Read Online Voodoo, Lies, and Murder by Sibel Hodge - Free Book Online

of Chantal's disappearance was suspicious since she was due to get the money in ten days, and if something happened to her…well, the money reverted to Daddy Langton.
    Romeo shrugged. "At the moment we have no cause to look into any of his possible financial problems, but I'm sure Hacker would be able to." He raised an eyebrow.
    I filled Romeo in on the trust fund. "Hacker's working on James Langton's financial accounts at the moment."
    "So, what, you think James killed Chantal to get his hands on the money?"
    I shrugged. "It's possible. If his business really is in trouble, a three-million-pound cash injection could be just what he needs. But I think there's more going on." I showed him the love letter. "You can keep it, I've got a copy."
    "Bloody search officers missed this." Romeo read it, shaking his head.
    "And I think she could've been pregnant." I told him about the pregnancy test, the card for the Second Chance Clinic, and the Holbrook Clinic's name written on the back.
    "Maybe Steven lied to you about not seeing her lately because they were still having sex and she got herself pregnant. The Second Chance Clinic works with a lot of prostitutes," Romeo said. "They offer birth control, STD screening and treatment, and terminations. I've never heard of the Holbrook Clinic."
    "Well, from what Hacker dug up on their website, it's not clear exactly what kind of procedures they carry out."
    "I'll look into it, too." He read the letter again. "So, who's the guy?"
    "I'm going to get Dad to check out Steven's handwriting to see if it's from him."
    "Does your dad know him, then?"
    "He's doing a neighborhood watch stakeout at Burger Land. Apparently, someone's stealing from the till." I rolled my eyes at him.
    "I bet your mum's pleased." He grinned. "Not."
    "Hmmm. Still, at least it's stopping him from getting bored."
    "Somehow, I can't see Chantal having an abortion at this Second Chance Clinic. Maybe she was just getting advice."
    "Or maybe she wanted to go somewhere no one recognized her because she didn't want her parents finding out, or the wife of her one-night stand, if he was a married guy." I downed the rest of my drink and licked my lips. "And I don't know how her being pregnant ties into this yet, if at all."
    Romeo gazed at the lip-licking with a lazy grin.
    I stopped abruptly in case I gave him any ideas. "What about the disappearance of Liza Bennet? Chantal was obviously upset about it and had started trying to find out what happened to her. Do you really have no leads on it?"
    Romeo sighed. "I wasn't working her case, but I looked into it. Liza's an investigative journalist. Apparently, she was working on a big story, but her editor and colleagues didn't know what it was. She left the office one day to meet a so-called source and was never seen again."
    I sat back, fingers tapping the table, thinking. "She just vanished? Like Chantal? It has to be something to do with the story she was working on."
    "Liza kept all the notes for her stories on her laptop, which has never been found, either."
    "And she never told anyone what she was working on?"
    "No. She was paranoid about someone else stealing her scoop."
    "Maybe Chantal managed to find out what happened to her."
    "Seems likely. We checked Liza's phone records. Most of the numbers checked out okay, but there was one number she called on the day she disappeared that we couldn't trace an owner for. It's a pay-as-you-go mobile so it could belong to anyone."
    My heart did a little tap dance. "What was the number?"
    He told me.
    It was the same number I'd got from Hacker that Chantal had called the day she'd gone missing.
    "Have you tried ringing it?" I asked.
    He nodded. "Loads of times. It just rings and rings. No answer and no voicemail."
    "Damn."
    "Exactly."
    "So we now have two girls who've disappeared in suspicious circumstances and they both called the same mobile number," I said, knowing there was no way we could ever trace an owner for a throwaway phone. "You