Friday?’
The Operation Pivot team was booked on a mid-evening flight back to the UK.
‘If Jade Reynolds turns up safe and well, I’ll be back no question. If she isn’t found before then and we find out she hasn’t disappeared of her own free will, I suppose we could be asked to stay on. It makes sense because we’re already here, but even more so if –’ she put emphasis on the word ‘if’ – ‘it does turn out that there’s a connection to Katy Pope’s murder.’ Suddenly she remembered the significance of the weekend. ‘Shit, Lou and the kids are meant to be coming up on Saturday. Shall I put them off?’
‘No, let’s leave it. As you say, Jade could turn up before then and if we cancel we’ll be disappointing the kids for nothing.’
‘Maybe I should call Lou and warn her,’ Maggie fretted. ‘Then she can decide if she wants to make other plans. She might be cross if I don’t give her the option.’ Previously, when they’d both lived in Mansell, Lou had been used to Maggie’s job interrupting their arrangements and put up with it, but Maggie wasn’t confident she’d be the same now, not after things had been so rocky between them.
‘Leave it another day,’ Umpire counselled. ‘Tomorrow’s Wednesday so that would still give her time to make new plans.’
He was right. ‘Okay,’ Maggie agreed.
‘How were the Pope family after the service was cancelled? A reporter who was there tweeted a picture of Katy’s brother looking upset. You’re in the picture too, by the way, but only from the back.’
Hearing Umpire mention George made Maggie feel edgy, as though he was testing her.
‘I do love you, you know,’ she blurted out.
‘I love you too,’ he reciprocated, sounding amused. ‘I have to go; someone wants me. Call me later if you can.’
‘I’ll do my best.’
Maggie smiled as she hung up. She was being silly, reading too much into his comment about George. There was absolutely no reason for Umpire to doubt her.
So, why, a little voice rang in her head, are you feeling guilty?