Never Somewhere Else by Alex Gray Read Free Book Online Page B

lamps and tune into Classic FM. This last action was a necessity to Maggie, whose natural gregariousness demanded other voices around her. Even now a voice from the car radio was warning of the hazards of road works and delays from the city.
    Tell me about it, thought Maggie, gazing at the rows of cars tortoising along their motorway lanes.
    The voice changed and began to give the day’s news in clear, precise tones.
    ‘A body has been found …’
    No, she thought, no, I can’t stand it any more. But the voice was describing Hertfordshire and the corpse appeared to be an old man, someone who had come to grief by accident. Maggie’s stomach felt weak. She had been so sure that the killer had found another victim.
    Her finger flew to thebutton and the voice ended in mid-sentence. What if he was never found? Lorimer had spoken briefly but grimly about the difficulties in tracking down serial killers such as this one. Would he ever give up the search?
    Maggie caught a glimpse of herself in the rearview mirror. Dark curls tumbled around her pale face, greying around the hairline. Her eyes showed signs of strain and fatigue, exaggerated by the mascara she had absently rubbed into dark smudges. Lines which had once told of laughter would soon be described as crows’ feet, she told herself, miserably.
    Maggie sighed and pulled her gaze back to the traffic ahead. Once home she would prepare a meal for two but expect to dine alone. Despite the fact that Lorimer had always worked dreadful hours in their twelve years of marriage, Maggie had never come to terms with the disappointment of a husband who rarely appeared at dinner time. Instead of becoming accustomed to their long spells apart – for sometimes they did not see each other for days at a time – Maggie increasingly resented this lack of a pattern to their lives. Sometimes she wondered if perhaps her own day as a school teacher was so regulated by the electronic bell that she craved a similar order and structure in her home life.
    The cars in front began to move faster and Maggie accelerated to match their speed. Up ahead the familiar junction appeared and she signalled left, relieved to be on the last stretch of her journey home.
    *
    The answering machinewas blinking its red button as usual. Maggie kicked off her high heels, throwing her velvet coat onto a nearby chair.
    ‘It’s me. Just to remind you that it’s
Crimewatch
tonight. I’ll be staying over.’
    There was a pause as Maggie waited for the bleep, but Lorimer’s voice came again, almost as an afterthought.
    ‘Love you.’
    And I love you too, you brute, thought Maggie, tears of frustration pricking behind her eyes. How on earth could she have forgotten
Crimewatch
? Easy, her more cynical self replied, I never talk to him face to face these days so why should I remember? At least I can record the programme, she told herself with a rueful laugh, then I can play my husband’s face over and over again in case I forget what he looks like.
    Maggie massaged the back of her neck, circling her head to rid herself of the ache that was beginning to form already. The tape bleeped a few times then continued.
    ‘Hallo, dear, it’s Mum here. Just thought I’d remind you about
Crimewatch.
Isn’t it exciting? Mrs MacDonald was asking all sorts of questions, but you know me, I just told her that I couldn’t let her know anything about Bill’s cases.’
    No, thought Maggie, because we never tell you anything, you old gossip.
    ‘Well, dear, must go. We’ll catch up some time soon. Bye, now.’
    This last phrase wasspoken with a wistfulness that caught at Maggie’s conscience. Damn! Here she was craving the companionship of her husband when Mum would gladly have filled the gap of lonely hours. Two more bleeps sounded before Maggie switched off the tape. She’d phone her mother after dinner to reassure her that she hadn’t forgotten the TV programme. (A lie, but not one she was about to admit.) Fortified by some