Wrongful Death (11 page)

‘The rooms like something out of Sherlock Holmes,’ Anna remarked, taking a couple of steps up the library ladder to view the books.

‘Olde-worlde isn’t my kind of thing. Don’t mind a bit of art but those two paintings either side of the fireplace don’t go with the room,’ Dewar said.

Anna turned to where the agent was pointing. One picture with a black background was of three sepia-coloured, very old and haggard-looking women. Two were in the foreground of the picture standing side by side, one leaning from behind on the shoulder of the other, their heads turned towards each other as if engaged in whispered conversation. Dressed in head-scarves and shawls they looked similar, as if sisters. The third woman was in the background with only her face showing, floating like an eerie shadow while watching the two women in front.

The other painting was different: light, colourful and vibrant, it depicted a dreamlike scene with blue skies and wispy clouds. There were also three women in it but they were young, curvaceous and sensual. Two floated like angels above the third, who was lying on her side upon a stone table.

‘I think they are meant to contrast each other. You think they might be originals?’ Anna wondered.

‘Original crap more like,’ Dewar said.

‘Do you think the old women in that picture on the left are beggar women or witches?’ Anna asked.

‘I think one’s a psychopath and the other’s Spider-Woman. The one at the back with the duster is obviously the cleaner,’ Dewar said.

‘What on earth are you talking about?’ Anna asked, looking closer at the picture. ‘Oh, I see what you mean.’ She laughed as she noticed that the woman in the background was holding a bundle of sheep’s wool on what appeared to be a cone-shaped spindle. One of the women in the foreground of the painting had in her hands a pair of shears while the other woman held two strands of fine thread. The strands did indeed look like silk from a spider’s web.

Anna was about to examine the picture more closely when Katrina came into the room carrying a silver tray with litre plastic bottles of both still and sparkling mineral water, crystal glasses, a bucket of ice and lemon slices in a bowl.

‘Have you worked here long, Katrina?’ Dewar asked.

‘My husband Dawid and I been here a few months now.’

‘What’s he do?’

‘He Mrs Lynne’s driver and look after nice cars.’

‘Was that him outside washing the “nice cars”?’ Dewar asked.

‘Yes. He always wash them at end of day. Clean and ready for tomorrow.’

‘Will Mrs Lynne be with us shortly?’ Anna asked.

‘I no know, she busy in greenhouse.’

‘I noticed there are a lot of books on horticulture and botany,’ Anna said. ‘Plants,’ she added, noticing Katrina’s confused expression.

‘She love her plants and no like to be disturb when working in greenhouse.’

Dewar suddenly stood up.

‘Well, we are here on official police business and have had a long day. If you’d show us to the greenhouse we’ll disturb her for you.’

‘I’m not sure if good thing . . .’

‘Well I am,’ Dewar said bluntly, and raised her hand in an ushering motion for Katrina to show them the way.

The woman led them from the library, through a pantry-style kitchen and out to the rear of the house. The view was even more spectacular than from the front, overlooking further woodland and fields. The vast lawn was the size of a football pitch and had diagonal lines of freshly cut grass, the scent of which filled the air like a perfume. At the far end, on the left of the garden, there was an enormous Victorian-style greenhouse with a domed roof.

Approaching the greenhouse, they could see someone with their back to them, dressed in hooded green overalls, moving in and about the array of plants and flowers. A Doberman bitch suddenly sprang to her feet and stood her ground. At first, she snarled, revealing her sharp teeth, then began barking and growling ferociously as they approached. Anna, Dewar and Katrina stopped in their tracks. Dewar took a step backwards behind Anna.

‘I forget say, dog no like be disturb also.’

‘Great, now you tell us,’ Anna replied, trying to make light of the situation.

‘Don’t give it direct eye contact. That makes it worse,’ Dewar said nervously.

The door of the greenhouse opened abruptly, revealing the person in the green hooded overalls wearing a respirator mask that covered their nose and mouth.

‘Somebody get this dog under control!’ Dewar exclaimed.

The figure swiftly pulled the mask away and a female voice commanded, ‘Atropa, heel,’ and the Doberman instantly sat down and gave an obedient whimper.

‘I’ve told you, Katrina, not to disturb me when I’m in the greenhouse!’

‘It wasn’t her fault. We asked her to bring us out here,’ Anna said, and then introduced herself and Dewar.

‘As you can see, the sign I have on the door clearly says in large letters, “Beware Poisons”. When I’m spraying pesticides it’s highly dangerous to enter. That’s why I wear protective clothing.’

‘We’ll go back and wait in the house,’ Dewar said, not wanting to be near the dog.

‘I’ve finished spraying now. I just need to change and then I’ll join you,’ the person said. So this was Gloria Lynne – but it was hard to make out her looks as she still had the overall hood up.

Anna and Dewar returned to the library and sat waiting for the woman to reappear.

‘She was very rude to her Australian maid Katrina,’ Dewar remarked.

‘She’s Polish, from Poland, and it was you who insisted she take us out to the greenhouse. I think she was mad because of the safety implications.’

‘It’s only a bit of insect spray – no big deal if it gets on you, just wash it off,’ Dewar said dismissively.

‘How do you clean your lungs if you breathe it in then?’ Anna asked sarcastically.

Dewar just raised her eyebrows and sighed. Unscrewing the top of the still water, she poured herself and Anna a glass and added some ice and lemon.

The door to the library burst open and Gloria Lynne entered. It was an astonishing transformation from the woman they had met in the garden. She looked to be in her mid-forties and very elegant in a tight-fitting black sleeveless dress and patent black high-heeled shoes. Her ash-blonde hair had a centre parting and was swept into a stylish French pleat, revealing mother-of-pearl earrings. Her light blue eyes with large pupils were piercing yet sensuous thanks to very thick mascara, deep eye shadow, and kohl around their inside rim. She had a matt foundation, with blusher and rouge, and her lip gloss was lined in dark crimson. Anna noticed she was wearing a large diamond ring and gold band on her wedding finger.

‘We’ll start again, shall we?’ Gloria said, beaming, her teeth flashing like white light bulbs. She looked towards Anna and held out her hand, palm slightly curved to the ground as if she were royalty. A heavy gold chain bracelet with dangling charms swayed at her wrist and jingled as Anna did the polite thing, shaking the tips of Gloria’s fingers. She felt as if Gloria expected her to curtsey.

‘I’m Gloria Lynne.’

Anna introduced herself and then Special Agent Dewar, explaining that she was on attachment to the Met. Gloria proffered her hand to Dewar while Anna, unnoticed, switched on the Dictaphone that was in her jacket pocket. Although she felt it was a little underhand as she sensed the woman wouldn’t approve of the interview being recorded, she didn’t want to annoy Mrs Lynne by writing notes as they spoke.

‘I do apologize for keeping you waiting. I’m an avid horticulturalist and quite religious about keeping to a schedule. I have to feed, water and spray my plants at the same time daily and we agreed to meet at six o’clock, as I recall.’

‘We were a bit early and your housekeeper kindly let us in,’ Anna remarked.

‘I see she brought you some water. Would you like coffee as well? Goodness me. Why can’t she put the water into a cut-glass jug – we have enough of them!’

She frowned with distaste at the plastic bottles, and sighing, crossed to a tall antique corner cabinet. She moved like a dancer, her slim legs and delicate ankles enhanced by the sheer black stockings and high-heeled shoes. She took a crystal glass and poured a gin and tonic for herself, returning to the coffee table for ice and lemon.

‘It’s a lovely room, beautifully decorated. I was just remarking to Detective Travis on the wonderful oil paintings,’ Dewar said, much to Anna’s surprise.

‘You like art?’ Gloria asked Dewar as she turned towards the paintings.

‘Yes. But I have to confess I don’t know much about it.’

‘They’re both original oil paintings of the three Moirai. Greek mythologists say they were the daughters of Zeus and often described them as ugly, lame old women who were severe, inflexible and stern. The picture on the left depicts them in this manner. It’s by Francesco Salviati, a sixteenth-century Italian painter. The picture on the right is seventeenth century, by Sebastiano Mazzoni, also an Italian.’

‘They’re very contrasting,’ Dewar said.

‘Yes. That’s what attracted me to them. However, I prefer Mazzoni’s Baroque style, much more appealing to the eye,’ Gloria said, settling herself in the centre of the leather sofa. Anna had the opportunity to really take in the very glamorous woman in front of her. She exuded confidence and sophistication, and was very charming as she carefully placed her drink down on the small side table. Her speech and manner were both elegant and refined.

‘Anyway, I am sure you didn’t come here for an art lesson. Donna should be home soon but before she is, I would like to know why detectives from a murder squad need to speak to her?’

Anna was taken aback that Gloria knew they were not from the vice squad and had to think quickly for an appropriate answer.

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t tell you before, Mrs Lynne. We were worried that revealing who we were in a phone call to your daughter could cause her undue distress over information that may turn out to be totally malicious.’

‘As much as I’d like to say I appreciate your concern, you have been very underhand. However, I am willing to listen to what you have to say, but please don’t feed me a load of flannel again, DCI Travis.’

Anna apologized again and said that they were reinvestigating her son-in-law’s death due to an allegation made by an ex-employee of the Trojan. She took care to explain that he was not a reliable informant and was currently awaiting trial for armed robbery.

‘I think it’s best to wait for Donna,’ Dewar said.

‘You sound like my husband. He always thought he knew what was best for me!’ Gloria said sharply, giving Dewar a stern look before continuing: ‘What’s the name of this ex-employee?’

‘Delon Taylor,’ Anna said.

‘Never heard of him, and I doubt there is anything Donna can add to what she told the officers at the time.’

‘We have read over her statement. However, the original inquiry covered very little about Josh’s role at the Trojan club or his partner Marcus Williams,’ Anna replied.

‘Donna hadn’t worked in that disgusting place for some time before Josh committed suicide,’ Gloria said, tight-lipped.

‘I appreciate that, but Delon Taylor has said that Mr Williams was running a prostitution racket in the club. It’s possible Josh may have found out.’

‘Good God, how despicable. I told her that working there would end in tears,’ Gloria exclaimed.

‘You didn’t approve?’

The red lips tightened further, and she reached for her gin and tonic. She sipped her drink, not answering until she had replaced the glass back onto the table.

‘Of course I didn’t approve. Young girls will always be difficult, especially Donna, she’s always been very strong-minded and, dare I say it, enjoyed the fact that it was shocking for me to find out.’

‘How do you mean, strong-minded?’ Dewar asked.

‘I’ve always been quite strict with both my daughters and kept them out of the tabloid limelight, for their own safety of course. Donna became the rebellious one, whereas Aisa, her sister, has always enjoyed being spoilt.’

Gloria went on to explain that before Donna met Josh they had had a furious row about Donna’s attitude. During the argument, Gloria had blurted out that Donna was incapable of looking after herself and behaving like an adult. As a result Donna packed her bags and stormed out of the house, saying she would prove her mother wrong and didn’t need her or her money. Gloria said she was not at first aware Donna had taken up exotic dancing for a living but had found out through Aisa. Gloria suspected that Donna had deliberately told Aisa, knowing it would get back to her.

‘I said nothing at first as I felt Donna was purposely trying to upset me. But when I discovered that Donna had married Josh Reynolds in Las Vegas after a whirlwind romance, well I couldn’t believe it. You know a mother always dreams of wedding plans for her daughters and making it the most special day of their lives, what with arranging the celebrations and bridesmaids and choosing the wedding gown together, but sadly that was not to be.’

‘Did you like your son-in-law?’ Dewar asked.

‘I only ever met him once and that was when I went round to their flat in Bayswater just after I heard about their marriage. As you can imagine, it wasn’t a social visit. He tried to keep the peace between myself and Donna, but it was quite horrible and she demanded I leave.’

‘So you and Donna patched things up after his death?’

‘No, shortly before – Donna said Josh told her life’s too short and persuaded her to see me and sort out our differences. I don’t wish to speak ill of the dead but I have to admit that I had hoped Donna could have perhaps made a better choice. I was not that impressed with Josh being a strip club owner; but it would seem that he was surprisingly very pleasant and well educated. I only wish I’d had the opportunity to get to know him better.’

‘How is Donna now?’ Anna asked.

‘She’s getting there, but still takes things day by day. Donna works for me, so that helps to occupy a lot of her time, looking after various charities and organizing fundraising events with Aisa.’

‘That’s very commendable,’ Dewar said dryly.

Gloria frowned. ‘I can empathize with my daughter, as I know what it’s like to lose someone you love dearly. My husband Xavier died when I was very young and both my girls were still babies really.’