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“My parents run a bed and breakfast in Holyhead,” Charlie said, “and it’s the complete opposite. My mother hates it, everything about it.” He didn’t know why he’d told Tom that. Not the bed and breakfast, that wasn’t a shameful profession. They weren’t smugglers or drug dealers. It was the bit about his mother. He’d never seen it so clearly before, and it felt good to get the words into the open.
“That must have been hard to live with,” Tom said, and he was too close again, overwhelming Charlie’s senses with his gentle voice, his size and his scent. But Charlie stayed on the right side of the line.
“My mother could disapprove for Wales,” Charlie said, because it was true, if hardly relevant. “I need to get some sleep. We haven’t even talked about your missing student yet.”
“Tomorrow,” Tom said. “It can all wait until tomorrow.”
Charlie had the strong sense that it couldn’t wait, but if he didn’t get some sleep, his brain was going to shut down.
“Can I call you in the morning?” he asked Tom.
“Please do.”
Without Charlie noticing, Tom had led him from the college, down a narrow lane and back into the big car park. He took Charlie’s arm gently, as if recognising that Charlie’s ability to process information had now left the building. “It’s just down here.” They stopped on the street outside a house with a tiny front garden. The railings and front door were painted in a glossy black, shiny under the streetlights.
“Dilys’s place,” Tom said.
It was like being delivered home after a date. Except it hadn’t been a date, and the urge he had to kiss Tom goodnight was on the wrong side of the red line.
“Thanks,” he said.
The door opened and a woman’s face peered out. She saw Tom and smiled. “You must be Charlie Rees,” she said. “I was about to lock up when I heard you talking.” The woman was tiny, probably in her sixties, dressed in leggings and a T-shirt despite the cold. She had dyed her hair electric blue, and her face fell naturally into a smile. “Come on in.”
Tom touched Charlie’s arm. “We’ll speak tomorrow,” he said and walked away.
Charlie had the vague impression of a small room, with an even smaller bathroom, tucked into the back of the house. Dilys had hustled him through the hallway, flinging open a door to the residents' lounge, “Where you can always make a drink,” pointing through an archway, “breakfast,” and up the thickly carpeted stairs and into his room. He couldn’t bring himself to climb into those pristine white sheets without a shower, especially when Dilys pointed out a small pile of clothes on the armchair. On top were a set of brightly coloured pyjamas, decorated with dragons.
“Help yourself,” Dilys said. “All clean and pressed. Most of it’s nearly new. And while we’re on the subject of clothes, I know the courier for Marks and Spencers and he’s agreed to come here first thing, not to the cop shop. So, new clothes before breakfast.” She gave a quick grin. “Right then, I’ll see you in the morning.”
The shower was bliss. The dragon pyjamas fitted, and the bed was as comfortable as promised by Tom. The promise of Tom… That was Charlie’s last thought before he fell asleep.
12
The detective’s new clothes
Tuesday 6.55am
Charlie woke to the sound of someone knocking at the door to his room.
“Only me!” Dilys called.
Charlie stumbled the short step to the door and opened it. Dilys held three sealed plastic bags. He took them from her, all his limbs stiff from sleeping so soundly that he woke up in the same position he’d gone to sleep in.
“Love those pyjamas,” Dilys said. “You should keep them. What time for breakfast?”
Charlie rubbed his eyes.
“What time is it now?”
“Just before seven.”
“Half an hour then. And Dilys? Is it OK to call you that?” she nodded. “Can I stay here for a few more days? Or do you need the room?”
“Stay as long as you like, sweetheart. I’ve already got you pencilled in for a week.” Then she was gone, and he heard her running down the stairs.
Charlie collapsed back on to the bed. He didn’t want to wake up and face the day, not without another three or four hours sleep. But the to-do list was longer every time he looked at it, and there were only four of them to do it.
He opened all the plastic bags and looked at the clothes with some relief. He was going to be wearing jeans and sweaters rather than a suit, but no way was he ordering a suit online. Best of all, he now had a warm coat.
