Chapter 5 – Jenny

Ash asked Mr. Browning if they could look around the house.

"Again?" he sniffed with hands thrown high. "Fine!" he snapped. "I'll be in my office. Let me know when you are done or if you are taking anything!" He shot to his feet and stormed up the stairs.

Scribbs' mouth fell open at the man then she stuck out her tongue at his retreating back.

"DS Scribbins! Don't do that!" hissed Ash at her in a caustic whisper.

"Old bugger," muttered Scribbs half to herself, just loud enough for Ash to hear.

Ash glared at her associate with malice.

Scribbs broke the chill between them by she saying, "Sorry Ash. Let's go take a look in their bedroom."

Ash's hands clenched in anger but then she relaxed. Scribbs had her ways, some of which needed taming. She resolved to give her partner an earful after they left. "Maybe we can make a detective out of you yet Scribbs."

"Oh?"

"Take a lot of work… but it might be worth it."

Scribbs bowed. "Thank you Detective Inspector," she said mockingly. "I bow to your wisdom."

"Oh hush!"

Scribbs led Ash upstairs and looked in to a small room where Mr. Browning was working at a computer. He glared at her when she interrupted. "Sir, my we look at your bedroom. Perhaps there is a diary of something…"

"End of the hall." He waved a hand. "Now go away."

The women traded facial expressions of surprise and then they went to the door indicated and opened it. The bedroom within was a bright and airy room, decorated modernly like the front room of the house. The bedframe and clothing wardrobes were teak and a leather recliner faced a television on a stand. The en-suite bath was tile and glass and the bath items all laid out as if for fashion magazine shoot.

"Nice," Ash muttered. She pulled the hall door partway closed then began to peer into wardrobe drawers while Scribbs checked out the bedside tables.

In one bedside table Scribbs found an old flashlight, spare batteries, a fishing magazine, and a package of condoms. The table on the other side of the bed held very female items; a package of tissues, a romance novel, nail clippers, bottles of nail varnish, a thermometer, and pens and pencils. Pretty clear who slept on which side of the bed. When she slid the drawer back in in it stuck for a moment then slid back all the way.

Finding nothing obvious Emma moved to the bathroom for an inspection of soaps, shampoos, and lotions.

Ash peered under men's clothing in the first wardrobe, all folded neatly. The second piece of furniture held the missing Mrs. Browning's things. Sheer nightdresses and expensive lingerie, along with silk cardigans and shorts, told her a lot about the missing woman. She dressed well both outside and in.

The walk-in clothes closet was filled with equally decorative dresses and tailored trousers on one side. The other wall racks held Mr. Browning's clothing, most of it running more to the utilitarian than the elegant.

Scribbs stuck her head into the closet and gave a low whistle. "Mrs. Browning liked to dress up, no doubt."

Ash opened the neck of a beaded gown and showed Scribbs the label – a designer name on High Street. "Yes, which might explain his attention to money? Appears she liked to spend it."

Scribbs wrinkled her nose. "Doesn't make sense. Great house and clothes, and the report said she drove a nice car, so why would she go missing? Maybe the old man got under her nerves."

Ash looked at the expensive and glittery garments; a contrast to her husband's fashion hanging there. "Right."

Scribbs sighed. "Perfect life - perfect wife."

"Then why has she gone missing? Jenny, what have you done with yourself?"

"Exactly my thought."

Ash tossed her head. "Must be some reason. Find anything in the bedside tables or the bath?"

"Not really," Emma sighed. "But there is one thing…" She walked over to Mrs. Browning's table and pulled the drawer out all the way. In the cavity behind she found a small notebook, which she picked up and opened. "That's what was making that noise. It was hidden behind the drawer." It was a small calendar with a long sheet of paper folded inside.

Scribbs opened the paper and found it was a graph of some sort.

"What you have there?" Ash asked.

"Don't know."

Ash's hand unfolded the chart the rest of the way. A clear legend across the top announced this was a 'Basal Body Temperature Chart' with a legend down one side listing key items, such as when ovulation would occur, when to measure temperature, and so forth.

"She was charting her menstrual cycle," Scribbs said tenderly. "Trying to get pregnant. My cousin and his wife been doing this very thing."

"Browning did say they were trying for a baby."

"Then why does he have a pack of condoms in his table?"

Ash's eyes went wide. "That is a very good question."

Mr. Browning was deep into an elaborate spreadsheet when Ash cleared her throat from the hallway behind him. He turned to stare at her. "You about done?"

"Yes, thank you…"

"For letting you poke around," he grumped. "Fine. Right. Come back any time."

Scribbs peered into the office. "You said you were trying to make a baby."

"I did mention that," he sighed. "Nothing so far."

Ash produced the chart and from the way Browning started he'd never seen it before. "We found this in your wife's things," Ash told him.

He waved an indifferent hand. "Okay."

Scribbs smirked. "But it will be a bit hard to have a child with your wife missing won't it?"

He shook his head and scowled. "I don't know what in hell you are implying! My wife simply went out shopping and never came home. That's it. So find her! Quit poking about my house and do something! Earn your pay! Got it?"

Scribbs belted herself into the car but didn't start the motor. "What do you think?"

Ash got settled and opened the temperature chart she had taken as evidence. "This is a three month chart. See the 'x' marks across the bottom? Those must be the days when she had sex, around the times of her lowest temperature, until this big spike and then her cycle starts again."

"That's how it works," Scribbs said. "No idea."

"Well you're not trying to have a baby are you?"

"Are you?"

"No," Ash snapped. "Got to find the right man first."

"But she was – trying – with someone…"

The two detectives looked hard at each other. "But who with?" Ash asked. "Perhaps not her husband?"

"Right," Scribbs nodded at her. "And their bedroom didn't seem like anything was missing; that is there were no spots where clothing may have been in the drawers."

Ash replied, "Unless she bought new somewhere."

Scribbs added, "She must have a boyfriend."

"If we find him, then we find her."

Scribbs chuckled. "We'll make a detective out of you yet Kate."

That made Kate burst out laughing as Scribbs started the motor and backed away from the expensive house.