“No… no… you’ve got it wrong. Totally wrong,” Ticknall burst out. Beckett noticed a sheen on his forehead, though the room was cool.
“What other reason would she have for keeping a second mobile phone, with only your number on it? Why else would she be making multiple calls to you? Why else would you be calling her?”
“There are lots of reasons,” Ticknall gabbled.
“We have a witness that saw you ‘groping’ Danni at a party last week.”
“Groping?” Ticknall was genuinely horrified. “No. No. Why would I?”
“Perhaps our witness was embellishing. Perhaps it was a tender moment.”
“But, I wouldn’t. Not Danni. She was a friend. Nothing more.”
“You’ll have to do better than that,” Beckett snarled. “I have friends, but I don’t have a separate phone for each one. Why did Danni have a phone, with which she only called you?”
Ticknall recoiled away, and sank down onto a sofa, head in his hands.
“It wasn’t Danni who was calling me.” His voice was so quiet, so beaten Beckett could hardly hear him.
"So who was it, then?”
Ticknall held his phone out to Beckett. He took it, and looked at the source of the missed call. The letters spelt out Nemesis – M. Nemesis the restaurant. M for mobile, or M for Michale. A logic bomb went off in Beckett’s head.
“Michale Bakas?” he asked. Ticknall’s cheeks were flushed.
“And what is the exact nature of your relationship with Mr. Bakas?” Harper asked. Beckett heard the satisfaction in the tone.
“How would you like me to describe it?” Ticknall sneered, but the feeling was towards himself, not the men in front of him.
“You’re in a sexual relationship?” Harper sat on the sofa opposite the Vice Consul.
Ticknall nodded. “I’m not gay. I’m not. I love my wife. I just… I just…”
“Watched Brokeback Mountain, and thought, yeah, I’ll give that a try?” Harper rolled his eyes.
“Thanks for that, Barry Norman.” Beckett shot Harper a shut-up look.
“My wife can’t find out. It would destroy her. And my children. Oh, God…”
“So, you are saying this phone… the phone found in Danni’s car, which we believed was used to transport her body after she’d been murdered… actually belonged to Michale Bakas?” Beckett asked.
Ticknall raised his head, eyes widening at the implication. “Danni kept the phone for him, so his wife didn’t find it.” His words raced each other, tumbling over each other like a waterfall. “We had to keep it secret. Both of us. That’s why I have it saved as Nemesis. The restaurant. I couldn’t risk a second phone. I didn’t have a Danni.”
“How did Danni get involved?”
“She got us together. I guess she saw the way we looked at each other. I don’t know. She had a gift like that, for sensing how people felt. I was at Nemesis one night, on my own. My family were back in the UK, visiting relatives. She served me slowly that night, so that I was the last one there. I remember she leaned into my ear and said, ‘Life is short. If you want someone, you have to tell them. Don’t wait. Just do it.’ She went into the kitchen, and told Michale I wanted to thank him for the meal. He put a hand on my hand. It started there.”
“How long?”
“The end of last summer. I want you to know I’ve never done anything like this before. I can’t explain it…”
Harper snorted. “So what happened? Did Danni threaten to expose you both? Is that why you killed her?” He shook his head in disgust.
“What? No. We wouldn’t have been together, if it wasn’t for her. I told you.”
“Maybe that was her plan all along. Get you together, so she could blackmail you.” Harper stood up. For a moment, Beckett thought he was reaching for handcuffs.
“You never knew Danni, did you? She wasn’t like that. All she wanted to do was help people. We would never hurt her.” Ticknall’s eyes shone with tears. Beckett thought they were more for himself, and the destruction about to be wrought on his life, than for Danni.
“Where were you Saturday night?” Harper stepped towards Ticknall.
“With my wife.” Ticknall shrank backwards.
“All night? She’ll verify that?” Harper asked, his voice dripping with scepticism.
“She took a sleeping pill. The storm, you see. She hates the thunder. So, she thought she’d take a pill, and go to bed early, before the storm hit. The kids were at friends.” Ticknall’s words were strained with what he didn’t want to admit to.
“You went out?” Harper stared hard at Ticknall. “To meet Michale?”
“Sophia was away for the weekend, with girlfriends on the mainland. He shut the restaurant early, because the storm was coming. I knew my wife wouldn’t wake up until late the next day. Michale and I were together until the early hours. We talked about Danni a bit. Wondered why she’d gone off, without telling us.”
“How did you arrange to meet? Without the phone?” Harper’s voice softened slightly. Beckett, watching, knew that Harper had won. Ticknall would tell them everything now.
“With Sophia away, there was no risk. Saturday, we popped in there for lunch.”
“We?” Harper picked up a framed photo of Ticknall’s wife and kids from the desk.
“My family. I nipped into the kitchen, saw Michale. Made the arrangements then.”
“You weren’t worried about Danni?”
“We assumed she was making the most of Patrick being away. She’d told us she was seeing someone else. Someone she really loved. We assumed she was with him.”
“Who was it?” Harper put the photo back.
“She wouldn’t tell us. Said she didn’t want to tempt fate. I had my suspicions though.”
“Oh?”
“Her neighbour.”
“Linus Sang?” Harper glanced over at Beckett.
“That’s him. We thought he was a bit weird, but he and Danni were close. I think he was in love with her. I don’t think he has any friends. As I said, Danni was all about helping people. She didn’t like the thought of people being lonely. I’d wondered if he was the man she’d been seeing. Michale said that just showed how little I knew about relationships. Michale said Danni was fond of him, but it was sympathy she felt, not love. Turns out Michale was right. As per.” Ticknall sighed.
“Why d’you say that?”
“Saturday afternoon, Linus came into the restaurant. Asked Michale if he’d seen Danni. Michale told him Danni had gone off sailing with Patrick. To spare his feelings. He already seemed quite upset.”
“So, you and Michale were alone together, the night Danni was murdered?” Harper was studying some of the titles on the bookshelves.
“We didn’t kill her. The last time I saw Danni was at Callum and Lily Troy’s eighteenth birthday party, over at the Castle. I swear.”
Beckett wasn’t sure this scrawny little man, even with all his lies and deception, had the nerve to kill anyone. But, Michale… He was different. Cocky with a TV star ego. What the hell had Michale seen in Ticknall? Someone who was in thrall to him? Someone he could control? Or just someone convenient to shag? He wondered if Harper would come to the same conclusion.
“You’ll need to come down to the station with us to make a statement, and we’ll have to take DNA samples from you, and fingerprints. We’ll also have to search your house. And your yacht.” Beckett had seen the photo, pride of place on Ticknall’s desk. “You have a small dinghy, as well?”
“How will I explain all this to my wife?” Ticknall’s head swivelled towards Beckett, as if he’d forgotten he was in the room.
“Tell her you’ve been shagging the celebrity chef. People love being connected to celebs.” Harper opened the door. “Shall we?”
Beckett helped Ticknall into the back of the car. He slammed the door, and Harper looked at him.
“Something in the water here? Is everyone shagging around?”
“It’s not the wa
ter.” Beckett half smiled. “It’s the heat.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
As they went into the back of the station, Floros came through waving. “A Fran Kingston is here to see you. Do you have a minute?”
Beckett let Harper take Ticknall upstairs to give his statement and provide his samples, and he went to find Fran. She was waiting in reception, and jumped to her feet when she saw him.
“You look knackered,” she said, with a smile offering motherly comfort.
“Long day. Long week.”
“You’ll need a holiday after this is over.”
“I’m in the perfect place.”
She mirrored his world-weary smile. “I thought I’d better come and tell you in person. Weird thing, really. It seemed wrong for me to keep Emmie’s passport and valuables. As a missing person, I figured the police should have them. When I went to get them out of the safe, they were gone. I know they were there the day before, because that’s what had made me think I should bring them in for you.”
“Who has access to the safe?”
“Each room has its own safe box. The room key can open the box, but I prefer the guests to ask me. Because people share rooms, and I suppose can borrow each other’s keys. It works. Nothing has ever gone missing.”
“Bee was sharing a room with Emmie.”
“Their things were in the same box.” Fran nodded. “And, yesterday, I caught Bee hanging around in reception. She cleared off, as soon as she saw me. She’s not a thief, though. She’s a nice girl.” Fran shook her head, trying to make sense of it, “Why would she want Emmie’s passport?”
“Leave it with me. I’ll speak to her. Thanks for letting me know. I owe you.”
“Come for a drink at the hotel, when this is over. Or, perhaps, we’ll go somewhere with a bit of class. Promise you a great night out.”
Beckett smiled. When this was over, the only thing he wanted to do was get in a boat, and disappear over the horizon.
Harper reappeared. “Ticknall’s being swabbed, and Tomas will take his statement. Forensics will get over to the house, as soon as they can. They’re still working on Danni’s car. Shall we go and pick up Michale?”
“I’ll send a couple of uniforms. I think we need to talk to Linus Sang. According to him, Danni had said she was staying at friends, whilst Patrick was away. He didn’t mention going to the restaurant Saturday night. If he thought she was staying with friends, why would he be looking for her? And he downplayed their relationship.” Beckett was kicking himself. He’d overlooked Linus. Missed the clues he might be more involved with Danni Deacon than being just a neighbour.
“We’ve gone from no suspects to a room full of them,” Harper commented, as Beckett spun the car down the pot-marked roads, “We think there were two people who disposed of the body, at least. Michale and Ticknall. Both wouldn’t want their relationship made public. They had opportunity, and motive.”
“Assuming Danni was going to oust them. We’ve no evidence of that.”
“Patrick and Sophia’s alibi relies on backing each other up, and some credit card receipts. It’s still possible she’s lying to cover up for him. She could have got back in time to help him dump the car.”
“Forensics won’t help us there. Patrick’s DNA and prints are bound to be in Danni’s car. We need to find the boat her body was carried in.”
“And, now, Linus. If he was in love with her, then he could have killed her for rejecting him.”
“But, why go looking for her at the restaurant, Saturday lunchtime? Where was she between Wednesday night, and then?”
“With this mystery lover? Perhaps he, or she, was in Danni’s flat all the time, and Linus Sang caught them together. We need to DNA match that sperm. I know you think it’s Mitchell Troy, but we have no reason to request him to give a sample.”
Beckett said nothing. He couldn’t disagree. He had nothing, beyond circumstantial, on Troy. He had that familiar feeling, as if his blood was accelerating faster and faster around his veins and arteries, and the image of one man in his mind—Linus Sang.
He parked outside the apartment block. Harper got out, and gazed around. Beckett unfurled his legs, and stood. The cicadas were humming, and a collared dove was coo-cooing in the one of the trees. It was turning into the hottest day of the summer, so far. A day to sit in the shade in a taverna, drink beer, and talk about nothing.
There was a loud crack echoing down from the building. The collared dove burst out from the tree, wings flapping, fleeing from something it didn’t comprehend. Another crack. Unmistakable.
“Jesus Christ.” Harper was already on his phone. Beckett leaned back into the car, and grabbed his gun from the glove compartment.
“Stay here,” Beckett yelled at him, as he ran to the stairwell. His heart was thundering. He took three steps at a time onto the second floor, pausing at the door to the stairwell. Cautious, he peered out. The corridor between the flats was empty, but the door to Patrick and Danni’s flat was open, the police tape ripped and flicked to one side. The door to Linus’ flat was also open. Another crack rang out, but it was distant, above him. His radio crackled. It was Harper.
“They’re on the roof. You need to wait for back-up.”
“Check the flat. Check there’s no one in there.”
Then, Beckett was running, back into the stairwell, and up. He paused at the door. It had been left open. He edged around, until he could see the men. Patrick was sprawled on the floor, a pool of scarlet liquid spreading out like an oil slick from underneath him. From this angle, Beckett couldn’t tell where he’d been shot, but it looked bad. He was groaning. Still alive, but not for long, with the amount of blood he was losing. Linus was standing on the edge of the roof, looking out towards the sea. By his side, gripped by his right hand, was a handgun. It looked like an old Beretta Colt .45 revolver. Old, but still lethal.
Beckett took a breath. Last time he’d been in this situation, on a roof, a man with a gun, someone else shot and bleeding, it had nearly killed him. Torn his body and his career into shreds. But, there was no six-year-old child standing, alone, in danger, this time. This time, there was a man, who’d be dead in a few minutes anyway if no one intervened, the man who’d shot him, and himself. It was a no brainer.
Beckett stepped out onto the roof. He kept his gun low, but ready to use.
“Put the gun down, Linus.”
Linus spun around, waving the gun like he was swatting at a fly. His eyes were pinned open, and glittered like a miniature thousand bolts of lightning were exploding inside them. “This is my roof. My building. I suggest you stay away. Stay away.”
Beckett glanced at Patrick. The red halo was swelling. The wound seemed to be in the stomach. “Why did you shoot Patrick?”
“Why?” Linus scoffed. “Because of what he did to Danni. He killed her.”
“Patrick didn’t kill Danni, Linus.” Beckett tried to focus on Linus’ face, rather than the gun Linus was waving around. Three shots. Three bullets left, if the gun had been full. A gun enthusiast would know Colts were often left with an empty chamber, as with the hammer resting on the round, the gun had a habit of firing all on its own. Linus didn’t strike Beckett as a gun enthusiast, but then again – what was he doing with a vintage revolver? Not that it mattered. One bullet was enough to rip through Beckett’s body, and end his life. “Put the gun down, so that we can talk.”
“He treated her like a dog. Worse than a dog. He had her put to sleep. And as soon as she’s gone, he moves his slut in.”
Which meant Sophia was in the flat downstairs. Beckett hoped Harper had followed instructions, and gone to check.
“We know he was cheating on Danni. We know he could be violent. But, we don’t believe he killed her.”
“She’d still be alive, if it wasn’t for him.”
“Why do you say that, Linus?”
“She wanted someone to love. He ripped that away from her.”
“Did she love you, Linus? We know she
was seeing someone else. Was that someone else you?”
“She didn’t love me. I loved her. She didn’t love me. I tried, but it went wrong. I just thought if I could show her. She was so lovely. But, then, all she could do was cry. She wouldn’t stop crying. I think I did something wrong, but I don’t know what.”
“Did you kill her, Linus?”
“Nooooo,” he screamed, and suddenly the gun was fixed and pointed at Beckett. “I’d never hurt her. Don’t you understand? Haven’t you been listening? I loved her.”
Beckett forced himself to keep breathing, to stay calm. He took a step closer. Linus didn’t move, the gun still aimed, an almost undetectable tremor in the arm. The muscles of his trigger finger tensed, nostrils wide like a bull ready to charge.
“Do you know who she did love, Linus? Was there someone else?”
“It should have been me. I would have loved her forever.”
“Who was it, Linus?”
Linus hesitated, mouth twitching, eyes shining, and gun still aimed at Beckett.
“They might be the person who hurt her. You want me to catch them. Make them pay? Then, tell me? Please, Linus. For Danni.”
Sirens screamed into the car park below. An ambulance, followed by patrol cars. Linus looked around. He lifted the gun to his head.
“No. Linus. Please. Don’t.”
Linus squeezed the trigger. The gun cracked. Brain and blood sprayed into the air. Linus tumbled over the edge, and disappeared.
Beckett sprinted forward. Looking over the edge, his head started to spin. Pinned to the concrete was a misshapen heap of flesh and bones wearing Linus’ clothes. Uniformed figures swarmed up to it.
Beckett turned back to Patrick. He pulled off his shirt, and moved to press it onto the blood-soaked stomach, but Harper was there, already applying pressure the wound, trying to stop the red liquid seeping out. Still, it oozed between his fingers—relentless, determined.
“Sophia?” Beckett bent next to him, offered his shirt.
“Hiding in a cupboard. Terrified out of her mind, but fine.”
The Hidden Island: an edge of your seat crime thriller Page 21