Читать книгу In Safe Hands: A D.C.I Anna Tate thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat - J. Carter P. - Страница 19

Sarah Ramsay had opted to sit at one of the tables in the rear courtyard so that she could smoke. This suited Anna because it gave her the opportunity to have another one herself.

‘I started smoking for the first time nine years ago when I was thirty-three,’ Anna said as she took a seat opposite the nursery owner. ‘It was a shame because I’d steered clear of them up until then, mainly because my dad died of lung cancer.’

‘I began puffing on the buggers five years ago after my marriage ended,’ Sarah said as smoke trailed languidly from her nostrils. ‘Now I can’t kick the habit no matter how hard I try. And days like this don’t help.’

Anna took out her pack of Silk Cuts and plucked one from it. While lighting up, she studied the other woman. Sarah was sitting stiffly in the chair, her pert breasts thrust forward beneath her tight T-shirt. Anna now noticed that the words ‘Peabody Nurseries’ were printed just below the neckline of her polo shirt. It was the staff uniform, she realised, which was why the teachers were also wearing it.

The sun was still strong and bright but they were in the shade so it was bearable. Anna inhaled a lungful of smoke and said, ‘So have you thought about those questions, Miss Ramsay? First I need to know the names of everyone who has access to the nursery, including part-time staff and cleaners.’

Sarah put her burning cigarette in the ashtray on the table and reached down to pick up a leather handbag that had been placed on the ground between her legs. From it she extracted a small notebook. She tore out a page and passed it to Anna.

‘I’ve jotted down the names of all the staff here and at my other nurseries, both full- and part-timers,’ she said. ‘Only those staff based here can access this building. More details about them are in the office but I’m not able to get to them at the moment. I’ve also included the names of the local cleaning company we use and the firm that carries out maintenance work on all the buildings. Plus former staff going back six months. I’m not allowed to keep their details on file for any longer than that. I hope that’s enough.’

‘This is exactly what I wanted,’ Anna said. ‘In a moment I’ll have someone accompany you back to your office to dig out the detailed paperwork.’

‘A lot of it’s on my computer so I’ll have to print it off for you.’

‘That won’t be a problem. Now, we don’t yet know what the motive is behind the abductions so I need to ask if it’s possible that it was carried out by someone who wants to get back at you, or even the parents? Someone who holds a grudge for any reason or perhaps has made threats.’

Sarah picked her cigarette up, drew on it, and said, ‘Well, there’s only one person who fits that bill, inspector, and I’ve written his name and address below the others.’

Anna glanced at the sheet. The name ‘JONAS PLATT’ was written in capital letters and underlined.

‘There was a tragic accident at my establishment in Lewisham early last year,’ Sarah explained. ‘Mr Platt’s three-year-old daughter Kelly died after she choked on a grape. Mr Platt holds me personally responsible and ever since he’s harassed me and even made threats. It got so bad that the court issued a restraining order against him and he’s not allowed within two hundred yards of any of the nurseries.

‘I’m not accusing him of being involved in what’s happened today. He wasn’t one of the three men. But he has been a source of great concern to me, my staff and the parents.’

‘Has he made threats against them?’

She shook her head. ‘He hasn’t threatened them directly, but he has intimidated them. On five separate occasions he turned up at the Lewisham premises and stood outside with a placard accusing the staff of murdering his daughter. He also came here three times because it’s where I’m based. He shouted at the parents and told them they were stupid to leave their children here. Plus, he went to the county council demanding that all my nurseries be closed down. The story was picked up by the local press and spread around on social media.’

‘I gather you were given a hefty fine for gross negligence,’ Anna said.

‘That’s right. It was totally unexpected and I felt that it was unfair because up until then our safety record had been impeccable. It was an unfortunate accident and we were all mortified. But I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s impossible to ensure that children don’t ever get bits of food stuck in their throats.’

Sarah was shaking now and her breath was coming in shallow gulps. At the same time, her eyes filmed over with tears and it seemed to Anna that the woman was on the verge of breaking down. It was the first time Anna had seen her lose her composure, but she managed to carry on speaking even though she struggled to form the words.

‘So you can probably imagine how I feel right now,’ she said. ‘Everyone will blame me for what’s happened.’

She started to sob then and Anna made sympathetic noises, but she had no intention of halting the interview. There were more questions she wanted to ask about Jonas Platt, the man who was now their one and only suspect.

‘I’m sorry,’ Sarah said after a time. ‘This is all so terribly upsetting.’

‘I can appreciate that, Miss Ramsay, so don’t worry.’

Sarah blew her nose, wiped her eyes, pushed back her fringe.

‘Please carry on, inspector,’ she said. ‘That won’t happen again.’

Anna asked her to be more specific about the threats she’d received from Jonas Platt.

Sarah scrunched up her brow. ‘A week after his daughter’s funeral he waited outside the nursery here for me to close up. He then confronted me on the forecourt and I thought he was going to attack me. Instead, he poked a finger at me and said he would make me suffer for what had happened to Kelly. I was reminded of it earlier when Ruth had a go at me. I expect I’m now in for a lot more of that.’

‘And what other threats were there?’

Sarah leaned forward, resting her arms on the table.

‘Just after I got handed the fine he actually turned up at my home,’ she said. ‘It’s within walking distance of here and I didn’t know if he’d followed me there. I opened the door without knowing it was him and he was verbally abusive. He called me a murdering slut. He was livid that the Peabody Nurseries weren’t being forced to close and said that three hundred thousand pounds wasn’t enough of a punishment. I slammed the door on him and phoned the police, but he was gone before they arrived.’

‘Do you live alone, Miss Ramsay?’

‘I do. I don’t have family in London and there’s been no man in my life for some time so I had to deal with it by myself and it really freaked me out.’

‘Tell me about Mr Platt,’ Anna said. ‘What was he like before his daughter died?’

She shrugged. ‘I never met the man because whenever I dropped in on Lewisham he wasn’t there. I did meet his wife Angela a couple of times, though. She’s a nice lady. But I gather they split up six months after Kelly’s death. He’s now living on his own in a flat in Kennington.’

‘Any idea what he does for a living?’

‘He used to be a builder, but the last I heard he was out of work having lost his job. I did hear that he has a criminal record. I don’t know if it’s true, though. One of the mothers whose son attended Lewisham mentioned it.’

Anna looked at her watch, anxious now to get the word out on Jonas Platt. They needed to find him pronto in order to determine whether or not he was implicated. On the face of it he was an extremely strong suspect. Not only did he have a motive for doing harm to Sarah and her business, but he also sounded pretty unstable. Was it therefore possible that he had managed to get a team together to carry out the kidnappings on his behalf?

‘Look, you’ve been really helpful, Miss Ramsay,’ Anna said. ‘I do have more questions I’d like to ask you but they can wait. Right now I need to pass on the information you’ve given me. I’ll find an officer to go with you to get the detailed paperwork on the staff, then we can arrange for you to be accompanied to your home. If you wouldn’t mind staying there at least for the rest of the day I’d appreciate it.’

‘Of course,’ she said. ‘I want to be as helpful as I can, inspector. If I’d been more careful this morning none of this would have happened. I don’t think I will ever be able to forgive myself for all the pain I’ve caused. I just pray that those children are found safe and well.’

Anna didn’t have a ready reply so she didn’t try to come up with one. Instead, she got up and went back inside the community centre where she told a detective to go with Sarah to her office for the paperwork she’d mentioned.