‘We can’t find her,’ Milo admitted, his voice tense. ‘I was just about to ring you. She isn’t in her bungalow, she isn’t in the hotel, or in the grounds, we’ve just searched them thoroughly.’
Cold sweat stood out on Alex’s temples. ‘When was she last seen?’
‘A security man saw her going down to the beach to swim, as usual, at around six thirty. We found her robe, sandals and towel on the sand. But there’s no sign of her.’ His voice soothed. ‘She’s an excellent swimmer. The tide is running fast, but if she got swept off course she might have made land further along the coast and be trying to get back here on foot.’
Alex’s mind worked fast and anxiously. ‘Get some boats out, look for her, out to sea and along the coast. Get the coastguards involved and the police. Tell them why we’re very concerned. Tell them she’s a witness in a British murder trial, and someone could have harmed her. I’m coming back at once. I’ll fly, it takes too long by boat. I should be with you in a couple of hours.’
If she had been murdered he would never forgive himself.
Neil Maddrell arrived at the hotel to be met by Alex, looking pale and haggard. As their eyes met Neil felt fear strike him.
‘What’s happened?’
‘Miranda,’ Alex said, confirming Neil’s worst fear.
‘What? What?’
‘She’s vanished. We think she went swimming. She may have drowned, or . . .’
‘Or?’
‘A small boat was seen coming into our bay by a fisherman. They could have picked her up, abducted her.’
‘Or killed her,’ Neil whispered, white to his hairline.
Alex didn’t answer but his sigh said all that needed to be said.
‘Have you contacted the local police?’
‘Of course. They’ve searched the island too, but found nothing. And the coastguard have been up and down in their boat, looking out for any sign of her. It was them who got word of a strange boat coming inland. On a small island like this somebody always sees something. A fisherman, mending his nets outside his cottage, keeps looking at the sea – it’s their instinct, their habit. And old women, widows who’ve lost men at sea, they look too and talk to neighbours.’
‘Thank God they do. Nosy neighbours are a great help to the police.’
Alex smiled at Neil. ‘Thank God, yes. We need them. The police have been in touch with other islands, with the mainland, asking everyone to keep an eye open for this boat, but we don’t know where it came from or where it was going. If it slips back into some tiny port it left at dawn this morning, nobody will think twice about it.’
Neil hesitated, biting his lower lip, then blurted out, ‘I don’t like the Finnigan family’s way of drowning people who become inconvenient to them.’
Alex shut his eyes, groaned. ‘I know. Do you think that hasn’t occurred to me? Terry was in my office talking of coming over here to Delephores when he got a phone call and suddenly changed his mind, went rushing off to the airport. I wish to God I knew what he was told on the phone. Was the caller a man he had hired to deal with Miranda?’
Neil breathed hoarsely, ‘And is she alive now? That’s what I can’t stop thinking about, that’s what’s scaring the life out of me. Finnigan doesn’t want her testifying against his boy.’
‘Will the case collapse if she isn’t there to give evidence?’
‘It will be a nuisance to us, but not a disaster. There’s too much forensic evidence to show motive and probability. After all, who else had the opportunity to wrap the girl’s body in carpet left over when the Finnigans had it laid in their flat? Oh, the boy won’t get off, but Terry Finnigan may think he will. He may believe if he gets rid of Miranda he will save his son.’
‘If that boy gets off and Miranda was killed, I’ll kill him myself,’ Alex grimly said.
Neil said nothing but his expression was just as bleak.
Terry Finnigan flew home and went straight to the office to do some work. He rang Edward Dearing first and heard that Sean was now in prison but he could visit him at certain times.
‘You have to ask permission, first. I’ll take care of that, get you an appointment.’ Edward paused. ‘How did your trip to Greece go? Everything settled satisfactorily?’
‘Yes,’ Terry said curtly and rang off a moment later.
The atmosphere in the office was charged. Nobody was looking at him, people’s eyes slid away when he spoke to them. His son’s name was not mentioned, yet he knew what they were all thinking about, no doubt whispering about, when he wasn’t around.
An hour after he arrived his secretary walked in rather self-consciously and handed him an envelope.