Chapter 10

Claire's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of door opening next to her. She had not even noticed there was a door there. It was a wooden door, the same colour as the wall and also covered in posters. As it opened, she saw a man step half into the foyer and say her name. She stood up in response and shook the man's extended hand.

"My name's DC Jain. Come through." He said, opening the door as wide as it would go. He gestured to a chair behind a desk and asked Claire to take a seat. Claire sat in the chair. It was one of those old-fashioned, grey, itchy-fabric office chairs. It was also quite scruffy with some of the seat stuffing poking through holes around the side. The desk had also seen better days, with scratches, ink and coffee cup rings all over it. There was a computer on the desk, which was also a throwback to the 90s. A big rectangular box, upon which a chunky monitor stood. Claire had a computer like this when she was a teenager, although she now used an unnaturally thin, aluminium Mac that made the officer's computer look positively antique. She could even hear the crunch of a hard drive inside the ageing relic.

When both Claire and DC Jain sat down, she looked across at the officer and was surprised at how young he seemed. She guessed his age at between twenty-five to thirty at most. He was clean-shaven, with smooth cappuccino skin. She guessed he was of Indian descent, but sounded very local. He was not wearing a police uniform. Instead, he was dressed quite smartly in a long-sleeved, checked shirt and dark tie. He had a black notebook in one hand and piece of A4 paper in the other. He placed both on the desk in front of him. She could see the onset of a five o'clock shadow on his strong jaw and wondered if he was due to finish his shift soon.

"So, from what I've read, your boyfriend went missing today sometime between two and three?" He asked, part question, part statement. He did not look at her as he spoke, but started typing on the computer's keyboard with slow, deliberate, single-finger swipes.

"That's right," Claire replied. She felt suddenly nervous, as though she was being interviewed as a suspect. "I don't really know what's going on, but he was supposed to be at work. He hasn't answered any calls or messages and his car was abandoned in the middle of nowhere. I can't see any reason for him to stop there."

"OK." DC Jain responded, although he continued to look at the computer. From Claire's position she could see that he was filling in boxes on a computer program that looked like it was designed for Windows 95. He suddenly stopped typing and looked Claire in the eye.

"Let me tell you what's going to happen. First, I need to get as much information as possible from you. Then, I'm going to check around the police stations and hospitals to make sure he hasn't been in an accident or arrested for something. That shouldn't take long. After that, I need to check where he's missing from. Do you live together?"

"No," Claire responded, "He lives in Portishead and I live in Weston. He was supposed to be at work and I was going round to his after."

DC Jain nodded as she spoke, but looked slightly confused. He then turned back to the computer and started asking a series of seeimingly irrelevant questions about their relationship, his address, his work, phone numbers, friends, description, if she had a photograph, if he had mental health problems or drug dependency. Claire was surprised at how few questions she could actually answer.

"OK." DC Jain said, again. He liked that word. "I've put on a report and I'll give you the reference number with my details. For now, I'm going to do some checks and I'll come back to you. Obviously, if you hear from him before I do, then call us on this number and give the call taker the Guardian reference number there. Go home and see if he turns up at yours. Try not to worry. Most of the time these things are just a case of miscommunication."

Claire was not convinced by DC Jain's obviously rehearsed speech. She looked at the piece of card he gave here and saw the switchboard phone number, a 'Guardian number'whatever that wasand DC Jain's details, indicating that his name was actually Sajid Jain, Detective Constable 3119, based at Tyntesfield station.

Claire stood up and Jain opened the door again. He held it open, smiling weakly as she walked through it.

"Thanks." Claire said.

"Let us know if he contacts you." Jain repeated.