He tapped the door with his foot, then reached forwards, cupping her face between his hands.
‘Brings back memories. Thanks for the sandwich. G’night.’ Then he kissed her cheek with no more feeling than if he’d been a family friend, never a lover.
All of a sudden, Anna was riled. She resented the fact that he felt he could drop by at eleven o’clock at night, not only drop in without notice, but get her to make him a bacon sandwich, a pot of tea, then polish off her Scotch. As the door was about to close, she dived towards it and pulled it wide open.
Startled, Langton turned. ‘Remembered something else you’ve forgotten to disclose, have you?’ he said sarkily.
‘No. I’d just like you to know that if you intend making these late-night calls a habit, I’d appreciate you calling me first. Goodnight.’
And then she shut the door.
Unsettled and confused by Langton’s sudden appearance, Anna didn’t feel like going to bed; she knew she would not sleep. Instead, she used an old technique her father had taught her when he was in the force; she had watched him do it as a child. He would make up cards of suspects and, laying them out, would place them in order of suspicion. Anna wrote down the names of Lesser, Smith-Barker and the three male actors, then added both girls from the funeral, along with Amanda’s parents, plus the drivers Harry and his younger brother Tony James. She laid them out in front of her as if she was playing Solo. Which one of them would have a strong enough motive to instigate the murder? Was the motive money? Fraud?
She stared at the names and knew that, without any incriminating evidence, neither Lesser nor Smith-Barker could be in first position so she placed them to one side. Next, the three actors: would any of them really have much to lose if there were extracts about their affairs with Amanda? They were media fodder already; Anna doubted there could be anything that would incite them to kill.
Amanda’s parents were next. As much as she had sensed their near-indifference to their daughter’s death, they surely had no motive strong enough to kill her because they were past caring for her wellbeing. She put the cards with their names to one side.
Felicity Turner had surprised her with her anger. She had been stoned at the party that afternoon and had had too much to drink, but Anna sensed there was more to learn from her. She placed the card bearing Felicity’s name in the centre of the table and put Jeannie Bale’s beneath it. Again, Anna had been taken aback by what the girl had said; her anger and hints that she knew a lot more put her under suspicion. She then picked up the unit drivers’ names and placed their cards alongside the two girls’. A moment later, she moved Tony James’s card in front of Felicity’s, along with his brother’s.
She printed the word MOTIVE on a card and sat staring at it. On another she wrote ABORTION and on a third card, KEYS, placing this one beside ABORTION. She was getting tired; it was after three in the morning. Looking over her cut-out jigsaw of names, Anna knew she was going round in circles. Literally, as by moving one card after another around on the table, she had unwittingly formed a sort of circle. She yawned; she knew she hadn’t really gained anything from the exercise. She rested her chin on her hand, leaning her elbows on the table. If the killer, as Langton suspected, was well-known and sufficiently trusted to be given the dead girl’s house keys, then someone, one of the listed, had to know his identity.
Anna rubbed her eyes and frowned. She recalled that the young, very pretty girl – their victim’s standin, Emma Field – had described Amanda as constantly using her mobile; she was always sending text messages. Anna was certain that the mobile Emma had handed to her had shown no sent or received text messages. Amanda must have had a second mobile phone or used a BlackBerry for texts and e-mails. Where was it?
She picked up another blank card and wrote on it MONEYand put it into the circle beside Andrew Smith-Barker’s name. Then she used her forefinger to slide his card outside the circle. Crossing to turn the lights out, she hesitated and went back to the table. Frustrated, she swept all the cards to the floor and went to bed.
The following morning, by the time Anna arrived at the station, Mike Lewis had brought in Amanda Delany’s accountant, a woman called Ronnie Hodgson. She was wearing a smart tailored suit with a cream silk collarless blouse beneath it, and high pointed stilettos that made her even taller than Mike. She placed a large leather briefcase onto the table before she sat down.
‘I do apologise for not being able to meet with you before now, but I hope I’ll be able to assist you and will endeavour to do so to the best of my ability. That said, I have to safeguard the fact that, although my client is now sadly deceased, there are certain problems of invasion of privacy that might arise.’
‘Your client, Ms Hodgson, was murdered and I really doubt there’ll be any issue of invasion of privacy,’ Mike pointed out. ‘We need you to outline Miss Delany’s financial situation and help on a few queries pertaining to our investigation.’
Ronnie Hodgson had dark brown eyes and shoulder-length glossy hair, swept up to give her an attractive, surprisingly youthful look. Anna estimated her age to be late thirties. She wore no jewellery and no wedding ring. She clicked open her briefcase and took out several files and a shiny, black leather-covered notebook.
‘Are you privy to Miss Delany’s will?’ Anna asked.
‘Yes, I am.’
‘We need to know who her beneficiaries are.’
Miss Hodgson nodded and opened her notebook. She scribbled something in it with a slim silver pen before removing Amanda Delany’s Last Will and Testament from a file.
‘I suggested that she use the solicitors Marchbank and Crawley, as they do a considerable amount of work for certain clients of mine. Amanda, I have to say, was in the habit of adding and removing certain bequests, but I had no reason to discuss any alterations with her over the past three months.’
‘We’ll also require details of Miss Delany’s finances,’ Anna explained, ‘her different accounts, any payments and direct debits over the past six months. As you must be aware, you were served with a court order to hand over all the documents we require.’
Ronnie Hodgson nodded, saying, ‘I think you’ll find that all her accounts are in excellent order. Amanda was up to date with both income tax and VAT payments.’ She passed two copies in neat bound plastic covers across the table.
‘Does this include her investments?’ Anna queried.
Miss Hodgson hesitated and withdrew another file. ‘I think you should approach her investment banker about those.’
‘That would be Andrew Smith-Barker?’
‘Yes, that is correct.’
Mike Lewis flicked through the file in front of him and then glanced at Anna.
‘These are accounts up to the previous year.’
‘Yes, obviously this year’s accounts haven’t yet been completed.’
‘But they are the ones we’re most interested in,’ he said quietly.
‘I’m afraid they haven’t been processed yet. We do work a year in advance, but you can’t expect me to have any records to present to you yet, as under the circumstances we are having to deal without Miss Delany’s up-to-date receipts and bank statements.’
‘Do you have Power of Attorney?’
‘No, I don’t. That would be her agent, Andrea Lesser. I believe it was arranged during the purchase and refurbishing of Miss Delany’s mews house.’
‘Did you oversee the payments on the house, to the builders and so forth?’ Mike asked.
‘Yes, of course, as I was Miss Delany’s accountant.’
Both Anna and Mike remained silent as they read through the files, and although neither expressed their astonishment at how much money their victim had earned, they could see heavy payments going out to the various companies working on the mews. Miss Hodgson passed over single pages of various mortgage contracts, savings accounts, dollar accounts, pensions, life insurance and policy insurance coverage; it all seemed very well-organised.
‘The inve
stments via Mr Smith-Barker?’ Anna queried.
‘I am not privy to his details. Obviously with the appalling situation in the City, I believe Miss Delany lost a considerable amount.’
‘But surely you had to have handled the payments to him?’
‘No, they were made directly by Amanda, and I am sure Mr Smith-Barker will give you the details of the most recent investments.’
Anna closed her file, resting her hands on top of it.
‘Could you just explain the transaction for me, so that I clearly understand? If your client was contracted to do a film and the fees were arranged by Miss Lesser, wouldn’t the cheques or manner of payment come to you first and then be passed to the investment company?’
Miss Hodgson nodded.
‘That would be the usual method, but as Andrea Lesser had Power of Attorney, I believe certain investments were made directly via her agency to the investment bankers.’
‘Surely you would have to keep a record of these transactions?’
‘Yes, that’s right, for tax and VAT payments.’
‘So can you give us some indication of just how many investments were being made on Miss Delany’s behalf?’
Miss Hodgson hesitated.
‘This is rather difficult,’ she said, looking down. ‘As I explained, I don’t have this year’s accounts so I am not exactly aware of the details you want.’
Anna took a deep breath and leaned forwards.
‘How much did she lose?’
Her composure coming apart and her hands nervously fingering her neat files, Miss Hodgson said she was not prepared to discuss that aspect of her late client’s business.
‘That is why you are here,’ Mike said firmly.
She took out a white handkerchief from her handbag and dabbed at her upper lip. Anna could see they might not get any more from her if they continued to put the pressure on, so she glanced at Mike to slow down. She changed tack.
‘We are very interested in whether or not Miss Delany owned a BlackBerry.’
‘Yes, that was how I kept in touch with her. We had a lot of delay in getting her landline connected at the new house, so it was always the best way to contact her. Copies of the bills for the BlackBerry are in the file.’
‘When was the last time you saw Miss Delany?’
‘It would have been about a month before she died.’
‘How did she appear to you?’
Ms Hodgson shrugged. It had been a very brief meeting, no more than fifteen minutes. Amanda had needed a few signatures on her tax forms and she had brought in her receipts for the VAT assessment.
‘Explain to us how money paid to Miss Delany reaches you,’ Anna asked.
‘Amanda would have banked it and I’d work from her bank statements. I then did her accounts and she paid me for the work done.’
‘Who paid her?’
‘The film company would send their payments to her agent; she would take her percentage and then forward a cheque to Amanda.’
‘So Miss Lesser would first put the cheque through the agency’s account?’
‘Yes.’
When Anna asked how much Amanda was being paid by the film company making Gaslight, Ronnie Hodgson said she wasn’t sure. It would seem that she had not been paid, Anna pointed out, as according to the files they were looking at, there was no recent large deposit.
‘That’s correct. More than likely, Miss Lesser will be dealing with any payments due.’
Anna glanced at Mike as he read one page after another.
‘We require this year’s accounts up until her death,’ he reiterated as he closed the file.
Anna noticed that Miss Hodgson was nervously pulling at the sleeves of her blouse.
‘I haven’t yet started my assessments for this year.’
‘How long will it take?’
‘I have to have a meeting with Miss Lesser as I am unsure what payments are due. Then there will be death duties and …’ She was twisting her handkerchief round her fingers and sighed deeply. ‘I feel terrible about discussing this, as she’s a personal friend, and I was certain she would have an explanation.’
‘Who are we talking about?’ Anna asked.
‘Andrea Lesser. I haven’t been entirely truthful because I really don’t want to cause any trouble until I know more details, and I trust her completely. We’ve worked together for many years, since Amanda became famous, and she was very good to bring Amanda to me as a client. I hate to cast aspersions because I don’t have all the facts.’
She closed her eyes.
‘When Amanda came to see me that last time, it was quite late and she hadn’t got an appointment. I wasn’t expecting her – in fact, I was just about to leave my office.’
‘When was this?’ Mike asked. Anna wanted to dig him in the ribs. She knew Miss Hodgson was about to deliver the goods and he was wrong to interrupt her.
‘I already told you, it would have been about four weeks ago.’
Amanda, she went on, had turned up and appeared to have been drinking. She was very agitated and full of anger which at first she directed towards Ronnie Hodgson. There was a lot of money missing, she said as she calmed down. Because she had been so busy filming, she had not been paying attention to personal business.
‘She claimed that there was a substantial amount of money owed her. I tried to follow what she was saying, but she was so angry it was hard to understand. She had found out from Scott Myers that he had been paid for the movie they had been in together and she had also asked another actor …’ Miss Hodgson then described how Amanda had insisted she call Andrea Lesser and ask her where her money was. She was becoming hysterical again.
‘Anyway, when I did call there was no reply, just an answerphone as it was after seven in the evening. Amanda wouldn’t leave my office and wanted me to go through all her accounts, which I refused to do. I said I would speak to her agent the following morning as I was sure there must be a logical explanation.’
Although Amanda was a valued client, they occasionally had words as she was often late sending in her receipts and statements, and they would sometimes arrive in a plastic grocery bag. Amanda was by no means incapable of sorting her own finances out – on the contrary, but she was also erratic and on a number of occasions had insisted she had sent things when she hadn’t.
‘So knowing this, and seeing her behaving in a very strange way, too much to drink or maybe it was drugs, and knowing Andrea Lesser as I do, I was certain that what Amanda was insinuating was wrong.’
‘Which was what exactly?’ Anna asked.
‘Theft, fraud. She kept on telling me it was millions, but when I called Andrea the next morning, she was shocked. She said there had been some monies invested for Amanda by a very reputable investment banking firm and that more than likely she had forgotten their agreement.’
Mike sighed. ‘So what happened next?’
‘Well, nothing. She didn’t call me again, so I was certain that all her accusations were unfounded.’
‘Were they?’ asked Anna. ‘If you didn’t see any contracts regarding payments to your client, you wouldn’t really know if any monies were embezzled, would you?’
There was a pause and then Miss Hodgson shook her head, but she wouldn’t look at Anna.
‘You have to understand that there are always delays in payments and collecting clients’ residuals, often from repeat adverts or television work. It can take months to track them down. I want to make it very clear that I do not believe Miss Lesser would have ever contemplated doing anything illegal.’
‘But Miss Delany implied to you that was the case?’ Mike was becoming bored by Miss Hodgson’s evasive manner.
‘She did make accusations but, as I said, she was drunk or drugged and quite abusive. And Andrea Lesser assured me that Amanda knew about the investments Andrew Smith-Barker had made on her behalf
‘Ah, and this was when Miss Lesser denied any such—’ Mike was interrupted.
‘Of course
she did.’
Anna closed the files in front of her. ‘Can I see the copy of Miss Delany’s will?’
Miss Hodgson passed it over and began putting the files back into her briefcase.
‘And who is handling her estate?’
‘Andrea Lesser.’
‘We will require this year’s accounts to be brought in, whether or not they have been completed,’ Mike added.
Miss Hodgson said she would have them sent to the station the following morning.
It was another half-hour before the interview was terminated. Left alone in the interview room, Anna checked over all the documents as Mike saw Miss Hodgson out.
‘What do you make of her?’ he asked Anna when he returned.
‘I think she’s lying through her teeth.’
The will, dated over a year ago, made interesting reading. Andrea Lesser featured, as did Amanda’s parents, her former flatmates and numerous charities, the latter taking the bulk of her fortune. The amounts to each named party were in the region of ten and twenty thousand pounds and the biggest slice went to Battersea Dogs’ Home. Amanda appeared to have no cousins or distant relatives and no changes to her will had been listed.
The possibility of fraud and the fact that Amanda had accused Andrea Lesser of underhand dealings with her money, but not confronted her as far as Ronnie Hodgson knew, had to be a strong motive for murder. Under suspicion were obviously Miss Lesser and Andrew Smith-Barker. Mike Lewis decided to save time by obtaining a magistrate’s search warrant for both Miss Lesser’s agency and Andrew Smith-Barker’s company. Officers experienced in fraud would need to go through the mountain of documents that would no doubt be seized. Anna asked if Mike would also get a search warrant for Amanda’s old flat. He was in his office with Barolli, co-ordinating the searches, and seemed frazzled.
‘You won’t believe this, but Mr Delany is refusing to allow us to use any personal photographs and is getting a lawyer to try and stop the television interview going ahead.’
‘He can’t do that, can he?’ Anna asked.
‘He can. We can override his request, but he’s refusing to give any assistance and insists that if we go ahead without his consent, he’ll call a press conference saying that we’ve been less than professional and accusing us of invading his privacy.’
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