Dreams of Origami Read Online Free PDF Page B

it?’
    ‘Well, Wadsworth is going to check it out this morning. If it’s made official, they’ll be putting an appeal out on the radio at lunchtime, asking the public for information. Of course the police will have to ask the wife if she has any objection to them seeking media support.’
    ‘Yeah, I know the procedure. It’s usually no problem. In fact, they’d be bloody suspicious if she refused.’
    ‘The officer said we can put it in today’s edition if we get clearance in time. He’ll phone you straight away. I’ve already submitted a brief account along with their official photograph, but I’d like to cover it more fully. Get an interview with the wife if possible.’
    ‘If he’s still missing.’
    ‘Yes, if he’s still missing.’
    ‘Well, you could try.’ He glances at her article again. ‘No, not a bad idea at all. If the wife’s in a bit of a state, she might respond to a bit of sympathy and understanding. See if you can get the personal angle.What’s it like suddenly losing someone out of the blue? How she’s coping with the situation? What’s going through her mind? I’m sure you’ll know how to handle it.’
    ‘I should think so. In fact, you could say we have a lot in common.’ Lacey snatches up her bag and walks out of the office, allowing the door to swing shut with a bang.
    Jack stares at the door. ‘What’s got into her?’
    ‘Sensitivity never was your strong point, was it?’ says Grant as he wanders over to the coffee machine. ‘Lot in common? Understand how she feels? That woman isn’t the only one to have suddenly lost her husband, is she Jack?’
    Lacey heads for the car park, more angry with herself than with Jack. She had no business letting a few careless words throw her like that. Of course Jack didn’t mean anything; it was the last thing on his mind, as it should have been with her by now. In the car she takes a moment to calm down. A few deep breaths—slowly, slowly—get a grip. Try to concentrate on something here and now. She glances at her notes on the disappearance. The man left the house suddenly, without informing his wife and with no apparent means of departing from the area. Yes, well the world’s full of women whose husbands walk out on them, or divorce them, or…or just die without telling them first. But you don’t expect men of thirty-five to have heart attacks, do you?
    She scoops her hair up into a knot, pokes a few pins into it, and then looks at her notes again. The address: Bell House—yes, that big place set back from the road before you get to the cottages. Drew said it used to be a school. Something about this feels like a good story, and she shifts into reporter mode regardless of Jack’s foot-in-the-mouth sensitivity. First, she’ll go to Fenbridge, the scene of last night’s shop break-in, and from there it’s only a shortcut across to Covington and Gainsborough Street. She’ll talk with the shop owner about the whole issue of security and crime prevention when you’re trying to run a small family business. It might be just her perception, but she seemsto have been following up a lot of incidents in this area in recent months—petty theft, vandalism—probably the same group of lads the police caught last night. She’ll trawl for some figures when she gets back to the office. She starts the car and heads out to the north side of the city.
    The shop owner is in despair and is only too eager to talk to anyone prepared to listen. By the time Lacey is ready to leave Fenbridge, it is past noon. She gives Jack a ring to check the publicity clearance on the missing-person case. Yes, the man is still missing, and they were given the OK in time to include the report in today’s edition. So her next destination is Gainsborough Street. Drew is working locally, and he may be home for lunch. She decides to call in on him first, as he probably knows the people from the schoolhouse.
    It seems to be getting even colder as she heads towards