Wrongful Death (51 page)

Anna studied the numbers dialled from Marisha’s mobile phone and pointed out that the next call recorded to Gloria’s mobile phone was at 10 a.m. on 5 November 2012.

‘A month passes with no calls to Gloria, then out of the blue there’s one the day Josh dies and the cell site is by Marisha’s flat. I believe this was a further blackmail attempt on Gloria by Samuel, but this time she chose to ignore it.’

‘Why do you think she ignored it?’ Joan asked.

‘Because Samuel went to the Trojan and Josh was very upset after speaking to him. He told Marcus Williams he had business to attend to, and I think he went to see Gloria as he then knew she was his real mother. Samuel told Josh the truth to spite Gloria.’

‘So Samuel got paid off first time round in October, but got greedy and wanted more?’ Joan asked, to make sure she understood Anna’s logic.

‘Yes. He pushed his luck and Gloria killed him, made sure he’d never come back,’ Anna added.

Joan nodded and pointed to the list of Marisha’s mobile calls. ‘Calls were made to Josh’s mobile at midday, four fifteen p.m., then also between seven p.m., and nine p.m., but all very brief.’

‘It has to be Samuel making the calls and not Marisha,’ Anna said. ‘Here’s one to Gloria at eleven forty p.m. for two minutes. We know Josh was probably dead by then . . .’

She hurriedly flicked through the pages to look at the cell site location for the call.

‘The mobile phone mast is right next to Josh’s flat in Bayswater – this can’t be pure coincidence! Samuel must have seen Aisa leave Josh’s flat, went in using the keys Josh gave him and found his body, so he’s straight on the phone to Gloria and making further blackmail demands,’ Anna deduced.

‘But why did Gloria answer her mobile if it was Samuel?’ Joan asked, putting a slight dampener on Anna’s excitement.

Anna thought about Joan’s question. ‘Because she did go upstairs to check on Aisa, who she thought was ill, but as Aisa was not there. Gloria must have wondered where on earth she’d gone.’

Joan, puzzled, told Anna that she didn’t follow her reasoning. Anna reminded her that CCTV clearly showed Samuel turning up at the Savoy just before ten p.m. and then the Mini leaving just after.

‘We suspect Aisa was in the Mini. Samuel doesn’t drive so Aisa would have got to Josh’s long before Samuel did.’

‘Right, I get you, so you are saying that he arrived at Josh’s as Aisa was leaving. But why did Samuel go back to the Savoy?’ Joan asked.

It was irritating that Joan couldn’t grasp what to Anna was the obvious, but then she had to acknowledge that Joan didn’t have the same detailed knowledge of the case as her. Anna also realized how much of what Don Blane had deduced looked to be spot-on.

‘Samuel went to see Gloria, probably desperate to get more money out of her,’ Anna said.

‘Gloria must have been terrified of a confrontation in front of hundreds of her high society friends,’ Joan remarked.

‘Exactly, so if he demanded more money she’d probably offer him some outrageous amount just to get rid of him. Samuel leaves and goes to Josh’s. Gloria had to have been really flustered, she goes upstairs to calm herself and checks on Aisa who, surprise, surprise, is not there.’

Joan clapped her hands together, impressed with Anna’s logic.

Anna banged her hand on the desk in realization that more pieces of the puzzle were fitting into place about what actually happened on the night of Josh’s death.

‘That’s it! That explains the stupid suicide note; Gloria’s control over Samuel is his greed. God, she’s a quick thinker, she must have known instantly how to use him to her advantage even under immeasurable pressure. She is the archetypal Ice Queen.

Joan was again confused but Anna was on a high. ‘I am sort of following but—’

‘Joan, listen to me: even if Samuel thought it was a suicide, seeing Aisa leave was a powerful blackmail tool to use against Gloria. Finding the money in Josh’s already open safe was a bonus.’

Joan was still unsure, but Anna was adamant.

‘Within minutes of seeing Aisa then finding the dead Josh, Samuel was on the phone to Gloria. She couldn’t speak with Aisa at that time as she was on her way back to the Savoy. Gloria couldn’t really tell Samuel to piss off. But what she could do is offer him even more money to make sure it looked like a suicide, thus Samuel stupidly wrote the suicide note.’

‘And with Samuel out of the way and Josh’s death declared a suicide Gloria thought she was in the clear,’ Joan said, understanding.

‘Yes, yes, exactly. I suspect Gloria paid Samuel off the next day. She needed to get close to poison him, and she laced the rum that was already in Marisha’s flat.’

Anna put her hands behind her head, sat back in her chair, took a deep breath in and let it all out again. ‘Samuel started a catastrophic chain of events on the afternoon of the fifth of November by telling Josh that he was his real father and Gloria his mother. It led to Josh’s and eventually his own death.’

She took another deep breath, and skimmed through all Marisha’s mobile calls again. ‘My God, there are also text messages from Marisha’s mobile to Gloria’s. Can you—’

Joan interrupted: ‘Already on it and legally the provider is supposed to keep sent texts for two years.’

‘Joan, I wish I had a whole team made up of clones of you, we’d solve everything in no time.’

‘Even I wouldn’t wish that on me,’ Joan said, leaving the room.

Anna knew that the results of calls and texts made from Gloria’s phones would be crucial to her argument that the woman should be arrested and interviewed for the murder of Samuel Peters. Josh’s death was a different matter. Anna was certain Gloria had somehow poisoned him, probably hoping he would crash his car, but he had survived. It would seem the atropine, and Samuel’s revelations, had caused Josh’s delusional state of mind, which resulted in him taking his own life. Gloria had loaded the gun but never actually pulled the trigger. Attempted murder by poison wasn’t good enough for Anna – she wanted the arrogant socialite Lady Gloria Lynne hanged, drawn and quartered for the misery she had brought to so many people.

So, though elated, Anna still felt uneasy. Gloria held the keys that could unlock the answers to so many unexplained questions, but she would never give them up, not even if her own life depended on it. Gloria was manipulative, controlling and an expert liar who had always got her own way, sometimes through charm, but mostly by deceit. No matter which way Anna looked at the problem, it would always come back to how much Aisa knew and whether she would be willing to incriminate her mother. Anna decided that before she left the station to go home she would visit Aisa in her cell, not to interview her, but rather to impress on her exactly why she had been arrested and the seriousness of her situation.

Just at that moment her mobile rang and she could see from the caller identification that it was Mike Lewis. She’d totally forgotten to call him and could have kicked herself, she knew he’d be upset and quite rightly so.

‘Hi, Mike, I’m really sorry, I meant to phone you earlier—’ Anna started to explain but Mike was quick to interrupt her.

‘Langton called me so I know exactly why you came back, but that’s not the issue right now – your arresting Aisa is.’

Anna jumped in: ‘I’ve plenty of evidence to justify her arrest if that’s what you’re wondering.’

‘Would you just shut up and listen?’ Mike snapped. Anna realized something else must have upset him. She apologized and said she was listening.

‘Walters has just been screaming down the phone at me, wanting to know why the hell you arrested Aisa Lynne. I’m sorry, Anna, but you left me in the dark so I had to tell him I hadn’t a clue what he was talking about.’

‘I’m sorry, Mike. I should have called you ages ago. Has Gloria been complaining again?’ she said, trying to make light of the situation, but Mike was not impressed.

‘Ten out of ten for fucking observation, Anna. Where are you right now?’ he asked in a raised voice.

‘In my office, are you on your way over?’ Anna asked.

‘No, but I think Walters may be. He’s in a foul mood and baying for blood. So I’d hide somewhere, if I were you.’

‘Thanks, Mike, I’ll get Joan to say I’m out and meet with you and Langton tomorrow to discuss everything,’ Anna said as she hurriedly hid her briefcase behind the sofa.

‘Look, I’m keeping well out of it and have agreed to hand the reins back to Langton to oversee the Reynolds case.’

‘If I were in your shoes, I’d be doing the same,’ Anna said, slinging her handbag over her shoulder.

‘Langton’s on your side and I understand why you suspect Lady Lynne, but for God’s sake make sure you have the evidence to back your actions up,’ Mike warned.

‘Believe me, I’m working on it as fast as I can, and it’s the last thing I need Walters to know about at the moment.’ But as Anna ended the call she heard a bellow from behind her.

‘I fear you’re a bit late, DCI Travis!’

Anna recognized the voice of Deputy Commissioner Walters and turned towards the door, to find she had not made her escape in time.

‘You’d better have some bloody good answers because right now your career is hanging by a thread!’ he said, standing in the doorway in full uniform, with a look of thunder and contempt on his face. Grimly, Anna reflected that she only had herself to blame for her current predicament, and now was the time to try and dig herself out of one of the biggest holes she had ever been in. As she put her handbag down on the desk she thought of Gloria Lynne and her unerring instinct for self-preservation. Unseen by Walters, she placed her hand inside her bag and removed her Dictaphone, surreptitiously turning it on and casually placing it in her inside jacket pocket.

‘Would you like a coffee or tea, sir, I’ll get Joan to—’

‘Shut up and sit down!’ Walters said, pointing to the armchair in the corner of the room. Anna knew he was in no mood for pleasantries and was so fidgety he was unlikely to sit down himself.

‘Would you not like an armchair too, sir, they’re more comfortable than the sofa,’ Anna said with a deliberately serene voice.

‘Right now I’d prefer to look down on you, Travis, as the insubordinate officer that you clearly are,’ Walters said scathingly.

‘I’m sorry, sir, but insubordinate, I don’t know what you’re referring to.’

‘Don’t play games with me, Travis. I’ve had the Commissioner breathing down my neck, YET AGAIN, because of your fucking gung ho attitude. I also had to call Lady Lynne and listen to her complain about your aggressive behaviour, for which I had to apologize on your behalf, YET AGAIN.’

Anna would have loved to rebuke Walters for apologizing to Gloria but knew she couldn’t. ‘I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t mean for that to happen.’

‘Sorry is not good enough. Who was that you were on the phone to a moment ago?’ Walters demanded to know.

‘My course instructor at the FBI Academy, sir. I was just telling him how disappointed you would be when you found out I’d come back to London,’ Anna said, knowing that it was a rather feeble answer.

‘Then tell me, Travis, why have you thrown the opportunity of a lifetime away? An opportunity, I might remind you, that but for me you would never have had,’ Walters said condescendingly.

‘I was made aware of information while I was in Quantico that Donna Reynolds was not responsible for the murder of her husband.’

‘And what information was that, Travis?’ Walters asked with a cynical smile.

‘That her sister Aisa Lynne was involved, sir,’ Anna said, trying to avoid a lengthy answer.

He stamped his foot on the floor. ‘You really are trying my patience, and believe me I can have you directing traffic in the blink of an eye. Now answer my bloody question!’ he bellowed.

Anna paused while she thought about how much she should give away in an attempt to appease him, but at the same time she also wanted him to keep losing his composure.

Joan, who had been listening outside, had just received an e-mail from Tech Support that they had found the Cate app on Josh’s phone and had attached the list of dates, times and contents of all texts he sent and received. Realizing Anna needed something to keep Walters at bay, she knocked on the office door.

‘I’m busy with DCI Travis so get out now!’ Walters barked at Joan, who nevertheless handed Anna the documents.

‘Sorry, sir, urgent documents DCI Travis ordered proving Aisa Lynne’s affair,’ Joan said and mouthed the word ‘Cate’ to Anna.

Anna could have hugged her. ‘I have uncovered irrefutable evidence, in the way of text messages from Josh Reynolds’ mobile, that he was having an affair with Aisa Lynne. On the night of his death, she went to his flat to see him, possibly because he had ended their affair by phone earlier in the evening.’ Anna handed the Cate texts to Walters to read. He grabbed them out of her hand and flicked through the pages, skim-reading them, as Anna continued, ‘I also have evidence that proves Aisa Lynne stole money from the Lynne Foundation for Josh Reynolds’ benefit .’ She handed him the documents that Aisa’s secretary had given her and for the first time Walters sat down as he read through them.

Anna decided to keep going, waffling on about Aisa making the fraudulent transfers of monies from the CCS Medical Trust to Josh Reynolds and the purchase of a Ferrari.

‘You’d better not be bullshitting me, Travis!’

‘As you can see, it’s all there in the documents, sir.’

Walters paused as he looked at the papers again. ‘I suppose this does merit the arrest and questioning of Aisa Lynne.’

‘Thank you, sir. I fear Lady Lynne got a little excited and somewhat exaggerated the circumstances of Aisa’s arrest.’

‘You need to learn, Travis, that when the likes of Lady Lynne start to warble, cages get rattled, in the highest of places. There was no need for you to take her daughter back to Lynne House to search the premises, you—’

‘Yes, sir, I accept that now but—’

Walters pointed his finger at her. ‘Shut up, Travis. You wanted to get her back for last time and wind her up, didn’t you? Admit it.’

Anna knew she couldn’t reveal there was method in her madness for fear of Walters wanting chapter and verse on why she suspected Gloria Lynne of murder. ‘Sir, Aisa Lynne had lied to my officers, she made herself a suspect in a murder inquiry.’