Wrongful Death

by Lynda La Plante

  Anna interrupted, looking Aisa in the eye. ‘Three thousand and you just slung it out because of vomiting on it?’

  Aisa pursed her lips, turning away, and said nothing but Anna continued. ‘So, you went back downstairs to the ball in a different gown. Correct?’

  Aisa nodded.

  ‘And you spoke with your mother?’ Again the young woman nodded. ‘Who never even asked you why you were in a different dress?’ Aisa made no reply, clenching her hands into fists, her body rigid as she stared at the floor. Plainly, any mention of her mother and the dress in the same sentence was having a nerve-racking effect on her. Anna knew she was lying and it could only be because the dress was bloodstained and Gloria saw it that night.

  Anna caught a movement out of the corner of her eye by the bedroom door; she turned and saw Lady Lynne standing on the landing. She was completely still, her face ashen, but her blazing eyes and red-slashed lips made her appear like the wicked Queen from Snow White. Anna gave her a friendly smile. ‘Ah, Lady Lynne, I wonder if you could help me with a small dilemma? It’s about Aisa’s evening dress, the one she wore the night of the ball. It seems to have gone missing—’

  Gloria interrupted, giving Anna a long icy stare: ‘Listen to me, Detective Travis, I am under no obligation to answer any of your questions and neither is my daughter. Do you understand, Aisa? You do not say a word until you have legal advice and representation from Ian Holme.’

  ‘Sorry, I just thought it was a simple question that would have a simple explanation,’ Anna said, keeping her smile in place.

  Gloria made a dismissive gesture with her hand. ‘You may continue the search of these premises without me. If you take anything, please give Katrina a full list. Aisa, do you understand, darling? Ian Holme told me to advise you to say nothing. I’m going to see him now and he will visit you at the station later.’

  Aisa nodded like a naughty child, her fists still clenched, her arms stiff at her sides. Gloria walked out, and they could hear her aloof sarcastic tone as she addressed someone on the stairs. ‘Please walk back down. It is very unlucky to cross someone on the stairs. Thank you.’

  Anna watched from the window as Gloria stormed out of the house, got into her Bentley and sped off down the driveway, churning up the gravel as she accelerated away.

  ‘Not very caring about you, is she? Your mother seems to be more concerned about how all this affects her rather than you,’ Anna said, wanting Aisa to turn against her mother and tell the truth.

  Aisa’s bottom lip trembled and her fear was obvious. Gloria’s total lack of any genuine signs of attachment or care for her daughter was chilling. As if in confirmation of what Anna was thinking, Aisa gave her a strange glance, hands uncurling from the tight fists, and then she smiled, showing her neat even white teeth.

  ‘I’ve remembered it was a Stella McCartney evening dress. I like her designs but it was nothing special.’

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  It was after three p.m. by the time Anna and Barolli arrived at the Belgravia station with Aisa. Dewar had also accompanied them, having complained that she felt frustrated at having nothing worthwhile to do at Lynne House. Anna had left Barbara in charge of the remainder of the search of Gloria’s property but had never really expected to find anything of evidential value. She suspected that Gloria would never be so naïve as to keep anything that would incriminate her, and even if she did, it would be very well hidden and could take an eternity to find on such vast premises.

  Barolli, assisted by Dewar, booked Aisa in at the custody desk then took a saliva sample from her for DNA and a set of fingerprints on the live scan machine. Anna told the custody officer that other than a phone conversation with Mr Holme, Aisa was not to be allowed to talk to anyone else. She then asked Barolli and Dewar to take the set of keys that were recovered from Samuel Peters’ property at the mortuary and see if they fitted Josh’s old Bayswater flat and the locks taken from Esme’s flat.

  Anna went upstairs and handed Joan Aisa’s mobile phone.

  ‘It’s nice to see you again so quickly, ma’am, but such a shame that you’ve had to miss out on the FBI course, or are you just back with us for a few days . . .?’

  ‘It’s nice to see you too, Joan, but I haven’t got time to discuss the FBI course right now.’

  Joan looked flustered. ‘Oh, right, sorry. What can I do for you?’

  ‘I need you to get someone from Tech Support to look at Aisa’s mobile for an application called Cate and also to do the same on the copy they kept of Josh Reynolds’ SIM and micro-card.’

  ‘Who’s Cate?

  ‘Not a she, it’s a phone application. Acronym for Call and Text Eraser and commonly used by unfaithful partners,’ Anna explained.

  ‘Whatever will they think of next?’ Joan remarked, shaking her head, as her desk phone rang. It was Pete Jenkins wanting to speak to Anna.

  ‘Hi, Pete. I arrested Aisa Lynne and her prints are now on the database and her DNA is on its way to you.’

  ‘Do you ever stop for breath?’ he asked. ‘Okay, I’m bringing up Aisa’s prints on the computer right now.’

  ‘Only to speak with you, Pete. Any more good news for me?’

  ‘Yeah, we still had a blood sample in the lab for Samuel Peters from when he was an unidentified body. I’ve run an initial test and there’s a trace of atropine, but I’ve more tests to do yet.’

  Anna was pleased that it was more evidence in support of her theory that Gloria Lynne had more than likely extracted poison from her own plants to poison Reynolds and Samuel.

  ‘What sort of dosages of atropine are we looking at?’ she asked.

  ‘It’s impossible to determine accurately. Josh Reynolds, being much younger and fitter, would react more slowly, but the initial symptoms would be the same as Barolli and Marisha suffered. A sudden lethal dose is not the best way to poison someone as people ask questions if you sip a drink and keel over instantly. It’s better to go slowly but surely, leading to a heart attack and no questions asked.’

  ‘So Gloria knew exactly what she was doing,’ Anna remarked.

  ‘Looks that way.’

  ‘Thanks, Pete, and keep me updated.’

  ‘If you want to hang on a minute or two I’m checking Aisa’s prints against unidentified marks as we speak.’

  ‘Yeah, sure.’

  There was a short pause before Pete continued, ‘Right, here we go. Majority of the fingerprints on the Ferrari match Aisa and Josh Reynolds and none for Donna.’

  ‘And the money recovered from Esme’s?’ Anna asked.

  ‘Sorry but no. I’m still working on the certificates recovered from Samuel Peters’ jacket, and so far I’ve only found Josh Reynolds’ and Samuel Peters’ fingerprints. However, the other good news is that the blood spatter on the certificates did fit with them being on the sofa at the time the bullet exited Josh Reynolds’ left temple.’

  Anna hung up, slightly disappointed that Aisa’s fingerprints hadn’t been found on the certificates, particularly the one referring to her as Aisa Alleyne. This would have meant that she had physically held and most probably looked at it, and to then deny any knowledge of the document would be a blatant lie. It puzzled Anna why Aisa claimed she was adopted when the certificate made it clear she was Gloria’s natural daughter; it was something she would need to raise at the interview in the morning.

  Heading into her office, Anna got out the folder that Jane, the secretary at the Lynne Foundation, had given her containing the records of Aisa’s mobile phone. She immediately noticed that there were a number of calls to Josh Reynolds’ mobile, which started at the end of August and increased in intensity until his death. Anna suspected these calls added up to a secret affair and was not surprised to see there were a number of calls from Aisa to Josh on the fifth of November.

  Aisa had called him for two minutes just before the Charity Ball started and then again at 9 p.m. and 10.15 p.m., which was just after she must have left the Savoy Hotel in Donna’s M
ini. From that time on she never phoned Josh’s mobile again and, for Anna, there could be only one explanation. Aisa knew Josh was dead and might even have been present when he died.

  Significantly, Anna also noticed that there were calls to Josh from Aisa on the days of the illegal transfers of money from the CCS Medical account, and on the same day as the payment for the blue Ferrari was sent. Anna cross-checked Donna’s appointment records, and confirmed Donna was out of the office when the online transactions were made. The evidence was accumulating against Aisa in a most satisfying way; Anna could see that if the young woman did choose to lie there was plenty of hard evidence to hit her with and hopefully convince her that she was only digging a deeper hole for herself.

  Anna’s reflections were interrupted by a text from Barolli who told her that he had tested Esme’s Chubb and Yale locks against the keys from Samuel’s property and they fitted perfectly, and he was now on his way with Dewar to Bayswater and Reynolds’ flat.

  Opening her office door, Anna called out to Joan to ask if she had a copy of the text messages recovered from Josh’s mobile. Joan brought over a folder.

  ‘I’ve also got details of all the calls made from Marisha Peters’ landline and mobile, including cell site analysis, going back to July last year. I don’t know how you do it, but yet again, your hunch was right,’ Joan said. ‘Calls were made to Gloria Lynne’s house and mobile from Marisha’s landline and mobile on more than one occasion.’

  ‘How did you get Gloria Lynne’s mobile number?’ Anna asked, worried that Joan had obtained it by improper means.

  ‘Off Aisa’s phone, which you gave me earlier – just looked in contacts and found one for Mum and then checked it off against Marisha’s calls.’

  ‘Brilliant, Joan. At last we have a tangible connection between Samuel Peters and Gloria Lynne. Can you get me details of all the calls from both Gloria’s house and mobile phone for the same period and do a cross-comparison?’ Anna asked.

  ‘As you have arrested Aisa, the authority to check outgoing landline calls from Lynne House goes without saying as she lives there. But Gloria’s mobile will need at least a DCS’s authority,’ Joan reminded her.

  Anna never ceased to be amazed by Joan’s desire to please and help and decided that she’d recommend her for promotion when the case was over.

  ‘Put Langton’s name on the request.’

  Joan looked surprised. ‘Are you sure? He’s not even in the country!’

  ‘He will be by tomorrow morning and he’s already sanctioned my actions, but please don’t tell anyone, it’s strictly between us.’

  Joan nodded and Anna continued, ‘Now tell me more about your good work with the phone calls.’

  ‘Obviously, there were also calls from Marisha’s phones to Josh’s landline and mobile so I’ve highlighted those in red and any calls to Gloria in blue,’ Joan informed her.

  ‘Well they had to be from Samuel because according to Marisha she and Josh hadn’t spoken for fifteen years.’

  Anna looked closely at the Marisha Peters’ landline list, noticing that the first call made to Gloria’s house phone was one week after all the online requests for certified copies of marriage and birth certificates were made to the Jamaican Registrar General’s office.

  ‘Once Samuel got the certificates he could, as I am damned sure he did, start to blackmail Gloria,’ Anna observed.

  ‘That bit makes sense, but why does Gloria kill Marisha months after Samuel? Why not silence them at the same time if she was involved?’ Joan asked.

  Anna explained to Joan that she suspected there were different strands of events, the first being the initial blackmail, which Marisha might or might not have been party to, but even if she had been, Gloria could well have had no knowledge of her involvement as Samuel would have done all the talking. Anna had also considered the possibility that Gloria thought Samuel and Marisha would drink the rum together and, having heard nothing from either of them since, thought her evil deed was done. Joan wondered why Marisha had not contacted Gloria since Samuel disappeared. Anna told her she thought it was probably a mixture of things, but predominantly fear that whatever had happened to Samuel might happen to her, and no doubt Marisha didn’t want to lose the forty thousand in the freezer.

  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.