Read Online A Place of Execution by Val McDermid - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Val McDermid
Tags: Suspense
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she’d give him a quick sidelong look through long lashes.
Even in his younger years, he’d never been comfortable with adolescent girls, a natural result of having a sister three years older whose friends had regarded the fledgling George first as a convenient plaything and later as a marvellous testing ground for the wit and charms they planned to try on older targets. George had sometimes felt like the human equivalent of training wheels on a child’s first bike. The one advantage he’d gained from the experience was that he reckoned he could tell when a teenage girl was lying, which was more than most of the men he knew could manage. But even that certainty faded in the face of Janet Carter’s self-possession.
Her cousin was missing, with all the presumptions that entailed, yet Janet looked as composed as ifAlison had merely nipped out to the shops. Her mother, Maureen, had a noticeably less sure grip on her emotions, her voice trembling when she spoke of her niece, tears in her eyes when she shepherded her three younger children from the room, leaving George to interview Janet. And her father, Ray, was already up and gone, lending his local knowledge to one of the police search parties looking for his dead brother’s child.
‘You probably know Alison better than anybody,’ George said at last, reminding himself to stick with a present tense that seemed increasingly inappropriate.
Janet nodded. ‘We’re like sisters. She’s eight months and two weeks older than me, so we’re in a different class at school. Just like real sisters.’
‘You grew up together here in Scardale?’
Janet nodded, another new moon of toast disappearing between her teeth. ‘The three of us, me and Alison and Derek.’
‘So you’re like best friends as well as cousins?’
‘I’m not her best friend at school because we’re in different classes, but I am at home.’
‘What kind of things do you do?’
Janet’s mouth twisted and furled as she thought for a moment. ‘Nothing much. Some nights Charlie, our big cousin, takes us into Buxton for the roller-skating. Sometimes we go to the shops in Buxton or Leek, but mostly we’re just here. We take the dogs for a walk. Sometimes we help out on the farm if they’re short-handed. All got a record player for her birthday, so a lot of the time me and All and Derek just listen to records up in her room.’
He took a sip of the tea Maureen Carter had left for him, amazed that someone could make stronger tea than the police canteen. ‘Has anything been bothering her?’ he asked. ‘Any problems at home? Or at school?’ Janet raised her head and stared at him, her eyebrows coming together in a frown.
‘She never ran away,’ she said fiercely. ‘Somebody must have took her. All wouldn’t run away.
Why would she? There’s nothing to run away from.’
Maybe not, thought George, startled by her vehemence. But maybe there had been something to run away to. ‘Does Alison have a boyfriend?’ Janet breathed heavily through her nose. ‘Not really. She went to the pictures with this lad from Buxton a couple of times. Alan Milliken. But it wasn’t a date, not really. There was half a dozen of them all went together. She told me he tried to kiss her, but she wasn’t having any. She said that if he thought paying her in to the pictures meant he could do what he liked, he was wrong.’ Janet eyed him defiantly, animated by her outburst. ‘So there isn’t anybody she fancies? Maybe somebody older?’
Janet shook her head. ‘We both fancy Dennis Tanner off Coronation Street, and Paul McCartney out of the Beatles. But that’s just fancying.
There isn’t anybody real that she fancies. She always says boys are boring. All they want to talk about is football and going into outer space on a rocket and what kind of car they’d have if they could drive.’
‘And Derek? Where does he fit in?’
Janet looked puzzled. ‘Derek’s just…Derek. Anyway, he’s got spots.
You
Even in his younger years, he’d never been comfortable with adolescent girls, a natural result of having a sister three years older whose friends had regarded the fledgling George first as a convenient plaything and later as a marvellous testing ground for the wit and charms they planned to try on older targets. George had sometimes felt like the human equivalent of training wheels on a child’s first bike. The one advantage he’d gained from the experience was that he reckoned he could tell when a teenage girl was lying, which was more than most of the men he knew could manage. But even that certainty faded in the face of Janet Carter’s self-possession.
Her cousin was missing, with all the presumptions that entailed, yet Janet looked as composed as ifAlison had merely nipped out to the shops. Her mother, Maureen, had a noticeably less sure grip on her emotions, her voice trembling when she spoke of her niece, tears in her eyes when she shepherded her three younger children from the room, leaving George to interview Janet. And her father, Ray, was already up and gone, lending his local knowledge to one of the police search parties looking for his dead brother’s child.
‘You probably know Alison better than anybody,’ George said at last, reminding himself to stick with a present tense that seemed increasingly inappropriate.
Janet nodded. ‘We’re like sisters. She’s eight months and two weeks older than me, so we’re in a different class at school. Just like real sisters.’
‘You grew up together here in Scardale?’
Janet nodded, another new moon of toast disappearing between her teeth. ‘The three of us, me and Alison and Derek.’
‘So you’re like best friends as well as cousins?’
‘I’m not her best friend at school because we’re in different classes, but I am at home.’
‘What kind of things do you do?’
Janet’s mouth twisted and furled as she thought for a moment. ‘Nothing much. Some nights Charlie, our big cousin, takes us into Buxton for the roller-skating. Sometimes we go to the shops in Buxton or Leek, but mostly we’re just here. We take the dogs for a walk. Sometimes we help out on the farm if they’re short-handed. All got a record player for her birthday, so a lot of the time me and All and Derek just listen to records up in her room.’
He took a sip of the tea Maureen Carter had left for him, amazed that someone could make stronger tea than the police canteen. ‘Has anything been bothering her?’ he asked. ‘Any problems at home? Or at school?’ Janet raised her head and stared at him, her eyebrows coming together in a frown.
‘She never ran away,’ she said fiercely. ‘Somebody must have took her. All wouldn’t run away.
Why would she? There’s nothing to run away from.’
Maybe not, thought George, startled by her vehemence. But maybe there had been something to run away to. ‘Does Alison have a boyfriend?’ Janet breathed heavily through her nose. ‘Not really. She went to the pictures with this lad from Buxton a couple of times. Alan Milliken. But it wasn’t a date, not really. There was half a dozen of them all went together. She told me he tried to kiss her, but she wasn’t having any. She said that if he thought paying her in to the pictures meant he could do what he liked, he was wrong.’ Janet eyed him defiantly, animated by her outburst. ‘So there isn’t anybody she fancies? Maybe somebody older?’
Janet shook her head. ‘We both fancy Dennis Tanner off Coronation Street, and Paul McCartney out of the Beatles. But that’s just fancying.
There isn’t anybody real that she fancies. She always says boys are boring. All they want to talk about is football and going into outer space on a rocket and what kind of car they’d have if they could drive.’
‘And Derek? Where does he fit in?’
Janet looked puzzled. ‘Derek’s just…Derek. Anyway, he’s got spots.
You
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