by Emily Selby
'Uhm,' Jack made a grunting noise. 'So, what did Mr Stanley want from you?'
'He just tried to buy us out of the house.'
'What do you mean by that?'
'He inherited a minority share in the house, ten per cent from his father,' Sofia continued, calmly. 'It was an old deal. His father forced my grandmother to agree to it. It was as a way of paying off some of my grandfather's debts to the Stanleys. So, my grandmother, pushed to the edge, in a desperate attempt to protect herself and two small children, offered him a tenant-in-common deal in exchange for writing off some of the debt. Do you understand what tenant-in-common means, Inspector?'
'It's a way of sharing the ownership of a property, where the owners have distinct shares and have the right to leave their share to anyone upon their death.'
'That's right,' Sofia continued. 'It also means that the property can't be sold as a whole unit without all parties agreeing to it. But sadly, it was not enough,' Sofia carried on. 'My grandmother also had to sell the workshop and lease the land. Ever since, we've been unable to sell the house because of that stupid agreement. Stanley junior wanted the house to himself in order to sell it to the developer. He expected to make a great deal of money.'
'So, when did he try to buy the house from you?'
'Mum, do you remember when he first contacted you?'
'No, my memory is not so good. I am really not sure,' Chiara replied, her voice trembling again. 'Don't you remember, baby? I think it was a few months after your Grandma died.'
'Yes. Early summer. June or July.'
'And you didn't want to sell the house. Why?' Jack asked.
'It's my family home, Inspector,' Chiara said with pride.
Sofia gave a big sigh. 'I know it may sound strange, but Mum has an emotional attachment to the house. And from the more pragmatic point of view, the price he offered wasn't particularly enticing. Sorry mum, but I've done some research and consultations behind your back. Apparently, the plot was worth more, but unfortunately, we only lease it.'
'Did Mr Stanley know about the land being leased?'
'I don't think so. I didn't tell him about it. I didn't want to show all our cards, Inspector,' Sofia replied.
Katie was surprised to hear Sofia speaking about family secrets so calmly and candidly. It was so unlike the secretive Sofia she saw in the Crafts room.
'Am I correct in thinking the plot has been leased to Mr Bower? Have you had any dealings with him over it?'
'That's right. The moment I realised the land was leased out, I contacted Mr Bower senior, but...' Sofia hesitated. 'How do I put it? He didn't strike me as someone who was in a position to do business with at the time. He was in hospital. More recently, I was contacted by Mr Bower Junior. He offered to buy the house from us, and he insisted the lease was due to expire soon. We don't have the original document, but as far as we know, this should have not been the case. Anyway, he insisted the house was worth very little because of the short lease. He hinted that if we sold the house to him, he could help us get rid of the other claimant. I was surprised to see he was aware of the ownership problem, as I'd believed the agreement was not common knowledge.'
Wow, that was an interesting development. Katie rewound the tape to make sure she had caught all that was said. Michael Bower did have contact with the Marinos. And it sounded as though he might have planned to get rid of Ash Stanley. Katie ran her tongue around her bone-dry mouth. She pressed the play button again.
'Has Mr Bower Junior ever mentioned how he was going to- let me quote this, "get rid of the other claimant"?'
'No, he never said anything. Actually, what I said might be a misinterpretation. I can't remember his words exactly,' Sofia said carefully.
So, Michael has been playing dirty...
'If I may bring your attention to the issue of inheritance on death in the case of tenants-in-common, Inspector,' Sofia added hastily. 'Unless the agreement was dissolved, my mother, who has inherited the house, would not become the owner of the entire property on Mr Stanley's death. We do not benefit from his death. On the contrary, it makes it even more complicated for us in terms of dealing with our share of the house. It'll be months if not longer before we know who inherits his share in our property.'
Interesting... Who did then?
'Do you know who might benefit from his death?'
'No, Inspector. We were not in any way acquainted.'
The interview progressed. Jack asked a few more questions related to the decision to move to Sunnyvale. Katie tried to listen, but it was hard to type and follow at the same time. She had to switch between listening and typing mode. This time it was Chiara who explained. She gave Jack some stuff about reconnecting with her roots and old friends and family, wanting to live in a quiet place to recover from a horrendous trauma. Katie found it difficult to listen to Chiara speaking in her trembling voice - she kept thinking back to all the horrible things that had happened to young Chiara: the abandonment, bullying, rejection, health problems. Katie's heart went to the woman.
'I have a few more questions,' Jack said. 'Can you please tell me about your movements on the morning of Friday, 29th of September and the evening of Friday 6th of October.'
'Friday mornings I'm always in physiotherapy,' Chiara said weakly. 'I'm usually exhausted by it, so I have a nap in the afternoon. Friday evenings I go to church. I can't leave my house on my own, Inspector. I need either Sofia or one of my friends to assist me. I have a special taxi to go to my health appointments.'
'Thank you, Mrs Parker. What about you, Ms Parker?'
'That was last Friday and the Friday before that, right?' Sofia said. 'Last weekend I was away visiting a friend in Edinburgh. I left in the afternoon. I still have the ticket, I bet. And you can check it with my friend. As for the Friday before, I was supposed to be off work, but we had an audit and I came in to help my colleagues prepare for it. I'm sure they will confirm it for you.' Sofia sounded very confident, almost nonchalant about it.
Jack asked them to write all the required contact details. Some rummaging through handbags and writing ensued.
Katie chewed on her lip. Her thoughts were swirling like dry, fallen leaves on a windy day. Chiara had a motive to get rid of Ash Stanley - she must have hated him and his family. Did she have the means and the opportunity though? Having said that, if both murders had been committed using someone else's hands, this would have been possible... Who would Chiara use to kill Zac? The most obvious answer was Sofia. But Sofia seemed to have an alibi for the weekend Zac was killed, and more importantly, given the complex ownership issue, the death didn't benefit either of the Parkers. On the contrary, Katie was nowhere near solving this mystery. What was worse - the more she knew, the more complicated everything became.
Katie sighed and pushed "play"' again.
'One more question, if I may. Do you recognise this object?' Jack asked.
A chill crept along Katie's back. She guessed he must have showed them the photo of her pen.
'It looks like a pen used in card making, in my opinion, Inspector,' Sofia sounded calm and confident again.
'Have you seen anyone use it recently?'
'Not recently,' she said after a pause. 'But a few months ago, I saw someone use a very similar object.'
She went on describing the circumstances and the person, Katie knew to be Zuza.
Chiara also chimed in, but with fewer details.
What a coincidence that the Marino women noticed poor Zuza used the murder weapon. What a bad luck for Zuza, whether she was or wasn't guilty...
Jack thanked both women for the interview. And that was the end of it.
Katie printed the report. She was confused even more than before. Were the two deaths really connected as she had assumed so far? Maybe she should go back to the beginning and review the whole situation? Maybe Zac's and Stanley's deaths were not related? Because if they were coincidental, then the theory of a jealous girlfriend and a greedy property development would fit in perfec
tly... It looked as though Michael not only had a good opportunity to kill Ashley Stanley, he also had a motive. The plot stood in the company's way to greater profits, and probably Michael's path to being appreciated by his father. Judging from Sofia's account, Ash and Michael might have met. How else would Michael know about the tenants-in-common deal? Which meant that Michael lied about not knowing Stanley. Everything worked against him.
Was Michael behind the murders? Katie always thought of him as being one of those steady middle-class people, pillars of their community. Fair enough, Michael was capable of shouting at people and banging his fists on tables, but was he capable of deadly violence?
And Zuza...
Katie massaged her aching temples. She'd rather not think about her craft-loving friend, because she'd have to decide if she still trusted her. Zuza was capable of lying to protect herself - that was certain. And if she was capable of lying, nothing she'd said so far could be trusted. Zuza could have taken Katie’s pen, killed Zac, stolen the ring, convinced Anna to lie about her alibi... Whether there was another woman in Zac's life or not.
She really had to think it through all over again.
Katie left the typed interview in Jack's cubbyhole and, with the key to her flat firmly in her hand, she headed for the door. She couldn't wait to be back in her flat again. But first, she had to stop at Michelle's to collect her stuff.
23
Stopping at Michelle's place took much longer than Katie intended. Michelle and Kevin were both in good moods, keen to celebrate Kevin’s release. After all, this was Friday night. They had sent the kids to the grandparents and suggested going out for drinks and dinner to the Royal Oak. Katie, delighted to see her friends happy again, agreed.
From the moment she walked into Royal Oak, Katie knew something was not quite right. And it wasn't just because of the owner being behind the bar instead of Zuza. The local was full of people talking loudly but the atmosphere was tense. Maybe, it was a normal Friday early evening? After all, Katie didn't go out much.
'Hey, Katie! How are you, lass? Heard the news?'
Katie turned to the sound of a familiar voice. In the first instance she didn't recognise him. Chris was wearing a chequered shirt and a pair of jeans–she didn't see him in civilian clothes very often.
'Hi, Chris,' she replied, smiling. 'I'm fine. What news?'
'We've arrested the barmaid.'
Katie's heart stopped for a second. 'What?'
Chris jerked his head pointing towards the bar. 'The girl, Zuza has been arrested on suspicion of Zac's murder. She lied to the police, made death threats toward Zac and they found her fingerprints all over the murder weapon.'
Blood drained from Katie's face, her stomach clenched. 'But Zuza is not...' she allowed her words to trail off. She ran her tongue around her paper-dry mouth. She really couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence, no matter how much she wanted to see Zuza as being innocent. 'Are you sure it's not a mistake?'
'I'm not sure of anything anymore, to be honest. I keep my mind open and demand evidence.' Chris shrugged. 'There were witnesses to her arguments with Zac. I think Heaton may be moving away from the hypothesis these two murders are connected.'
'That's what I've come up with, too,' she croaked. The ache returned to her temples. Katie leant against the nearest wall. 'I can't believe this has happened. I only talked to her a few hours ago.'
'She went to the police to correct some of her statements apparently, and boom! Heaton arrested her.'
'Do you know why? Surely, the fingerprints are not enough. She'd used the pen back in May, but someone stole it shortly afterwards. The murderer could have used the pen in a way that didn't leave any fingerprints, couldn't he?'
Chris glanced at her with a hint of curiosity in his eyes. 'I see you're well informed.'
'I talked to Zuza about the pen at lunchtime. I convinced her to tell the police about it. She... she must have forgotten she’d used it when the DI interviewed her. But the fingerprints, am I right?'
Chris rubbed his chin. 'I suppose, the murderer could have held the pen with some sort of instrument or gloves that didn't leave any marks. It would be hard to do. But on the other hand, the pen was just inserted into the existing wound. They wouldn’t have needed much force to push it in.'
'Did she say anything else to incriminate herself?'
Chris squinted at her, a shadow of a smile playing on his broad, freckled face. 'You know I'm on other duties, right?'
Katie rolled her eyes. 'How come you know then?'
'Been hanging out here. Village gossip.'
'What else does the village gossip say?'
'That the barmaid's alibi was a little too stretched. The friend who swore she had been with Zuza, admitted she left just after midnight on that Friday. Zuza could have found Zac and killed him on the roof.'
'And the reason for it?'
Chris shrugged. 'Jealousy, I guess. Do you have a theory?'
Katie thought for a while. The fog in her head cleared, but the knot in her stomach refused to loosen.
'I like Zuza,' Katie said slowly. It was hard to process her thoughts. 'I find it difficult to see her as a murderer. But, leaving feelings aside and assuming this was jealousy, then there must have been another woman involved. Have you heard anything on this grapevine?' Katie pointed to the bar with her chin.
'Apparently so. Zuza had a meltdown over Zac and a girl he had been seen with a couple of months ago here, in the pub. A few people saw it, including the boss.'
The knot in Katie's stomach tightened. So Zuza lied to her as well... So much for, "I've learnt to live with it."
'Does anyone actually know anything about another girl in Zac's life? Because what I'm thinking is why would Zuza climb on the roof to kill him? If she had seen him with another woman, then I can imagine this happening. Otherwise, I can't think of a glamorous woman like Zuza climbing over roofs. Plus, where is the ring he stole from my flat?'
'That's a good point! I bet Heaton hasn't thought about it. You must tell him!'
'Like he listens to me.'
'More than to anyone else in our team,' Chris said and winked. 'I think he likes you.'
Katie held her breath, forcing the warm wave not to creep up on her cheeks.
'Everybody likes me, I'm nice,' she said, desperately trying to change the subject. She didn't like being in the spotlight.
'Not always! You shout at us.'
'Only when you leave the sink full of dirty cups and pretend you didn't know about the paper jam in the photocopier.'
Chris chuckled. 'I know nothing about it!'
Katie rolled her shoulders back. At least some of the tension had eased from her body. She managed to shift the focus of the conversation, but also Chris seemed more relaxed than he had that morning. 'You seem in a much better mood now,' she probed subtly.
'Yeah, Michael is out. They're still investigating, but with Zuza's extra info, I think the focus of the case will change. The DI will be looking for the other woman, I guess. I'm with you, though. I think the secret girlfriend may have been involved in the crime as well.'
'So, Michael has been cleared?' Katie asked, thinking back to her earlier theories. To be honest, if she was DI Heaton, she wouldn't have abandoned that trail.
Chris sighed heavily. His brow furrowed. 'Not completely, sadly. I think he might have done something silly.'
'Like what?'
'That photo of his phone, which was sent to us, remember?'
Katie nodded vigorously. 'So, it definitely was his phone?'
'It was. You were right. He said you were good at noticing little details.'
Katie's heart accelerated. 'Who said?'
'DI Jack Heaton of course,' Chris replied impatiently. 'You behave like you have no clue, eh?'
Katie smiled, suppressing a butterfly dance in her chest. 'I have no clue what you're alluding to,' she said smoothly. She did not, she repeated to herself, she did not have time or energy for a new man in her li
fe, particularly a policeman. She was still recovering, emotionally, physically and financially from her failed marriage to a police officer.
'Going back to Michael's phone. What did they find on the photo?' she added smoothly.
Fortunately for her, Chris returned to the previous topic. 'According to the photo of the document, the lease on the land is due to expire very soon. Michael denies this is the case. He insists it's either the technology fault or someone fiddled with the image. The Parkers, who don't have the original document, also seem to think the lease should still be in force for many more years.'
'Sorry, I don't follow.'
A deep line appeared on Chris' freckled forehead, the corners of his mouth dropped. 'If the lease is due to expire soon, the dilapidated house on Stream Drive becomes a hot potato. Nobody would want to buy a house with such a short lease.'
'Except the lease owner?'
'That's right,' Chris nodded gravely. 'And that would shift the focus back on Michael.'
Katie thought back to the interview she had just typed. Chiara and Sofia talked about Michael Bower trying to buy the house too cheaply from them due to the expiring lease.
'Why don't they check the original document?'
'It's one of the things to have gone missing recently.'
'The office burglary?'
'Yes.'
How convenient...
'So, it was in Michael's interest to have the lease expiring soon?'
Chris' face tensed, his jaw clenched.
'I think you're a little too smart, lass,' he said reluctantly after a long pause. 'But to be brutally frank, yes. And'—he heaved a sigh-'he might have tried to mislead Stanley and the Parkers about it.'
'Because he wants to buy that plot so badly...'
Chris nodded in silence, not looking at her.
'He wants to buy this plot so badly, he could have even falsified the document...'
Chris was silent, glaring at the dark window.
'Yeah, it's hard not to ask yourself that question, isn't it?' he said heavily after a long pause. He slouched his shoulders. 'I'd better get a pint. Want one, too?' he asked.