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it. Do you want to see it?’
    ‘I don’t think so, thank you. What about his mobile phone?’
    ‘That was in his glove compartment. I think Tina came round for it when I wasn’t here.’
    As they returned to Joe’s office Paul said he would need to have a word with the other mechanics before leaving. Anna thought there was really nothing else she could ask him, but Joe wanted to know if she felt that something bad had happened to Alan.
    ‘By bad, what do you mean?’
    ‘Well, it’s odd, isn’t it? He’s a good bloke, a hard worker, and for him to take off without a word to anyone isn’t like him, so maybe something has happened to him.’
    ‘Like what?’
    ‘I dunno—he’s got mugged or something. He was very particular about himself, always very spruced up. He wore a spotless white T-shirt under his overalls, even his jeans were pressed, and I know he worked out a lot in the local gym because he’d sometimes have his tracksuit with him. Even that was always pristine, and I don’t know how many times he’d wash his hands. Sometimes he’d even wear surgical rubber gloves if he was doing up an oily engine, and—’
    Paul interrupted him. ‘You mind if I ask you something personal about Alan?’
    Joe shook his head.
    ‘Was Alan Rawlins gay?’
    ‘Gay?’
    ‘Yes.’
    Joe stared at him, then laughed. ‘Because of what I just told you about him? Well, if he was, he kept that well-hidden, and if you want my opinion, he was straight. He was getting married and there was no way he ever gave me any indication he was a poof. Is that what
she
says about him?’
    ‘She?’
    ‘Tina. I mean, she’d be the one to ask—right? Not that I have anything against them, but I’ve never employed one.’
    ‘A homosexual?’
    ‘Yeah. Sometimes this is heavy work, not to mention getting dirty and oil-streaked, so I’ve never had anyone light on their feet so to speak.’
    Paul, irritated by Joe’s comments, left the office to go and speak with the other mechanics.
    ‘You said he worked out—do you know which gym?’
    ‘Yeah, he used a local gym called Body Form in Inwood Street, next to the park, did a bit of weightlifting and ran the oddmarathon for charity so he was fit. He was also a good-looking fella, not that he ever made it obvious. In fact, I don’t think he ever realised that he was a bit of a head-turner.’
    ‘How do you mean?’
    ‘Well, we had a girl in the office handling the calls a couple of years back. She had to go because we couldn’t afford her, but she was all of a-flutter if he came anywhere near her.’
    Anna smiled and said that he had been very helpful and she appreciated the time he had given.
    ‘You never answered my question,’ Joe said, following her out.
    ‘I’m sorry, what question?’
    ‘You’re a detective and we’ve had people from some other Department for Missing Persons talking to us. What do you think has happened to him?’
    ‘That is what we are trying to find out, Mr Smedley.’
    As Anna returned to the car she looked at her watch and realised that talking to Joe Smedley had taken longer than she had anticipated. It was a further ten minutes before Paul finished speaking to the mechanics in the workshop, and she could then see him in the garage yard talking on his mobile. When Paul finally returned Anna found herself even more irritated as he stated the obvious.
    ‘Mechanics couldn’t add anything interesting. We’re running late,’ he said to Anna as he got into the car. ‘I called Dan Matthews, and he said he could wait – he’s a graphic designer and we’re seeing him in his studio. The other bloke, Julian Vickers, has had to put us off until later this morning. Just as well, as he’s all the way over in Kilburn.’
    ‘Why did you bring up that Alan might be gay?’
    ‘Way the hairy man was describing him—the clean whiteT-shirt, pressed jeans, rubber surgical gloves, all that—he was a mechanic, for chrissakes. Plus him being a fitness freak—I