by Ruby Loren
“Two of the group came down earlier to check when we were bringing the horses up. They were looking in here and I overheard one of them say that they're selling this one just as soon as they get back,” Red said, coming to stand next to Hayley with disapproval etched on his face. “I hope the poor person they’re selling him to has enough sense to try before they buy. Proof right there that all the breeding in the world can still produce a dud every now and then. This one is completely off his rocker.”
Hayley shook her head as they watched the crazed horse’s antics. “Dud or not, this behaviour isn’t natural for a horse. He's already sweating. I think it's time a vet was called to do some tests.”
Red gave her a surprised look but Hayley was starting to feel more certain by the second. “I think someone’s been drugging him and I also think I might know why. I just have a few calls to make and then I’ll know for sure…” She sighed as Falcon started kicking the door again. “I can’t believe anyone would be cruel enough to do this to a horse. I’m only sorry I didn't see it sooner.”
***
“I think I’ve solved at least one part of the case,” Hayley said when Shaun pulled into the car park. She told him what her morning’s work had turned up and it was as though a light switched on behind his eyes. His buttery hair bounced and his eyes took on a faraway look.
“Oh, that is brilliant! It’s all so very clever,” he said, pushing his hands deep into his suit trouser pockets and pulling the whole thing out of shape. “I’d better call the chief and bring in reinforcements. It’s time we gathered our suspects together for the final showdown!”
“You know who did it?” Hayley asked and Shaun nodded.
“What you just told me was the final piece in the puzzle. Everything makes sense now! I know who killed Dominic Marks and why he had to die. It's time we took a walk up to woods… oh, and could you bring the horse that’s the source of all this trouble too?” He asked hopefully and Hayley nodded. “Excellent.”
***
As luxury, team bonding retreats went, this probably hadn’t been one of the most productive, or luxurious. A murder and constant interruptions from the police was enough to take the shine off any event. Hayley walked the agitated Falcon up to the woods with Shaun, CI Jenkins, and two officers following at a safe distance to avoid the flailing hooves. Now that Hayley suspected she knew what had happened to the horse, she could sympathise with the erratic behaviour but it didn’t make it any easier to deal with.
“Don’t worry, it’s not long now before you’ll be all sorted out,” she told him as he tried to yank the leading rein from her hands. The vet had assured her he would be along imminently and she was nearly certain he’d know exactly what was wrong with the young horse. She only hoped it would be as simple a matter to put him right.
When they arrived in the clearing, Tara was talking about how to push up and lie across the fillies and colts’ backs to get them used to the pressure of having a rider there. The guests turned around to see the grim posse of police and Hayley, as they walked into the woods, and silence fell. Even the horses stopped dancing around, with the exception of Falcon, who was still trying to make a break for it.
“If I could have your attention please,” Shaun began, and Hayley didn’t fail to notice the nervous glance he cast in the direction of his superior. She hoped for his sake that he was right about the case.
Everyone stayed in place, the horses resting beside them as Shaun began.
“When I started work on this murder, it wasn’t long before something became very clear: Dominic Marks was not well liked. You might even go so far as to say he had it coming,” Shaun began and then hastily wiped the smile from his face when CI Jenkins cleared his throat. “In fact, every single person here had a motive to want Dominic out of the picture for good. It wasn’t long before one of you even admitted to murdering him! But then we discovered that he was already dead, so it was back to the drawing board to uncover our real killer.” He looked around the group, making eye contact with each person in turn. “Ms Marsden, Dominic Marks was the boss from hell. You were in the process of making a case against him for harassment and he knew it too, but he still didn’t change. If anything, he got worse when he arrived here for the retreat. You told us you decided to play a trick on him by adding laxatives to his cleansing drink…”
“I didn’t kill him!” Lou protested and Shaun inclined his head.
“No, no you didn’t. Laxatives were all that we found in the bottle with your fingerprints on. I believe that you really did find Dominic dead and panic, which led to your injury that night and the subsequent discovery of Dominic’s body.”
Shaun turned to face Tara. “Tara, you were owed money by Dominic. He said he’d pay you half upon arrival, but then he refused to give you the money you so badly needed.” Tara opened her mouth to protest but Shaun held up a hand. “You have a history of having a short fuse, which also gave me pause for thought but the bottom line is - if you killed Dominic Marks, you’d never get your money. You’re not our killer either.”
He spun on his heel, now turning his attention to James Marks and Jenny Rue, who held one chestnut horse each. “Mr Marks, you’ve always lived in your brother’s shadow and then you started to suspect that your brother had taken your fiancé from you as well. You were suspicious enough to take Dominic’s phone, only for it to be missing from the scene of the crime, which had us all scratching our heads. Had the killer taken the phone because it contained something incriminating? We found the texts between Dominic and Jenny and you must have seen them too. That was why you had that outburst at the bar. You weren’t upset that Dominic was dead, you were angry with him. Perhaps, you were angry enough to want to kill him.”
James choked out a bitter laugh. “Sure, but then I’d be out of a job as well as everything else. And I already told you, I don’t know anything about Dominic’s will or if he even had one.”
“Yes, well, I don’t think you did kill your brother. Especially as judging by your reaction, it was after his death that you got around to looking through that phone. Which brings us to Ms Rue…” The platinum blonde winced beneath his scrutiny, her face pink from the knowledge that her affair was well and truly out in the open. “You came to Dominic with an idea…”
“A stolen idea,” Hayley couldn’t resist cutting in and received a venomous glare for her trouble.
“An idea for a money making opportunity. You knew it could be profitable and Dominic must have gone along with it too, lending enough support to allow you to produce a website and an expensive video, promoting your brand new project. But Dominic stabbed you in the back. He used your affair against you, threatening to confess to his brother. He’d tell James the truth, unless you handed over your idea to him, only for him to pass it along to a complete nobody.”
Jenny cast a glance in Lauren’s direction but shook her head. “Well, you know I went along with it. Why would I have murdered him?”
“Oh, you didn’t!” Shaun continued, getting more cheerful by the second. “We actually caught our killer on the first try. It was Lauren Aria both times.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Lineage
A stunned silence fell over the clearing and Hayley noticed CI Jenkins giving Shaun some serious side eye. You’d better hurry it along, Shaun! She thought.
“You murdered your father… twice?” Tara Royals cut in, looking just as confused as most of them felt.
“Well, yes, and no… but I’ll get to that,” Shaun reassured them. "It was actually Ms Argent who figured out something which would have baffled me forever. You see, there was this piece of paper in Dominic’s room. It had all of these letter pairings in a table. It looked like some nightmarish piece of algebra homework that Dominic had for some reason unknown to us decided to start writing while he was at a horse breeding conference. But Dominic’s death isn’t the only strange thing that’s happened during this weekend retreat. I understand the selling point of these retreats are y
ou bring yourselves and you bring your best horses, so that you can both come away having gained something by working together.” He raised an eyebrow at Hayley who nodded. That was pretty much what it said in the brochure.
“But it quickly became apparent that the flashiest young hopeful in your collection had something wrong with him. He wasn’t behaving the way a young racehorse should, and even more worryingly, he wasn’t running like a racehorse.”
“Just high strung,” James muttered and Hayley resisted the urge to pummel him. What was the point in hiring an expert if you weren’t going to listen to their opinion? As if echoing her thoughts, Falcon lunged forwards, nearly managing to break free. The ghost of a frown crossed James’ face.
“Yes, well… it was enough for Hayley to start having suspicions. She decided to research Ferra’s Falcon’s parents and discovered the same thing that Dominic must have done when he was sat in that conference in America. You see, both the horse’s parents were grey. They have a long history of producing highly successful foals together, but none of that mattered. What mattered was the lack of white frosting on the horse’s face - the first place where it would show up. This horse has shown no sign of getting any lighter. Now, Hayley looked into the history of the pairing and it is genetically impossible for those two horses to have dark offspring that don’t turn grey, and Falcon is showing no signs of getting lighter. It’s all due to a dominant gene. Fascinating stuff, really! But it means that this horse cannot have been sired by that breeding pair.”
A collective gasp went around the group and Hayley clenched her teeth, still furious about what someone had done to the horse she was currently leading.
“Hayley suspects that this horse has been drugged ever since he came here in order to stop anyone from noticing that he is a far cry from the racehorse he is supposed to be. Miss Aria, you were seen down at the stables yesterday. I can only assume you used that opportunity to top up whatever medication you’ve been administering.”
Lauren Aria dipped her head but said nothing.
“So, back to our story… Dominic has a long wait in an American airport and he figures out that the horse he’s just spent a heck of a lot of money on is a fake and I remember you mentioning that you were the one who set up that deal, Ms Aria. Isn’t that right?”
Lauren Aria’s cheeks had two pinpricks of colour in them as she raised her eyes defiantly. “I was just trying to show him that I was just as good as he was, that I deserved to be in the position he’d given me. I wanted to prove I was a daughter to be proud of,” she hissed.
“Ah, but once Dominic figured out you’d pulled the wool over his eyes about the horse, he also began to question the DNA test you’d given him, proving that you were in fact his daughter. When he landed in the UK he discovered his phone was out of battery. He got his secretary to buy him a new one but by the time his phone was ready, the clinic you’d told him you got the test from was closed. Even if he had got through, I've spoken to them before and they are big on their client confidentiality. It’s like trying to get blood from a stone.” The colour in Lauren's cheeks started to pale. "Unable to get through, Dominic decided that the next best method, and the only real way to know for sure, was to redo the DNA test - without your knowledge.”
Shaun paused to brush the hair from his eyes and take a breath. “He decided to do it the old fashioned way. I know he stopped off in town and bought the jiffy bag, rum, and the gloves. He then waited until later and invited you, Lauren, over for a drink. You must have known there and then, he was on to you! You went to have that drink with him and perhaps you saw your opportunity, he didn't see you come in and you grabbed the lucky leather bridle that belonged to Dominic Marks’ first ever winner. You took the reins and looped them around Dominic Marks’ neck, pulling hard enough so that he couldn’t breathe and before long, he stopped struggling.” Shaun shrugged. “Perhaps he struggled hard, who knows? There wasn’t much furniture around, so it wouldn’t have been too much trouble to clear up and then clean up. You wiped the glasses clean, but you were panicking, you knew that it wouldn’t take us long to find out you were Dominic’s daughter and to work out just what he’d done for you... and everything he hadn’t. You knew you were going to look exactly like the murderer you were, especially with your dark history, so you decided you'd take the fall for it. Only, in a way that would mean we never suspected your true identity and what Dominic Marks really died for.” He took another breath. “You broke into the boot of the minivan, took the gun, and after arranging Dominic to look like he'd been asleep, you shot him and you waited, but no one came. The thunder must have covered it up! You decided to act the way a panicking killer would - you got rid of the gun, knowing your fingerprints were on it, knowing you would be caught and exposed. Then all you had to do was wait for the results of the autopsy, which would reveal that Dominic Marks was already dead when you shot him. You’d be convicted for attempted murder, but that carries a much lighter sentence. You’d be out in no time and, being out on bail so fast, you’d still be able to cash in when the horse was sold on. Dominic had given you company shares and you knew that a sale that big would leave you with a tidy sum.” He clasped his hands together. “And, of course, who would ever suspect that Dominic was murdered twice by the same person?”
“I don't know what you're talking about,” Lauren said but her expression told a different story.
“I took the liberty of doing a few more background checks. Your real name is Debbie Gardener and you did go to prison, but it wasn’t for theft. It was for forgery. I assume during your time in prison you met the real Lauren Aria and your idea for a long con began?”
Lauren threw Shaun one more hate filled look and broke. “Lauren Aria was one of life’s biggest losers. I had to share a cell with her. All she'd ever talk about was how her dad didn't even know who she was. He was Dominic Marks, the racing horse genius. He was loaded and all he’d ever given her and her mother was a pittance to scrape by on. She said he’d ruined her life, but all she was looking for was an excuse - someone to palm her failings off on. All she would ever talk about was Dominic Marks being her father and how unfair life was. I knew she didn't have the guts to approach him and I don’t think he’d have accepted her as his daughter, DNA test or not, but it did give me an idea. I got close to Lauren, found out about her family and her life, even managed to get in a fight with her and pull out a clump of hair. I knew that would be reliable enough to get me the test I wanted. So, I got that internship, confronted Dominic and did the test, knowing it would come out positive. Even if he checked up on it, they’d confirm the details, so I wasn’t worried until he offered me that drink. I knew that somehow, the test I’d done wasn’t enough for him. I couldn’t figure out why he suspected… of all things… the colour of the damn horse," she shook her head. “I never even gave it a thought. When I set up the deal with some associates, all I said was get a horse of the right age and look and forge the details. I’d worked so closely with Dominic then that he fell for it hook, line, and sinker. To reward me, he gave me control of the retreat project." She sighed. “It was almost enough to make me regret leaving but I knew as soon as that horse was sold on, someone would realise they’d been sold a dud. I had to delay the discovery as long as possible, so I bought medication that caused hyperactivity and psychosis. I figured if the horse was too wild to ride, no one would find out that he’s hardly racing material.” She shook her head. “It only needed to last until we made the sale that I knew Dominic was already arranging. I just needed to make it through the retreat but when he offered me that drink, I knew. I had to do something if I wanted to get that money so I did what I had to.”
“The thing is… with an attitude like that, you probably could have been his daughter,” Shaun said drily and the two officers stepped forwards to handcuff the raven-haired woman. She dropped the leading rein of her horse who stood silently watching while Falcon still jumped around at Hayley's side.
“If you could get her t
o tell you exactly what she’s been giving Falcon, that would be great,” she said to CI Jenkins who nodded.
“He did a good job, didn’t he?” He said and a smile pulled at Hayley’s lips.
“Yes, he did. And just in the nick of time too,” she said, referring to the fact that the long weekend retreat was almost over. It felt like it had gone on forever and she wasn’t sure that their guests had exactly enjoyed the experience. A five star review on tripadvisor was probably not on the cards.
She sighed as she started to lead the frenetic Falcon back towards the stables, casting a glance at his jet black coat.
“I’m sure someone will have a home for you,” she said, knowing that the horse would soon be in limbo. She was willing to bet that whoever took over the Marks company (most likely James) would want the whole incident swept beneath the rug. A racing business with their reputation did not want to reveal that they’d fallen for a fake horse and had been about to sell it on. Maybe Romani will be able to help, she thought, remembering her friend who was currently expanding her riding stables. Once Falcon was off the drugs and allowed to be himself, she was sure he’d regain his natural horsey behaviour and with a bit of work, she didn’t see why he’d not make a great horse for someone.
“There's a happy ending in it for you, I’m sure,” she reassured the colt who snapped at her for her trouble. Hayley had to admit, she wasn’t going to be sorry to see the back of the horse who had started to make her doubt her methods all over again.
She passed Falcon into the care of the vet and then wandered around the stables, checking on other horses with no real aim in mind. The remaining witnesses were packing up their belongings and it wasn’t long before they all arrived in the car park, ready to begin their journey back across the country with their horses in tow.