by Helen Cox
‘Quaint little place,’ said Kitt ‘But does Ricci have any connection to Rosedale Abbey?’
‘Not that we know of yet,’ said Percival. ‘But it’s not a long drive between there and Helmsley and for all we know her accomplice might live near there.’
Again, the whole room descended into silence. There was so much to take in.
‘Say there is something to the Helmsley link and Ricci is involved, shouldn’t we just turn this information over to the Independent Office of Police Conduct and leave it with them?’ said Kitt.
‘My first thought was to notify the IOPC and tell them that I’d be willing to help an anti-corruption unit monitor Ricci,’ said Percival. ‘But then I remembered that they were the first people Ricci called when she suspected Banks of assaulting Buruk. And in retrospect the promptness with which she involved them made me wonder . . .’
‘Wonder what?’ said Grace.
‘If they were people we could trust.’
‘You mean, you suspect there might be corrupt officers working with Ricci inside anti-corruption?’ said Kitt, frowning at the idea.
‘Well, I don’t know. But I hesitated on taking the chance. She has risen up the ranks very quickly. Faster than almost any other officer I’ve ever met, which is why I thought she would be an incredible candidate to take over from me when I retire. Every t was crossed. Every i was dotted. But given what we’ve uncovered, it may be that she has got to the top by not entirely playing by the rules. That she’s had some help.’
‘What I don’t understand is Ricci’s motive,’ said Kitt. ‘Why is she doing this? Does she need the money?’
Percival shook her head. ‘I wondered that. She’s supposed to declare it if she gets into debt because it makes her more vulnerable to corruption. But when we checked, her financials came back clean and healthy.’
‘So, why?’ said Kitt. ‘She’s got everything going for her, it doesn’t make sense.’
‘She has got everything going for her, hasn’t she?’ said Percival. ‘Unusual for someone of her age to have climbed so far up the ladder. I think this might all be some elaborate way of making sure she climbs even higher.’
‘How?’ asked Grace.
‘I don’t know what her long game is,’ said Percival. ‘But Ricci has solved high profile cases in all of her other roles in the force. All of them, though, have been in bigger cities and towns. Maybe she didn’t think somewhere as sleepy as York would deliver something high profile enough for her to manage during her first few months in the post and decided to create a drama all of her own.’
‘But how will this case make her look good?’ asked Evie.
‘I’m not sure if it’s about making her look good or me look bad,’ said Percival. ‘There’s been a lot of press about this case and no matter what we’ve tried to get to the bottom of it we’ve found ourselves going round in circles. Course, if someone on the inside is orchestrating the whole thing, that might be a good reason why.’
‘But she couldn’t have known Holt would orchestrate a robbery to pay his debt,’ said Grace.
‘No, I don’t think she could have planned for all the variables but I think she might have set the ball rolling with the blackmail to see what would happen. She may have looked into Holt’s financial records to ensure he didn’t have enough cash to pay what she was asking. Mr Holt is a dubious character to say the least and not likely to run to the police to solve his problems. It seems to me she chose her victim carefully.’
‘So he orchestrates this robbery, and frames Banks for the beating to cover his back, creating a compelling case ripe for media attention,’ said Kitt. ‘But isn’t that enough? Why risk killing anyone?’
‘Well, York police did bring down a serial killer recently with some civilian assistance. That happened under my watch,’ said Percival.
‘And you think Ricci is trying to match that?’ said Evie.
‘It’s a theory. Maybe she’s waiting for me to step down and then as her first triumph in post she will pin it on someone, miraculously solving the case, like she has in all the other places she’s served in,’ said Percival.
‘Seems like a lot of trouble to go to just to advance your career prospects,’ Kitt said.
‘I agree,’ said Percival. ‘If you’re going to put this much effort in, you might as well just put the bloody work in to get to the top. But there are some pretty cushy wage packets once you climb the ranks. Though I’ve served my time, I can’t claim to have been badly paid. And she’s in the same place in her forties as I am in my sixties. You just think about all the money that is due to come her way.’
‘Especially if she’s making some extra pocket money on the side from the likes of Holt. We came so close, Mr Holt and I. After the fleeting moments we spent together at the auction house I’ll always think of him as the one that got away,’ Grace said, attaching a dramatic sigh for effect.
‘What?’ said Percival.
‘Nothing,’ said Kitt. ‘You’ll have to forgive my assistant. She’s very excitable for no reason I’ve ever got to the bottom of.’
‘Because of Ricci’s suspected involvement,’ said Halloran, taking control of the conversation once more, ‘it’s more vital than ever that she doesn’t know that you’re helping us with this case.’
‘Though she remains the chief suspect,’ said Percival, ‘we can’t rule out other lines of enquiry. Not least, Ricci will want updates on how Halloran, Banks and Redmond are progressing with the case. More than that, though, it makes sense to look at it from every possible angle and Ricci isn’t the only one without an alibi for Donald’s murder.’
‘Shereen Oakes also claims to have been at home alone that evening,’ said Redmond.
‘I know that we thought Shereen had motive,’ said Kitt, ‘but that was largely based on information dished out to us by both Olivia and Derek. Neither of whom are reliable sources given they both played a part in helping Holt pull off the burglary in the first place.’
‘It’s not just the insinuation about the affair that makes us suspect her though,’ said Charley. ‘Donald had an insurance policy out on his life.’
‘But if Shereen killed Donald she must be mixed up in the robbery somehow too, and we know Holt is behind that,’ Evie said slowly and without meeting Charley’s eye.
‘Maybe she is. In the spirit of looking at other lines of enquiry, is there a chance that Shereen could be Holt’s blackmailer?’ said Halloran.
‘Isn’t that most likely to be someone connected to Holt?’ said Evie.
‘But Shereen is connected to Holt,’ said Halloran.
‘Through Olivia,’ said Kitt. ‘Shereen could have found out about the affair Olivia was having and used it as an opportunity to blackmail him.’
‘There’s a possibility that Shereen somehow managed to plant ideas in Olivia’s head about the first editions, manipulating the theft of the books so she would look like the victim rather than the orchestrator,’ said Halloran.
‘But what about the number written on Donald’s hand?’ said Grace. ‘Doesn’t that pretty much confirm it’s Ricci?’
‘No, not necessarily,’ said Kitt. ‘Say it is Shereen, and I’m not saying I believe it, but she would already have gone to so much trouble to hide what’s really going on, she could easily have followed Ricci to see where she lives.’
‘She was very down on her when we talked to them in the shop,’ said Evie. ‘Ricci had asked her and Donald a few questions about Alim and she was particularly defensive.’
‘So she might have followed Ricci, or had her followed by an accomplice – the man who bought the supplies from the shop in Helmsley for instance.’
‘And then planted the house number on the victim’s hand to make it look like she was involved,’ said Halloran.
‘Perhaps we shouldn’t rule out some big coincidence though,’ said
Grace. ‘Like maybe that mark is not an address but Donald was going to buy Shereen some lingerie for Christmas or something?’
‘No,’ said Kitt. ‘There’s no way on this earth Shereen wears an A cup.’
Redmond let out his snorty little laugh at this and Percival was quick to jump in and change the subject. ‘Whoever’s behind it has already tried to frame one of my officers and there’s a good chance that they might try and frame another. By God, I hope you’re right about Shereen. It will mean Ricci isn’t involved after all. Nor Wilkinson.’
‘Wilkinson?’ said Evie, realizing for the first time that the young PC wasn’t amongst those assembled in the second-floor office. ‘You don’t think he’s involved?’
‘He’s been working very closely with Ricci over the past week,’ said Percival. ‘We couldn’t take the risk of bringing him in and, to be honest, from now on, you cannot assume anyone’s innocence. If one of our own is involved, anyone could be.’ Percival paused and looked long and hard between Kitt, Evie and Grace. ‘It’s going to mean letting go, at least temporarily, of any inclination to give people outside this circle the benefit of the doubt.’
Evie watched as Kitt pursed her lips. She knew her friend didn’t want to believe that Shereen had anything to do with her husband’s death but she had also made Donald a promise that she would find out who had done this to him, and this justice, it seemed, was what mattered to her most.
‘All right,’ said Kitt. ‘What do you need us to do?’
Twenty-Seven
Evie smiled as she noticed Kitt standing beneath the arch of Bootham Bar. She had a sandwich in one hand and a copy of The Maltese Falcon in the other. She was paying a lot more attention to reading the book than eating the sandwich.
‘Getting the most out of your lunch break, I see,’ said Evie when she was within earshot.
‘Right now, I’ve no choice but to multitask if I’m to do the proper research to solve this case and maintain my curves,’ said Kitt.
‘And reading a mystery novel counts as research, does it?’ Evie flashed Kitt an impish smile.
‘I was just trying to think of a case halfway as complicated as the one we’re trying to unravel to see if I could get any tips. Anyway, today is the last day I have to worry about fitting sleuth activities in around my responsibilities at the library.’
‘Stone the crows! You’re not . . . quitting the library, are you?’
‘Don’t be absurd,’ said Kitt. ‘I’ve arranged to take a week of annual leave, that’s all.’
‘Wow, at this short notice I bet that was a popular request with Michelle.’
‘I’ve not taken my full leave allowance in the last five years so she’ll just have to get over it. Besides, a friend of mine has just been murdered. I don’t think even she can blame me for wanting some time off.’
‘I agree,’ said Evie, patting Kitt’s arm.
‘Certainly, helping students locate books and journals when I could have been tracking down the person responsible for Donald’s condition wasn’t doing me any good,’ said Kitt.
‘I can imagine.’
‘Of course Grace is pretty put out because she won’t be able to take time off and you’ve seen how keen she is to be in on the act at every turn. I’ve tried to reassure her I’ll include her as much as possible in the investigation but you know how excitable she gets.’
‘Yes,’ said Evie. ‘On a related note, what are you doing this evening?’
‘Nothing much, I’ve cleared all decks for this case.’ Kitt said. ‘Why?’
‘Ruby paid a visit to the salon about an hour ago.’
‘Oh? She must have come straight from the library because she was in the Women’s Studies section not long before that trying to convince me to go round to her house to have my tarot cards read. Again. I gave her short shrift, of course. What did she want at the salon?’
‘Well, she came to convince me of the same thing. To go round to her house and have the tarot cards read. Only whereas you turned her away, I caved.’
‘Oh, Evie, you shouldn’t encourage her.’
‘I know, but she was just so insistent and it’s quite hard to say no to her after a while because – well, it’s apparent she hasn’t got anyone waiting for her at home.’
‘We have so many better things to be doing right now.’
‘She doesn’t know that. She might have read about the bodies in the newspaper but doesn’t know how sinister the case has got. Police corruption and all that. Besides, I think she’s a bit lonely.’
‘And I do all I can to make her feel welcome at the library but right now I really need to focus on the investigation . . . Wait a second. I thought you said this was somehow related to Grace?’
‘Well, I’m inviting her too.’
‘So it will be you, Grace and Ruby, in a room together meddling with tarot cards?’
‘I suppose you could put it that way.’
‘Oh dear, then I will need to come along. I can’t imagine the mischief you three could get up to unsupervised.’
‘Thought that might be a deal-breaker,’ said Evie. ‘I suppose we should go and visit Shereen before our lunch breaks are up.’
‘Yes, I suppose we had,’ said Kitt, starting off up High Petergate.
‘Is the plotline to The Maltese Falcon somehow related to this case?’ asked Evie.
‘Not unless a black statue made by the sixteenth-century Knights of Malta was also stolen from the bookshop and has yet to be noticed as missing,’ said Kitt.
‘Seems unlikely,’ said Evie. ‘I just feel it’s been a while since you’ve put forward a fictional parallel for the case we’re dealing with. I was expecting you to solve the case in a jiffy based on a plotline surrounding a blackmail gone awry.’
‘There are far too many to choose from to even hope of doing something like that.’
‘Oh I see,’ said Evie, but Kitt wasn’t finished.
‘Even just taking the works of Agatha Christie you’ve got The Secret of Chimneys, One Two, Buckle My Shoe, Hallowe’en Party, Three Act Tragedy . . . The list goes on and that’s without even getting into the TV adaptations that often take liberties and throw a blackmailing or two in for good measure.’
‘All right, I take your point. People in detective novels often try to cash in the easy way.’
‘On the contrary, the blackmail is almost never about money.’
‘Really? Why blackmail people if you don’t want the money?’
‘To conceal an even darker motive for murder or to incriminate someone else, to distract from some other felony related to the case like bigamy, an earlier murder or an accidental death the parties were somehow answerable for. In the few cases where blackmail is about the money it’s usually about desperation rather than a desire for a luxury lifestyle.’
Evie looked sidelong at her friend. ‘I thought you read the Agatha Christie books some years ago now? You seem to remember them in striking detail.’
‘I may have reread one or two of her best after playing the detective myself lately.’
‘One or two?’
‘Or twelve.’
Evie shook her head.
‘But you have made me think, Evie. We probably shouldn’t be looking at the obvious motives for blackmail here, i.e. the money. It makes me think that Chief Superintendent Percival was onto something when he suggested Ricci might be orchestrating these crimes to escalate her career.’
‘It’s a frightening thought,’ said Evie.
‘And perhaps a little bit far-fetched?’
‘I’ve had to redefine the term far-fetched recently,’ said Evie.
‘Fair point,’ said Kitt.
The pair stopped outside Bootham Bar Books.
‘I’ll discuss it further with Halloran when I talk to him this afternoon,’ said Kitt. ‘Maybe he c
an look at some of the past cases Ricci has been credited for closing and see if there’s anything suspicious about them. That would at least help us see if there really is a pattern there.’
‘Anything we can do to wind this nightmare up sooner rather than later is fine by me,’ said Evie.
Kitt nodded and turned her attentions to the door of the shop.
‘I can’t believe she’s opened again so soon after Donald’s body was found washed up like that.’
‘That in itself is a little bit suspicious,’ said Evie. ‘Though I know you don’t really want to hear that.’
‘What I want to hear isn’t relevant right now,’ said Kitt. ‘Amateur sleuths don’t have the luxury of having things turn out how they want, or seeing the best in people. It’s like Percival said, we can’t trust anyone.’ And with that, she took a deep breath and pushed open the door.
Twenty-Eight
‘Oh, hello, love,’ said Shereen as Kitt stepped over the threshold and Evie closed the door behind them.
Kitt walked up to the counter where Shereen was standing and put her arms around her. ‘I’m so sorry. I really don’t quite know what to say, except I’m sorry.’
‘Just seeing your face is a comfort,’ said Shereen, but she appeared to be having trouble focusing, and though she was looking in Kitt’s direction she didn’t appear to really see her. It seemed her mind was elsewhere. Whether she was focused on mourning the loss of her husband or covering up her guilt in his disappearance was the question.
As the pair embraced, Evie tried to recall the tips Percival had given them about this particular visit to Bootham Bar Books. He had been clear that the last thing he wanted to do was endanger the lives of civilians, and that he and the other officers would be the ones to dig deeper on Amira Buruk to see if she had anything to do with her son’s death. He did believe, however, that they could be of help when it came to Shereen, with little risk. He had explained that it was much more likely that Shereen might let something slip to a friend than she would to a police officer. Perhaps something almost unconscious that Shereen wouldn’t even realize was a clue to her involvement. Their instructions were to stay vigilant throughout the entire visit. To look around for anything that might connect with the case or anything that seemed odd. Percival was also very keen for Kitt to make an assessment of Shereen’s general behaviour. Whilst taking her recent bereavement into account, Percival wanted to know if Shereen was acting any different from usual, and if so how.