back to Lynda Korin. ‘So, you check on this place – what? – three times a week, is that right?’
‘That’s right. I’m not always here to open up at the start of the day like this, though. Sometimes I get here last thing at night, or at lunchtime. That’s why the gate’s on a timer – if I’m not here at this hour, it opens automatically five minutes after sunrise, and then closes again thirty minutes after dark. If your car gets stuck, tough luck. We warn people about it.’ He gestured to the board on the cabin. ‘It don’t really matter when I come, as long as I make sure everything’s in order when I get here. To be honest with you, I never even realized she’d left her car here permanently – abandoned it, I mean – until quite a while after.’
I nodded, looking back at the car park.
‘Nice lady, that one.’
Instantly, I tuned back in again. ‘What was that?’
‘She came here a few times, is all.’
‘You mean, before she disappeared?’
‘Oh yeah,’ he said. ‘I saw her maybe five, six times.’
‘Did you tell the police that?’
‘Yeah, course I did.’
But that piece of information hadn’t been in DC White’s missing persons report. Why? Perhaps because he didn’t think it was important. Perhaps because it wasn’t important. She’d been here before – so what? Because it meant she knew this place – or had got to know it. Or it meant she’d returned for some other reason .
I thought of the engraving on the tree.
‘Did she ever meet anyone here?’
‘Not that I saw – but I suppose it might have been possible she did on the days I wasn’t working.’
‘So what did she do while you were here?’
He shrugged, looking across the roof of the car to where the steps led down to the peninsula.
‘She’d go for walks out on the headland,’ he said, ‘or sometimes just sit in her car. She’d always say hello to me if we crossed paths, though, and a couple of times we had a nice chat. I liked her. Lynda, her name was.’
‘Do you remember what you chatted about?’
‘I don’t know, really. Just stuff.’ He paused, raising his left hand. There was a gold wedding band on his ring finger. ‘Unfortunately, my missus passed on a few years back. Liver problems. So I like talking to people and getting to know them ’cos … well, y’know.’
I’m lonely.
‘And you got to know Lynda?’
‘I don’t know about got to know her, but we talked.’
‘Did she tell you much about herself?’
‘She said she’d been married once, that she lived somewhere out on the Mendips. I think she said she was an accountant. We shared some coffee out of my flask one time when she turned up early in the morning and it was cold – but don’t get me wrong, we weren’t best of friends or nothing. We just chatted.’
‘She ever mention anything about a Lake Calhoun to you?’
He frowned. ‘A what?’
‘Lake Calhoun.’
‘Is that a lake round here?’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ I said. ‘So, soon after that, she abandoned her car?’
‘Yeah. A few days after she disappeared, I came late in the day and it was parked up over there.’ He pointed to the corner, close to where I’d followed the trail into the trees. ‘Itwas a Thursday, I think. Anyway, I recognized her car, but couldn’t see her anywhere. I didn’t think much of it. I just figured she was out on the headland somewhere. I had a couple more calls to make on my rota, so I left pretty soon after. Week following that, I was on holiday, and then I came back on the Sunday; so – what? – nearly two weeks after she disappears. Again, I see her car, but there’s no sign of her. So when I returned on the Monday and found her car in the same place and no sign of her, I went looking for her, out of curiosity, I suppose. I mean, I didn’t think she’d just leave it here like that. But when I didn’t find her, I started to worry for her, y’know? So I called the coppers.’
I glanced in my rear-view
‘That’s right. I’m not always here to open up at the start of the day like this, though. Sometimes I get here last thing at night, or at lunchtime. That’s why the gate’s on a timer – if I’m not here at this hour, it opens automatically five minutes after sunrise, and then closes again thirty minutes after dark. If your car gets stuck, tough luck. We warn people about it.’ He gestured to the board on the cabin. ‘It don’t really matter when I come, as long as I make sure everything’s in order when I get here. To be honest with you, I never even realized she’d left her car here permanently – abandoned it, I mean – until quite a while after.’
I nodded, looking back at the car park.
‘Nice lady, that one.’
Instantly, I tuned back in again. ‘What was that?’
‘She came here a few times, is all.’
‘You mean, before she disappeared?’
‘Oh yeah,’ he said. ‘I saw her maybe five, six times.’
‘Did you tell the police that?’
‘Yeah, course I did.’
But that piece of information hadn’t been in DC White’s missing persons report. Why? Perhaps because he didn’t think it was important. Perhaps because it wasn’t important. She’d been here before – so what? Because it meant she knew this place – or had got to know it. Or it meant she’d returned for some other reason .
I thought of the engraving on the tree.
‘Did she ever meet anyone here?’
‘Not that I saw – but I suppose it might have been possible she did on the days I wasn’t working.’
‘So what did she do while you were here?’
He shrugged, looking across the roof of the car to where the steps led down to the peninsula.
‘She’d go for walks out on the headland,’ he said, ‘or sometimes just sit in her car. She’d always say hello to me if we crossed paths, though, and a couple of times we had a nice chat. I liked her. Lynda, her name was.’
‘Do you remember what you chatted about?’
‘I don’t know, really. Just stuff.’ He paused, raising his left hand. There was a gold wedding band on his ring finger. ‘Unfortunately, my missus passed on a few years back. Liver problems. So I like talking to people and getting to know them ’cos … well, y’know.’
I’m lonely.
‘And you got to know Lynda?’
‘I don’t know about got to know her, but we talked.’
‘Did she tell you much about herself?’
‘She said she’d been married once, that she lived somewhere out on the Mendips. I think she said she was an accountant. We shared some coffee out of my flask one time when she turned up early in the morning and it was cold – but don’t get me wrong, we weren’t best of friends or nothing. We just chatted.’
‘She ever mention anything about a Lake Calhoun to you?’
He frowned. ‘A what?’
‘Lake Calhoun.’
‘Is that a lake round here?’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ I said. ‘So, soon after that, she abandoned her car?’
‘Yeah. A few days after she disappeared, I came late in the day and it was parked up over there.’ He pointed to the corner, close to where I’d followed the trail into the trees. ‘Itwas a Thursday, I think. Anyway, I recognized her car, but couldn’t see her anywhere. I didn’t think much of it. I just figured she was out on the headland somewhere. I had a couple more calls to make on my rota, so I left pretty soon after. Week following that, I was on holiday, and then I came back on the Sunday; so – what? – nearly two weeks after she disappears. Again, I see her car, but there’s no sign of her. So when I returned on the Monday and found her car in the same place and no sign of her, I went looking for her, out of curiosity, I suppose. I mean, I didn’t think she’d just leave it here like that. But when I didn’t find her, I started to worry for her, y’know? So I called the coppers.’
I glanced in my rear-view
Similar Books
