An Emotional Journey

By JP Allen

What would you do if your life changed in an instant, with no time to prepare or plan?
William Masters’ life did exactly that when his wife, Susie, mysteriously disappeared in Twywell, Northamptonshire, in August 2007. Little did he know how desperate his situation would become.
In Lincoln, Vicky’s life also changed without warning when she let an unwelcome stranger into her house one dark cold night. Her life would never be the same again.
Regardless, Vicky’s daughter, Petra, selfishly continued with her life of self-destruction and worse – she was about to involve her mother in her criminal activities.
Where did the traumatised, complicated family that represented everything Susie despised fit into her life and how could she erase the memory of it all?
Attempting to solve the mystery, two members of the police, Caroline Cordell and Tom Gates, search for something in their own complicated personal lives. Would this case turn up unexpected help for either of them?
And what would Tom do about Gail?
This is a story of two very different women – a story of hatred and of love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: May 28, 2021
• ISBN: 9781398408401

JP Allen

JP Allen writes short sketches and humorous plays for women. Having served in the forces, she has both worked and lived abroad and after a life full of motorcycling, she now lives in Northamptonshire with her husband. She has two daughters and four grandchildren. An Emotional Journey is her first novel.

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Synopsis

Susie and William Masters were a late middle-aged childless couple enjoying a quiet retirement. They led a simple life and it suited them.

But their life changed one late summer afternoon with Susie’s abduction.

This is a story about what happened to Susie during her capture – and the unexpected turns it took. She found another family – one so very different from her own, and yet one she was connected to by extreme circumstances. The family were traumatised, complicated and represented everything Susie despised. However, the twisted personality of one of them would bring unexpected help.

The two police officers tasked with finding Susie Masters dead or alive had problems of their own: Tom Gates, the young detective sergeant, and his boss Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Cordell, who expected more equality in the new century but seven years had passed and not a great deal had changed. Both had complicated love lives, and both were searching for something, neither knew quite what, but Tom and Caroline had something to learn from this missing person case and the turns it took right up to the final outcome.

This is a story full of twists and turns, emotional moments and life journeys for all the characters and, by the end, all their lives would be changed forever.

Tom

Hills and Dales Nature Reserve, Northamptonshire, early October 2007.

Detective Sergeant Tom Gates peered through the rain-streaked windows of his VW Golf, frowning at his reflection as he did so. He looked more closely at his unruly brown hair and blood shot eyes.

Is this what others see when they look at me? He sighed as he looked at his watch. He tilted the rear-view mirror in his car and watched for his boss to arrive.

It was unlike her to be late he thought.

Tom was due to meet Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Cordell. (Carrie to her friends, or colleagues of equal or superior rank, which did not include Tom.) In fact, Caroline was the only woman Tom had ever worked with. He wondered how he had managed to escape that particular pleasure until now. He considered worked with to be the appropriate expression rather than worked for. After all, they were supposed to be a team.

He stretched and yawned as he reached for a cigarette, the packet was empty.

At 33 years old, Tom wondered exactly where he was going in life, his reflection spoke volumes about his lifestyle. Appalling diet, late nights and pretty much chain smoking. When was his last visit to the gym? Was it even this year? He needed to make more of an effort and build in some exercise time and more importantly – give up smoking and the whisky chasers. He knew it would be difficult as he’d tried many times before.

He crushed the empty packet and threw it under the seat where it joined the other debris.

Tom thought about his boss. He had to admit he had a sneaky admiration for her – he didn’t like it but her opinion of him mattered. Where the hell is she anyway?

The heavy rain continued to fall as his worn wipers swiped the windscreen – the sound grating on his already fractious nerves. He felt the familiar nicotine withdrawal symptoms creeping in.

Tom wished he had the spare cash to replace his car. It looked dated, especially when parked next to the shiny black Mercedes SLK Coupe belonging to Caroline. He coveted the immaculate cream leather upholstery in the Merc. Naturally, she was going to have a blinder of a car, it was inevitable. Detective chief inspectors – especially the female variety usually did. An expression of her personality perhaps. If that was the case, what did his battered Golf say about him? Still it was better than using the patrol car with the new smoking ban in place. He saw the ban as an infringement of his rights – his personality – his character.

Tom rubbed the stubble on his jaw with one hand as he reached for another discarded cigarette packet lying on the rear seat with the other. Again – empty. Panic set in. Bloody hell, he thought as he remembered his rush that morning to leave his flat in Burton Latimer, how can I go without all bloody morning? A thought flashed briefly through his mind, would now be a good opportunity to give up? No – why should I? He thought? If only it wasn’t such a degrading experience having to smoke in the car park in the rain, more freedom removed, bloody nanny state…

As he waited for DCI Cordell, his thoughts wandered back to when things started to go downhill.

Tom found his parent’s strict moral standards difficult – unlike his perfect older brother, Tom had let them all down. Booze, drugs and bad company beckoned and by the age of 16, he’d been virtually out of control.

His first offence resulted in only a caution, but the visit to a police station made a great and lasting impression on him. Firstly, the fine he had to pay truly hurt for some considerable time, impacting on his social life when he needed it most, and secondly fear. This was not the life he envisaged for himself. He needed to step back and rethink.

After his minor brush with the law, he went back to college, his parents realising they had taken their eye off the ball funded his next step in life. Over the next five years, many short-term jobs followed but what he really needed was a career. By a freak chance at the age of 23, he was offered a job – albeit a lowly one – in a solicitor’s office. That opened another door and yet another channel. From then onwards, he found more doors opened if he put himself in the right place at the right time. It was who you knew not what you knew.

By the age of 27 having gained slightly more experience of life, and with a renewed and more impressive CV put together with the help of his boss at the time, he applied to join the police and was accepted.

It was a good day for Tom.

His ambition was to join CID and after three long hard years of slogging, creeping, and making friends with the right people, he achieved his goal. Here he was! For the first couple of years, the job lived up to his expectations, but recently things had started to go downhill again. He felt his life slipping backwards.

He looked at his watch again. She’s very late, he smirked.

Tom thought about his boss. She was tall, slim, blonde and fairly good looking in a mature kind of way, almost striking – but not quite. He tried to imagine what she was like outside the office, her home life. Did she have a partner – male or female? Probably not, it would be a brave person who took her on, or a desperate one.

Tom’s dishevelled reflection stared back at him; Caroline would notice. She wouldn’t say anything – that was the annoying thing. Once glance would be enough. Taking mental notes and preparing to drop some sly comment when at least expected, or to be stored and used as ammunition later, that was her way. She was good at noticing details. That’s why she’s a DCI probably, he thought bitterly.

Where the bloody hell is she?

Tom wondered why they had been called in on this missing person case anyway. Why not leave it to uniforms to deal with?

He could feel his stomach tighten again as a familiar set of headlights appeared through the gloom in his rear-view mirror. A Merc if I’m not mistaken, Tom said to himself.

He sighed as his boss pulled up beside him in her smart Mercedes. She glanced briefly in his direction with that look and stepped out of her car looking smart and well-groomed as usual. He watched as she put up her umbrella and locked her car.

Oh well, let’s get it over with. Tom adjusted his tie and struggled into his shower proof jacket which was totally inadequate for the conditions. He opened the car door and stepped out into the muddy car park and driving rain.

Caroline

The same day.

Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Cordell realised she was going to be late for her appointment with her detective sergeant, Tom. The journey from Cambridge had unfortunately been affected by the atrocious weather. Caroline normally prided herself on her punctuality as she told her team whenever she got the chance. Pride in one’s uniform and the ability to show compassion to the victims of crime. She enforced these simple commandments so many times they had become somewhat diluted of late.

Detectives very rarely wore uniform. Police in general were not punctual turning up after the event – if at all in some cases, and as for compassion – well… Caroline sighed. The victims of crime were soon forgotten and given precious little help if any thereafter, especially when the next case came up. They needed more staff and more resources but in the current financial climate all her requests had been ignored.

It hadn’t been essential for her to attend the seminar in Cambridge the day before. Caroline thought she already knew all there was to know on the Awareness of the Public on Local Policing. As far as she was concerned, the public knew absolutely sod all about the workings of the police and weren’t capable of understanding any of it. But she needed to be seen at police events. How else did one achieve promotion – especially if you’re a woman? Even though it was seven years into a new century.

Anyway, Jeff was there and that’s what mattered most. Caroline looked forward to phoning him at work later. It wasn’t possible to talk to him at home yet, at least not until his wife had left. That was the point she needed to raise with him but now would not be a good time.

Caroline was by nature a high-flier. Not one to let anything or anyone stand in her way so Jeff’s wife would surely not prove to be difficult.

She thought of her sergeant, Tom Gates. He seemed to be in a bit of a rut, and she needed to encourage him – stretch him. He would be at the Hills and Dales by now waiting for her probably smoking and coughing his guts up.

Yes – he needed a lift. She’d push him a bit she thought. If I could persuade him to give up smoking it would be a start. Such a disgusting habit. As for his lifestyle – he would benefit from a subtle word…

Carrie doubted that this missing person case would be the right breakthrough for Tom to get back on track. Such cases were not usually demanding. Why had she been asked to check this one out was a mystery, it appeared quite simple on paper. No clues. Quite normal if someone wanted to disappear. She’d write her report and then move on quickly to more important issues. This shouldn’t take long and then home to Rothwell and Jeff’s phone call.

She glanced at the clock as she drove into the car park at the Hills and Dales – 35 minutes late. She pulled up alongside Tom’s car on the sodden gravel and glanced sideways at his hound dog hung-over appearance.

Yes, she thought. I do need to have a word sooner rather than later.

William and Susie

Five weeks earlier, late August 2007. Cornfields Place Thrapston.

With shaking hands, Susie Masters slowly folded the letter that had dropped on the doormat that morning containing information that would change hers and William’s life forever. She put it in her dressing gown pocket and sat down on the bed.

‘What day is it?’ Susie tried to sound normal as she called to her husband William. How long could she keep it up?

‘Tuesday of course and I think it’s too hot to go out,’ came the reply from the kitchen. William was pottering around as usual.

The day was stiflingly hot and sultry, and Susie found it difficult to breathe. She needed time to recover from the unusually exhausting weekend they’d had.

William’s cousin from Invercargill New Zealand had been staying for a couple of days before returning home after his extensive tour of Great Britain. You name the town city or stately home and he’d been there – so they had been told repeatedly, in his loud booming voice. Hayden’s visit had certainly left its mark on the Masters’ quiet household, a chalet bungalow in Cornfields Place.

Tuesday was the day Susie and William Masters took a gentle stroll at the Hills and Dales Nature Reserve. Breathing in the sweet smell of the many wildflowers that carpeted the meadow or marvelling at the different types of insects flitting from one plant to another. Examining the various butterflies on the tall purple thistles, or just simply enjoying the tranquillity. This was their life now.

The area was always interesting. It was a favourite haunt – one they never seemed to tire of. A popular place for dog walkers, also families with picnic baskets and schoolchildren with teachers trying to enlighten their charges with flora and fauna.

‘It might be a bit cooler later,’ the voice from the kitchen added.

Susie still kept her part time job at the school helping in the reception class even though she was well into retirement. She also enjoyed one day a week at the charity shop on Thursdays, the days spent away from William were precious to her, a little time for herself, although she knew her husband would be wandering around the house with nothing to do – missing her, she needed a little space from time to time.

‘We’ll see what it’s like later. I’d rather like to take the camera and see if I can get a decent picture of the chalk-hill blue. You never know – it might be a prize winner,’ the voice from the kitchen sounded enthusiastic.

‘Oh no, I get tired waiting for you to take all those photos – especially in this heat.’ Susie rubbed her forehead. ‘You’ve got hundreds of them already.’ William’s passionate butterfly hobby was usually tolerated in good spirit, but not today.

‘Well, you know it’s the heat that attracts them – and the thistles of course.’ Susie thought of William’s lean figure kneeling on the meadow spending ages waiting to catch the exact right moment to take the photo. His physique had hardly changed since they first met in the late fifties. Susie was four years younger than her husband, not that age had ever been an issue between them.

William walked into the bedroom with a glass jug and two tumblers. ‘Here, I’ve brought you a glass of lemonade.’

He sat down opposite his wife in the old chair that had once belonged to his father and sipped his lemonade contentedly. Their peaceful existence had returned when Hayden left allowing them to appreciate the return to normal. These were unspoken words between them.

The word comfortable summed up their relationship. Like most marriages, there had been some disappointment along the way. Susie was unable to have children, and this had only been discovered after many years of trying. This had affected her badly and she suffered from acute depression for several months after hearing the doctor’s verdict. She stopped talking to William completely for a while. It was as though she was in another place.

William watched his wife as she lay there, he noticed she looked tense, not serene as normal.

‘Are you alright?’

‘No, not really. I don’t feel like going out but I know a short walk would do me good. Perhaps when it’s cooler.’

‘Later then. What’s the matter?’

‘Oh nothing,’ Susie sounded rather more irritable than she’d intended.

William shrugged and returned to the kitchen with his empty glass.

When he was out of sight, Susie reached into her dressing gown pocket and put her hand over the envelope, she couldn’t ignore its contents. Her pale hazel eyes filled with tears.

*

Sometime later, William and Susan Masters prepared for their short walk. They closed the windows and locked up the house. Each checking the other’s actions as normal, drove out of Cornfields Place in their Ford Focus and down through Thrapston High Street towards the A14.

Neither had noticed a dilapidated white van with a blowing exhaust waiting at the top of the road which slowly pulled out and followed them.

The occupant of the white van was obediently carrying out his instructions. Today was the day – it had been planned and rehearsed. Today – Tuesday. Everything was ready. The house and the room. The van followed the car along the A14 at a safe distance. There was no danger of losing the Ford Focus for the driver of the van knew exactly where it was going.

William and Susie

The Hills and Dales. The same day.

William drove carefully into the car park at the Nature Reserve and parked in one of the remaining vacant spaces. He removed his camera from its case in the boot and fiddled around for some time before Susie got out of the car. She stood watching him for a moment. He was busy removing the lens cover and replacing it. Changing his mind again, but he was just being Bill and any other day she would be tolerating his idiosyncrasies, but today…

She opened the rear door of the car to pick up her pale yellow jacket from the back.

‘Shall I need this do you think?’ she asked her husband.

‘Umm?’ William was miles away. Susie looked at the sky. ‘I don’t think I’ll bother taking it. I can always come back for it if necessary.’ She waited. ‘Oh, come on whatever are you doing now?’ She was irritated by the delay. William looked at his wife with some concern, she was not normally this short tempered.

Susie looked around her. Most of the picnic tables were occupied by families taking advantage of the late warm summer weather. One lanky teenager was attempting to stuff rubbish into an overfull bin without success. Well, at least he tried thought Susie as she looked at the squashed cans lying around on the ground. The lad glanced her way briefly. Susie looked away quickly hoping he hadn’t noticed her watching him. You couldn’t be too careful these days, he might take exception to being watched, she thought. The young lad turned and went back to his family glancing back over his shoulder as he went.

Neither William nor Susie took any notice of the white van that pulled into the car park and stopped in a space next to the entrance. No one got out.

‘Right, I’m ready now – let’s go.’

The pair made their way through the picnic tables onto the meadow and towards the gate that led down to the wood. The path ran along the perimeter fence of the A14 for a short stretch, noisy and unpleasant for a while, before leading up into the remainder of the park.

‘Let’s get the noisy part over first, then we’ll sit in the sun while I try my luck with this.’ William indicated his camera.

‘OK,’ Susie’s response was lacklustre.

‘Or we can leave it out if you want.’ Bill noticed his wife’s furrowed brow.

‘No, it’s fine.’ She looked at her caring husband and forced a smile, normally it would be good to sit and watch life go by.

On the way to the gate, they passed a young couple tangled round each other in the grass. It was hard to see which bit belonged to whom.

‘Looks like they’re eating each other!’ William shuddered and looked away quickly.

They walked down the steep track to the gullet, a worked-out iron ore pit and stopped briefly to watch a family with two small children walking down in the pit, now a haven for wildlife. The two children running ahead playing a typical childlike game – the parents strolling unconcernedly behind. A normal scene. Susie looked at her husband, were they both thinking the same thing? Could that have been them if things had been different? If they’d had children?

They didn’t talk about it anymore.

Susie felt uncomfortable. She looked behind her but could see no one else within sight. A cool breeze caught the leaves of the nearby silver birch trees that flashed light green and silver in the sunlight. She shivered and wished she had picked up her jacket after all.

They continued into the wood which was cool under the canopy of the mixed deciduous trees. William walked ahead as usual so he could point out the protruding tree roots. Although Susie was quite capable of seeing them herself, it was just something her husband liked to do so she let him get on with it.

The noise of the traffic on the A14 was getting louder. William indicated another tree root with his arm waving behind him shouting over his shoulder. His kindly commands getting louder as they went further into the wood. Susie could hardly hear him.

They’d reached two tall beech trees that stood either side of the path at the point closest to the busy road before the path turned inwards into the quiet park when Susie sensed someone was right behind her. She stopped.

‘Damn!’ She turned slowly – her heart beating so loudly she was sure William would hear it even over the noise of traffic.

Susie found herself staring into an ugly face belonging to a large brute of a man. His stained vest hardly covering his lewd tattoos, his long greasy hair tied back in a ponytail. A nicotine-stained finger with dirty fingernail came up to his lips. The lips pursed, there was no mistaking the demand of the mime. There was no need to bring up the knife in full view of Susie’s face as it had already flashed into her peripheral vision.

The man grasped Susie by the arm and pushed her roughly in front of him, back along the track at an alarming pace. She stumbled on tree roots but was pulled upright and pushed forward once more. She tried desperately to wave her arms to attract William’s attention; her feeble calls of help went unheard under the roar of the A14 traffic.

William didn’t come to her rescue.

When out of the woods and away from the noise, the man put a foul-smelling hand across Susie’s mouth. He moved towards her until their faces were inches apart. Susie stared at his unshaven face.

‘She just wants ter talk right? Then you can go back to yer man.’ Susie nodded, her hazel eyes reflecting her fear.

‘I’m taking me hand down now right? Just do wha’ I say, no trying to get attention.’ Susie nodded again and to her relief the foul-smelling hand was removed. She retched.

The man put a firm arm around Susie’s shoulders and pulled tight. She could feel his sweating rolls of flesh through her light summer dress – she could also feel the knife touching the space between her ribs and hips. Her heart was beating even more loudly as she stumbled up the path to the meadow. They walked past the tangled couple who were recovering from their sexual embraces and the picnickers; she hoped someone would notice, but no one even seemed to glance at the unusual pair.

Susie knew what she was going to say, but what would she be like? Presumably she was in the car park. Once the talk was over, Susie could go back to William. That’s what he’d said hadn’t he? She felt slightly reassured by this.

On passing William’s car, Susie glanced at her jacket lying on the back seat. For some reason, she wished she could reach in and take it as her light pale-blue dress seemed insubstantial now. At this point, she had no idea how much she would miss that jacket.

Susie glanced over her shoulder fully expecting to see Bill following, but he was nowhere to be seen. Her captor pushed her towards the white van parked close to the entrance of the park.

The lanky youth she noticed earlier was looking her way as he loaded the picnic bags into a people carrier. He took a football out of the car and closed the boot. Glancing once again at Susie, he then turned and bounced the ball back to the table and his family. Susie tried to raise her hand but found it forcibly pulled back down by her side.

Susie’s abductor opened the rear doors of the windowless van. Her eyes tried to adjust to the gloom as she peered inside looking for the person she was sure was the writer of the letter she received that morning, but before she had time to register the van was empty, she was roughly pushed into the back. She tried to scream before a piece of tape was stuck across her mouth, but all that escaped was a muffled cry. Her hands and feet were tied together with blue nylon cord and she was pushed down onto a filthy blanket on the floor of the van.

Her captor jumped out and slammed the doors. Susie felt the van rock a little as the cab door slammed and a few seconds later, the engine spluttered into life.

She lay there in terror. There was no she no talk and certainly no letter writer.

William and Dave

The same day.

‘Mind that one as well!’ William shouted as he indicated another tree root. ‘You don’t want a broken ankle at your time of life!’ A comment like this would usually cause good-humoured banter or at least a poke in the back. He waited for the reaction or chided response, but nothing came. ‘Not rising to the bait today then!’ He turned around with a grin on his face and stopped – the path behind him was empty.

‘Susie?’ William shouted above the noise of the traffic as he paced back to the two beech trees that stood either side of the path and looked behind each one. She’s hiding from me as a punishment, he thought. He raised his voice even louder. ‘Susie, are you all right?’ No reply. He looked round both beech trees. ‘Come on – where are you?’

William was confused. He walked a little way back along the track, looking as he did so through the trees to the left and right. Had she gone back to the car? Yes of course she had he thought, she needed her jacket and I bet she forgot her water as well. Why didn’t she say so?

As William walked back to the car park, he thought of asking anyone he passed if they’d seen her, but the strollers were so involved in themselves he felt foolish. He walked more quickly now as he was becoming anxious.

William reached his car but there was still no sign of Susie. He glanced inside – her jacket was still lying on the back seat. William’s heart began to beat faster. He was puzzled. Of course – she didn’t have a car key, there was no need as she didn’t drive so she wouldn’t have come back to the car without asking for it he reasoned.

He stood there not knowing quite what to do next. Maybe she got fed up with me going on, or perhaps she didn’t want to hang around while I took photos, he thought, but she wouldn’t have just walked off – she would have said something wouldn’t she?

He decided to walk back through the woods continuing their planned walk. He was bound to find her chatting to someone for they often met people they knew at the Nature Reserve. William set off in the direction of the meadow.

The country park was full of afternoon strollers enjoying themselves in the warmth of the late summer sun. There was still no sign of Susie, nor did he meet anyone he knew. The longer he searched the more fearful he became.

He was wondering what to do next when the young couple they’d noticed earlier tangled around each other approached him.

‘You all right, mate? Lost your car keys?’

‘Err – no actually I’ve lost my wife.’

‘You’ve what?’ The young man looked sideways at his girlfriend thinking it was a joke but clearly judging by the expression on the older man’s face – it was not.

‘Jesus! When did you last see her?’

William explained the events of the last hour or so.

‘Do you want us to help you look?’ asked the girl with long blonde hair. ‘She must be somewhere around here.’ She waved her hand vaguely around the park.

William looked at the girl. He noticed she had hardly any clothes on. She must be cold he thought. What am I thinking? Concentrate. William stared blankly at the young couple not knowing what to say.

The young man gestured towards him with his mobile phone. ‘Look, if you’re sure she’s not here why don’t you phone her – or your kids or something?’

‘We don’t have any children so there’s no one to call and she doesn’t have one – a phone I mean. We’ve never really seen the need as we’re always together,’ William explained to the couple.

The concept of not owning a mobile phone was obviously too much for the young pair to take in and they looked at each other in amazement. The young man shrugged his shoulders and started to make a call.

‘I’m calling the police,’ he said.

Anxious not to cause a fuss, William tried to stop him. ‘It’s all right really. I’ll just go home and see if she’s there.’ He thought about that – how would she have got home?

‘Hello? Yes!’ the young man spoke into his mobile for a good few minutes. He was trying to explain where he was.

‘Hills and something I think. You know the nature park near – yeah that’s it! Well, this bloke here says he’s lost his wife. She could be lying somewhere – you know. She must be quite old,’ the young man explained turning away from William’s hearing as he spoke. He turned to the older man.

‘Here, they want to speak to you.’ He held out his mobile towards William who took it cautiously and put to his ear. ‘Hello?’

He listened for a few moments then turned away and spoke in a quiet voice into the strange object.

The young girl took her partner’s arm and out of William’s hearing whispered. ‘Poor sod fancy pushing off and leaving him at his time of life.’

‘You don’t know that.’ The young man pulled his arm away annoyed by the comment.

‘It’s obvious, isn’t it? I mean what else could have happened. Someone would have found her if she was lying around somewhere and there’s plenty of people about. He’s looked for her anyway.’ The girl’s cut and dried approach irritated him.

‘It might not be like that – watch out he’s finished.’ The young man turned back to William who was wondering what to do with the contraption in his hand. ‘It’s OK, mate, I’ll take it.’

‘What did they say?’ the girl asked.

‘They told me to wait here. They’re sending someone along to take a statement. What do they mean – a statement? I must get on and try to find her.’

‘Best you do what they say, mate, they probably know what they’re doing.’ The young man glanced sideways at his partner with a small grin.

‘Not!’ The girl grinned back conspiratorially and turned ready to walk away.

‘Thank you for your assistance, I’m sorry to have held you up, you ought to get on.’ William gave a wan smile to the couple. ‘You’ve been very kind.’

‘You sure? Maybe we should wait for the police. They might want to ask us something.’ The young man looked uncomfortable with the idea of walking away.

‘Nah, come on – he’ll be all right. They’ll be here in a minute and we can’t do anything anyway. Bye – hope you get your wife back.’ The girl started to walk away – William instantly forgotten.

The young man hesitated before following. ‘Well, if you want us, we’re at Northampton Uni – Main Campus.’ He turned and followed his girlfriend, so wrapped up in themselves, they’d forgotten to leave their names and William hadn’t thought to ask them.

He stood alone feeling helpless. Whatever was happening to him? The police? He couldn’t remember ever having anything to do with the police personally before. He waited almost an hour by his car in a daze watching other cars leave one by one; his dejected figure standing out amongst the summer walkers drifting away from the park.

After what seemed like a lifetime, a police patrol car turned into the car park and came to a halt next to William’s car. A stocky uniformed figure stepped out.

‘Mr Masters? PC Dave McDonald, sir. I understand you wish to report a possible missing person.’

William stared at the man in front of him. ‘No, not a missing person – it’s my wife; I can’t find her.’

Dave McDonald cleared his throat and opened his notebook. ‘Yes, right sir. I’ll take some notes then.’

‘She – we were walking down by the trees – through there.’ William waved his hand behind him. ‘She was right behind me and then she wasn’t!’

Dave McDonald could see he was unlikely to get anywhere like this. ‘Can I call someone to help you out?’

‘No. We don’t have family. I think she may have fallen and is lying somewhere. I’m really worried…’

‘Yes sir, I can see you are.’ The uniformed police officer asked more questions of William and made several notes then asked him to sit in the police car while he contacted the station. William was aware of a conversation going on, but nothing registered with him.

‘Right, sir, another patrol car is on its way here now and we are going to search the area for the lady you described. If you don’t mind me saying you should go home and wait for us to contact you.’

‘I can’t go home without Susie!’

The policeman sighed. ‘Look, I know you explained she had no house keys, but it might be possible that your wife is already there – at home waiting for you to let her in. Perhaps she felt unwell and got a lift. She may try to contact you – best you be there if that happens, sir.’

William stared at the policeman. ‘Perhaps you’re right. She can’t get in, nor has she ever needed a key before. We always go everywhere together. I was explaining this to the young couple –’

‘Which young couple?’

‘I don’t know the names – they said they were at Northampton University.’

‘Right.’ The PC made some more notes.

‘She’ll be cold – she only had on a light dress. Perhaps, I should go home and get her something warmer.’

‘Now you’re thinking, sir, but you stay there in case she gets in touch with you and we’ll contact you as soon as we can. Drive carefully – you’ve had a shock, so make yourself a cup of tea and put lots of sugar in it.’ The kind policeman smiled at William and gently steered