Where There's A Will

Chapter Forty

"Jackie?" Grey asked when the front door of the house on the left of Lewis Rice's opened. He couldn't help thinking that he should have asked Mr Penfold what Jackie's last name was; it didn't seem right to simply use her first name.

"Uh huh," Jackie grunted, shifting the baby on her hip into a more comfortable position. "You're cops ain't ya, what d'ya want?"

Grey nodded, sure that Jackie's reaction was prompted by irritation, rather than by concern. "Yes, we're cops, Miss; sorry to trouble you, but we'd like to speak to you about your neighbour, Lewis Rice, may we come in?"

"Is he in trouble?" Jackie shifted the baby again and turned at the sound of rapid footsteps. "Back in the living room," She ordered the young boy who was approaching her at a run, without waiting to see what it was he wanted. "Now," she said sharply, emphasising her command with a pointed finger and a stern look.

"He might be," Reid answered. "We're uncertain at this time; we need to speak to Mr Rice urgently, but he isn't home, and we haven't been able to discover where he is. Mr Penfold, the gentleman who lives on the other side of Mr Rice, said that you and Mr Rice get on fairly well, and that you might be able to help us."

"Him! He's an old fool," Jackie said disparagingly. "He thinks because Lewis has..." Whatever she was about to say was cut off by a crashing sound that seemed to echo down the passage behind her, closely followed by the wail of a young child, one who was either hurt or upset. With an annoyed look on her face, Jackie glanced over her shoulder, sighed eloquently, and said, "You'd better come in while I deal with them. Close the door behind you."

It took Jackie several minutes to get the two boys in the living room calmed down, and that happened only after both had received a quick smack on the bottom for misbehaving, followed by hugs to reassure them that mummy wasn't really mad.

"Sorry about that," she apologised once she had dealt with her children. "What were we talking about?"

"We were talking about your neighbour, Mr Rice," Reid said. "Mr Penfold, on the other side of Mr Rice, believes you might be able to help us find him."

Jackie threw an annoyed and unhappy look in the direction of Mr Penfold's house. "That Penfold, he's a meddling old bugger; he thinks because Lewis has helped me out a few times, we should get married." It was plain to see that she was appalled by the idea. "He keeps saying that Lewis needs a good woman in his life, so he's not alone so much, and that I could do with having a man like Lewis to help me raise my kids." She shook her head. "It's a ridiculous idea. Even if I wanted to get married again, I wouldn't pick Lewis; he's a nice enough guy, but he's hopeless at most practical things, and he's definitely not my type."

She realised after a moment that she was rambling, and quickly apologised, with an embarrassed smile. "Sorry, I don't get to speak to many grownups."

"That's quite alright, Miss...I'm sorry, Mr Penfold didn't tell us your last name," Grey said.

"Just call me Jackie, I don't go much on formality, it makes me feel old."

"Okay, Jackie; can you tell us where we can find Lewis? He doesn't seem to be at home, and we really need to speak to him."

"Sorry, no, I've got no idea where he is. What d'you think he's done?"

"We can't tell you that, sorry," Reid said, though he didn't sound all that sorry. "At this time we're merely trying to speak to him, so we can eliminate him from our enquiries, or determine if we need to investigate him more closely. You say you don't know where he is, have you seen him at all over the last couple of days?"

"Not today – I was hoping he'd give me a hand with something this morning, but he wasn't home. I haven't seen him since yesterday morning."

"Have you noticed anything different about Mr Rice recently?" Reid asked.

"Such as?"

"A change in his behaviour or attitude, spending time with new people, especially those he might seem out of place with," Grey explained.

"He was with someone I've never seen before yesterday," Jackie said straightaway. "They were heading out."

"What can you tell us about this stranger?" Grey asked, perking up a little.

"He was on a motorbike; I didn't get a good look at it, and I probably wouldn't have been able to tell you the make if I had," Jackie said, anticipating the next question. "I know almost nothing about bikes, it was noisy, I know that much, 'cause it woke Laura," she indicated the baby now in a cot in the corner of the room, "and I looked out the window to see what was going on while I tried to settle her down. I got there in time to see the guy walk up the path to Lewis' house, he was wearing motorcycle leathers and carrying a helmet; he had brown hair, not short, but not all that long either, and he looked mean, the sort I'd've been interested in when I was younger – I've made that mistake often enough not to want to make it again."

"Did you notice anything else about him?" Grey asked; he liked the sound of Lewis Rice being involved with a rough-looking motorcyclist; it was only a very basic description, probably useless in locating the man, but it did increase the likelihood that they were on the right track in chasing down Rice as a possible suspect.