“Last year,” he glanced up at me from beneath his fringe, “well – I tried. It was awful. It was my mother I asked. My father’s dead now. She, she just acted like I hadn’t spoken. Completely ignored me. And when I repeated myself, asked her to tell me why Jennifer had never been home then she got really angry. She lost her temper and started talking about how I’d promised never to mention that name in this house again and had I no respect for her feelings and men she started crying. She never cries,” his face told me how uncomfortable he’d been. “I had to leave it alone.”
“So, what does she think of you hiring a private detective to find your sister?”
“She doesn’t know”
Heigh ho. “She may have to.”
His eyes widened.
“It might be impossible to trace your sister without talking to your mother. She’s going to have a lot more information about where Jennifer may have gone, who her friends were, all that. Missing persons can be very hard to trace without good leads. Where would I start? Do you know what university she went to?”
“No.”
“Can you remember who her friends were?”
“There was one I remember, Lisa, she lived at the old vicarage. The others…there was a Carol, I think.”
“But your mother would know where she lived and what her surname was, wouldn’t she?”
“I don’t want you to talk to her,” assertive in spite of his nervousness.
“Sometimes people will open up more easily to a stranger, you know. They’re not losing face in the same way, there’s no shared history of how things have to be.”
“No, not yet. If it becomes impossible, like you say then maybe…but can’t you just try first? I’m sure there are some things I can find out – names of people you could talk to, that sort of thing.”
“OK. You see, I really do need an idea of whereabouts to look – I can try electoral rolls for example but do I start in Manchester or London or Edinburgh? Without an area to focus on it’s a waste of time, to be honest.”
“But if I got you the names of her old friends, people who might know where she could have gone…”
“Yes, that would help. However from what you’ve said, it sounds as though your mother wouldn’t want to see Jennifer even if we did trace her.”
“I know,” he stared at the floor, “but it’s not just that. It’s true, I think Jennifer has a right to know that Mother’s dying and she should be able to try and make contact if she wants, to write or call, before it’s too late. But there’s the house as well, you see. Jennifer will be entitled to half of it, and there’s money left from Father’s estate.”
