by Sabina Manea
After she waited for her boss to finish, Lucia took over. ‘Oh, there’s more. There was a small mud mark on the windowsill in Darius’s kitchen, which is where you climbed in. A small detail, but significant nonetheless in the context.’
‘That’s bullshit,’ shot out Edoardo disdainfully. ‘Flimsiest piece of evidence I’ve ever heard if you can call it that. You’re just taking the piss now.’
‘I’m being very serious. It all adds up now that we know that Darius Major and Marie Cassel frequented Medusa.’ Lucia paused and fished out a plastic bag from the storage box she had placed on the floor beside her chair. ‘See this? We found it at Darius’s flat,’ she continued as she placed the brown napkin with the distinctive logo on the table and pushed it towards Edoardo.
Edoardo glanced down and immediately looked up again. A slightly raised eyebrow was the only indication that the item had made any impression on him. ‘Medusa?’
‘Medusa. You know what that is,’ replied Carliss. ‘That’s where it all started. You’re in cahoots with some bad people, Mr da Carrara, and chances are, it’s not going to end well for you. What’s Lorenzo Giallo got on you? Well, I can answer my own question. In return for “protection”, you let him use your properties to host his parties.’ He stopped and nodded approvingly towards Lucia. ‘Thanks to legal brains here, we’ve got to the bottom of who owns 30 Trebeck Street and all the flats in the building, and it’s you.’
Lucia had roped in Virginia Lexington’s connections, who included certain characters in charge of company registration matters in well-known offshore jurisdictions. With their help, Lucia had managed to peer behind the veil of the secretive corporate structures that held the titles to 30 Trebeck Street.
Carliss continued, ‘That’s how gangsters operate, and you’ve got yourself tangled up with the worst. Lorenzo’s likely to sniff out the most likely sources of cash or favours, and I imagine it didn’t take long for him to narrow in on you. Little rich boy with a string of posh flats, what more could he want? Compatriot too, so you’ll have a pretty clear idea of how the Italian mafia in London operates. Except you run into trouble in the most unexpected way. Your missus Genevieve’s the solicitor for Tien, one of the Vietnamese girls that’s been hanging around the bar. They talk about this and that, about what the girl needs to sort out her immigration status. They get talking about Medusa and what kind of place it is, what kind of people it attracts. And, from one thing to the next, the girl remembers seeing a man with a distinctive ring on his pinkie. It’s the da Carrara family signet ring; we’ve looked it up–’
‘I knew I’d seen than ring somewhere before,’ Lucia interrupted, ‘but I just couldn’t place it. I’d spotted it when we first interviewed you about Genevieve’s death.’
The inspector took over. ‘As soon as Tien describes the ring, Genevieve realises instantly that you’re the man in question. She’s most likely shocked. She confronts you, asks you what you’re doing with the likes of Lorenzo Giallo. You deny it, but you’re all flustered. Maybe she threatens to go to the police to expose Lorenzo’s racket. You can’t have that. Losing your reputation is one thing but losing your life or at the very least some limbs, if the gangsters think you’re a rat, is quite another. Maybe you even tell Lorenzo you’ve been outed, and he tells you to take care of it. Or maybe you do it off your own back before he catches wind of it and takes it out on you. In the same vein, you’ve spotted Darius and maybe even Marie in the bar. What a horrible surprise that must have been – he a punter, she a working girl. Darius recognizes you, or, if not straightaway, the penny’s likely to drop at some point. You can’t afford to take any risks, not with Lorenzo breathing down your neck, so you dispose of them too.’
The DCI had spoken as slowly as he could, but it had been a long monologue. He paused and glanced over at Lucia, who nodded in silent approval.
Chapter 37
A little later, once Edoardo da Carrara had left the station, Lucia and Carliss sat in their office to digest what had just happened.
‘There’s no chance in hell we can get that bastard,’ said Carliss, fiddling with his fresh cigarette packet. ‘You’ve got to admit it, Lucia, he’s a much tougher nut to crack than you thought.’
‘You’re probably right. But we had to try. He kept his cool all the way through, that’s for sure. He must be well practised, if he’s got the stomach to deal with the likes of Lorenzo Giallo day in, day out,’ replied Lucia as she drained the rest of her black coffee.
‘All the evidence we’ve got is either speculation or circumstantial. There’s no point charging him. His solicitor would rip us to shreds in two minutes flat,’ said Carliss. ‘Even the fact that Edoardo owns 30 Trebeck Street counts for shit. He’s free to do whatever he likes in the properties that he owns, and who’s going to tell the story of what goes on behind those closed doors? So, in the meantime, we’re stuck with suicide for Genevieve Taylor, and murder-suicide for Darius Major and Marie Cassel. That’s what the inquests have concluded, and unless we can conclusively prove otherwise, that’s the end of it.’
Lucia sighed. She was doing her best to keep her cool, but she was fuming, and she knew Carliss was too. To let Edoardo da Carrara and Lorenzo Giallo get away with it was unpardonable. But the DCI was right. They had no real evidence, the girls would never blab, and the police didn’t stand a chance if they decided to raid Medusa. They were well and truly stuck.
Carliss could see she was upset. He got up and moved his chair over to her desk, right next to her, and patted her gently on the arm. ‘I know how you feel. It’s not fair, is it? Those dead people deserve justice. And the bad ones deserve to be punished. But police work isn’t like the movies. Sometimes this is the best we can do.’
‘I know,’ said Lucia. She let herself enjoy the moment of physical closeness. She could almost sense the smell of his skin, and it felt good. Amongst the horrors and the injustice, it felt right.
* * *
In her spacious office on the top floor of Kentish Town police station, away from the prying eyes of her subordinates, Detective Superintendent Linda Perretti tapped furiously at her keyboard. It wasn’t because she was particularly busy or in a hurry. She was waiting for an important phone call, and it was taking its time to materialise. She was losing patience.
The tiny burner phone rang, and she picked it up with a slightly trembling hand. ‘Hello. Yes, it’s me.’ She listened carefully to the voice on the other end of the line and replied testily, ‘Sì, sono sicura. Devi credermi, Edoardo non ha detto niente. Non c’è nessuna prova concreta.’
Lorenzo Giallo sounded a bit more amenable now. ‘I believe you when you say Edoardo didn’t talk. And, as you say, your lot haven’t got a shred of proof against him. Let’s hope they don’t turn up sniffing around my bar, not that there’ll be anything to find.’
‘I’ll take care of it, don’t you worry. The case is closed. Suicide and murder-suicide. Rubber-stamped by the coroner, relegated to the archives. We’re safe. But it was close. Closer than it should have been,’ replied Linda Perretti. ‘What now?’
‘We carry on as normal. As if nothing’s happened.’
Linda Perretti put the phone down and wiped a single bead of sweat off her neatly made-up face. It was back to business as usual, and she couldn’t be more relieved.
List of Characters
Lucia Steer – civilian investigator
DCI David Carliss
DS Cam Trinh
DC George Harding
PC Stacey Cross
Detective Superintendent Linda Perretti
Genevieve Regina Taylor – victim
Ana Dineva – victim’s cleaner
Edoardo da Carrara – victim’s boyfriend
Rosie Venter – victim’s colleague
Darius Major – owner of the book club
Marie Cassel – Darius’s girlfriend
Miles Donovan (aka Douglas Cranston) – victim’s ex-client
Nina Chanler, née Lexingt
on – Lucia’s best friend
Walter Chanler – Nina’s husband
Virginia Lexington – Nina’s mother
Sam – cafe owner
Trish – nail bar owner
Tien – nail bar worker
Lang – nail bar worker
Alex Georgiou – cafe owner
Becky – bartender
Jodie – cafe waitress
Matthias Schoen – Lucia’s ex-colleague
Lewis Masser – CEO of Greenspace Properties
Lorenzo Giallo – club owner
Greta – private party hostess
Maya – private party entertainer
MORE BOOKS IN THIS SERIES
If you haven’t already, check out the other novels in this series:
MURDER IN HAMPSTEAD (Book 1)
When ex-lawyer, now interior designer, Lucia Steer accepts a job renovating a large London house, she has no idea she’ll discover the owner dead. Lucia is determined to unlock the secret of this closed room mystery, no matter the trouble she’ll inevitably land in.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B092VZTT1M/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B092VZTT1M/
MURDER ON THE HEATH (Book 2)
When a relationship coach is found dead, apparently electrocuted by a coffee maker, civilian investigator Lucia Steer makes short work of a killer’s attempt to hide a murder. But finding out who was so ready to kill in cold blood will take some doing.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B094R6KVXJ/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B094R6KVXJ/
Available free with Kindle Unlimited, and in paperback.
OTHER TITLES OF INTEREST
THE PERFUME KILLER by Linda Hagan
Stumped in a multiple murder investigation, with the only clue being a perfume bottle top left at a crime scene, DCI Gawn Girvin must wait for a serial killer to make a wrong move. Unless she puts herself in the firing line…
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09B2J6W13
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09B2J6W13
DEAD PRETTY by Candy Denman
When a woman is found dead in Hastings, Sussex, the medical examiner feels a murder has taken place. Yet she feels the police are not doing enough because the victim is a prostitute. Dr Callie Hughes will conduct her own investigation, no matter the danger.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B086K14RLN/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086K14RLN/
Available free with Kindle Unlimited, and in paperback.
FREE BOOKS IN YOUR INBOX
As a thank-you to our readers, we regularly run free book promotions and discounted deals for a limited time. To hear about these and about new fiction releases, just sign up to our newsletter:
www.thebookfolks.com/newsletter/