by NC Marshall
Embarrassed, I explain, “I just woke up and he wasn’t here – he checked out to go home.” I pull the white bedsheet down onto my bare thighs, attempting to maintain the small amount of dignity I have left. “Why are you looking for him?”
“Rick Donovan has been found dead and he was spotted talking to Mr Fletcher on the corner, outside this hotel. Seems he may have been the last person he had contact with before he died.”
“That was Rick Donovan?” I stagger back to the unmade bed and sit down heavily, as I fear my legs won’t support me. DI Taylor follows me, uninvited, into the room.
“What… what happened to him?”
“He was shot at his home, not too far from here, last night.” Taylor begins to inspect the room, stopping in front of the window to admire the view.
“He was…murdered?” I gasp. The room starts to swim and shock hits me like a strong blow to the head.
“Yes,” replies Taylor calmly, before directing her attention away from the window. “Did you see Elliott Fletcher with Donovan at any point last night, Megan?”
“Maybe. I did briefly see Elliott talking to someone outside when I was waiting for him in the lobby, but the man had his back to me.” I think back to the head of white hair on the other man and that I’d been able to tell by his slow movements when he walked away, that he was no longer a man in his prime.
“I had no idea that was Donovan.” I say.
DI Taylor nods.
“Can you tell me how you and Elliott Fletcher know each another please?”
I fidget uncomfortably on the bed and, while DI Taylor is looking around the room, I pick up the empty condom wrapper from the bedside table and hide it in the folds of the sheet wrapped around me.
“Have you two been seeing each other long?”
“No, we only met last weekend.”
DI Taylor raises her eyebrows, but something tells me she is in no position to judge!
“Do you have any idea how Elliott Fletcher and Rick Donovan are acquainted?” DI Taylor asks. “Did Elliott tell you anything about their meeting?”
“He said that he was a client of his and Will’s, investing in one of the properties they’re renovating – they own a property business down in Morteford.” I shift my weight on the bed and wrap the sheet even tighter.
DI Taylor registers my unease and suggests that I go into the bathroom and get changed. When I return, I tell her everything; from finding the jacket, to tracking Elliott down who pretended to be Will, to me finding out that Will is actually my brother; and finally, after confronting them both in Morteford, Elliott returning me home.
Seemingly satisfied with the answers I’ve provided, DI Taylor leaves to update Morgan. Once again, I’m alone, questioning what, if anything, I know about my newfound brother, and the man with whom I have just spent the loveliest of nights.
Chapter 30
“Where the hell have you been?” Charlotte flung her handbag onto the centre of Tony’s desk, causing him to jump.
“Damn, sorry Char,” he answered, pulling his mobile from his pocket and studying her four missed calls on the display. “I switched the bloody thing to silent again! I just figured you didn’t have any luck at the hotel.”
Charlotte sat down as he swung his leg over the corner of the desk and crossed his arms.
“So, any info on the guy staying at the hotel?” he asked.
“His name’s Elliott Fletcher and he stayed at the hotel last night, but checked out early this morning. He had a superior room on the fifth floor.” She suddenly lost her focus, “You should have seen it Tone, it was bloody huge! Panoramic views of the city, the lot. Christ, my room didn’t even have a hairdryer...!”
“Taylor?”
“Sorry, sir!”
Tony returned to the first, and relevant, part of her discovery.
“What's his link to Donovan then?”
“Well, apparently, Elliott Fletcher is a property developer and he co-owns a firm down in Morteford. The company’s a decent one too, if Google is anything to go by; I looked it up in the taxi on the way over here. It appears that Donovan was buying a place off them – strictly legit.”
“D’you think that’s true?”
“I’m not sure yet – I have the office address in Morteford, so thought we could head down there now.”
“I thought you said Donovan was buying a place off him.”
“I did, the company is based in Morteford, but they have a few properties up here too,” she explained.
“Aah, OK.” Letting out a sigh, Tony reached for his coat. He had hoped that any travelling done today would result in him seeing his family at the end of it; evidently, that was not going to be the case.
Charlotte put up her hand, stopping Tony in his tracks as he zipped up his coat.
“Hold on, that’s not all.”
“Go on.” he responded.
“Elliott Fletcher had a guest in his room last night and, would you believe, it was Megan Cooper! That’s who I got the information from, and it seems that they are on very close terms.”
“What do you mean by very close…?”
Charlotte shook her head in dismay. For such a switched-on guy, Tony wasn’t the best at reading into things of a ‘romantic’ nature, and she knew she would have to spell it out.
“Well Tony, put it this way – when Megan answered the door wearing nothing but a bedsheet…and a smile, as I walked in I noticed there was an empty condom wrapper on the bedside table.”
Tony didn’t appear as shocked as she thought he would be. It was true though that the longer you spent in this job, the easier it became to suspend disbelief.
“Did you ask her about him?”
“Yes, of course! She told me that she met him through the man who rescued her on the night of the crash.”
“I thought she said she didn’t know who rescued her?” Tony looked sceptical.
“She didn’t at the time, but that’s why she went to Morteford last weekend – to track him down. Before she handed over his jacket to us, she removed a key she’d found in the pocket; it had an address on it.”
“So why didn’t she tell us about it when we first questioned her?”
“She said that, at that point, she didn’t realize that the crash was anything more than an accident.”
“Really?”
“And, that’s still not all! She also discovered that the man who rescued her is actually her half-brother.”
“Eh, I thought she only had one brother?”
“Turns out she has a half-brother, Will Travers. He was born 5 years before Megan. Apparently, Will’s mother had a brief fling with Megan’s father before he settled down with Megan’s mum, back here in Newcastle. Her dad doesn’t even know he exists yet!”
“But this Will bloke knows?”
“Yeah, he found out just a few weeks back and decided to track Megan down on his last business visit here. He’d followed her back from work when he saw her car at the bottom of the ravine.”
“Don’t suppose he saw Donovan’s car did he?”
“Apparently not. No.”
“And he didn’t stick around to see if she was OK?”
“That’s what I thought, but, apparently, he didn’t want her to find out they were siblings. Something to do with his dad, well the man who brought him up anyway, being on his death bed.”
“This just gets weirder by the minute,” said Tony.
“You’re not wrong!” remarked Charlotte.
“And doesn’t it all seem like one hell of a coincidence?”
“Stranger things have happened.”
“Yeah, I suppose they have,” he replied, picking up his car keys. “We need to get to Morteford as soon as poss. I’ll call Joe from the car.” Tony made his way to the exit and down to the car park. As always, Charlotte was close behind.
Chapter 31
Will quietly closed the door to his dad’s room in the care home and made his way along the corridor. Once
outside, the cold air hit his flushed cheeks, but the freshness was welcoming. He thought about Alf and a lump caught in his throat – he knew his dad’s time was almost up and he would never again take for granted a lungful of fresh air.
Shaking off his emotion, he made his way back to the office and was approaching the shores of Fadstow Bay, when his phone alerted him to a voicemail. Rubbing at his watery eyes, he listened to the message. Surprisingly, it was from Megan.
At first he thought maybe she’d changed her mind and wanted to meet up with him, talk properly and allow him to explain his side of the story. However, the message was to prewarn him that the police were more than likely on their way to see him and Elliott in Morteford. He couldn’t catch the whole message because she was talking too quickly, but he picked up that it was something to do with the death of one of their clients in Newcastle.
Will returned the phone to his pocket and picked up his pace in the direction of the office. In truth, he really didn’t have time for this today and he could feel his patience wearing thin. His poor dad was fast approaching the end of his life and his focus was purely on that. His head ached and his eyes were heavy from the tears he was trying hard to suppress; he had to be strong, not only for his mother, but for Alf too. The fact that Alf wasn’t his biological father made absolutely no difference to him and now, he almost regretted trying to track down his real father, and wondered what had possessed him to track down Megan and find out where she worked/lived. It was completely out of character for him, and he could only put these ludicrous actions down to his confused state of mind at the moment. Will loved the man who had raised him as his own with all of his heart, and he was adamant that the truth wouldn’t come out yet.
When the detectives pulled up outside his office Will was waiting, and he figured he would make their job easier. He knew that his office would be the first place they would go to find him and, in any case, he didn’t want them knocking on his door at home and even more importantly, bothering his mum. She had enough to deal with at the moment without further stress being thrown her way.
Will wasn’t at all nervous about the detectives’ arrival. After all, he hadn’t done anything wrong and was fully prepared to tell them the truth; he had no idea that Rick Donovan was an
ex-con, and the only tie he had to them was the prospective purchase of one of their renovation properties. They had no clue about Donovan’s past and obviously had nothing to do with his murder.
Elliott pulled up outside the office at pretty much the same time as the detectives. Will let out an irritated sigh and made his way to the door to greet him.
“What’s going on?” asked Elliott, running to beat the detectives to the top of the steps to the office.
“I’ve been trying to call you!” snapped Will, keeping his voice low. “It's the police! I had a message from Megan after I’d been to see my dad this morning; she said they might be on their way.”
“I was at the airport, but my phone battery was dead; I wasn’t anticipating an overnight stay in Newcastle.”
Will eyed Elliott suspiciously. No doubt he’d spent last night with Megan; he could tell by the pleased expression on his face! The ‘love-sick puppy’ spell was one he’d seen cast over Elliott many times in the 21 years that he’d known him, and although Elliott came across as ultra-confident, with a titanium exterior, the truth was that he had a sensitive soul. He’d been chewed up and spat out by more women than Will could remember. However, something told Will that this time was different. He knew very little about Megan, but from his first impressions he could tell that she wasn’t the type to sleep with a guy and then break his heart; and, from the little research he’d done, he also knew that she too had been through a fair amount of heartbreak.
Will quickly dismissed the feeling of envy towards his friend. It was apparent to him that Megan was prepared to let Elliott into her life, but at the moment it seemed she had no intention of doing the same for him – even having learned that he was her own flesh and blood. He hoped, however, that she just needed time and that, perhaps in the future, she would be ready to meet. For now, he would have to get used to the idea that Megan and Elliott had something, and respect the fact that this was special to Elliott.
“Why are the police here?” whispered Elliott, as the detectives emerged from the unmarked black Insignia and made their way up the steps to join them. Will didn’t get the chance to explain before the two detectives stopped in front of them.
“Am I correct in thinking that you are William Travers and Elliott Fletcher?” asked the guy holding out a warrant card.
“Yes, that’s right,” replied Will.
“I’m Detective Chief Inspector Morgan, and this is Detective Inspector Taylor. A good-looking blonde held out her warrant card and gave Elliott an uncompromising look. In normal circumstances, she would be Will’s type – petite, attractive, with a good body. She looked a few years older than him, but nevertheless, he wouldn’t have said ‘no’! However, just like his enthusiasm for life, his fervour for the opposite sex had also decreased over these past few months, and any sort of meaningful relationship was out of the question.
“If possible, we’d like to ask you both a few questions?” she asked, giving him a full examination.
“Look – I’m not going to lie. I already know what this is about and I can assure you that the relationship we had with Mr Donovan was purely professional and, to add, legal! He and his wife were buying a place from us, up in Newcastle, and I have all the paperwork and documentation to prove it.” Will said.
“Why, anyway? Is Mr Donovan in some sort of trouble?” asked Elliott, still clueless as to what was happening.
“He’s dead El,” replied Will, before the detective could even answer.
“Bloody hell!” responded Elliott, open mouthed and clearly taken aback by the news. “I only saw him last night after I’d been to check on the progress of the quayside apartments. He gave me a cheque for the final payment on Number 4.”
Tony studied the two men in front of him for a few seconds and then glanced at Charlotte. Catching her eye, he could tell she was thinking the same as him. Megan had clearly been in touch with her brother to alert him that they were coming to Morteford. However, it actually didn’t matter that she had tipped them off and potentially given them time to get their stories straight; these two guys were innocent – absolutely no question.
“We still need to ask you both a few questions,” said Tony. He knew really that he was wasting time; these two knew nothing of Donovan’s true identity, but still, he had to follow protocol.
“Yes, of course.” replied Will, stepping aside for them to enter the building. Elliott nodded in agreement, still in a state of perplexity.
They were on their way up the stairs and into Will’s office when Charlotte’s phone rang and she quickly answered it.
“Hi… yes… I understand, great, thank you very much, Anna.” She ended the call and tapped Tony on the shoulder.
“Sir, can I have a word please?” They’d reached the glass doors leading into the office, where Will and Elliott stood patiently waiting for them to join them.
“Course,” replied Tony, following her away from the two men and handful of staff manning the desks. Charlotte leaned against a water dispenser as Tony joined her.
“What is it?” he asked, pulling out a plastic beaker and filling it to the brim.
“That was Anna McIntyre, from forensics back in Newcastle. Emery has asked her to give us a call.”
“Yeah, and…?”
“They’ve found the gun used to kill Rick Donovan. She’s just finished testing for fingerprints on the weapon.”
Tony’s eyes widened. He drained the water in one and threw the empty beaker into the bin, shoving his hands in his pockets and waiting for her to continue relaying the forensic discovery.
“The gun had been dumped in a skip, not far from Donovan’s property – it had been cleaned, but not well enough.”
“Whose prints?”
“They found two sets – one being his own son’s!”
“Connor Donovan? You think he could have killed his own father?”
“Possibly – it was no secret that the two of them didn’t get on.”
“He was Emery’s initial suspect when we went to the crime scene this morning,” admitted Tony.
“You did tell me that Connor has spent 34 years pretty much without his dad. So then when Donovan got out last time, suddenly wanting to play dad again, Connor probably resented the many years he’d already lost.”
“Yes, but is that really a motive to kill him?”
“Maybe.”
“Who did the other set of prints belong to then?” asked Tony.
“Well, this is where it becomes, shall we say, strange! The other prints apparently belong to Johnny Cooper!”
“What…you mean, Megan’s husband? I thought he died a while ago.”
“Yes, Tony,” Charlotte replied, heading over to join Will and Elliott again. “He did!”
Chapter 32
I’m more anxious than ever by the time I arrive home from the hotel. Neither Elliott or Will are answering their phones and, after leaving Will the message about the detectives’ likely visit, I begin to doubt whether I should have pre-warned him. After all, I don’t know Elliott that well yet, and I know even less about Will! However, I decide to follow my instinct and hope that it doesn’t let me down.
Climbing out of the car and running through the torrential rain, I’m soaked by the time I’ve got to my front door. Shrugging off my damp cardigan, I head to the kitchen where Tilly is curled up, fast asleep on her bed. As I switch on the kettle for a hot drink, and empty food into her bowl, she stretches her limbs and lethargically makes her way over to it without a second glance.
I peer out of the window and into my rain-drenched and muddy garden. I suddenly think about Elliott and Will and wonder how they really know Rick Donovan – was he just a property investor, like Elliott said? Is it just coincidence that there’s a connection between the suspect the police first thought could be behind my accident; my newly found half-brother, and the man I spent the night with?