The Mysterious Disappearance of Marsha Boden – Chapter 13

Why was Miss Moorcroft a Genuine Person of Interest?

Hello and welcome if this is your first visit, and welcome back if you’re a part of the Rosy’s Ramblings community. It’s brilliant to have you here.

I am embarking on an experiment to write a novel as I go here on Rosy’s Ramblings.  So far, the experience has been nerve-racking and exhilarating in equal measures. 

Thank you all for your wonderful support.

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organisations, places, events and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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Roy Tidmarsh kept the news from his wife, Millie, about their estranged son contacting him because he didn’t want to stir up another hornet’s nest of painful events, from which they had experienced a fairly lengthy hiatus.  Will was their only child and had broken his mother’s heart when he got in with a rough crowd from the wrong side of town. He got caught stealing, then was involved in a car accident in which two local lads were killed, and as the driver, their son was reviled, despite a police report exonerating him.  The Coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death on the two boys and Millie had never recovered from the terrible incident.

After the accident, Will disappeared off the radar and only returned home when he wanted something, usually money.  He had become a full-blown addict and Mr and Mrs Tidmarsh were mortified and disgusted and had immersed themselves in becoming good shopkeepers, their guilt manifesting itself in their desire to try and make amends, although naturally, the loss of two young lives was something that could never be put right.  They had tried everything they could to bring their son back in line but he was beyond redemption.  All they could do was try and find a way of continuing to live in the village without being ostracized.

For the first few months after the accident, takings at the shop dropped dramatically, with locals preferring to shop elsewhere, even if it meant a ten-mile drive into Mudlowe.  Gradually though, earnings picked up as people realised that the shopkeepers couldn’t be held responsible for their son’s actions, and although they never felt forgiven, they could feel the villagers’ empathy slowly gaining momentum as the years slipped by. 

The thought of their son parachuting back into their lives and stirring everything up again would be more than his wife could bear and Roy was adamant that he shouldn’t return, but Will could be very persuasive and was trying to convince his father that he was clean. 

“Dad.  Just give me a chance, that’s all I’m asking.  I can help out at the shop.  All that stock must be heavy and you and Mum aren’t getting any younger.”  His son’s voice was calm and measured.

Roy winced.  The menace in his son’s voice made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end and he knew exactly what Will was inferring, and what he expected his father to do, but Roy had had enough. 

“You’re not welcome here, son.  Just do us all a favour and keep away.  You’ve already broken your mother’s heart into a million pieces.  I don’t want you shattering it again.  She won’t survive another bout of your bloody antics.  We’re done.”   Roy cut the call and hovered his finger over the red ‘Block this Caller’ banner before pressing it firmly. He had reached the end of his tether with his wayward son and enough was enough.

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Lucy got the job at Ashcroft’s and was over the moon, although a little deflated that she didn’t have someone special to share her good news with.  She sent a group WhatsApp to her friends and invited them all out for a drink to celebrate.  After all, her salary was set to rise exponentially once she had got her training under her belt.