Amber was pouting in the corner like some spoiled child, and Morgan wished that Marc hadn’t said she could work with them. Her phone began to vibrate on the desk, and a cute picture of Ava Rose filled her screen. Morgan stood up. ‘Excuse me, got to take this.’ She walked out of the office, relieved to have an excuse to be out of there.
‘Hey, Amy, how are you?’
‘I’m good.’
‘Did Cain tell you what happened?’
‘He did, that student is lucky he’s still breathing. What an arsehole.’
Morgan sighed. ‘Yeah, and to make it worse he’s got Amber tutoring him, and she has now managed to wing her way back onto our team.’
‘Jesus.’
‘I know, how’s that gorgeous baby?’
‘That little madam is currently snuggled in Cain’s arms fast asleep. I think he’s dozing off too. I left the pair of them downstairs so I could work in peace at my desk in the spare bedroom.’
‘Bless you, I’m so sorry that Ben has asked you to do this.’
‘I’m not, I am bored out of my tiny tree. I mean, it’s great being at home with Ava but it’s not exactly exciting. Anyway, that’s not what I’m ringing for. I sent you an email but because it’s from my own email it might go into your junk folder. I found the two women that Cain said are missing, they are all over Instagram and Facebook.’
‘You did, that’s amazing.’ Morgan didn’t mention she’d taken a cursory glance at Lizzie Thomas’s Instagram because Amy was so much better than she was.
‘Well Cain mentioned they had podcasting equipment left behind in the rental, so I did a bit of searching for various podcasts, etc. and found one that’s a true crime, mystery podcast hosted by a Janey Moore who is Caucasian, and Lizzie Thomas, who may be of Asian ethnicity; I don’t know if that’s any help.’
‘Yes, it is. Did Cain tell you about the mix-up at the mortuary?’
‘He mentioned it.’
‘The woman we thought was the missing teenager Scarlett turned out to be an Asian woman possibly in her twenties.’
‘Bingo, take a look at the stuff I sent over. You should be able to do a visual ID of her from that. Do you know how she died? Have you found Scarlett yet?’
‘No, to both of those questions. Hey, you’ve lived here as long as me. Have you ever heard of an urban legend about the watcher?’ Morgan had nothing to lose at this point and hoped Amy was about to say yes.
‘No, what the hell is that?’
A sigh of disappointment escaped Morgan’s lips. ‘Ettie said there is a really tall, pale-skinned man or spirit who follows tourists or walkers out on the fell near that old summer camp, but only when it’s misty.’
Amy laughed. ‘Well, if that isn’t terrifying, I don’t know what is.’
‘I know.’
‘You think this watcher killed them and has taken the other two that you can’t find? What did Ben and Marc have to say about this? I mean, I’m not saying it’s not true, because God knows there are things out there that can’t be explained, but it’s not the kind of thing they’ll want to run with, is it?’
‘Ben wasn’t impressed.’
Amy’s laughter filled her ear, and she had to hold her phone away, so she didn’t deafen her.
‘Yeah, and there is my predicament. But hear me out, what if it’s someone pretending to be this watcher guy.’
‘It’s all a bit Scooby Doo though.’
This time Morgan laughed. ‘I know, it’s nuts. Or maybe he’s just a weirdo out there walking when the weather turned and he got the perfect opportunity to fulfil his sick fantasies.’
‘Where are the others though, Morgan. I think you need to be prioritising searching for them.’
‘My thoughts exactly and I’m pretty sure they are. Thanks, Amy.’
