by Cathy Ace
I asked Nina, “Who told you Freddie was going to develop his estate?”
“I believe it must have been Niall,” she replied, not making eye contact with him.
“Do you get most of your news about the outside world from Niall?” I made sure to tilt my head as I spoke, it helps put people at ease – a “genuine” signal of enquiry.
Nina waved a hand vaguely. “I suppose so. I do not leave my home very often anymore. Niall is my connection with the world beyond my walls.” She cast a coy glance at the redhead, who was studying his nails.
I continued, “When we were here earlier today, we were all enjoying looking at a map that showed how extensive Henry Morgan’s lands used to be along the coast here. The map was dated 1690. I knew that a part of his property had sunk into the sea as a result of the earthquake in 1692 but, until I saw that map, I hadn’t realized exactly how much had been lost. If you consider the Captain’s Lookout estate and the Caro Mio estate as one piece of land, it looks as though the tower was built almost in the middle of Morgan’s property – because it’s quite close to the current boundary between the two – and just a small distance away from the sea. But when Morgan built the tower was set off to one side of the much larger, original property, and a good deal further back from where the beach would have been at the time. As he drove us here tonight Tarone said the land is always where it is, until it isn’t – and that’s what happened here; the position of the tower relative to the sea has changed significantly since the 1680s, when it was built, because the land around it has changed.”
Nina plumped up her skirt. “So?” she said. “This is not very interesting.”
“But it is,” I replied. “Because there was another big earthquake in 1993, when the shape of the land changed again. That’s when your access road disappeared, Nina, as you know.”
“And this is when my problems began,” she said, throwing up her hands as if in utter despair.
I managed a chuckle. “And those problems merely concerned access to a good entry road, right, Nina?” Nina nodded. “Well, I think it was rather more than that. You have chased Freddie through the courts to get that land for decades. Why? Just so you don’t have to make a ten-minute journey that’s a bit uncomfortable? Rubbish. It had to be more than that.”
“It’s about quality of life,” piped up Niall, sounding like a whining child. “Nina deserves it.”
I snapped, “Would she kill for it, Niall? Would you kill for her to have that quality of life?”
Nina and Niall responded quite differently; Nina flung an arm at me as if to discount my theory as worthless, while Niall’s neck started to change color…it became red, beneath his tan and his freckles.
“I did not want him dead,” said Nina. “The truth is I preferred to torture him, to make him miserable. Spending money on lawyers and papers and courts…this was sport for me. For Freddie? He hated it. It made people look at him and think him a mean man. Which is what he was. I made him come to the court all the time, and I gave interviews to the newspapers, so more and more people could see Freddie for what he was – a spiteful man.” Nina tossed her head; if there’d been a bit less hairspray holding it in place her hair might have moved, but it didn’t.
“I sense an affair gone sour, Nina,” I said. “Your beloved Luca was dead, Freddie was nearby, and a good friend at that time. We know he wasn’t averse to having relationships with women, despite his never marrying. Were you two an item before, or after, he broke Lottie’s mother’s heart?”
Nina wilted within her magnificent dress. Her chin quivered, she rubbed her fingers together, then her small hands. “He was a snake,” she hissed. “He treated me badly. I was desolate when my Luca died, and I thought Freddie truly loved me. He made me believe he loved me. Then I find out he is also making love to another woman. Until now I did not know it was her mother.”
She gestured toward Lottie with a thumb. Lottie’s eyes grew round.
Nina continued. “I tell Freddie it is this ‘other woman’, or me – and he chooses me. This is good. I know it is real love. Then, after about a year, Freddie tells me it is over for us, that he will never speak to me again…that I have made him hurt someone so badly that she has taken her own life. She has written to him to tell him so before she kills herself. He never spoke to me again – except in court, when he had to face me. This is why I have fought him in court for so long; he has to speak to me there, the court makes him speak to me. Makes him look at me. Really see me.”
“That’s why you did it all?” said Niall. He sounded genuinely shocked. “I thought it was…I had no idea that was how you felt.” I could see he was processing this new information, and not liking it. His eyes darted back and forth from one of his knees, to the other. His breathing became more labored. I began to wonder if my assessment of his attraction for Nina was accurate. I watched as the woman sitting beside him failed to rally, following her confession, and wondered how this would change Niall’s actions going forward.
“But you tortured Freddie in other ways, too, didn’t you, Nina?” I knew I had to capitalize upon the moment.
Everyone’s eyes turned to the diminished figure on the sofa, including Arnold’s, whose usually implacable demeanor was cracking, just a little. At last.
“I don’t know what you mean,” replied Nina, who sat a little straighter, and had a glimmer of a glint in her eye again.
“1993 wasn’t just the start of your problems with your access road, was it? It was also when you discovered Henry Morgan’s treasure and started to sell it off,” I replied.
I love it when everyone in a room looks shocked by something I say. Most gratifying.
“But…what we saw…in Freddie’s tower…” said Sheila.
“No, no, you’re wrong. Nina didn’t find the treasure, Freddie found it,” shouted Lottie contemptuously. “He had the crystal skull. I saw it all those years ago. You said you saw it, too. How stupid are you, Cait?”
I tried to not show my annoyance as I replied, “I may be incredibly stupid, Lottie, but I am not wrong. Freddie had the crystal skull because he bought it, not because he found it. He didn’t know who he’d bought it from, but he most certainly bought it.”
Lottie looked confused. “But…but the other items I saw being sold, and going up for sale, online. Freddie was selling them, I’m certain of it.” She nibbled her lip.
“No. Not Freddie, Nina,” I said. “That’s right, isn’t it, Nina? It was you, with Niall’s help, eventually. And, I believe, Arnold’s before that?”
Nina’s eyes flitted from Niall, to Arnold, to Inspector Charles, then to me. “I say nothing.” She sat on her hands, as though that might help.
Unfortunately for Nina, Arnold’s expression told me all I needed to know; the mask had slipped, and I saw the man behind it clearly for the first time. His eyes shone with love, and regret. His chin puckered.
“So, hang on, Cait…all that treasure we found in Freddie’s tower…he bought that?” John sounded incredulous.
I nodded.
“Freddie had more treasure in his tower? More than just the crystal skull?” shouted Lottie. “Where? When did you find it? Why didn’t anyone tell me?” Her entire body was rigid, she’d even dared to take a few steps out of her corner.
Throwing a withering look in Lottie’s direction, Jack asked, “Where did Freddie get the money to buy it all? That stuff couldn’t have come cheap.” Then he answered himself. “Of course, the loans against the collateral in the estate. You’re saying Freddie borrowed millions to be able to buy the treasure Nina was selling?” Jack’s tone was filled with awe.
I nodded. “Look around you – there’s a clear difference between the pieces here that Nina has chosen, and those purchased by her husband. Luca bought big, showy things, whereas the delicate, museum-quality rarities were Nina’s choices. And what Freddie managed to buy from her wasn’t everything she sold. He couldn’t have afforded everything, could h
e, Nina?”
Nina stared at me with her mouth closed tight, her eyes flashing, nostrils flared.
Sheila spoke, “But…but if Nina was selling some of Henry Morgan’s treasure to Freddie, that means Nina wouldn’t have wanted him dead – that would be like killing the goose that lays the golden egg, right?” She seemed rather pleased with herself.
“That would make sense, yes, Sheila, except for a couple of things.” I tried to not sound as though I believed I was the cleverest person in the room. “First of all, the goose had stopped laying; Freddie had taken out loans to the full extent of his creditworthiness – he was desperate for cash. We know this from several sources. Indeed, he was trying to put together deals to raise more money right up to the end of his life. For example, Nina’s certainty that she was about to be able to get her hands on that strip of land she wanted so much? Yes, Niall might have been able to gather new evidence to support her claim, but I bet there was still going to be money involved, wasn’t there? How wonderful for you, Nina – you’d have paid for your bit of extra land, then Freddie would have given you back your own money in exchange for another piece of the treasure. Perfect.”
“Wait. Please stop. Where was the treasure? Did you really find it, Nina? Where was it hidden?” Lottie sounded desperate to know.
Nina said nothing.
“I believe it was buried by Morgan just about where the infinity edge of Nina’s pool is now located,” I said. “At least, around that spot, and toward the beach a little.”
Lottie looked at me as though I’d grown a second head. “But that pool’s been there since the 1960s, Nina told us so when we visited. If that’s where Morgan buried it, they’d have discovered it when they first dug out the area for the pool.”
“I know she told us that,” I replied, “and I’m sure the pool was designed, and first installed, in the 1960s, as she said, but the entire thing had to be rebuilt after the big earthquake of 1993, didn’t it, Nina? The liner it has now, with the attractive tile-pattern printed into the vinyl, that couldn’t have been installed until some time around the mid-nineties, because the material didn’t even exist in that form until about then.” I couldn’t help myself – I looked directly at Lottie and said, “I read a lot, and remember it all, that’s how I know that little nugget of information.”
I returned my attention to Nina. “My money’s on you making the discovery of the treasure as a result of that pool collapsing, and having to be re-dug and re-built, in 1993. Remember that house on the map we all looked at before lunch…the one you were so surprised once sat pretty much where we are right now? Well, given the change in topography due to the earthquake back in the seventeenth century, it wouldn’t have been where this house now stands, but closer to the current shoreline; between your pool and the sea, in fact. If you recall, it was called Ty Gwerthfawr; the ‘Precious House’ – or maybe the ‘Treasure House’? There wouldn’t have been a lot of people who spoke Welsh on the island back in the 1680s, and those who did – like Morgan’s wife, and even his Welsh manservant – could have read the name literally, whereas maybe Morgan might have meant it more figuratively. What I’m interested to know is where you keep it now, Nina. The remainder of Morgan’s treasure, I mean.”
Nina didn’t speak. Lottie glowered at her as she sunk back into her corner.
“Ah well, we can return to that topic later. For now, let me talk about Niall. Yes, you.”
Niall looked as though he were about to be led to face a firing squad. “What do you want with me? I know nothing,” he whined.
“That’s such a lie, Niall. You know everything,” I replied. “You know who shot Freddie, and who shot Wilson. You know why, and you know how. Of course, what I’m really interested in is the why – and that’s complex, but it all hinges on you having messed up in some way. Am I right?”
His micro-expressions were screaming that I had hit the mark, despite the fact he was furiously shaking his head. “I didn’t mess up, I didn’t. I mean…I mean, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I sighed, “Lottie told us she’d been following the sales of items she believed came from Morgan’s Panamanian haul for some years. The world we live in demands that most transactions now take place via the Internet, and Lottie confirmed that was where the agent acting on her behalf discovered the items. That was a great way to sell them – even though Freddie lived right next door, he’d never know exactly who he was dealing with. He’d have known it was someone on the island, of course, because he believed that to be where the treasure was located. He must have put every bit of himself into trying to find out who was selling, but – for years, it seems – to no avail. And I believe that was because Arnold was good at doing his job.”
We all looked at Arnold, who didn’t move a muscle – which was impressive, and rather proved my point that he had a cool head and could probably keep it under pressure. It was Nina’s stolen glance at him, and the pitiful expression on her face as she did it that spoke volumes; she was embarrassed.
I continued, “Now I admit I cannot be sure exactly what happened, but I think it went something like this…you usurped Arnold’s place in Nina’s affections, Niall, and you also replaced him as her ‘treasure disposal and dispersion manager’. Let’s not beat about the bush here, folks, it’s clear to anyone with eyes that Arnold feels more affection for Nina than any butler would for someone who was merely his employer – it’s visible not just in everything he does for her, but how he does it.”
Arnold dared a sideways glance at me, then he and Nina finally exchanged a sad smile.
I continued, “I don’t think Arnold would have hesitated to act as Nina’s right hand man when it came to ensuring that the treasure was safely stowed away, and I suspect he used his not-inconsiderable organizational skills to set up the system whereby sales of the objects were undertaken in the first place. When you managed to get Arnold ‘demoted’ from that role, Niall, I’m sure you managed to do things well enough for a while, and Freddie still didn’t suspect who had the treasure. But something changed; I believe Freddie worked out where the treasure items were being shipped from, and maybe by whom, and that meant you needed Freddie out of the way – before Freddie confronted Nina about being the source. What happened, Niall? When you got involved with the shipping of a piece, did it somehow turn up at Freddie’s home with a ‘Return to sender’ label? Was it a simple paperwork issue? Something trivial like having been seen by Freddie when you were taking a recognisable package to have it ‘shipped’? You’re an incredibly busy man; stretching yourself thin across so many responsibilities, it must have been easy to slip up.”
Niall looked at his feet, and finally stopped tapping them. He didn’t speak. Nina’s tongue darted from side to side along the edge of her gleaming teeth, like a snake sniffing the air.
“Once Freddie knew about Nina having the treasure, or at least suspected her of having it – because, let’s be honest, Niall, you and Nina are certainly closely linked in so many ways – he became a problem. I don’t think you hesitated, Niall, but you had to embellish, didn’t you? By which I mean you had to plant that gun beside Freddie’s body…not something it would have been easy for Freddie to have shot himself with; a Walther PPK with a silencer attached, making it almost impossible for the angle of entry of the bullet that killed him to have been achieved by someone shooting themselves.”
“But how did Niall do it?” pleaded Sheila.
“I worked it out thanks to something you said,” I replied.
Sheila’s brow furrowed. “What did I say that helped?”
“You told me it sounded as though there was a giant dragonfly – or maybe a black witch moth – trapped in your bathroom, or outside it, in the small hours of the night Freddie was shot.”
Sheila shrugged. “And?”
“It was the noise you heard that helped me come up with the solution; drones are wonderful gizmos, aren’t they, Niall? Toys for adults, you migh
t say, just the sort of thing a gadget freak like you would love. And when you pair a drone with a realtor you get great overhead photographs of properties to display in your sales window, and you get a clever way to get aerial shots of an estate to try to prove exactly where property lines fall.”
Niall still wouldn’t look up at me, so I turned my attention to the rest of the people in the room, most especially Inspector Charles. “Niall did all that with his drone, but he did more with it, too. Much more. He’s always been good with his hands, as Lottie told us, and it wouldn’t be beyond him to manage to fit up a drone to allow it to shoot a gun. Trust me – a quick trawl online will show you that people have been altering drones to make them capable of firing semi-automatic pistols for years, so it can be done, and that’s what I believe Niall did. Using his skill as a sailor he took out the boat Nina gifted him, sent up the drone, flew it right into Freddie’s tower through the open window and fired a gun at him. Not from the perfect angle, but it worked. Freddie went down, and Niall recalled the drone. Then he attached the ‘James Bond’ weapon – from which he’d probably already fired a couple of shots into the sea – and sent the drone back to drop it beside the body, hoping anyone finding said gun would imagine it was just the sort of thing Freddie might own. A ridiculous flourish. Pointless. As was killing Freddie.”
“It wasn’t pointless,” screamed Nina, “Freddie was going to ruin my life, take away my peace. He was going to build a resort, right next to me. Probably with nightclubs. Niall told me. He showed me plans drawn on a big, overhead photograph of the Captain’s Lookout estate. I didn’t want Freddie to die, really, but Niall said it was the only certain way to stop him.”
“Shut up, Nina,” hissed Niall.
“And what about Wilson Thomas, Niall?” I continued. “You didn’t expect a witness, did you? And you certainly didn’t expect to be recognized. You must have been concentrating on the drone; my guess is that you ran it off a tablet, with a video feed from a camera you’d mounted on it. That’s how most folks do it, it seems. No time to notice an old guy rambling along the beach, watching you on your boat, until it was too late. He might not have realized the significance of what he’d seen until the news of Freddie’s death was made public the next day.”