Take Two (A psychological thriller)

She laughed again and squeezed his arm. ‘Now that would be crazy.’ She took her mobile phone out of her handbag. ‘I suppose I’d better see who that was.’

‘Somebody called you?’

‘I had the phone on vibrate,’ she said.  ‘They called three times. Almost gave me an orgasm the third time.’ She laughed at the look of astonishment on his face. ‘Joke,’ she said. ‘But chance would be a fine thing.’ She tapped on the screen and then held the phone to her ear. ‘At least they left a message,’ she said. She frowned as she listened, then her mouth opened wide and she waved at Richards. ‘It was Carolyn,’ she mouthed.

Richards stared at her, his mind whirling. Carolyn? That was impossible. He forced himself to stay calm as he watched her listen intently to the message.

‘I can’t believe I missed her,’ she said eventually.

‘Call her back,’ said Richards.

Jenny shook her head. ‘She withheld the number.’

‘Can I hear her what she said?’

‘Sure,’ said Jenny. She tapped on the screen and held out the phone.

Richards put it to his ear and listened. ‘Hi, Jenny, this is Carolyn. Yeah, I’m sorry I wasn’t at the airport to pick you up.  I’ve had a pretty rough few weeks and I just need some me time. I’ve booked myself into a clinic – they don’t want to say which one – and I’ll be incognito for another week. I’m already feeling a lot better. Anyway, I’ve got to go. You be good, okay?’ There was a beep and the message ended.

‘Well at least we know that she’s okay,’ said Jenny, taking back the phone and slipping it into her handbag.

‘Absolutely,’ said Richards. He took a deep breath and tried to fight the panic that was threatening to overwhelm him. Carolyn wasn’t okay. She was in a trunk at the bottom of the North Sea. So how the hell had she made the phone call.

‘Are you okay, Warwick?’ asked Jenny. ‘You look as white as a sheet.’

Richards grimaced and rubbed his stomach. ‘Feeling a bit queasy,’ he said. ‘Too much Cristal last night.’

‘You need to watch that,’ she said. ‘Too much bubbly can be bad for you.’ She smiled brightly. ‘Right, are you going to run me home? I feel like I need a shower after mingling with the great unwashed.’

CHAPTER 91

Biddulph and Marriott showed their warrant cards to the security guard at the entrance to the studio car park and he told them where to leave their car.   ‘What’s the plan this time?’ asked Marriott as Biddulph parked the car. ‘Do we do good cop, bad cop again?’  It was Monday morning, a cold day with grey skies threatening rain.

‘No problem, I’ve brought my Taser,’ said Biddulph as he parked and switched off the engine. ‘If she doesn’t come clean, I’ll Taser her.’ He flashed her a tight smile to show he was joking.

They went through to reception and asked to speak to Jenny Hall.  The receptionist made a call and a few minutes later Paul Day appeared.  He shook their hands and asked them why they needed to talk to Jenny.

‘It’s part of our ongoing investigation,’ said Biddulph.

‘To do with Carolyn?’ asked Day.

‘Connected with Miss Castle, yes,’ said Biddulph. ‘She hasn’t contacted you then?’

Day shook his head. ‘No. It’s been a week and we’re starting to get worried.’

‘Has she been missing for a week before?’

‘No, never more than a few days.’

‘Have you reported her as officially missing?’

‘The thing is, sometimes when you go into rehab the first thing they do is cut off all contact with the outside world. We’d look pretty stupid if we said she was missing and then she turns up at the Priory. And it’s not as if there are any suspicious circumstances.’

‘Some people might say a sudden disappearance is suspicious,’ said the inspector.

‘I know. ‘ Day rubbed his chin. ‘I’ll talk to Carolyn’s agent and see what he has to say. ‘Now you want Jenny, right?’

‘Just a few words, yes.’

‘She’s in make-up, between scenes,’ said the producer.  ‘I’ll take you through.’

He went with them through the double doors and down a corridor and pushed open a door.  Jenny was sitting in a chair while Tracey, the make-up artist, was applying mascara.

‘Jenny, darling, there are two police officers here want a word,’ said Day. ‘They were in to see your sister a while back.’

Jenny smiled at the two detectives in the mirror. ‘Inspector Biddulph and Sergeant Marriott, nice to see you,’ she said.

‘You know them?’ asked Day.

‘We went around to Carolyn’s house last week,’ said Marriott.

 ‘I don’t want to be a pain, but do you have any idea how long this is going to take?’ asked the producer. ‘We’re about to start a new scene.’

‘It’s as long as a piece of string, I’m afraid,’ said Biddulph.

‘I was hoping for something more specific actually,’ said Day. He patted Jenny on the shoulder. ‘We can shoot Seb’s close-ups and a few cutaways, so I can give you an hour. But try to cut it as short as you can.’ He nodded at the detectives and left the room.

Biddulph looked at the make-up artist. ‘We’d actually prefer to talk to Miss Castle privately,’ he said.

‘I’ll grab a coffee,’ she said.

‘Can you get me one, Tracey? Cappuccino? Two sugars.’