“No, none whatsoever. Please enlighten me.”

Sally exhaled a large breath. “It’s about a member of your staff, Amanda Collins. She was attacked on Sunday night and is in hospital.”

“Ah, yes, sorry to be so vague. A member of staff mentioned they saw an ambulance in the area. I’m up to my eyes in stocktaking at present. I have my area manager breathing down my neck. He’s due here any moment, and…”

Sally raised her hand to stop the man’s chuntering. “Yes, we all have our problems, Mr. Davis. Some are far greater than others. I wondered if it would be possible to question your staff and you, of course, regarding Miss Collins’s last shift. She was attacked directly after she left work, which leads us to believe that her assailant might have targeted her.”

“Oh, my! How dreadful. Of course, we’ll do anything to help with your enquiries. So this man is still on the loose, I take it?”

“He is at present, yes. Although we do have an ID for the man now, thanks to Amanda’s keen eye. He’s a Mr. Jed Liddell.”

She showed him the sketch, and the man’s eyes almost popped out of his head and landed on his paperwork. “What? Are you kidding me?” He fell back in his chair, and his mouth dropped open.

Sally swiftly exchanged glances with Jack. “Are you saying you know him?”

“I should do. He’s my bloody area manager.”

“What? Do you have his address?” She swallowed her mounting excitement. Wow, this could be the break we’ve been waiting for!

“You’d have to get in touch with head office for that. I have his phone number, if that will help.”

“Fantastic. Hang on—you said you were in panic mode because the area manager is due.”

“That’s right. He could show up at any second. There’s no telling with him. Often he says he’s visiting but then changes his mind at the last minute. Actually, between you and me, he’s the worst one I’ve had. At least with the others, you knew where you stood with them.”

“Interesting. Is he local?”

“I believe so. Tends to keep himself to himself. Very offhand if you try and start a personal conversation with him. I don’t bother much now.”

Sally nodded. “Where is he now? Do you happen to know if he’s visiting another store in the area before he comes here?”

“We’re not privy to their itinerary. Their reasoning behind their elusive behaviour is to always try and keep the managers on their toes.”

“Okay, it was worth a try. If you could get me his phone number, mobile and landline, if you have them, that will help us a lot,” Sally told the manager. While Mr. Davis searched through the notebook on his desk, Sally said to Jack quietly, “Get on to Joanna, tell her to search for a home address for Liddell.”

Jack left the room to place the call.

“Ah, finally. I knew it was tucked away in here somewhere.” Mr. Davis jotted down the number and passed it across the desk to Sally.

“Both of them, great stuff. I’ll try his mobile first.” She dialled the number, and the call went to voicemail. She hung up and dialled the home number.

Mr. Davis was about to say something.

She held a finger up to her lips, indicating the manager should remain quiet during the call.

A frantic woman answered the phone. “Where the hell are you? I’m going to the hospital. Be there!” She hung up before Sally had the chance to talk to her.

Jack re-entered the room. She looked up at him and frowned. “Well, that was weird. I presume the woman was Mrs. Liddell. She must have thought I was her husband ringing, tore me off a strip, and said that she was on her way to the hospital.”

“For what?” Mr. Davis asked.

“I have no idea. It certainly sounded like an emergency to me. We should get over there, Jack, but which hospital?” She dialled the number again, but the answerphone kicked in.

“Very strange. Okay, I have an address for the Liddells. Perhaps we can figure out what hospital is local to them from that.”

“Great idea.” Sally punched the address into the map app on her mobile, and King’s Lynn Hospital was highlighted on the screen. “We’ll shoot over there. If Mr. Liddell shows up here, can you pretend that his wife called the store and urged him to go to the hospital when he arrived?”

“Of course. I won’t mention you were here, I’ll just tell him to get over to the hospital at once. I hope everything turns out well for his wife.”

“Thank you, I hope so too.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Sally parked at the back of the car park, then she and Jack ran through the entrance to the accident and emergency department.

Sally showed the receptionist her ID. “I’m looking for a Mrs. Liddell. I think she came in a few moments ago.”

The receptionist nodded. “She did. You’ll find her in the family room just along the corridor.”

“Thank you.”

They found a woman pacing the hallway outside the family room.

Sally smiled at her as she and Jack approached. “Mrs. Liddell?”

The woman’s gaze shifted uncertainly between the two detectives. “Yes. You are?”

“We’re DI Sally Parker and DS Jack Blackman from the Norfolk Constabulary.”

“I don’t understand. How do you know who I am, and why are you pestering me here?”

“Sorry, it’s not our intention to pester you. I rang you about half an hour ago, and you told me you were on your way to the hospital. Can I ask why you’re here?”

Tears glistened in her eyes. “That was you? I thought it was Jed, my husband. It’s my son. He has kidney failure.”

Sally’s heart sank at the news. Aware that she should proceed cautiously to avoid causing the woman further upset, she asked, “I take it you haven’t heard from your husband?”

“No, he works away all week. Only comes home on a Friday and Saturday.”

“I see. What job does he do?” Sally asked, intrigued to see if Jed had actually told his wife the truth about his career.

“He’s an area manager with a supermarket in Devon.”

“Devon? Is that right? That must be tough, dealing with a sick child on your own. Can I ask why you don’t move to Devon to be with him?”

“My child comes first. He’s used to the doctors here. It wouldn’t be right to disrupt his life any more than was necessary.”

“I see. Is your husband aware of how ill your son is?”

“I don’t understand what you’re getting at? Of course he’s aware. Michael has been ill from the day he was born, near enough anyway. He’s on the donor list. The doctors tell us that he’s close to the top now, but when we have episodes such as this, we have to pray that he pulls through.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Again, I don’t understand why you’re here, Inspector, asking me about my husband and my son. Why?”

Sally inhaled a large breath. “We’re trying to track down your husband to help us with our enquiries.”

“Enquiries? Into what?”

“Into a few incidents that have occurred in the area over the past few weeks,” Sally replied.

“What kind of incidents?” The woman started to pace anxiously again.

“I don’t want to concern you with that at this time, Mrs. Liddell.”

“Now you’re starting to worry me. What has this got to do with my husband?”

The door at the end of the corridor opened, and a tall, slim man with brown hair rushed in. Despite his striking resemblance to the sketch Kathy had drawn, Sally hadn’t expected a monster to be so handsome. Jack nudged Sally’s elbow. Jed Liddell stared at everyone, his feet shifting from side to side as if he were debating whether to take flight or not.

Mrs. Liddell called out to him. “Jed, these people want a word with you.”

Liddell remained where he was for a second longer then finally took flight. Jack bolted after him.

“We need to get him. I’m sorry, Mrs. Liddell. Your husband has committed some pretty heinous crimes. I have to go after him.” Sally chased after her partner and the suspect.

“Such as what?” She sounded alarmed as she tried to keep up with Sally.