Chocolate, Lies, and Murder (Amber Fox Mysteries Book #4)

by Sibel Hodge

  ‘Who was Aleesha’s heir?’ I asked.

  ‘Well…me.’ Nathan gasped. ‘What are you trying to say? That I killed her?’

  ‘We’re not saying anything yet, until we have some evidence,’ Romeo said.

  ‘But…but…’ Nathan stuttered as he tried to get his words out. ‘Whenever I accompany Aleesha to the studio or on a job, everyone knows I drink a cup of herbal tea while she’s filming Real Women, and they know I have another one just before bedtime. I’m always talking to people on set about the benefits of nettle tea, you see. It’s really good to keep you regular. I’ve never been constipated since I started drinking it.’

  ‘And who else had access to the tea?’ I asked. ‘How would they be able to slip drugs in it without you noticing?’

  ‘Well, I always leave the tin in the studio kitchen next door to the set so people can help themselves. Someone could easily have slipped drugs into it without me knowing.’ His face crumpled. ‘Oh, God, I thought I was just spreading the nettle love around, and now it looks like my tea got her killed,’ he shrieked. ‘If we were awake, we could’ve stopped it!’

  ‘OK, so a lot of people might’ve known about your tea drinking habits, but who knew Brad would drink the stuff, too?’ I thought how convenient that was if it was an inside job.

  His eyelids shot open. ‘I don’t know! Maybe they didn’t know he was here, too. Maybe it was just a coincidence.’

  I guessed it could’ve happened like that, but I didn’t believe in coincidences. Something was definitely off.

  Romeo looked thoughtfully between Brad and Nathan. ‘You were both here when it happened, but both of you say you were conveniently drugged. Someone allegedly got into the property with no sign of forced entry, and now suddenly Aleesha is dead. That seems to point to one of you.’

  ‘It must be Felicia!’ Nathan reached for another tissue as tears streaked down his face and landed on the table.

  ‘Hey.’ Brad held his hands in the air, palms up, facing Romeo. ‘I had nothing to do with her death. It shouldn’t have happened. It was my fault I wasn’t guarding her properly, and I feel guilty as hell about it. But if Aleesha left her keys all over the place, anyone could’ve made a copy. Or picked the locks, like Amber said. And maybe they guessed the alarm code. Felicia would’ve had access to Aleesha’s bag with her keys at the studio and Nathan’s tea.’

  Romeo uncrossed his arms, strode over to Brad, and peered at his hands. ‘So what’s that on your hand, then?’

  ‘What?’ Brad turned his palms and examined them.

  I peered over, too. Silver glitter was smudged on the tip of his right index finger, and on the edge of his palm was the tiniest amount of something brown. Something that looked suspiciously like melted chocolate.

  A frown creased Brad’s forehead, and his eyes flashed with something I couldn’t read.

  ‘I don’t know what it is or how it got there, but it definitely wasn’t on my hand before. I did not kill Aleesha.’ Brad stared at Romeo, his eyes darkening. ‘I’ll have to live with the fact that I was responsible for not guarding her efficiently, but I did not kill her.’

  ‘You said you didn’t touch the body.’ Romeo narrowed his eyes at Brad. ‘But you’ve got silver glitter and what looks like chocolate stains on your hand, which is highly suspicious. When I examined Aleesha’s body, she still had glitter around her neck, along with melted chocolate stains from the knickers.’

  ‘Romeo, that’s ridiculous!’ I spluttered. ‘Brad was protecting Aleesha, not trying to kill her.’

  ‘Well, he didn’t do a very good job, did he? Let’s see what the evidence says, shall we?’ Romeo called for one of the SOCO teams to come into the kitchen.

  Nathan burst into tears again. His face paled, and he fled from the room, shrieking, ‘I can’t take this. I don’t want to be the same room as the killer.’

  ‘I’m not your guy,’ Brad said to Romeo, his voice edged with determination. ‘I don’t know how that got on my hands. I didn’t touch Aleesha at all. Maybe the real killer put it there when I was drugged to frame me.’

  As the woman from SOCO collected the substances on Brad’s hands with a swab and placed them in individual plastic bags, my eyes met Brad’s.

  Something lurked beneath the surface, and I couldn’t tell what. Anger? Annoyance at being accused of killing Aleesha? Worry? Or guilt? And if it was guilt, was that just because he hadn’t done his job properly, or because he’d actually killed her? What really happened here last night?

  I swallowed a lump in my throat as a horrible feeling fluttered around inside. This was ridiculous. Brad couldn’t have killed Aleesha.

  But I knew Brad had killed before. When I was investigating a case involving a gangland boss, I’d been kidnapped. Brad had killed to save my life then and got rid of the body with his ex-SAS friends. I was pretty sure Brad had killed David Leonard, too, who was an ex member of Brad’s SAS unit and had killed Brad’s business partner, Mike Cross. And that was without all the secret SAS stuff he’d never told me about. Just how well did I really know Brad?

  But then another thought popped into my head. This was the man I was going to marry, for God’s sake. I knew him. I knew his morals. He would never kill someone just for the sake of it. And what possible reason could he have for killing Aleesha? Unless…unless they were involved in a relationship that had gone wrong.

  ‘I’m going to have to arrest you until we can analyze what’s on your hands.’ Romeo stared at Brad.

  I leaped from the chair so hard it fell over. ‘Romeo, you don’t seriously think Brad did this, do you?’

  Romeo took a step closer to Brad. ‘I know you killed David Leonard, even though there was no proof. I know you’re more than capable. And so far, all the evidence is pointing to you.’

  ‘What about Felicia?’ I said.

  ‘A minute ago you didn’t think Felicia had killed her,’ Romeo said. ‘All of a sudden, when Brad becomes a possible suspect, you think she did it?’

  ‘No! I don’t think Felicia killed her.’ I threw my hands in the air. ‘But I know Brad didn’t, either.’

  ‘How do you know? Were you here last night?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Exactly, and the evidence looks like he was in very close contact with her, even though he claims he wasn’t. Close enough to strangle her.’ Romeo gave Brad a steely look, and a crackle of tension between them permeated the air.

  Brad rose from the chair slowly and faced Romeo. ‘If I had killed Aleesha, you can bet that there wouldn’t be any evidence left lying around.’ His eyes flashed with anger.

  My heart danced around in my chest as I stood in between them. ‘This is crazy!’ I said to Romeo. I looked frantically from one to the other, not quite believing this was happening.

  ‘Brad Beckett, I’m arresting you on suspicion of murder. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention, when questioned, something you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.’ Romeo pulled handcuffs out of his pocket. ‘Are you going to give me any problems?’ Romeo sized Brad up. He knew Brad was trained to kill and could take him out with one quick move if he wanted to.

  ‘Romeo!’ I stood silent for a moment as I tried to process the unbelievable situation unfolding before my eyes.

  ‘Don’t worry, Amber. I didn’t do it. While I’m at the station, find out what really happened.’ Brad turned round and held his hands out behind him for Romeo to cuff him.

  My eyes burned with anger and helplessness, my temperature gauge reaching boiling point. Romeo called one of his colleagues to put Brad in the police car and take him to the station.

  ‘What are you doing?’ I asked Romeo after Brad was led out of the house. ‘Is this about us? Are you still upset with me?’

  He studied me for a while before saying, ‘No. This isn’t about us. This is about evidence that points to Brad.’

  But maybe it was about us. I’d broken Romeo’s heart,
I knew that. Was he so jealous I was marrying Brad, he’d stoop to this? Was he prepared to do anything he could to stop the wedding from happening? I didn’t think so. Romeo was a good guy. He was the best, and I knew from working with him for so many years that he was a great police officer, but he was wrong about Brad. He had to be.

  ‘Just how well do you really know him?’ Romeo’s gaze nailed me to the spot.

  ‘I know him,’ I said, with more conviction than I actually felt. My mind was all over the place, doubts and niggles and fears creeping in. ‘And I know he wouldn’t have done this.’

  ‘You know, I always wondered about Brad’s business partner getting killed like that. Mike Cross put up most of the money for Hi-Tec, and then suddenly he dies and it all goes to Brad. Pretty lucky for Brad, wasn’t it?’

  My forehead pinched in anger. ‘Mike was killed by David Leonard, who went crazy after he got out of the SAS and started killing members of his old unit. You know that as well as I do.’

  ‘You were the lead police officer on the investigation. I’ve only got your word to go by.’ He raised a suspicious eyebrow. ‘So, I’ll say it again. How well do you really know him?’ He paused, scrutinizing me.

  I glanced away.

  He gripped my forearm. ‘Strangulation is a crime of passion, you know.’

  ‘I’m aware of that.’ I shook my arm away and ran a hand through my hair. ‘What about Felicia? She sent the letters; she threatened to kill Aleesha. She must be your prime suspect. And Curtis, and the other people who had a motive for killing her. Are you going to be speaking to them, or have you just got your sights set on Brad for some bizarre reason?’

  ‘I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t bring them in for questioning, too. I’ll need to arrest Felicia for the threats to kill anyway.’

  ‘Well, while you’re doing your job, I’m going to do mine and find out what really happened. I’ll prove Brad didn’t do this.’

  Wouldn’t I?

  Chapter 12

  I drove to Hi-Tec with my hands shaking so much it was hard to control the steering wheel. It couldn’t be Brad, it just couldn’t. And yet…how did you explain the glitter and chocolate on his hands? What if they’d slept with each other and something had gone wrong? Like Romeo said, strangulation could be a crime of passion. Maybe Aleesha had wound Brad up or said the wrong thing. In the heat of the moment, he’d snapped and killed her. It was possible. I knew from all my years on the police force that anything was possible.

  Then I mentally kicked myself for having doubts about him. There had to be a rational explanation why substances from Aleesha’s body were on Brad’s hands. And if it wasn’t Brad, who really had killed her?

  Maybe this was all a dream. I was really tucked up at home in bed having a horrible nightmare, wasn’t I? Yes, that was it. It couldn’t be real, could it? I pinched myself to check I was really awake.

  Ouch! Shit. It wasn’t a dream. It was a very scary reality.

  I parked the Toyota in Hi-Tec’s car park at a messy angle and ran up the stairs to the office.

  Tia stood behind the reception desk looking like…well, I wasn’t quite sure. She wore a purple jumpsuit with squiggly pink, yellow, and orange lines all over it. My eyes went squiggly to match the lines.

  ‘Hey, Amber! I know how much you liked the Death by Chocolate cake, so I bought you some more.’ She held up a slice of cake on a plate.

  ‘Don’t talk to me about Death by Chocolate cake,’ I said through gritted teeth. ‘I never want to see chocolate again! That stupid spell killed Aleesha.’

  She put the cake on the desk and shot round to me. ‘What are you talking about? A spell can’t kill someone.’

  ‘Oh, yeah? What about that voodoo curse?’

  She gasped. ‘OK, maybe you’re right. But as long as you did the spell exactly how I said, it should’ve worked.’

  ‘Well, it didn’t. Aleesha’s dead, and Brad’s been arrested for her murder.’ I stomped down the hallway to the office I shared with Hacker, guilt welling up in the pit of my stomach again that somehow this was all my fault. But I’d only imagined Brad smothered in Death by Chocolate cake, not causing Aleesha’s death by chocolate knickers.

  I threw my rucksack on my desk so hard it bounced off and landed on the floor. I kicked it halfway across the room.

  Hacker jumped to his feet. ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘Aleesha’s been murdered, and Brad’s been arrested.’ I flopped down onto the chair.

  ‘What?’ Hacker’s voice rose with disbelief. ‘What happened?’

  So I told him.

  ‘That doesn’t sound good.’ Tia bit her lip as she sat on the edge of my desk.

  ‘That’s an understatement.’

  She put her arm round me and patted my back.

  ‘We need to find out who the real killer is and quick,’ I said to Hacker, as thoughts of my wedding in five days took a nose-dive out of the nearest window.

  ‘What do you need?’ Hacker asked, his forehead pinched in a frown.

  ‘I think it’s too convenient that Nathan and Brad were both drugged in the house at the same time. Look closer into Nathan’s background. I want to know why a twenty-nine-year old guy would want to live with his sister. Also, find out if any of the suspects had experience with any kind of electrics or security systems. Someone knew how to get into that alarm system, and it was state of the art.’

  Hacker turned to one of his computer screens.

  ‘What can I do?’ Tia asked.

  I pressed my fingers to my temples, feeling the throbbing from earlier returning with vengeance. ‘Can you get me a really strong mochaccino and a couple of headache tablets, please?’

  She bobbed her head up and down. ‘I’m on it. Want some chocolate muffins, too?’

  I growled.

  ‘OK, no chocolate. Sorry, I forgot.’ She rushed out the door.

  ‘We need to find some evidence of who was in Aleesha’s house,’ I said to Hacker. ‘If it wasn’t Nathan that did it, it’s got to be Felicia after all.’ I thought I shouldn’t have dismissed her before. ‘I didn’t think it sounded plausible for Felicia to post a letter the night before she kills Aleesha, because Aleesha would never get it, but I guess that doesn’t mean she didn’t do it. If she could send threatening letters, she’s not exactly stable and thinking rationally, is she? The trouble is, Felicia lives with her parents, and I don’t know how to get all of them out of the house so I can do a search.’ I tapped my fingers on the desk, trying to come up with a plan.

  I picked up my mobile and phoned Dad, giving him a quick version of what had happened.

  ‘Brad wouldn’t have done that,’ Dad said. ‘No way.’

  ‘I know.’ Didn’t I? So why did I still have a niggling doubt? ‘My bet is either Felicia or Nathan, but I don’t have time to wait around. I think we need to check out the other suspects and see if some kind of evidence leads them to the murder, too. Can you stakeout Curtis’s flat again. When he leaves, break in and get a good look around. You need to check clothes, surfaces, and bathrooms for any traces of silver body glitter or chocolate from the knickers. Some of it would’ve transferred onto the killer.’

  ‘Of course. Anything to help Brad. What about Tracy’s place? Do you want me to do that, too?’

  ‘Would you mind?’ I asked. Even though I didn’t think Tracy had anything to do with this, maybe she did. I didn’t know what to think anymore. My brain was scrambled, and everything I thought I knew was all topsy-turvy. The only thing I did know for certain was that I couldn’t wait around to eliminate one suspect before going after the next. I had to try to blast them all at once so I could find something, anything, which would get Brad off the hook and out of a possible life sentence. I had to feel like I was doing something to help.

  ‘Of course I don’t mind. Can’t have my future son-in-law being accused of murder, can I?’

  I drew in a sharp breath as the morning took its toll on me.

  ‘Don’t wo
rry, Amber. It will be OK,’ Dad said.

  ‘Uh-huh.’ But I didn’t know if anything would be OK ever again. My whole life had come crashing down around me.

  ‘I’ll let you know as soon as I’ve found something,’ Dad said.

  ‘Thanks.’ I hung up as Tia came back bearing mochaccinos from Starbucks and a sparkling water for Hacker. I downed half of mine in one gulp after swallowing the headache tablets.

  ‘I’m going to do another spell to correct the last one,’ Tia said to me and rushed off.

  ‘No!’ I yelled after her. ‘Don’t do anymore spells!’ But she was gone.

  I groaned, dreading the thought of what would happen now. Crap.

  Hacker took a swig of water and sat back in his chair. ‘OK, here’s some background info that might help. Aleesha and Nathan’s parents were pretty wealthy. They died in a car accident when Aleesha was twenty and Nathan was eighteen and left them a couple of million pounds each. Aleesha became the new “It Girl” on the scene and was out partying with the other rich and famous socialites every night. Nathan joined in, too. It looks like Aleesha also invested her money well, and then her career took off and she was worth a small fortune. But Nathan developed a big spending habit. He liked flashy cars, designer gear, and fancy holidays. Only, he was spending way beyond his means. His money ran out a few years back, and he had to sell his house and cars to pay off his debts. He was pretty much broke, apart from what Aleesha gave him in salary. That’s why he lived with her.’

  ‘Interesting.’ I raised an eyebrow, hoping things were slipping into place. ‘As Aleesha’s only heir, then, Nathan had several million reasons to bump her off.’

  Hacker nodded. ‘Looks that way. But also, Dr Spork has been living on incapacity benefits because of his delusional disorder and erotomania, so he didn’t work. But before he developed his mental health problems, he was an electronics engineer and then a game software designer. He was working for some big software company, designing a game called Sporkville, when he had a nervous breakdown. With his background, though, he’d know all about computer codes and electronics. I already know Aleesha’s alarm system wasn’t hacked. The alarm was disabled at the house, so Dr Spork could’ve tampered with the wiring system to get in. Just because Dr Spork didn’t write the letters, doesn’t mean he didn’t kill her.’