Wrongful Death (26 page)

Anna looked at Barolli, whispering to him that she obviously doesn’t know that Josh was dead, then called out that she was DCI Travis and it was important that they spoke with her privately.

The flat door slowly opened to reveal a very overweight black woman who looked to be in her late fifties. She was wearing a red calico skirt, light top, blue cardigan and Ugg boots. A tight red cotton headscarf covered her hair and the front of her forehead. Anna and Barolli showed Marisha their warrant cards and she invited them into the flat.

‘Go on in dere, I won’t be a minute, got a stew fish on for me tea,’ Marisha said as she pointed to the small living room.

The smell of fish was overpowering, but the flat was reasonably clean and the living room with its worn carpet and furniture was tidy. There was thick-flocked wallpaper, and the curtains were tied back with stockings. In front of the electric three-bar fire stood a clothes airer on which there were wet, dripping underclothes drying. An oversized LCD 3D TV dominated the room and on the stand below it there was a Bose surround sound system, Blu-ray DVD player and Sky+HD box. On top of an old wooden dresser there was an iPad and docking system with a set of tabletop speakers.

‘Likes the mod cons, doesn’t she?’ Anna remarked.

‘Knowing this estate, it’s probably all nicked gear bought from the local fence,’ Barolli said with a sly smile.

Marisha came into the living room carrying a tray with three coffees, milk and sugar. She put the tray down on the small table by the sofa and briefly went out again, returning with a half-full bottle of spiced rum in her hand. She held the bottle up, inviting Barolli and Anna to have a drop with their coffee.

‘Just a tiny one,’ said Barolli, not wanting to appear rude. Marisha was about to pour some into his coffee cup, but Anna was not happy about it.

‘Thank you for the offer, Marisha, but we are both still on duty,’ she said politely.

As Marisha lifted the bottle away, Anna noticed a splash of rum fall into Barolli’s cup. Anna frowned at him and he shrugged his shoulders. Not wishing to appear offensive, she told Marisha she was welcome to have some with her own coffee if she wanted, but the woman shook her head, explaining she was teetotal. ‘It’s me brother’s rum anyways, he’s been drinking it since he was a baby, and I’se thought youse may like a tipple with de coffee.’

Marisha left briefly to put the bottle back in the kitchen and Anna looked at Barolli as he sipped his drink.

‘It was only a tiny drop by accident,’ he said, pleading innocence. Anna chuckled and said she’d forgive him this time.

Marisha shuffled back into the room. ‘So what trouble is me nephew Joshua in?’ she asked casually as she eased herself down into an old wingback chair.

‘I’m sorry to have to tell you that he’s dead,’ Anna said.

There was a look of shock on Marisha’s face as she held her hand to her mouth in disbelief at the news.

‘When, what happened to him?’ she asked in a trembling voice and began to cry. Her whole body was shaking so Anna consolingly placed her hand on Marisha’s.

‘He passed away last November,’ Anna told her.

Marisha squeezed Anna’s hand tightly and wiped her nose on the sleeve of her cardigan. ‘November! Oh, my, so soon after Esme. He was such a lovely boy.’ Marisha again wiped her nose on her sleeve.

Anna looked in her jacket pocket and handbag for a handkerchief but didn’t have one. Barolli asked Marisha if she had any tissues and she said that there was a box in the kitchen. Barolli got up to find it.

Anna continued, ‘It was believed that Josh was suffering from depression and committed suicide.’

‘Suicide, oh, my, he done it hisself, how terrible.’ Marisha burst into more tears.

Barolli returned with the box of tissues and a glass of water and gave them to Marisha, who wiped the tears from her eyes, blew her nose loudly and gulped down the water.

As she hadn’t asked how Josh died Anna didn’t go into details but explained that as a result of some new information Josh’s death was being reinvestigated as a murder. This caused Marisha to cry and shake uncontrollably. Anna had to wait for several moments before she could continue, saying that they had come to see her as they wanted to know more about Josh’s family background.

Marisha, sniffing and blowing her nose, said that she had not seen Josh since she fell out with her sister Esme over fifteen years ago.

Anna glanced at Barolli, waiting for the tears to stop, before telling Marisha that she didn’t want to pry but wanted to know why she and Esme had fallen out. It transpired that Esme had caught her husband John and Marisha kissing each other and was convinced they were having an affair. Marisha said it was just a drunken one-off incident at a party but Esme banned her from coming anywhere near her family again and poisoned Josh against her.

‘It were just a friendly kiss, John was a good faithful husband. It was all in Esme’s mind, but she was so worked up she go and tell my boyfriend Dexter and he left me.’

She starting sobbing once more and asked for another glass of water, and so Barolli duly went off to the kitchen for a refill.

‘Josh didn’t invite me to the funeral and I didn’t dare go for fear he’d turn me away. Now I’ve not paid my respects to him either. I feel so bad, so bad,’ Marisha said, shaking her head and blowing her nose.

‘How did you know about Esme’s death?’ Anna asked.

Marisha hesitated and Anna assumed she was composing herself before answering.

‘From ma brother Samuel, he call me after Josh had rung him to say Esme had died.’ Marisha explained that Samuel had always lived in Jamaica, but kept in touch with her and Esme, calling them three or four times a year.

‘Did Samuel come over for the funeral?’ Anna asked.

‘Yes, he couldn’t afford de flight so Josh paid for his ticket and he stayed with me. It was good to see him after thirty years but so sad it was because of Esme’s passing.’

Anna was about to ask Marisha more when the woman became very agitated.

‘Samuel, oh, my, he don’t know about Josh’s death!’ she exclaimed, visibly distressed.

Anna said she would be happy to make a call to him on Marisha’s behalf if it would help. Marisha refused as if insulted. She pursed her lips, thanking Anna for her kind offer, but said that it was something she must do herself, as Samuel would take the news badly.

Anna wondered what Barolli was up to as he was taking so long. When he eventually returned from the kitchen, he claimed that he had let the tap run so the glass of water was a bit cooler this time, but Anna suspected he’d been having a quick snoop around.

She wanted to ask more about Samuel’s visit, but due to Marisha’s state of shock, knew she’d have to proceed delicately.

‘Did Samuel say how Josh was when he met him?’

‘He said he was a handsome young man, very successful and owed a big nightclub in da West End. Do ya know where he’s buried as I’d like to visit his grave and lay some flowers?’ Marisha asked, becoming emotional again.

Anna told her that his body had been cremated but she would try to find out where his ashes were. She pressed on and asked Marisha how long Samuel had stayed with her.

‘Only for about four weeks, then he had to go back home to look after his fishing business.’

Anna calculated that Samuel must have returned to Jamaica in mid-September.

‘Do you know if he did any decorating work for Josh?’

‘Yes, Samuel say he done some work on Esme’s place for him as Josh was going to sell it. I tink he also done some work at Josh’s flat, you knows – to earn a few pennies as he don’t have much money.’

‘I may need to speak with Samuel about Josh so could I have his phone number please?’

‘He don’t have a phone, he go to one of them phone cafés to call me.’

Anna handed Marisha Barolli’s details and asked her to tell Samuel to ring the DI next time he called, before thanking her for her time and wishing her well.

‘Are the 3D TVs any good?’ Barolli asked Marisha as he got up to leave.

‘They is okay but de glasses give me a bit of a headache.’

‘I was thinking of getting one but they’re quite expensive, aren’t they?’

She proudly folded her arms, standing in front of the huge screen. ‘Samuel bought me it as a present when he was stayin’ as my old TV went on de blink. He had a big win on a horse race, came in at fifty to one.’ Marisha paused and gave Barolli a sly smile, wagging her finger. ‘I know why you’re askin’.’ She went over to the dresser and opened the top drawer.

‘This was a legitimate purchase, sir, I’ve got the receipt here somewhere with the price on . . .’

‘It’s okay, I can have a look at the price online,’ Barolli said, somewhat embarrassed that Marisha had seen right through his ploy.

As they made their way back to the station, Anna wondered aloud why on earth he had asked Marisha about the TV.

‘I thought it might be nicked,’ Barolli explained.

‘Well considering the state of shock Marisha was in over Josh’s death, I thought it was inappropriate.’

‘The kitchen was like something out of a cookery programme – new cooker, fridge and a host of other modern appliances. I took down the serial numbers,’ he said, holding up his notebook.

Anna frowned. ‘She said Samuel had a big win on the horses so she probably had receipts for the lot.’

Barolli shrugged his shoulders. ‘Well at least we got to the bottom of the decorator problem.’

‘That’s if Samuel finished the work himself,’ Anna observed.

‘Maybe Dewar’s right about Curtis Bowman – Josh could have got him to finish it.’

‘Dewar’s wrong. Bowman is telling the truth,’ Anna said firmly.

Barolli, realizing he had upset her, changed the subject.

‘Fancy stopping off for something to eat?’

‘I’m not that hungry and to be honest I just want to get home.’

‘Do you mind stopping so I can get a takeaway?’ he asked.

‘No,’ Anna said, rather begrudgingly.

She pulled up outside a shabby-looking chicken joint that Barolli liked the look of and waited for him while he got some fried chicken and chips. The smell stank the car out and made Anna feel queasy for the remainder of the journey to the station. She was heartily glad that they were not in her own car.

Chapter Twenty

The next morning, Barolli rang in to say he was running late as he’d been sick in the night.

‘Serves him right for eating that disgusting takeaway,’ Anna said, and winced, recalling the horrible smell in the car.

‘That’s exactly what he said,’ Joan giggled.

‘How did the search of Esme’s flat go?’ Anna asked.

‘You didn’t hear?’ Joan said with surprise. ‘Agent Dewar spotted a loose floorboard and they found nearly a hundred and sixty thousand pounds hidden under it! And they’ve got a witness who saw Donna there the night the surveillance team lost her.’

‘Good,’ Anna said apathetically, realizing her thoughts about Donna being innocent had just taken a big nosedive. She’d already been informed that officers were preparing to arrest the young woman that morning.

‘Oh, I nearly forgot, my mum said that her current issue of
Gardeners’ World
says that the next one, which is out tomorrow, has an interview with Gloria about her latest flower-show display.’

‘Your mother and you don’t have a garden,’ Anna said, bemused.

‘No, but we have a lovely collection of pot plants on the balcony of the flat.’

Shaking her head, Anna went to ring the vice squad, who agreed to come to the station to deal with Marcus Williams.

Some time later, a subdued Barolli walked into her office and apologized in a croaky voice for being late.

‘You look like death warmed up,’ Anna observed, surprised at his dreadful appearance.

‘I feel like it. I think it was the fried chicken.’

‘You’re lucky it wasn’t full-blown salmonella poisoning.’

‘Make me feel better, why don’t you?’ he groaned.

‘You’ve only yourself to blame.’

‘I’ve had food poisoning before but this was so much worse. Had a rash all over me last night, my heart was palpitating ten to the dozen, temperature hit the roof then the room was spinning round and round in a psychedelic blur. I was hot but not sweating and to top it all I couldn’t pee or sh—’

‘Enough! Too much information!’ Anna cut him off.

‘I hope I don’t fall asleep when we interview Williams.’

‘I’ve rung the vice squad and they’re coming over to deal with him so you can have a lie-down on the sofa there while I go for some breakfast.’

‘Oh, thank God.’ He was lying on his back with a cushion over his face within seconds.

‘Gold to silver, any eyeball on red yet?’ Mike Lewis asked over the surveillance van radio.

‘Negative, negative,’ came the reply from Barbara, who was maintaining observation at Lynne House while Mike Lewis was near the Foundation offices with Dewar.

‘We’ll just have to arrest Donna in the house if she doesn’t come out soon,’ Dewar said, folding her arms in a cantankerous manner.

‘Be patient,’ Mike said calmly.

‘Patient! We’ve been here for two hours.’ Dewar sighed.

‘Eyeball on white leaving premises in yellow Mike Victor,’ Barbara said.

‘Is that Gloria, is she going out?’ Dewar asked, leaning over Mike to check the coloured code sign names.

‘No, white is Aisa. Mike Victor means motor vehicle and yellow is the car colour. Gloria is blue and Donna is red.’

‘This colour stuff is driving me nuts,’ Dewar grumbled.

‘Correction on last transmission: red is with white and units on tail,’ Barbara said and Dewar came to life.

‘Received. They can keep tail and you stay at current location and await instructions to search premises,’ Mike told Barbara, who acknowledged him.

Dewar asked what he was going to do now and Mike said he’d decided to arrest Donna in her office and search it at the same time.

Dewar looked surprised. ‘Without a search warrant?’

‘Don’t need one. We have a legal power to search after arrest for serious offences like murder.’

‘That’s good to know,’ Dewar said, yet again confused by the different laws in the UK.