The Parked Car

What was the empty car doing in the car park?

THE PARKED CAR

 

The rain, coupled with the freezing cold, created a bleak and miserable Christmas time. The river behind the car park and the leafless trees dripping with rain water, added even more misery to an already down-time for many. Apart from all the wet and cold it was dark, but it wasn’t late. The bad weather was the reason why there were so few people out that night when Preston went looking for Anita, his girl friend. Preston had been out of town on business when Anita had gone missing. Her friends, Lysette and Patricia, had said nothing to him about not having seen Anita for a week. Preston had arrived at the flat he shared with Anita, to see that there was no evidence of her having been there for some time. There were no dishes in the sink or on the counter waiting to be washed up. Everything was spic and span, just as he and Anita liked it. He looked around the flat for a note to find out where she might be, and then he rang up her closest friends. He called her mobile phone and it rang, but nobody answered. Preston tried several times, and then a male voice answered and said, “Hello, did you ring this number a few minutes ago?”

“Yes, I did. The phone you’re answering is my partner’s number. Where are you and where is she?”

“I’m the car park attendant at Riverside Shopping Centre car park, and when I heard the phone I broke into the car with my special key. The car’s been here for nearly a week now. Are you going to come and claim it?” the attendant asked.

“Yes, I’m on my way. I have a key to drive it, but perhaps it might be a better idea to tell the police. Anyhow, I’ll be over there soon.”

It then occurred to Preston that they hadn’t exchanged names. He went down to the garage beneath the building, got into his large black car, and drove over to the Riverside Shopping car park. The scene was not very encouraging to do any walking around. Although the shopping centre was quite close, the car park was in total darkness, except for the light coming from the attendant’s small office. Preston got out of the car and walked up to the office and knocked on the door.

A small man opened the door, and said, “Are you the man who rang me a short while ago?”

“Yes, I am. My name is Preston, and you are?”

“I’m Jerome, the car park attendant. The car you’re interested in is over there at the far end.”

“Thank you very much. You needn’t come out in this weather. Stay inside in the warm. I’ll go alone,” Preston said, as he strolled across the soaking wet car park. He felt even more depressed than when he’d got back to the flat to find Anita missing. Everything was black and wet. The rain had no intention of stopping, and he felt worse than miserable as he moved closer to Anita’s car. The small vehicle was a pathetic sight, standing all alone on that most miserable of nights. Preston got out her car key, and opened the driver’s door. He sat in her seat and looked around him. He searched methodically in all the places where there might have been an explanation of where she might have gone. There were sweets, tissues, and a bottle of water in the glove compartment. There was the ticket for the car park dated five days ago.

Preston was a man who never left anything to chance, so he rang the local police informing them of Anita’s disappearance, and her car having been found in the Riverside Shopping car park for five days. The sergeant on duty, said that a car would be over there shortly. Preston got out of Anita’s car and walked back to the attendant’s office.

“I found the ticket dated for when the car was left here. I’ve rung the police and they should be here in no time at all,” Preston said to Jerome, who was preparing some coffee for the pair of them.

“There’s some cake too if you’d like some,” Jerome offered Preston, who took a large Danish pastry gratefully, as he hadn’t had anything to eat since arriving back from his business trip, only to find Anita missing, and her car parked in a place he had never seen or visited before.

The police made their arrival felt by knocking on the office door. Jerome opened the door and invited them in. Preston was introduced to them. “Where’s the car at the moment?” the young policeman asked.

“It’s over there, on the far side of the car park. I’ll accompany you,” Jerome said.

“You needn’t come out in this weather. We’ll put a police-tape round it and come back in the morning. Did you remove anything from the car, Sir?” the older policeman asked Preston.

“No, I most certainly did not. Everything’s as Anita left it, unless someone else has broken into it,” Preston answered indignantly.

“What about you. Did you remove anything from the car?” the policeman asked Jerome.

“I heard the mobile in the car ringing, opened the door with a master key, then I took it out and answered it. It was this gentleman here beside me who was ringing. He says he’s the woman’s boyfriend, and has come here to see what’s going on,” Jerome said.

“The ticket for the car park says it entered five days ago, is that right?” the young policeman asked.

“Yes, and if you want it verified, there’s a computer in my office.”

“Are you the only attendant in the car park?” the older policeman asked.

“No, I’m not. I’ve got a mate who comes here for the night shift.”

“So you’re here for the majority of the time,” the older policeman said.

The four men walked back in the still pouring rain to the office, where they all had coffee and cake. The older policeman said to Preston, “We’d appreciate it, Sir, if you could come to the station and tell us about your relationship with the missing lady, and bring photos.”

“Yes, of course. I’ll get down to the station in the morning. I have some free time as I’ve just come back from a business trip.”

The policemen departed, and Preston very soon after - leaving Jerome with a head full of questions.

 

In spite of the bad weather, it was still not very late when Preston got to the flat, and after a quick shower he made himself supper with food he found in the fridge. Then he went for a perusal around the flat. There was nothing out of place in the dining or living room, so he went into the room they used as an office. He switched on Anita’s computer, and saw that it was the usual boring stuff about her job at the transport company. It was a subject never mentioned much. Whenever Preston asked her a question about her job, she said it was not at all interesting to anyone, not even those who worked there. Preston pressed on with his search for Anita.

 

Anita’s friends, Lysette, Patricia, and Pearl, made up their minds to do something about Anita’s disappearance. Preston had rung them, to say where Anita’s car had been found and that he had nothing more to say, but he was going to keep on looking till she was found - wherever that was. The trio of friends were all for doing something, rather than stay inactive. Each one took on a different place: the transport company where she worked; the car showroom where she had bought the car; and the sports centre where she spent most of her free time in the gym and the swimming pool.

 

Pearl went to the sports centre the next evening and saw that it was quite busy. She went to the gym first, and spoke to the trainer who had always been friendly with Anita, and had asked her out many times. The most he had got was a drink in one of the bars in the district.

“Hello, Henry, how’re you getting on?”

“Hello. Fancy coming out on a night like this after not showing up for ages. How’s your friend Anita?” Henry asked, much to Pearl’s surprise.

“That’s what I wanted to ask you. We haven’t seen her for a few days, and wondered what she could be doing.”

“Well, she hasn’t been here as far as I know. You and Anita always came in the evenings for a work out. I’m here most evenings, and when I’m not, I’ve got another job - driving for a limousine company. They pay me well, and it’s a change from being around sweaty bodies.”

Pearl laughed, and said to the good-looking young man, “Does that include me and my friends?”

Henry said, “Of course. That’s why you come here, isn’t it? To sweat it off!”

“I’ll be seeing you, but I can’t say how soon that’ll be. Bye, Henry.”

Pearl left the gym and went to the receptionist, “Can you tell me when my friend Anita was last here?”

The receptionist tapped out Anita’s name on her computer, and said, “She was here a month ago, and she came alone. That’s all I can tell you.”

“Thanks very much for your time.”

The dark wet street did nothing to animate Pearl’s spirits, so she got into her car and drove home. Once she was alone in her flat, she sat down and wondered about her missing friend. She left a message on Lysette’s and Patricia’s mobiles. There was nothing to be done at that time of night, so she prepared herself for the night, and then watched television, drinking a bowl of thick soup, before going to bed to have disturbing dreams about the cause of Anita’s disappearance.

 

Lysette was at the transport company where Anita worked as the owner’s assistant. She had a good job, and was well considered inside the company. Her boss was a silent man, and even Anita had rarely spoken about him. Her trio of friends had felt there was something fishy about him. Anita was never late for work, and left long after everyone else.

 

Lysette asked permission to speak to the owner of the transport company, to see whether he could help her or not.

“Good morning. My name’s Lysette and I’m a friend of Anita, your personal assistant. We, that is her friends and I, haven’t seen her for more or less a week, and we’re wondering where she could possibly be.”

The owner signed a paper for one of his lorry drivers before turning his attention to Lysette. “I, too, would like to know what she’s up to and where she is. I’ve got a lot of work here. As you can see, we’re a flourishing company, and at the moment I’m relying on the other assistants in the company to do her work. Anita has always been very thorough and competent, and her disappearance - just like that - doesn’t correspond to the young woman I know. If and when you find her, tell her to get in touch with me, will you, please?”

“Yes, of course I’ll do that. Bye.”

Lysette left the busy company and got into her small car and drove straight home, and rang up Preston to let him know she had had no joy with Anita’s boss.

 

Patricia had a car very similar to Anita’s, as they had bought them from the same showroom. In spite of being small, they were in fact, very expensive. Patricia had often wondered how Anita had managed to pay for such a good car, when in Patricia’s eyes she was nothing more than an assistant to the owner of a transport company. Whereas Patricia was in the rag trade and designed women’s clothes, and was handsomely remunerated for her evening gowns and wedding dresses. Patricia went along to the showroom about Anita’s car, due to Preston’s having left a message on her mobile. The mere fact that Preston had left a message, meant a lot to her friends, because the usual thing is that, when someone gets a ‘special’ friend, they tend to drop the previous ones. Preston didn’t say a word about what he was going to do or where he was going.

 

Anita’s mother still lived in the family house in a small town that contained all the modern conveniences. The shops covered all the basic necessities and there wouldn’t have been much incentive to shop outside the town. Preston had already met Anita’s mother, when she had visited her daughter before they had gone to live together. He felt that, as he was Anita’s boyfriend he ought to be the one to let her mother know that her daughter was missing. The journey to Anita’s mother’s house was undertaken in the rain, but it eased off a little while Preston was on the road. He passed soaking wet villages surrounded by fields, where cattle were standing with their hooves in water. The sky above was still grey, giving no hope of a change in the weather, at least for some time. Preston wondered how long it had been since the sun had shone. The house was at the end of a line of houses, not terraced but just one beside the other. They were of different sizes and yet they were all well cared for. Preston got out and walked up to the front door. He had his right hand up to reach the bell when the door opened, and Anita’s mother was standing there in front of him. “Hello, Preston. To what do I owe the visit?”

“Hello, Maureen, how are you?” Preston asked the grey-haired lady.

“I’m fine, but could be better,” she said, as she led him into the house.

They entered the sitting-room and Preston sat down on what was a brand new armchair. Maureen sat on the matching sofa, then she offered him tea, and went to the kitchen to prepare it. Preston stared at the sitting-room, taking every detail into consideration. It was all new. He stood up and went into the kitchen and saw that the ancient kitchen that had occupied that space the last time he had visited, had been converted into the most modern one he had seen, except in films or magazines. Maureen was standing at a table and pouring boiling water into a teapot as elegant as the rest of the kitchen, “Would you like something to eat, biscuits or cake?” Maureen asked Preston who replied. “That would go down very well. Please.”

Preston drank his tea and ate the large piece of home-made cake Maureen gave him. All the time his head was going round in circles, wondering how Anita had managed to pay for the renovation of the house. Maureen insisted on saying, “Anita’s a good daughter. She makes sure I lack for nothing. The house refurbishment and the car she got for me. When she came down in her new one, I said I liked it, and before I could blink there was a new car delivered at the door. Huh! What do you think of that then?” Preston had no answer to Maureen‘s question, so he remained silent. Maureen was busy clearing away the tea crockery when Preston thought of something. “Maureen, did you know Anita’s gone missing?”

“Yes, I wasn’t sure, but her friends rang me up to see whether she had come here to see me. I guessed that was the reason for your being here. I’m not worried about Anita not having got in touch. Over the years, she’s gone off like that - all of a sudden - only to come back without saying where she’d been or who she’d been with. I’m afraid, Preston, you’ll just have to put up with it.”

“May I see her room? She might have left some kind of indication of where she could be,” Preston asked Maureen, desperate for knowledge of Anita’s whereabouts.

“Yes, of course you can. You know where it is, don’t you?” Maureen said.

Preston climbed the stairs to Anita’s room, which was on the side of the house overlooking the house next door. He closed the curtains and then switched on the light. The bedroom, like the rest of the house had gone under a reformation, and everything was new and fashionable, from the window frames to the grey fitted carpet. It had been changed completely since he had last visited. It was no longer a young girl’s room, but a woman’s bedroom. Preston thought he had made a mistake in going up there, but he was determined to see whether or not he had wasted his time in going to Maureen’s house. He searched in the clothes cupboards and the chest of drawers that were full of things that Anita would most certainly purchase. He tried feeling under the carpet but there were no unnecessary bulges, so he turned his attention to the bed, and saw that there was a travel-bag underneath, pushed well out of sight. He dragged it out and tried to open it.

“I’ve tried doing that and couldn’t find anything to open it with. If you look carefully you’ll see scratch marks where I tried to force the lock.” Maureen had entered the room without making a sound, due to the thick fitted carpet that covered the upstairs landing and the bedrooms.

“Let’s take it downstairs and see if there’s anything in the kitchen to prise it open with,” Preston suggested.

Maureen and Preston went downstairs to the kitchen, and began looking in her cutlery drawer and then in her small toolbox. Preston found exactly what he was looking for, and after a short attack on the lock, got the travel bag open. There was a laptop inside, but neither of them knew the code word, so Preston said, “Maureen, do you mind if I take this to a friend of mine who is excellent at opening computers and laptops when the code word isn’t known?”

 

Preston didn’t go straight home, instead he went to his friend, Bruce’s, place, who told him that he would call him when he had something to tell him from what he found in the laptop.

 

Preston’s land-line was ringing when he opened the front door to his flat. He picked it up and a voice said, “Good evening, Sir. The body of a young woman has been found floating in the river. We’d appreciate it if you could come here, and see if it is your friend.”

Preston’s heart constricted as he said, “Thank you for ringing and letting me know. I’ll be right over.”

 

A detective took Preston to where he was able to see the body that had been dragged out of the river that afternoon. “That’s not Anita. May I see the clothes, please?”

Preston was taken to a room where the dead lady’s clothes were laid out for him to see.

“The coat’s hers, but the rest of the clothes most certainly are not.”

“Can you remember anything strange in the way she behaved or said, up to when she disappeared?” the policeman asked Preston.

Preston sat thinking hard for some minutes, and then said to the policeman, “ To be quite honest, although we lived together, I didn’t really know Anita all that well, and now I realize that, for me  she was an unknown person. How on earth am I supposed to find her?”

“Leave that to us, Sir. We are looking into her car at the moment, to see if she has left behind any clues to her disappearance.”

 

Preston rose to his feet and left the police station. Outside it was pouring with rain again, and the wind had picked up, making the atmosphere in the streets even more dismal than ever. Preston sat inside his car feeling utterly depressed when his mobile rang. It was Bruce, “I’ve got something for you. Want to come round?”

Preston said he would, and he stopped mooning, and drove to Bruce’s flat. His friend opened the door at his ringing the downstairs buzzer. Preston was anxious to know what his friend had found in Anita’s laptop.

The two men sat down in Bruce’s office and stared at the screen, and saw a long list of names with sums of money beside them. The list with the names and sums of money could mean only one thing - that Anita was a blackmailer. Preston had said nothing of how Maureen’s house had been done up, nor about the expensive cars, both paid for in cash. The two men began looking in Bruce’s computer for the names of those in the list. Bruce asked Preston, “Have you any clue as to where she might have got a list of names from?”

Preston answered, “She probably got the list from the transport company she works for. I can’t see where else.”

“Let’s take a look at the people the names belong to,” Bruce said, as he tapped away at his computer.

While they were sitting in front of Bruce’s computer, Preston’s mobile rang.

It was the police. “Good evening, Sir. Once again it’s the police. The body of another woman has been found in the river, by the posts where the pleasure boats tie up. By the way, another woman turned up and said that the other dead woman had lived in a sheltered-accommodation, and that Anita had given her coat to the poor woman, when she had seen her begging in the street. The first  woman’s death must have been a case of mistaken identity - thanks to the coat .”

“I suppose you’d like it if I went down there now for identification purposes,” Preston said.

“Yes, please, Sir. We’d appreciate it.”

 

Preston drove over to the police station as fast as he could. Whoever it was that had been found in the river, he had to know. He got to the station, and strode to the sergeant at his desk, waiting for him, who said, “Come this way, Sir,” and led Preston to the same room where he had seen the unknown woman only a short time before.

 

The sodden face of the inert body was that of Anita, and Preston felt a sharp pain go from his heart all the way through his body. It was something he had been expecting since her car had been found in the car park. The forensics had told the police, she had received a blow on the head from a heavy instrument. Preston asked, “Is there any way of finding who the perpetrator was?”

“We’ve arrested her boss, the owner of the transport company, who has been under surveillance for some time. We knew he was up to no good, and was using his business to transport all kinds of electrical goods, furniture, etc. - all containing drugs.”

Preston then knew the whys and wherefores of Anita’s money. She had been blackmailing her boss, and the men who were in the illegal business with him.

Preston left after signing a form as having identified Anita. As he was leaving, he saw a rather surly looking man sitting at a desk in an interview room. He guessed it was the owner of the transport company.

 

From inside his car, first he rang Bruce, to thank him for his help; and then he rang Anita’s three friends and told them the latest news. He could hear them saying, “We always thought there was something fishy about him. Thanks a lot for letting us know, Preston.”

Preston said nothing about Anita’s blackmailing activities. They would find out eventually, when her boss began to talk.

 

     He went back to the flat they had shared, and after phoning her mother again, not mentioning the blackmailing side of Anita’s life, Preston sat down on the sofa, and wondered whether he would be able to trust a woman ever again.