The Pharmacist

At midnight, Jack finally left the station to go home. When Sarah had alerted him to Alice’s situation, he’d already finished an eight-hour shift, so was bone-tired, yet content to know that he’d done all he could for the time being. Everything possible was in place and the search for Rachel Roberts had begun in earnest.

Jack remembered his previous scepticism as to Alice’s state of mind with some regret, he’d been too quick to assume Rachel was telling the truth and Alice was confused; with his experience of human nature, he should have known better and kept an open mind. He hadn’t taken Sarah’s concerns seriously either although he knew his wife to be an intelligent, discerning woman. Yet regrets were something Jack spent little time on worrying about. He would learn from them and move on to do his job to the best of his ability, as he always did.

Thoughts of his home and wife crept into his mind. Jack was confident that Sarah would be waiting up to find out what had transpired, and, after telling her, he could hopefully sink into bed for a few hours’ sleep before the search resumed early the following day.

Sarah was in the lounge, her feet up on the sofa, dozing. The sound of her husband’s key in the lock made her jump, suddenly wide awake and fully alert.

‘Any news?’ She wrapped her arms around Jack and leaned her head on his shoulder.

‘No, it’s too early, but we’ll find her. How about you, are you okay?’

‘A bit numb, but nothing compared to what poor Alice is feeling. It’s enough to make anyone doubt what’s real and what isn’t. It’s incredible that Rachel could do that to her mother, and as for her father…’

‘I know, it’s hard to believe, but everything’s pure speculation at the moment. Tomorrow we’ll get straight back onto the search for Tom Roberts. I’ve added his details to the national computer for missing persons, so the wheels are already turning. I’ll need to interview Alice formally too, as soon as possible. Do you think she’ll be up to it?’

‘If it brings her any closer to knowing what’s happened to Tom, yes, and having Brenda there will help too. Alice intended to stay at the hospital with Millie overnight if they’d let her. Do you think if Millie’s well enough to be discharged, Alice will be able to take her home tomorrow?’

‘We’ll have to get social services involved before anyone can make that decision. It becomes a child protection issue now, but I would imagine there shouldn’t be a problem because she’s the girl’s grandmother. Officially, Detective Superintendent Kerr will be the SIO, but he’s happy to let me take charge, at least until we know what kind of case we’re looking at.’ Jack was keen to take this case on board and already felt a strong connection to it through Sarah.

‘I learned quite a bit more about Alice’s background tonight, from her and from Brenda.’

‘Go on. I’m listening.’ Any background information was useful. By this time, the couple was seated on the sofa, Jack’s arm around his wife, her head on his shoulder as she spoke.

‘Rachel Roberts is adopted. Not because Alice and Tom couldn’t have children but because they wanted to share their home and their love with a baby who needed a fresh start in life. They did have another daughter, their natural child, Jenny, who was killed in a car crash when she was seven.’

‘No, that’s awful… losing a child of that age is unthinkable.’

‘That’s only the half of it. Alice’s brother-in-law drove the car, and her sister and their daughter were also in it. They’d taken Jenny on an outing with them and all four died in the accident.’

A palpable silence hung in the air as Jack and Sarah contemplated such tragedy.

‘I don’t know how Alice has coped – and now, for all this to happen, it’s inconceivable. We’re so blessed, Jack, to have each other and the boys…’

‘Absolutely. And if it turns out that Tom is dead, how will the poor woman cope?’

‘It seems Alice’s relationship with Rachel never recovered from the loss of Jenny. The sisters were very close and Rachel would have been on the outing herself except for a nasty case of chickenpox.’ Sarah continued while Jack’s thoughts drifted back to the bronze statue in Rachel’s home of the two young girls, sisters, and the significance it might hold for Rachel.

‘Apparently,’ Sarah went on, ‘Alice and Brenda’s friendship developed out of mutual loss. Brenda lost her son when he was twelve. He fell down the stairs at school. You can see how the bond developed between them. Such heartbreak is unimaginable, isn’t it?’ Sarah paused and silently noted the sadness and empathy in her husband’s face.

Sarah continued, ‘I’m struggling to understand Rachel. How can she hate her parents so much and why is she doing this? Do you know, at one point this evening, Alice asked Brenda if they still had Barney, their dog, when they’d moved to Penrith and Brenda said yes, they had. We were stunned at the implication – there’s been no sign of the dog as well as Tom. If Rachel Roberts has got rid of her mother’s pet dog, I think I can agree with Brenda’s assessment of her. She described her as an evil bitch!’

These were not words or sentiments that Sarah would usually express and Jack was a little taken aback. Still, he was having difficulty subduing the strength of his feelings about this whole situation and could perfectly well understand his wife’s heightened emotions.

‘Tomorrow, the search for Rachel can begin in earnest. I set up an all-ports alert before I left the station, and we’ll begin a CCTV search for any sightings of her car from mid to late afternoon today, starting with when she left the school with Millie. As I say, I need to speak to Alice tomorrow, but for now, it’s been a long day, so I think perhaps it’s time for bed.’

‘I know she’s got Brenda with her, but tell Alice that I’m here for her if she needs anything, will you, Jack?’

Jack kissed his wife on the forehead and pulled her up from the sofa. They were both tired and emotionally exhausted. Hopefully, a few hours’ sleep would revive them for the following day’s numerous, unpleasant tasks.