Wrongful Death (46 page)

‘Yes, go on.’

‘This is just a maybe but what if Josh puts the gun to his head, Aisa tries to grab it, and bang it goes off, which would account for why his gun hand was in an unusual position. She panics and runs.’

Anna frowned and chewed at her lips before adding to his theory. ‘If Samuel wrote the suicide note and stole the money, he had to have gone to the flat. So maybe he saw Aisa there, and could have seen her run off before he let himself in with his set of keys.’

‘Possible, and gives him another thing to blackmail Gloria with,’ Blane commented.

‘The suicide note would also help to lead the police in the wrong direction and suit Samuel’s purpose,’ Anna said.

Turning to the Charity Ball photographs again, she concentrated on the pictures taken during and after the fireworks display.

‘Aisa’s nowhere amongst the crowd on the balcony, then twelve thirty-five, there she is back in the ballroom with Gloria.’ Anna paused, looking closely at the photos before continuing.

‘Aisa is wearing a different evening dress. If she went to Josh’s in the one she first had on she could have got blood on it when he shot himself.’

She turned to look at Blane for confirmation, but he was now sitting on the sofa with his eyes closed. Slowly she went over to sit beside him, and laid her legs across his.

‘Gloria confirmed Aisa’s alibi about being sick, which means she’s bloody well lying again. She knows exactly what happened to Josh, either from Samuel or Aisa herself,’ Anna said, nudging him.

Blane yawned and opened his eyes. ‘Gloria is an adept liar who can think and react to any given situation very quickly. She would have primed Aisa on exactly what to say.’

‘And there was me thinking you’d stopped listening . . .’

She leaned towards him as if to kiss him, but stopped before their lips met. ‘Wait a minute. Why hasn’t Gloria done more to protect Donna, fight her corner? She’s been arrested for murder.’

‘In Gloria’s world, sacrifices have to be made to save her own skin. She can’t say anything and risk being found out herself. As for Aisa spilling the beans, I doubt that will happen either – she won’t cross her mother and risk being cut off from her world of luxury and wealth.’

Anna nodded. ‘It all sounds so simple, yet underneath the surface is a tangled web of deceit and lies spanning thirty-odd years. What was it Sherlock Holmes said about eliminating the impossible and whatever you’re left with—’

‘However improbable, must be the truth,’ Blane said, yawning even harder.

Anna’s head was spinning with a whirlwind of information. ‘That’s the problem here, Don. My team is making a big mistake and will end up suffering the consequences. How on earth do I explain in a phone call to Mike Lewis everything we have discussed – he’ll think I’m totally delusional. Even then, because of Gloria’s standing, Mike will have to at the least go and speak with Deputy Commissioner Walters.’

‘You don’t make a phone call,’ Blane said matter-of-factly.

‘What? I don’t tell Mike anything?’ Anna asked, surprised.

‘You have to tell them face to face. You’re the only person who’s got a handle on this whole sordid mess. Gloria has to be arrested immediately and only you have the full knowledge of what has been uncovered, so only you can interview her and Aisa.’

‘You sound like you want to get rid of me.’

‘That’s the last thing I want to do, and more than anything I want to be with you.’ He felt somewhat relieved at finally getting his feelings out.

‘I feel the same way, Don. I want and need to be with you,’ Anna confessed. Then she grinned wryly. ‘Plus, if I walk off the FBI course and go back now, it would be the end of my career. My superiors would never forgive me for blowing a chance someone else could have had.’

‘We run three courses a year, and you just solved a major missing-persons case over here, so you leave it to me to speak with the FBI Director and get you on the next one.’

He cupped her face between his hands. He had been impatient to tell her how he felt and to make love with her; now he was arranging for her to leave not just his log cabin but return to England.

‘There’s a late flight tonight to Heathrow and you’d be back in London by about mid morning. I can call our guys at the airport and see if I can get you on it and they will rush you through Customs.’

‘I could always get a flight tomorrow morning,’ Anna said, nervous of stating the obvious.

‘Only daytime flight is the ten a.m., and that would mean you’d get home nearer midnight on Monday. This way you can sleep on the plane and be fresher for the morning when you see your bosses.’

‘Okay.’ She stood up and was about to collect her things when he stopped her.

‘Listen, I’ve been wanting to make love with you all day. Maybe fate is playing a big part in this, because I wanted it all to be special and romantic. I envisaged us having the next ten weeks together, really getting to know each other.’

Anna smiled, and kissed him, whispering, ‘I want that too.’ She kissed him again. ‘We do still have time, you know.’

He hesitated for only a moment before he scooped her up in his arms in case she changed her mind and carried her into the bedroom.

Chapter Thirty-One

Blane’s colleagues at Dulles Airport were able to secure a seat on the Heathrow flight for Anna so he rushed her back to the FBI Academy where she literally flung her clothes into her case and they raced to the airport. They hardly spoke to each other on the journey, speeding along the highway, blue lights flashing; somehow it just didn’t seem the right time or place for either of them to discuss a future together. Anna felt in many ways that Blane was a reflection of her, both in thought and working practices. She feared they were too much alike, and wondered if he might be thinking the same. Anna knew that whatever happened they would have to make sure they found a world together outside of crime investigation if there was to be anything lasting between them.

When they arrived at the check-in, an FBI agent was waiting for them with a flight ticket. He shook hands with Blane who introduced Anna.

‘Agent Nathan will get you fast-tracked through to departures. He’ll need your passport, Anna,’ Blane said.

She rummaged in her handbag and passed the passport over to Agent Nathan who promptly carried her bag to the check-in desk. Blane stood patiently as she answered all the usual questions about packing her own case and carrying no weapons, and then her flight number and gate flashed on the departure screen, alerting them that the passengers were boarding.

‘My God, we only just made it,’ she said.

Blane took Anna to one side; she nervously wondered what he was going to say about his feelings for her and what she’d say in return.

‘I just wanted to tell you that Gloria Lynne will be deceitful, she’ll show no remorse or ever admit guilt, and will really know how to play the “pity card”. She will be a consummate actress and twist accusations round so she looks like the victim. Gloria will be a very, very clever woman.’

Anna didn’t quite know what to say, as she wasn’t expecting this subject, but she realized he was concerned for her.

‘Agent Nathan will take you to the plane now. You have a safe journey, Anna, and I hope it all pans out for you.’

‘What?’ She had assumed he would be able to accompany her. He gave a small shrug of his shoulders, and was unprepared for the way she flung her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

‘Thank you, thank you for everything,’ she said.

‘Well, after tonight, the bedroom scene rather than anything else, I want us to see each other again and the sooner the better,’ Blane replied, even as he recognized it sounded false, yet not knowing what else to say because she looked as if she was about to burst into tears. Agent Nathan pointed to his watch, indicating that time was pressing.

‘I’ll call to tell you how everything goes,’ she said.

He bent forward and kissed her on the cheek, feeling like he was terminating their relationship. Truthfully, he had wanted so much more from her, but he knew that circumstances had now made that impossible.

‘Have a safe trip, and e-mail me when you have the time. I have to get back to the car as it’s in a no-waiting zone,’ Blane said, not wanting to prolong the moment. He didn’t look back as Anna hurriedly followed FBI Agent Nathan to the front of the security queues.

As she sat in first class awaiting take-off, Anna couldn’t believe that so little time had passed since she was last at the airport – it seemed so much longer with all that had happened. She smiled, recalling Langton’s upgrade at Heathrow, and it dawned on her that she still hadn’t spoken to him since he left to hunt for Fitzpatrick. Even though she figured that he would have made contact with her if anything had happened, she realized she was just trying to find reasons not to phone and tell him that she was flying home. Knowing that he would undoubtedly shout at her when he found out, she picked up her mobile and dialled his number.

Langton answered straight away. ‘What are you doing up so late, you’ve got the Yellow Brick Road tomorrow morning?’ he asked and laughed.

‘Any luck with Fitzpatrick?’ she asked awkwardly.

‘Well let’s put it this way, the FBI SWAT team have saved the British and American taxpayers a lot of money.’

Anna was finding it hard to concentrate and didn’t really take in what Langton was implying. ‘Sorry, what do you mean?’

‘He resisted arrest, pulled a gun and the FBI pumped him full of bullets. So, no lengthy trial at the taxpayers’ expense.’

‘Are you okay?’ she asked, somewhat alarmed.

‘Yeah fine, bit of a tense moment in more ways than one. All a bit sad though – his young son was there and witnessed it all. He’ll have to go into care as there’s no other family and what the trauma will do to him God only knows.’

‘Poor kid,’ Anna said. ‘Still, you got Fitzpatrick.’

‘Yeah, but in some ways it still feels like he’s the one that got away. I’d love to have slapped the handcuffs on him and told him he’s nicked.’

Anna was racking her brains how to tell Langton that she was about to return to London, but he sensed something was wrong.

‘You sound a bit down. Is everything all right?’ he asked.

‘Not really, I need to tell you what’s happened.’

‘Is it that bloody Don Blane? Did he try something?’

‘No, it’s nothing like that,’ Anna said.

Langton could tell she was still hiding something. ‘Fucking FBI are so up themselves. Don’t let him get you down, I’ve got all the red tape Internal Affairs going on here, what with Fitzpatrick being killed, but I should be back at Quantico late tomorrow—’

‘I won’t be there, I’m actually leaving,’ Anna cut accross him, realizing it was now or never.

‘What the fuck has he done to upset you?’ Langton shouted.

‘Nothing, Don helped me unravel the evidence in the Josh Reynolds case and Donna did not murder him. Gloria Lynne has fooled us all, she will stop at nothing to get her way and may have murdered at least five people.’

‘Jesus Christ, Anna, Blane knows nothing about the fucking Josh Reynolds investigation. You’re being taken in by a load of profiling psychobabble.’

‘He knows more than you realize and he’s made me see things clearly,’ she insisted. ‘You’ve always gone on and on at me about being a team player, well I’m not going to sit back and watch my team be duped by a lying sociopath like Gloria Lynne.’

Langton could tell that he had struck a nerve where Don Blane was concerned but he also knew that Anna was being deeply serious and must have found evidence to support her beliefs. ‘Are you one hundred per cent sure about Gloria?’ he asked.

‘Yes, but as yet I don’t have all the evidence to prove it. There’s a lot of costly forensic work that needs doing and I’m certain it will prove my theories. Gloria started her murdering spree in Jamaica over twenty years ago, using a poison called atropine. I think she used the same substance on Lord Lynne when they were on holiday in Egypt, then—’

‘Just hold on, you’re talking about crimes that didn’t even happen in the UK – they don’t come under our jurisdiction,’ Langton said, feeling he had to interrupt.

‘It would take too long to explain right now but it’s all related to why Josh Reynolds may have killed himself.’

‘I don’t bloody believe this. You’re now back to square one that Josh did commit suicide!’ Langton exclaimed.

‘Possibly, but I think Aisa was in the flat when the gun went off. She was having an affair with Josh. It’s possible Samuel saw her leave the flat and used that knowledge, along with other historical facts, to blackmail Gloria.’

‘Holy shit, this is making my head spin – what facts?’

‘Samuel Peters was Gloria’s first husband, Josh was their son and Donna and Aisa are blood sisters through her marriage to Xavier Alleyne,’ Anna informed Langton.

‘So Josh was married to one half-sister, and sleeping with the other? I don’t bloody believe it, this case gives me a damn headache.’

‘You have no idea how long it took to put all the pieces together but I’ve copies of all the birth and marriage certificates to prove it, and I am certain none of them knew they were in incestuous relationships.’

‘My God, this’ll be major fodder for the press, considering who Lady Lynne is and all her big-time contacts,’ Langton groaned.

‘Gloria Lynne has to be arrested immediately. I wouldn’t put it past her to kill her daughters to save her own skin.’

‘No, no, just wait a second. You cannot arrest Gloria without higher authority. You need to talk to Walters first, you know that.’

‘And you know full well he will want a complete report and all the evidence before making a decision,’ Anna retorted.

‘That’s just the way it goes when it comes to the rich and powerful . . .’

‘Well, the way I see it, the law is the same for everyone, and if I have reasonable suspicion that Gloria has committed a crime then it’s my duty to arrest her.’

Langton knew from the tone of her voice that Anna was determined to have her way, and he was growing increasingly worried that she hadn’t grasped the political situation she was walking into and that her stubbornness would be the downfall of her career.