After

Chapter 1-3

He looked at the list he had written following the policewoman’s instructions. Credit card. He found a statement in the file marked: accounts. Distinguishing features like scars? She had one scar, thanks to Luke’s caesarean birth, but that was not visible while she had her clothes on. Having gathered together the CD, the print, the credit card statement and the piece of paper with his notes, he picked up his phone and car keys and headed for the front door.

Ten minutes later he was walking through the door of the local police station. The young officer behind the desk looked up as Paul entered and noted the photograph in his hand.

‘Good morning, sir, how can I help you?’

‘I need to make a Missing Persons report. My wife seems to have disappeared.’ Paul put the photograph, CD, credit card statement and the piece of paper with his notes on the counter.

The officer looked at the photograph. ‘When did she go missing?’

‘This morning. She hasn’t turned up at work. She’s not answering her phone. No-one seems to know where she is. I’m worried. She always lets the school know when she’s not going to be there.’

‘What’s your name, sir?’

‘Paul, Paul Ford.’

He picked up the things Paul had placed on the counter. ‘Mr Ford, come around to an interview room where you can give me all the details.’ He opened the door at the end of the counter and led Paul down a short corridor into a small room with a table and four chairs.

‘Bit more privacy here, Mr Ford. Just take a seat while I get the right form.’

After a couple of minutes, he came back into the room followed by an attractive woman in a police uniform that looked vaguely familiar, in Paul’s assessment.

‘Mr Ford, this is Sergeant Wood, she’s in charge of our Missing Persons unit.’

Paul stood up and shook hands with Sergeant Wood. ‘Paul Ford.’

‘Marie Wood.’

They sat down on opposite sides of the table. She looked at the photograph and then looked up.

‘OK Paul, what’s your wife’s name, and why do you think she’s missing?’

‘Her name’s Josephine, but we all call her Josie. I don’t know that she is missing. It’s just that I don’t know where she is and it’s very unusual for her not to contact the school, she’s a teacher, if she’s not going to be at work.’

‘Have you tried to contact her yourself?’

‘Yes, I’ve called her mobile. She’s not answering. I’ve been home. She’s not there. I’ve called her mother and some of her friends. No-one has either seen her or heard from her. Look, I know it’s less than four hours since I last saw her but something’s just not right.’

‘You’re doing the right thing making this report now. Tell me about when you last saw Josie. You mentioned it was only four hours ago.’

Paul noticed that the younger officer was taking notes.

‘She left home for work this morning around seven. That’s the last time I saw her.’

‘Where does she work and how does she usually get there?’

‘She teaches at St Catherine’s in the city. It’s that girls’ school on the southern side of City Park.’

‘I know the one. I’m an old scholar.’ She looked at Paul and smiled. ‘How does Josie get there?’

‘She walks to the interchange and catches a bus into the city. Usually, she gets off at the stop near the main gate to City Park on North Terrace and walks through the park to the school. She reckons that’s the most peaceful part of her day.’

‘If she leaves home at seven, how long does it take to get to the interchange from where you live?’

‘It’s about a fifteen minute walk. She would normally catch a bus around seven twenty and get off at City Park around seven thirty five and be at school by eight.’

‘I take it the school rang you.’

‘Yes, Rosa from the school office rang me around nine fifteen to ask me where she was. She had tried calling Josie before she rang me.’

‘School starts before nine fifteen, doesn’t it? Why didn’t they call you earlier if she’s normally there by eight?’

‘Well, she doesn’t have a home class this year. Maybe nobody noticed she wasn’t there until she didn’t turn up for the first lesson. Anyway, schools are pretty chaotic in the morning.’

‘Paul, I’ll need to ask you a few personal questions, is that OK?’

‘Sure, fire away.’

‘How long have you and Josie been married?’

‘It’ll be twenty years this year, in July.’

‘Do you have any children?’

‘Two sons, Matthew, he’s sixteen, and Luke. He’ll be fourteen in August. They go to St Jude’s.’

‘Oh, you’re Matthew’s father.’ She looked at the photograph again. Now she knew where she had seen her before.

Paul raised an eyebrow.

‘My daughter, Margaret, goes to St Jude’s. She’s in Matthew’s home class. She talks about him all the time.’

‘Seems Matthew might be keeping some things to himself.’

They smiled.

‘How are things at home with you and Josie, Paul?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Any tensions? How are things between you and Josie?’

‘Nothing out of the ordinary. We’re a happily married couple as far as I know. No domestic violence or anything like that, if that’s what you mean?’

‘Paul, I’m just trying to see if there are any reasons Josie might want to leave without telling you.’

‘That’s all right. I understand that you’re just asking what needs to be asked.’

‘Any money worries?’

‘Just the usual middle class strain of sending two boys to a private school.’

‘What’s on the CD?’

‘That photo and two others. I took that photo last weekend and the others earlier this year.’

‘She looks pretty happy in this photo. What was the occasion?’

‘We had a barbecue lunch for her mother’s birthday at our place.’

‘I’ll get you to go through the Missing Persons report with John here, so that we will have your contact details and can start a file. You’ll need to sign the report. While you’re doing that I’ll get these photos circulated to patrols in the city, then I’ll be back with a map of the local area and you can show me the path she would take to the interchange from your place.’

The sergeant picked up the CD and left the room. With John’s help, Paul spent the next ten minutes completing the Missing Persons report form. When Sergeant Wood returned she placed a map of the local area on the table and handed him a yellow highlighter pen.

‘Paul, can you trace out the route that Josie takes to the interchange for me, please?’

Paul looked at the map and located his house. Then he traced the pathway both he and Josie took when they walked to the interchange: turn left at the front of the house, walk to the end of the street, turn right and walk to the interchange along the pathway through the park that ran along the river bank.

‘Paul, did you actually see her go that way this morning?’

‘No. I only heard her leave through the front door after she gave me a kiss and said goodbye.’

‘There’s probably nothing to worry about but we will keep a look out for her until she turns up. Most people who go missing, more than ninety five percent of them, turn up by themselves. I know it can’t be easy not knowing where she is but she’ll probably come home tonight and be all apologetic about not telling anyone where she was. Give me a call on this number when she either contacts you or turns up home. If you don’t know where she is by nightfall call me.’ She handed him a business card with her contact details. ‘What do you intend to do now?’

‘I’m going in to City Park just in case she decided to find a quiet spot and spend the day meditating.’

‘I hope you find her there.’

‘Thanks.’

They shook hands. Paul picked up his copy of the Missing Persons report and his notes. Sergeant Wood led him out to the front entrance of the police station.

Paul walked back to his car and drove into the city. He found a park near the gate on the southern side of City Park, close to St Catherine’s. He entered the park and spent a couple of hours looking for Josie, in the parts of the park she had described to him as wonderfully quiet spots in the centre of the city. It certainly was quiet but there was no sign of Josie. He sat down on a bench in the shade of a large tree. He was hot and thirsty. It was nearly two o’clock in the afternoon. He called Rosa and then Josie’s mother. Neither had heard anything or seen her since his earlier calls. He walked back to the car and just managed to evade the parking inspector waiting nearby to give him a ticket for overstaying the two hour parking limit. As he drove home, he wondered what he was going to say to the boys when they got home from school.