Читать книгу Cut to the Bone - Roz Watkins - Страница 14

Violet’s friend Izzy sat in one of our nicer interview rooms looking very young and overwhelmed. She had a standard-issue teenage look with long, straightened hair and highly defined eyebrows. I was hoping Jai would turn on his charm and get her talking, because if anyone knew what was going on with Violet, it was likely to be her best friend.

Izzy fiddled with her hair, stroking it like a pet. ‘Is Violet okay? She’s gone like totally off-grid.’

Jai activated big-brown-eyes mode. ‘When did you last hear from her?’

Izzy softened. Brown-eyes mode successfully received. ‘Yesterday afternoon. She said she’d come up with more info and she’d be in touch later. But she never called and she hasn’t posted anywhere. Something must have happened to her.’

This was kids nowadays. Anyone who was out of the social media loop for more than a few hours was assumed dead or at least in a coma.

‘Have you still got the message she sent you?’ Jai asked.

Izzy fished out her phone and tapped the screen. ‘Here.’

Five p.m. on Sunday: Think I might be on to something. Let you know later xx.

‘On to something about what?’ Jai said.

Izzy sniffed. ‘Probably about her real dad.’

‘Her real dad?’ Jai said.

‘Yeah, she was adopted.’

I glanced at Jai. He raised his eyebrows. We hadn’t known that.

Izzy carried on: ‘She doesn’t talk about it much. Her real mum’s dead, but Violet knew she originally came from Gritton. She doesn’t know who her dad was.’

‘Is that why she found a job in Gritton? So she could look for her biological father?’

‘Yes. But she didn’t want anyone to know. With her being … who she is and all that. She was really messed up about it. I told her it might be best to leave it be, but she wouldn’t. Do you think she found him and …’

We waited, but she didn’t say more. At least that answered the question of why Violet had come to a backwater village in the boonies. ‘Did she have any idea who her biological father was?’ Jai asked.

‘No. She knew her mother’s name – Rebecca Smith – but she died when Violet was a baby. So Violet was asking questions in the village, hoping to find out who her dad was. But, like, carefully, not telling anyone why she was asking. I wondered if somebody had told her. And if Violet was going to try and see him. Last night, I mean.’

‘If she found her biological father,’ I said, ‘do you think there’s a chance she might stay with him for a while and not tell anyone?’

‘She’d contact me. She’d know how worried I’d be. And she’d want to tell me she’d found him.’

I was holding on to the possibility that Violet had disappeared voluntarily, even as the likelihood slipped away with each passing minute. ‘You know you have to tell us if she’s been in touch, Izzy, don’t you?’ I said. ‘Even if she made you promise not to? We’re very concerned about her.’

Izzy shook her head, hair flying. ‘She hasn’t been in touch! I’m not lying. Honestly!’

I should have let smooth-operator Jai carry on asking the questions. I didn’t have the knack with this one.

I smiled at her, trying to get her to calm the hell down, and indicated to Jai to carry on. ‘How does Violet get on with her parents?’ he asked. ‘Her adoptive parents, I mean.’

There was a tiny wobble to her chin, but Izzy spoke confidently. ‘She’s fallen out with them – her dad especially. They never wanted her to go to Gritton. They said it was a horrible place, full of pig farms and abattoirs. That’s when Violet started doing the videos. To piss them off. Her mum’s vegetarian.’

‘She made the videos to annoy her parents?’

‘At first, yeah. We were messing around, having a barbecue. Violet had bought steak to irritate her mum, and I videoed her cooking it in a bikini. We uploaded it, for a laugh. And it went crazy. Thousands of views and all these people saying how hot she was. She didn’t realise it would get nasty, and part of her liked it. As for pissing her parents off – she hit the jackpot. Plus she’s making money now, you know, from adverts. And then some burger company paid her to eat their stuff and put photos on Instagram. But it’s not like she was ever a massive meat-eater. So she’s being a bit of a hypocrite. Before she was, like, the face of steak, she had a go at some lad at our school about eating factory-farmed meat. Said it was like rape.’

‘What did she say exactly?’ Jai asked.

‘This boy had said the usual thing about bacon, like, Oh but it tastes so good. Like the fact he enjoyed eating it meant it was okay, no matter how hideous a life the animal had had. And Violet said, And that’s enough reason? That it tastes good? Would you rape someone, if it felt good to you? It was harsh, but her reasoning kind of made sense in a Violet sort of way. It got a bit heated.’

That sounded more like the Violet who had the feminist books on her shelves. ‘So it’s a bit of a turnaround, then, doing what she does with the videos?’

‘Yeah, I suppose … But, like I said, she wanted to annoy her parents. She got a kick out of people going on about her and saying she’s hot. Violet’s … well, she’s complicated.’ Izzy’s face crumpled briefly before she regained control.

‘What’s it been like for you, Izzy?’ I asked. ‘With Violet suddenly becoming so well known?’

For a second she looked like she was about to cry. She shoved a strand of hair into her mouth, caught herself, and took it out again. ‘It’s okay, I suppose.’

It clearly wasn’t okay.

‘Is Violet in a relationship?’ Jai asked.

Izzy’s eyes widened. ‘No. No, she isn’t.’

‘Anything casual? Anyone she hooks up with?’

She blinked. ‘No. I’m pretty sure there’s no one.’

I made a note to follow that up. I didn’t trust Izzy’s answers.

‘Have you visited Violet in Gritton?’ I asked.

Izzy reddened. ‘Once. We went out for a drink with some people she knew.’

‘Oh? Who was there?’

‘The people from her work.’

‘How did Violet get along with her colleagues?’

Izzy swallowed. ‘Same as Violet always does. Being the centre of attention. That guy Daniel was mooning over her.’

That was interesting. Daniel had told us that Gary was the one doing the mooning.

‘What did Violet think of Daniel?’

‘Not much. I’m not sure she even noticed him. He’s like really old.’

‘Did Violet talk about anyone else she’d met?’ I asked.

Izzy shook her head.

‘Did she mention anyone she’d fallen out with?’

Another shake. ‘No. But … I think she’s in trouble. She’s …’

‘What, Izzy?’

Izzy swallowed. ‘She’s my friend, so … I like her despite this, but she does get on the wrong side of people. I mean, she deliberately winds people up, and the threats were getting worse and worse. I think she might have pushed it too far and those awful Animal Vigilantes in the meat suits have hurt her.’

Jai had gone to investigate Violet’s parentage while I mulled over progress so far. Violet’s parents were still on their way home from the other side of the planet. At least we could rule them out. The obvious candidates for hurting Violet were the Animal Vigilantes, but then again all her colleagues were a bit dodgy, and we’d want to take a close look at the biological father if we could find him. Plus I couldn’t let go of my hunch that there was a relationship in the background. Relationships were always interesting, especially ones that people wanted to hide.

I browsed the comments posted on Violet’s videos, getting a strong gag-reaction from reading both the enthusiasts (‘We want to spit-roast you, Violet’) and the haters (‘You deserve to spend your life locked up in a cage and then get your throat cut’). I highlighted anything particularly virulent from both sides.

I looked up to see Jai approaching with two cups of coffee. He placed one on my desk. ‘We’ve got her adoption papers. As Izzy said, the mother is Rebecca Smith. No father listed, but we’re investigating. You look stressed.’

‘Thanks.’ I gulped the coffee down. ‘Doesn’t get any better, does it? I keep hoping one day I’ll come in and a rich benefactor will have bought us an espresso machine.’

‘Vivid imagination you have.’

‘Not as vivid as the people commenting on Violet’s videos,’ I said. ‘Have you seen this stuff?’

‘I had a quick look. Pretty dispiriting.’ Jai perched on my desk and flipped a knee up so his calf was across his thigh.

I recoiled. ‘Christ, Jai. Is that some kind of primitive display ritual? Imagine if I did that on your desk.’

‘It’s a flimsy desk, Meg – British workmanship. I wouldn’t risk it.’

I tried not to smile. Clearly Jai and I were getting back on track, but I vowed to avoid mentioning his girlfriend and her conflicted attitude to his children. ‘Sit on the bloody chair, with your legs reasonably close together, and shut up.’

Jai hoicked himself off the table and sat unwillingly in my guest chair.

‘Right,’ I said. ‘These comments on Violet’s videos – loads have appeared today saying she’s been killed, but we’re obviously more interested in the ones from before her disappearance was made public. Even the ones who like her turn potentially homicidal if she doesn’t respond to their pitiful observations.’

‘Yeah, and it’s not like they even start subtle. But whether they’d harm her in real life, I don’t know.’

‘Rejected men do have that tendency, Jai. Although I agree, the online ones usually stay there, where nobody can see how pathetic they are.’

‘I’m not sure why the pro-animal ones hate her so much. What has she actually done? She’s not drowning puppies.’

‘She’s making meat look sexy,’ I said.

‘But it’s not enough for someone to harm her, surely?’

‘Izzy said she deliberately winds people up, and there are so many people at the moment who are permanently furious, maybe she pushed one of them over the edge and they came to the abattoir to confront her. Anything on the biological father yet?’

‘No,’ Jai said. ‘But we’re carrying on with the house-to-house. Hoping someone in the village had told Violet her dad’s name. Or maybe we’ll find a lead on her laptop. You reckon she might be with him?’

‘Maybe,’ I said. ‘Kids can be remarkably forgiving of some bloke that shot his load two decades ago, as opposed to the poor sods who slaved to bring them up.’

‘But why leave the car and go missing in the middle of the night? Why not contact Izzy?’

Fiona poked her head around the door. ‘I think we’ve found out where Violet was between eight and ten last night. Results from the house-to-house. Someone saw a car that matches Violet’s.’

‘Excellent,’ I said. ‘Where?’

‘Visiting a man called Tony Nightingale. He’s the father of Kirsty the pig farmer – you know, the one who’s on the Great Meat Debate website with Violet and co. He’s a pig farmer as well – with a farm at the edge of Gritton. I’ve spoken to him and he’s confirmed Violet did visit, and apparently she was saying strange things. He’s happy for someone to call on him.’

I groaned and looked at my watch. ‘Oh God. Why did I arrange for Hannah to come this evening? I’ll have to feed her from the freezer.’

‘Hannah will be devastated,’ Jai said. ‘She’ll be expecting eight courses of cordon bleu cuisine, based on your past performances.’

‘Sod off, Jai. Those chips I got you from George’s were a perfectly nice supper. And as I recall, I offered you cereal for pudding.’

‘I rest my case.’

‘I suppose the lovely Suki whips up fresh and fragrant curries every night?’ Damn it, I’d gone there.

Jai looked down. ‘She’s away at the moment. She’ll be glad to miss the kids at least.’

‘Right. Okay.’ There was a pause while my brain searched for something non-inflammatory to say about Suki and the kids, while contemplating Violet’s visit to this pig farmer. ‘Listen, Jai … You’re only round the corner now. Why don’t you come over tonight after we’ve visited the pig farmer? You could meet Hannah. I can’t believe I’ve never introduced you. You’ll like her.’ And I’d make sure I didn’t mention Jai’s girlfriend, and we could go back to being normal with each other again.

‘Ah, no, I couldn’t crash your party,’ he said.

‘You may as well. Witness the rare event of me providing food, albeit from the freezer?’

He hesitated, then said, ‘Yeah. Okay, I will. Thanks.’

‘Good. First, let’s see what Violet was doing visiting a pig farmer last night.’