by E A Harvey
Paula, obviously very angry, reeled off a number of Spanish expletives which needed no interpretation.
"No that's everything I can think of for now. Thank you for your time. I might need to call on you again if I have any further questions”.
“If you do, please make it by appointment so I can make sure my lawyer present”.
Outside the house
“What do you think George"?
"I think you’re not too keen on Ms Costa. You certainly went after her back there"
"Well I did not like the idea of her cheating on Patrick Scott; he seems such a nice lad. I must be getting soft”
"Getting soft ma'am is an understatement don't you think? He is a suspect in a murder investigation and you like him, a nice lad?
“What have I been telling you, its time I retired?”
Chapter 39 Photos
"Ma'am we have had a find at the victim's apartment," said Sergeant Wentworth.
"Something bloody useful I hope, because every other clue or witness, so far, has been a total waste of time”.
"The lads were fingerprint dusting and were double checking when they came across a set of keys. They had seen the keys before but ignored them because they assumed they were just door keys hanging on a hook. But when they moved the keys this time one of our guys noticed a memory stick attached to the key ring. Something they had missed previously. Well, the memory stick has been checked out. They found some info on it; the usual sort of thing. But also, there are two photos of a girl in skimpy underwear and take a look, it's our girl, Penny Scott".
"What do you mean missed? Bloody missed? What game were they playing? Hunt the fucking Easter eggs"?
Sarah snatched the photos,
"It could also be Janet Scott who says she never met the victim and has an alibi. So where is the camera or phone which took these photos"?
Chapter 40 Body
“Not too long now Leo and we will be home.
It’s been a long day, all the veg delivered successfully to market so we can take a few days off”
Leo did not make a sound; he certainly did not acknowledge the driver he was far busy sleeping, probably dreaming about his dinner that was waiting for him at home.
As they rounded a sharp bend in the road it took all Dominic’s years of experience to avoid what he thought was an injured animal in the road.
The sudden change of direction had thrown Leo on to the floor of the lorry, now he was slowly climbing back to his seat with a look of disdain at the driver.
After Dominic finished cursing his near miss his first thought was to drive on and get to the welcoming meal he knew his dear wife had waiting for him, but he knew if he did he would not stop thinking about the poor creature lying wounded and maybe in pain that he had abandoned by the road side.
Later at the Hospital Centre at Rambouillet, Dominic rushed in shouting for help he had found a young woman crawling alongside the road; she was soaking wet, covered in mud and her head and hair smothered in blood.
With the encouragement of Leo who had barked and wagged his tail at every move Dominic Besett had managed to get the girl into his lorry.
“Is she going to be alright, will she live”? He asked the first Doctor on the scene
“We will do what we can, that’s all we can do” he answered.
Janet Scott was loaded her onto a gurney and rushed into the hospital.
Her clothes were cut away, she was cleaned from head to toe, most of her hair cut and shaved and she was made ready for an emergency operation.
In the theatre the surgeon took one look.
“Her vital signs are not good and how she is still alive I have no idea, but if she survives she will have one hell of a headache"
Chapter 41 Address
"Good news at last George. It's concerning Mr Heath's family. His mother, it turns out, is living with his married sister. And from her we have obtained an address in France which is the family holiday home. We know he is in France somewhere, so at least that's something Sergeant. Let's check it out".
"So how did we get hold of the mother, ma'am"?
"Patrick Scott it was just an idea that he might know something about the family. He didn't know where Mr Heath's family lived but he knew the sisters married name. The rest was easy".
Later on the telephone
"What favour do you want now Sarah" he said laughing
"Robert Heath. We have an address which we believe is not far from Paris. It's a cottage in Chantilly which belongs to his family".
"I know Chantilly; it's about thirty miles from the City centre. Give me the address, you could have emailed you know".
"Yes I know but I am useless around computers and, anyway, I like to talk to you Rene. Do you want me to stop phoning you”?
"You know better than that Mrs Inspector, so stop fishing"
"Just checking"
"I know. Okay so leave it to me and I will get the local police to check it out".
"Thank you, Rene. You do know that Mr Heath is not our most important witness, so don't worry too much about it. He is the ex-boyfriend of Penny Scott and may or may not have met our victim”
The following day
"Sarah I have some news for you. Your case has now become my case also" said Rene.
"Why what has happened? I take it you have checked out the address I gave you"?
"Yes, we have. The officer who visited the address in Chantilly could not get an answer at the cottage but when he checked the garage he found your missing Hertz rental".
"And any sign of Mr Heath"?
"Once he found the car he walked around the property and through a window he thought he could see the body of a man on the floor so he forced the door. As soon as we have a picture of the body I will email you a copy. Can you check it when you receive it to see if you or the family can identify it? I don't have all the facts as yet but it seems he was alone. The officer is almost certain that he has a gunshot wound and it looks like there may also have been a robbery. I won’t know for certain until I have the report. I will let you know more as soon as possible. So your unimportant witness just became a very important person. This case has more ups and downs than a roller-coaster. So, will I be seeing you again real soon Sarah"?
"Most probably Rene, but at this rate, we will might end up involving Interpol, so let's wait and see.
Thank you once again, Rene. You're a great help and a good friend".
"Is that all I am, Sarah"?
"Behave Rene and stop fishing”. She laughed
Chapter 42 Sister
"Mrs Dempsey, my name is Sergeant Wentworth and this is WPC Roberts. Would you mind if we came in for a moment"?
"Please do. Have you found my brother yet? I understand you wanted to talk to him".
"Mrs Dempsey we have found a body in France which we are certain is that of your brother. I am so sorry".
The young lady almost collapsed but for the quick reaction of the policewoman steadying her. "What has happened to him? Was he in an accident? How did he die"?
"Please sit down Mrs Dempsey.
Roberts, would you mind finding us a glass of water from somewhere"?
"I am so sorry but I cannot discuss what has happened Mrs Dempsey because as I said it happened in France and I really do not have the facts. Would you by any chance know if your brother was there with anybody, woman maybe"?
"Sergeant I know that he has been seeing someone new but who she is I have no idea. Penny Scott was the love of his life or so I thought, and I know he was going to ask her to marry him. Why they broke up my mother and I never discovered. If Bobby took this new girl to the cottage he must have been serious about her. He has never been there with a girl before; only with me and our mother. Mother is sleeping at present. Just give me a moment and I will ask her, although I am sure she will not know who the new girl is".
Moments later she came back down the stairs.
"As I thought she has not spoken to Bobby so
doesn’t know who the new girlfriend is. I didn’t tell her that he is dead".
“Have you any idea who might want to hurt your brother by any chance"?
"Why do you ask that Sergeant was he murdered"?
"Does the name Brian Peters mean anything to you, Mrs Dempsey?"
“Not that I can recall, has he got something t do with my brother’s death?
“At this point we really are not sure”
"As soon as there is more information Mrs Dempsey we will get in touch to let you know but if something comes to mind that you think might be of use to us please call me on this number".
He handed her his card.
"Really I am so sorry I cannot tell you more at this stage. I am so very sorry for your loss”.
Later that day
"Anything George from Mr Heath's sister"?
"Not really ma'am. Only that he was seeing some new girl but she doesn't know who".
"So she was not much help then. We have had some news from France. Mr Heath visited a local restaurant with a young lady. Although he introduced her to the owners, they can't remember her name but we now know she was English very pretty and blonde.
I have emailed a picture of Penny Scott to show them, or I think I have. Isn't there someone else here who can send emails and pictures and things"?
Later on the telephone
"Sarah I was ahead of you on the Miss Scott photo. As soon as I heard she was blonde and pretty I had the owners of the restaurant look at her picture. Yes it's her. They also told me that Heath said he was going to marry her" said Rene.
"So what about the cottage, didn’t the officer say that there was no evidence of anybody else staying there"?
"Yes, that's correct, so maybe if it was Penny Scott, perhaps she came from Paris but did not stay”.
"Sorry Rene, I really have no idea what's going on, I am going to visit the Scott family first thing tomorrow morning to see if I can get to the bottom of this one way or another".
Chapter 43 Doctor
“Good morning doctor how our mystery lady is, is there any change by any chance”?
“Sorry office but nothing as yet, there is no way of knowing who she is or where she comes from. We still have her in an induced coma and until we think there is some improvement there is where she stays”
“For our part missing person records has come up with nothing.
There was a missing girl in a car accident but that was a hundred miles away and certainly no record of guns and shooting involved” Said the police officer.
“We believe she will survive the experience but at this point, we don't know if there is brain damage” said the doctor.
“Well thank you and if there is any change please let us know immediately if you would not mind, the quicker we find out who she is the quicker we find who tried to murder her.
“Of course, straight away if there is a chance she might talk”
“Nurse, monitor her every half hour and if there is the slightest change let me know instantly"
“Certainly doctor”
Chapter 44 Switch
"Justine. We have shown pictures of your daughter Penny to a family who owns a restaurant in France and they have said they are certain it's her who dined with Mr Heath some time ago. I was under the impression that she had ended her relationship with Mr Heath. Did I get that wrong”?
“No Inspector, you are one hundred per cent correct”
"Where is your other daughter by the way”?
"I am here Inspector Daniels," she said as she walked in the room.
"You have heard the news about my sister I take it, Inspector"?
"Yes I have, I have, I am terribly sorry. There are no further updates as such but I do understand the French have had divers in the water and are working hard to find her and the reason for the accident. And your son Justine, where is he”?
“He is on his way home to collect some bits and then he is going straight to France to see what’s happening”
"Miss Scott, the weekend that Mr Peter’s died, I understand you were at home and in bed with flu”
“Yes that’s correct Inspector”
“I am sorry to ask this but can anybody apart from your mother corroborate this”?
“It’s fine. I understand your need to ask. Firstly the doctor came on Friday, Inspector. Mother asked him to call to check on me as I was really not well. My friend Mike called in on Saturday morning with flowers. Patrick stayed here on Friday night so you can check with him”
“Thank you Miss Scott. Justine, I hope you didn't mind me asking, but if I had not shown that I had asked the question I would have been in even more trouble from my chief”
“Of course we understand “said Justine
“If I hear anything more about your daughter Justine I will let you know immediately"
"Thank you, Inspector".
As Sarah climbed into her car her mobile rang.
"Are you sure Rene? I am heading back to the office now. I will call you then. I have just left Janet Scott. Yes she is in London and has been all weekend".
An hour later Sarah walked into the office.
"Has it comes through yet George"?
"Yes ma'am".
They both looked at a photo of a girl in a hospital bed.
"What do you think? Could it be Penny Scott ma'am"?
"How could we be sure with all those bandages and bruising? She may have blonde hair but most was shaved off for the operation so we can't be sure unless we talk to the doctors. But it can't be Penny Scott. She was in a car which went into the river. Two people saw her. And it's certainly not her sister Janet because, as I said, she is in the UK so we can forget her too"
"Also the time difference is wrong between the accident and this girl’s discovery".
"Sarah its Rene, there is more news. The family who owned the restaurant, where we showed the photo of Penny Scott, they just phoned to say she stopped outside in a car hooted the horn.
When they looked out the windows she waved and drove off. Also, they said she looked very upset and she shook her head as if to say “sorry”. That was a few hours before she crashed her car. She could have been with Robert Heath but there was no trace of a woman staying with him at the cottage. Also she is supposed to be in love with Pierre DuPont. He has just arrived back from Singapore and has no idea what's gone on and Gabrielle DuPont is of little help, she is still in shock, one thought is that Penny Scott never forgave Mr Heath for the breakup of their relationship and has taken her revenge”.
"And then what? She killed herself"? Said Wentworth
“I have no bloody idea George, no bloody idea at all
Chapter 45 Killer
A few days after the shootings Peter checked out of his back street hotel, dumped a carrier bag in a refuse bin and hailed a taxi.
He sat back and wondered would he get to the airport without being stopped by the police.
At the airport, he was sure he would not get through passport control.
The officer inspected his passport and slowly looked at Peters face then again at the passport before handing it back.
His experience in the UK was very much the same after the automatic machine rejected his passport.
In the taxi going back to Chelsea he wondered how long before he was arrested and even more importantly what would he say to his mother.
How could he tell her that her daughter was dead and that he had killed her and that he had killed Bob?
But it was not his fault really she was responsible.
A voice in his head told him not to talk nonsense
The answer was that he would not tell her, not until the police arrested him and hopefully that might never happen if his plan worked.
He had convinced Penny to write a letter to Gabrielle and use Janet’s passport to return to the UK by telling her that his life was in extreme danger and so was her sister.
He had told her nothing about Janet and Bob’s death or what h
e would do next.
“It would only be for a short time Penny and everything would be explained and life would return to normal” said Peter when he left her.
On his arrival at his home he told his mother and that they must convince the police that Penny was in fact Janet if he was not to spend the rest of his life in prison.
Both of them fired question after question why all this subterfuge was necessary, what sort of trouble were the two of them involved with that needed such ridicules lies.
Was Janet safe, where was she, who is the new boyfriend, is he behind all this trouble?