The Cedar Face: DI Jewell book 3 (DI Elizabeth Jewell) (32 page)

'Better
go around the back,' Patterson said. He climbed over the
six-foot wooden gate and unlocked it.

A young woman
hanging out her washing in the next garden asked what
they were doing. Elizabeth showed her ID, but didn't
say why they needed access to the house. Patterson waited
until the neighbour went indoors, then he fiddled with the
back door. Within a few minutes, they were inside. He
searched the upstairs, Elizabeth, downstairs.

'I've got her computer
and a phone,' he said when he came down. 'I
don't think it's her current one. Maybe they
'll find another one at the hospital?'

'If she had
it with her on the roof no one has found
it yet. Or she dropped it trying to escape the
fire. I've found credit card bills and mortgage documents
and done a quick calculation. She owed nearly seventy thousand
.' Elizabeth handed Patterson a letter dated the previous week. 'The
building society had threatened her twice with repossession.'

'Wonder what
she spent all that money on?' Patterson said.

'Maybe her
computer will give us the answers to that question.'

Patterson
secured the house and Elizabeth contacted the crime scene manager
and gave him directions to the property. She was about
to get into the Saab, when her phone rang.

After
a few minutes Elizabeth ended the call. 'You're a
genius. Beresford's garage contained a white Peugeot. He confirmed
the vehicle belongs to his stepdaughter.'

'Did he say anything
else?'

'No. Mrs Beresford was busy phoning her lawyers while
Giles Beresford was drowning his sorrows.

CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

Two
days later. Tuesday June 4th

Elizabeth and Patterson had arrived
at Cheltenham hospital over two hours ago and waited for
half that time before a doctor allowed them to speak
to Jackie Kilmartin.

Elizabeth's first reaction after seeing her
lying in bed was shock. She bore little resemblance to
the attractive woman she had interviewed at the start of
the investigation. Kilmartin had lost weight and her face was
drawn, she looked ten years older. Patterson sat quietly while
Elizabeth quickly scanned her prepared notes. 'Are you ready to
answer questions?' she asked her.

The woman propped up in
the bed nodded; her eyes dull, her hands plucking at
the sheets.

'You told Sergeant Evans that Wilson didn't
buy the mask, he was given it?' Elizabeth stated.

Jackie
Kilmartin's voice sounded raw from the smoke inhalation. 'He
didn't steal it if that's what you'd
hoped for.'

'Let's get this straight Jackie. After the
lunch in honour of Morven, Wilson invited him to his
office, presumably to show him the mask. You already knew
about his so-called treasure and you wanted to eavesdrop
on their conversation. You followed them and listened outside the
door, heard an argument and saw Morven leave. Then what
happened?'

Kilmartin struggled to sit up and asked for a
drink of water. Patterson passed her a glass.

'I went
into his office and asked why he was shouting at
Morven. He was very upset because Morven wasn't interested
in the mask, so I suggested he let me have
a look at it. I knew that despite our feud
, Keith fancied me, so I put my arms around him
and gave him a hug. Afterwards he unlocked a drawer
and showed it to me. It looked old, but not
that special. Then he produced a fragile sheet of paper
detailing its history from the beginning of the twentieth century
. He said this was when his great-grandmother had inherited
it from a friend. The provenance looked authentic and I
asked Keith how much he thought it was worth. He
said at least a quarter of a million, probably more
. He wanted to sell it but was suspicious someone would
rip him off over the valuation. That's why he
'd wanted Morven's advice.'

'So you'd already decided
to seduce Wilson to get your hands on some of
the proceeds,' Patterson said.

'I was in the shit financially
. It was a way out, and Keith was easy to
manipulate.'

Elizabeth could see how this had all panned out
. 'I'm sure he was, until he mentioned he'd
also shown the mask to Jade Harper. My theory is
that her intentions were similar to yours. Lure Wilson into
a satisfying sexual relationship so he'd reward both of
you from the proceeds of the sale. Harper was also
in the shit. Her parents were pissed off with her
antics and threatening to throw her out. The one thing
Jade liked even more than sex was money. You waited
around at Grasmere on that afternoon hoping Wilson would go
home so you could steal the mask, but he didn
't. Then later, you got a shock when you saw
Morven had returned. Then, you bumped into Jade Harper, who
you mistakenly assumed was after a brief encounter with the
handsome Canadian, but she wasn't. Wilson was her target
, because she'd seen a similar mask in a museum
in British Columbia and had a good idea of what
Wilson's was worth. What you weren't aware of
was that Morven had shattered Wilson's dreams completely. He
'd lied to him. Told him the mask was a
fake and then walked out.'

'But it couldn't have
been a fake,' Kilmartin moaned. 'Why would I have...?'

'Killed
two people,' Elizabeth finished her sentence for her. 'But it
wasn't a fake. Morven did a rough drawing that
we passed onto an expert who knew about Nisga'a
' masks. She matched with the one in the museum and
agreed that Wilson's could be very valuable.'

Kilmartin remained
silent for a few minutes. Elizabeth's body felt wearier
than ever. She wished the day was over with. 'So
tell me what happened then.'

'Jade had a go at
me. She went to great pains to explain what she
and Wilson got up to in bed. I didn't
see her after that. I was furious with Keith, but
then he disappeared too so I assumed he was enjoying
himself somewhere with Jade. Giles Beresford was about to leave
, I stopped him in the corridor and asked if he
'd give me a lift home. He was revolting towards
me and refused because his wife was picking him up
. Then I threatened him. I said I'd tell his
wife all what he was up to. At first he
laughed at me, but thought about it and said I
could borrow his car. He threw me the keys and
I shoved them in my pocket without checking them. I
watched Morven until he reached the school gates and wondered
whether or not to go home. If I hadn't
seen Jade and Wilson come back together laughing their stupid
heads off, I would have. When Jade left not long
after Morven did, I couldn't control my feelings anymore
and by the time I got back to Keith's
office I was out of control.'

Elizabeth marvelled at the
woman's acting ability. It was obvious she intended to
play the victim right up to the end. 'You went
to get the mask but it had already gone. Am
I right?'

'I searched for what seemed ages, literally everywhere
. Keith came back and went berserk. He grabbed hold of
me and bent me over his desk. I thought he
was going to strangle me so I felt behind me
and picked up the nearest thing. It was the carving
tool Morven had left in the lecture hall. Keith must
've taken it back to his office so he could
return it to him.'

'And we know the rest,' Patterson
said.

Kilmartin started to cry, but Elizabeth's sympathy had
run out. 'You guessed Wilson had asked Jade to take
care of the mask. What did you do? Demand she
give it to you?'

'I threatened her too. Jade is
a very strong-willed girl. I made it plain that
I'd tell everyone I'd seen her stab Keith
. She was terrified and pleaded with me. Once she knew
I was serious, she promised to hand the mask over
. We arranged a meeting place.'

'You still had Beresford's
step daughter's car. We retrieved it from his garage
and all our tests prove you drove that vehicle with
Jade's body in it. Did you tell Beresford or
did he guess what you'd done? I think he
did, otherwise why did he try and hide the vehicle
?'

'I didn't tell him. The only reason he would
do that is because he's in love with me
.'

'And knew what you were capable of,' Patterson added.

Elizabeth
found it hard to understand Jackie's lack of remorse
. 'Jade had no intention of relinquishing the real mask, so
she made a copy of it. We thought you were
responsible for stealing the student's masks, but we discovered
them at Jade's house.'

'You met up in Cresswell
woods. How did you persuade her to go further, into
the school grounds?' Patterson asked.

'I lied and told her
Beresford wanted to see her. That he was prepared to
give her money, if she kept quiet. When we got
there and she realised he wasn't coming, she started
to panic. I took the mask from her and knew
immediately it was a fake. I couldn't understand why
she thought her copy would fool me. I saw red
and we fought physically, unfortunately I gripped her neck for
too long.'

Kilmartin was making Elizabeth weary. 'You're implying
both murders were accidents and the result of fierce arguments
.'

'Of course,' she said. 'I never meant to hurt either
of them.'

'Why did you send Jade's fake mask
to Morven?'

'I wanted to scare him. Let him know
I was coming after him too, in case he had
the real mask. There was no one else more likely
to have it. I was about to pay him another
visit when I found out about the professor but you
lot beat me to it. His heart attack had nothing
to do with me. He must have realised it was
a copy and not the real one.'

Patterson stood up
. 'I don't agree. McAllister was also an expert. He
'd taught Morven. His reaction to the fake tells us
something important. That Jade's copy was a good representation
of the original.'

'You can't blame me for his
heart attack.'

'If he'd died I certainly would,' Elizabeth
argued. 'What's more, I don't believe you intended
to kill yourself, so why did you go back to
Grasmere.'

'I had to wait until I knew the place
would be empty. We had an extra two days tacked
on to the half term holiday. There was still things
I hadn't dealt with and I didn't set
fire to the place, it was an accident.'

No Jackie
,' Elizabeth said. 'You lit a cigarette and then forgot where
you'd left it.'

'I was so stressed trying to
cover my tracks. Everyone deserted me in the end. Anyway
, it doesn't matter. I never found out what Jade
did with the mask, and neither will you.'

Elizabeth stared
at her until she turned away. Kilmartin's eyes were
half-closed; a smile lingered at the corners of her
mouth. A few seconds later, she was asleep.

CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

Thursday June 6th

A black Jaguar limousine drew up
slowly outside Jacob Morven's rented property in Bibury. Consular
official, Geoffrey Goddard wound down the window and checked there
were no onlookers before making the call. The uniformed chauffeur
exited the car and opened the rear doors in readiness
for his passengers.

Morven and John McAllister had already brought
their luggage down from their rooms, when the phone rang
. It wasn't necessary for Morven to speak. He picked
up the handset and immediately replaced it. Only then did
he take a final look at his temporary prison. He
watched as John McAllister slipped a photograph of his long
dead wife into his case.

'How do you feel about
going home?' McAllister asked.

Relieved, apprehensive, it's been a
long time. I know one thing, I won't ever
come back.'

'You'll be fine the moment we get
off the plane. And, better still, the heat wave continues
. Temperatures have hovered aaround thirty degrees for over a week
,' McAllister said, smiling.

'What about up North, is it still
warm there?'

'McAllister was checking his passport. 'Mid twenties, no
rain, that deck of yours might see some action this
summer and when it does I hope I get an
invitation.'

'The doc said no more travelling.'

'Come on, I
don't call flying up to Terrace travelling,' McAllister zipped
his case up and wheeled it to the front door
. 'Sorry to bring the subject up but I was laying
awake going over Wilson's claim about the mask. You
're still sure what you saw was a fake?'

Morven
looked out of the window. 'Goddard will be knocking on
the door if we keep him waiting any longer.'

'You
haven't answered my question Jacob.'

'What I saw was
a very good fake, but then I didn't stay
long enough with Wilson to hear the rest of his
story. He knew he couldn't convince me.'

McAllister checked
his luggage. 'Hey, that old Wolf Chief didn't want
the mystery of the mask solved after all. So long
ago, who knows? Do you ever wonder about that Jacob
, where it ended up?'

Morven closed his briefcase and locked
it with a small key. 'I've wondered for the
past twenty years. I always hoped the legend had an
element of truth, that the young guy the old Chief
gave it to survived.'

'He probably did. By the way
I've only got one carry on, what about you
?' McAllister said, holding up his cabin bag.

'Just this one
,' Morven pointed to a briefcase. 'From now on we'll
concentrate on more findable items, except you'll have to
stay home, thanks to Doctor Burgess. He's the only
person I know you've taken any notice of. Finally
, someone knocked some sense into your brilliant brain.'

McAllister was
pale and had lost over a stone thanks to a
rigid diet. For the first time since his twenties, he
'd given up drinking whiskey. Morven knew the heart attack
had scared the hell out of him. Considering he'd
been at death's door, he'd recovered extremely well
. His plan was to carry on teaching part time and
lead a quieter life.

McAllister went into the kitchen. 'I
've lost a pair of specs. I can't find
them anywhere.'

'Come on, we haven't time. They'll
probably turn up here in three hundred years time.'

The
Jaguar pulled away smoothly and headed for the M40. McAllister
sat in the back seat next to Goddard. Morven had
elected to sit next to the driver where he could
see in the wing mirror. Not that he expected anyone
to follow them.

Goddard glanced at his Rolex. 'It's
exactly three-thirty gentlemen. Your plane leaves at seventeen hundred
hours. As both of you have diplomatic clearance we don
't have to be there the statutory two hours before
the flight leaves.'

'Does diplomatic clearance include waiting for us
if we get stuck in traffic?' Morven asked.

'I can
assure you the flight will not leave without you. I
've checked the route and we should have a clear
run, barring accidents,' Goddard stated.

'How do we avoid the
reporters at Heathrow?' McAllister asked.

Goddard's cultured voice spoke
with authority. 'We leaked a statement to all of the
media informing them you were leaving tomorrow on the evening
flight.'

The drive to Heathrow's terminal five went as
planned. Goddard directed the driver to a private car park
from where he escorted them into the airport through a
VIP entrance. He suggested they do some shopping while he
attended to their passports and asked them to meet him
at the gate in forty-five minutes.

They wandered around
the shops picking up souvenirs they didn't really want
, but it made the time pass quickly. McAllister looked longingly
at the bottles of Scotch until Morven dragged him away
.

Morven was acutely aware of his mounting anxiety. Even with
the diplomatic protection, he still kept glancing over his shoulder
anticipating problems. Realistically, at this late stage it was unlikely
anything could go wrong but until flight AC312 was airborne
, he knew he wouldn't relax. He spotted a small
bar, where only a handful of people occupied the tables
.

He ordered two glasses of red wine and sat down
opposite McAllister. 'A toast,' he said. 'To Canada.'

'To Canada
,' McAllister echoed.

Morven sipped his wine and looked back to
how it all started. Up until this point, he knew
he'd made the right choices and could leave the
UK without any regrets. He was about to return to
the bar for a refill when his phone rang. Ignore
it, was his immediate thought but the ring tone was
attracting attention from the people closest to him. He pressed
the key, then realised to late he hadn't checked
the caller ID.

'Is that Jacob Morven?' A woman's
voice asked.

Yes,' he replied.

'It's DI Jewell here
.'

Morven's heartbeat increased. 'I'm about to board my
flight. What can I do for you?'

'I needed to
check on something before you leave the country.'

McAllister tapped
his arm to get his attention and whispered. 'Who is
it?'

Morven shook his head, stood up and moved away
. 'Sorry can you repeat that?'

The voice at the other
end continued. 'Two days ago, a fire started in the
art department at Grasmere Academy. Fortunately, the damage to the
school was limited. The reason I've called is one
of the fire crew found a slightly singed wolf pelt
. Giles Beresford insists it belongs to you. I assume you
left it behind after your lecture. I wanted to let
you know we will store the item at Park Road
should you want it back.'

Morven hadn't forgotten he
'd left it behind. Somehow he'd misplaced it, or
someone had taken it. That same afternoon he'd asked
if anyone had found it, but no one had. After
he was charged, he assumed one of the kids might
have borrowed it and didn't want to make a
fuss in case the culprit was punished.'

In the background
, he heard their flight called. He turned to McAllister who
was eager to get going.

'Thank you Inspector Jewell, I
appreciate you taking the time to let me know. I
don't want it back, but I met an interesting
young man at the Academy. If I remember correctly, his
name is Rory. Please give it to him. I'm
sure he won't mind the damage.'

'We didn't
know if it was valuable, that's why I rang
.'

'About this fire, was it an accident?' Morven asked.

'It
wasn't an accident, 'Elizabeth Jewell answered. 'It was deliberate
. I have to go now. I hope you have a
pleasant flight.'

Morven heard the click as she disconnected. McAllister
was tugging at his sleeve. He drained his glass and
they made their way to the gate to find Goddard
waiting for them. He was at the head of the
first class queue. He handed over their passports and other
documents. Morven gave his a cursory glance, his mind wandering
. Why hadn't he asked her more about the fire
? Because even though he knew the answers, he hadn't
wanted to know the details.

'All in order,' Goddard said
and shook McAllister's hand. 'Have a safe journey home
.'

Thank you,' McAllister replied, eager to hand his documents to
the smiling flight attendant.'

Morven was next to shake hands
. 'If ever you're in BC...?'

Goddard smiled and walked
away. He did not look back.

Twenty minutes later Morven
looked out of the window of the Boeing 767, his
last view of the UK. Once they were airborne, he
would try to forget. He had meant his words to
John. He would never return.