Deadly Lies

a trail? Would they identify a suspect? And meanwhile the family would be dragged through hours of agony. Tom was about to suggest Alice and Mrs Hardman lie down when the doorbell rang. It was the next-door neighbour, Natalie. A uniformed officer accompanied Natalie to the lounge and she went to hug Joan.
‘Please accept my condolences,’ Natalie said. ‘I’m so sorry you lost your husband.’
‘He died trying to save them. Does it sound stupid when I say it gives me some comfort?’ Joan said.
Alice was still in her evening dress. ‘I can’t take it in about Dad. Lisa and Emily are all I can think about. Is there something wrong with me?’
‘It’s perfectly normal, Mrs Glover,’ Ruby said. ‘You’re in shock and you’ve got a great deal to cope with. It might be a good idea for you to take some rest because you’re going to need your stamina for the time ahead.’
Tom didn’t want to mention they might need stamina for the coming days rather than hours. The worst kidnap cases were the ones which took weeks to resolve.
Alice nodded and Natalie helped her up and guided her out of the room.
‘My poor Alice,’ Joan said. ‘This is a nightmare. If Ronnie hadn’t suffered a heart attack he would have punched that man’s lights out and then my grandchildren would be safe.’
Joan Hardman seemed to have aged. She must have collected a change of clothes because she wore jogging trousers and sweatshirt rather than her night clothes as she had at the time of the abduction. She had platinum blonde hair, which was dyed, Tom presumed. At better times, she was probably striking looking, as Alice was and the children too.
Joan had gone back to staring out of the window.
‘I wonder if you could tell me more about Hardman Construction and your husband,’ Tom said. ‘A bit more background would be helpful.’
‘I’m not sure I’ve the energy.’
‘There might be a clue somewhere which could lead us to the abductor. The more information we can gather, the greater our chances.’
‘You’re very persuasive, detective. Something tells me you’re rather good at your job.’
When Joan started talking she had a faraway look in her eyes. She told Tom she’d met Ronnie forty years earlier when she worked as a secretary at Ronnie’s fledgling company.
‘Falling for the boss is a cliché, isn’t it,’ she said. ‘Like something you see in films, and believe it or not it’s what happened for me and Ronnie. I knew it the moment I saw him and we’ve been happily married ever since. I think it’s why Ronnie warmed to Jack – because Alice met Jack in the same way as us. She was a secretary and she fell for Jack when he joined Hardman Construction as a new manager.’
Hardman Construction had grown from being Ronnie on his own, then to a handful of workers and now to a successful company employing over fifty people. It covered Sussex county and a portion of neighbouring Surrey. Jack was in charge of the business and Joan, Ronnie, Jack and Alice owned the company equally between them.
‘Ronnie was a workaholic. Before he retired, Alice and I didn’t see much of him outside vacation times. That’s why it’s touching seeing him play with Emily and Lisa because he was never so close to Alice. The truth is, he was a bit of a stranger to his own daughter.’
Ruby was working on her laptop. She glanced up. ‘I wonder what Alice thinks of that.’
‘She’s never mentioned it. When she was younger she was always close to her Uncle Phil, that’s Ronnie’s brother, or she was until Ronnie and his brother fell out.’
‘What happened?’ Ruby asked.
‘Ronnie’s always been the hard worker. He got where he is by years of long gruelling hours not by luck and Philip, who’s younger than Ronnie, didn’t have the same drive. Anyway, Phil set up a retail business which got into financial difficulties and when he asked Ronnie for help it was Alice who persuaded Ronnie to lend her Uncle Phil money. Unfortunately it all went south. Phil went bankrupt and Ronnie lost the cash he’d ploughed in and it was a big load Phil had borrowed. And then to make it even worse, many years later the same thing happened to Phil’s son, Harry. It was like a repeating nightmare. Harry set up in business and after a few years he got into debt and he asked Ronnie for help just like Phil did. Harry hoped Uncle Ronnie would bail him out, but this time, Ronnie refused. Poor Harry went bust and he ended up going to prison.’
‘That’s quite a story,’ Ruby said. ‘And you still all get on?’
‘Are you kidding me? Ronnie and I haven’t spoken to Phil or his son for years, though I think Alice keeps in contact with her Uncle Phil. The only family Ronnie was interested in was Emily and Lisa. He spoils those children silly. Ronnie bought ridiculous amounts of things for them and paid for riding and dance lessons and clothes galore.’
Tom made a mental note to find out Alice’s point of view on that one. And to flag up Phil and Harry Hardman with DCI Grant.
Joan lowered her voice. ‘There’s something else I need to tell you and I know Jack doesn’t want to mention it. Could we speak in the conservatory?’
Tom followed her through to the hothouse. It was humid and full of giant plants – cactuses and ferns and exotic ones Tom didn’t know the names of. Some of the cactuses were covered in bright orange flowers and others had huge spikes which he carefully manoeuvred around. Joan was installed on a wicker chair.
‘It’s very nice in here,’ he said. ‘Reminds me of Kew Gardens.’
‘I know. It’s Alice’s little haven and she’s very proud of it. Our gardener gets advice from one of the gardeners at Kew.’
It made sense the Glovers paid for it to be done for them. Tom couldn’t imagine Alice actually getting her hands dirty.
‘You’re