by Emily Selby
'What happened?'
'I think it's to do with the investigation...' Zuza paused for a moment before adding in a whisper, 'He's scared that his secret will be out.'
Katie's jaw dropped. 'His secret?'
Zuza heaved a sigh. 'Someone needs to talk to him once he's awake and all that, but in case ... in case .... He's having more problems, I think I'd better talk to you, too.'
'Where are you?'
'At the hospital, but about to leave. How about a coffee in the pub?'
Katie turned away to avoid looking at her desk. She was at work, but her friend was in need. This was linked with the current investigation, but she was still only a police clerk. Jack was busy with the interview, but if she let Chris know and avoided Inspector Lumley, her boss, she may be able to sneak out.
She'd catch up with any work later.
'I'll meet you there in fifteen minutes,' Katie said and disconnected the call. Since Chris was nowhere to be seen, she texted him and Jack about her urgent meeting with Zuza and sprinted to her car.
What was a secret so precious Waldi would rather die than let out?
20
Zuza was waiting for her in their normal booth in the corner. She was wearing a tracksuit. Her hair was tied back, and her perfectly oval face had taken on a greyish hint. Sleep deprivation or simply no makeup?
'Sorry for the look,' Zuza said when Katie sat down with her coffee. 'I'm not working today anyway and couldn't be bothered to wear makeup. By the way, I've handed in my notice. I've got a job with an advertising agency. A real one, not like the ones we had with Amanda. I'm moving back to Birmingham.'
'When?'
Zuza scrunched up her nose and took a sip of coffee.
'I was going to leave next week, but I've got to stay and make sure Waldi is okay. I can't leave him like that. Last thing I want is him having to call his family to help.'
'Why not?'
'It would be the end of him.'
Confusion swirled in Katie's head like muddy coffee.
'But why? Because of his attempt to kill himself?'
Zuza blew out a breath. 'Yes. And more. Sorry, it's really messy, and Waldi has not been telling the whole truth.'
'Did he kill Amanda?' Katie asked. She'd rather have this clarified first.
'I don't think so. He's not capable of violence. He's a good guy, but...' Zuza looked away, drumming her fingers on the table top. 'Okay, listen. This is a secret, okay? I mean, you probably need to share it with the police, but don't let it out into the public.'
Katie nodded eagerly. 'Sure,' she replied, although she wasn't all that sure what Zuza meant or how she might be able to ensure the secret-keeping.
'The thing is, Waldi really cared about Amanda, and their marriage was important to him for a variety of reasons. Now, he's a widower, it's much better than being divorced in his little town, but he has to start all over again.'
The muddy coffee in her head thickened. Katie took a sip from her cup - maybe the real stuff would help.
'You mean with dating? Wouldn't he need some time to grieve? I don't think he'd jump straight into dating again.'
'Of course. Sorry. I just can't stop thinking about... How do I put it?' Zuza looked at Katie intently.
Katie took another sip. This was likely to turn into a long chat. 'I'm not sure what you're trying to imply,' Katie said slowly.
'He's masking it quite well, isn't he?' Zuza replied and sighed. 'I suppose the stakes are quite high. He has a lot to lose.'
Katie hated pushing her friends for answers, but this was a murder investigation, and Waldi was one of the suspects.
'What?'
'He's gay.'
Katie relaxed her shoulders. That wasn't what she expected to hear.
'So what? Why did he marry her?'
'Traditional, catholic family, small town, local politician, remember?' Zuza glared at her. Unlike her earlier attempts, this explanation was beginning to make sense.
'I can only guess. I gather, Waldi needed to get married to keep up appearances?'
'Yes. He was getting quite desperate. He asked me for help, knowing I was a bit “worldlier” than most of the people he was hanging out with. No one from his family knows about his ... orientation. I don't think he has told many friends. And because at that time Amanda was complaining of money problems and needing to escape somewhere, I thought... oh, well why not.'
'How did you even start a conversation like that?'
'It was one Friday night. We went out to party, but Amanda wasn't in the mood. She kept playing with her phone and drinking and was quite upset. She wanted to go home. I had a feeling she was not quite right, so I went with her. On the way back, she told me she had been stalked by an ex-boyfriend and that she was scared of him. She needed to escape. She made a comment, like a joke, asking me if it was easy to disappear in Poland.'
'Is it?'
'I don't know. I've never had to disappear. I tried laughing, but she seemed serious, so I asked her what she meant by disappearing.'
'What did she say?'
'She wanted to change her identity, her name, buy a false passport.'
'Wow. Sounds pretty serious.'
'That's what I thought. And then I had this idea. I told her I didn't know anything about disappearing with a false passport, but if she wanted to change her name, she could always get married. It would be hard to find her with a polish name. Particularly, done the Polish way. Women who take her husbands' name in Poland change the ending, so people can always tell if the woman's name is after her husband married abroad, or if she was born abroad.
'But Amanda's married name looks exactly the same as her husband's.'
'Did they get married here?' Katie asked.
'No, in Poland, in church. It all had to happen the proper way. His family wasn't happy because she was a foreigner, not catholic, and not really that well educated. Education is important in Poland. But she was pretty, and he was going to help her get a teaching qualification.'
'Did she get it in the end?' Katie asked.
'I don't think it was going very well. Waldi was worried she didn't speak Polish well enough to teach at his school.'
'His school?'
'Yeah,' Zuza stared into her cup. 'He got her a job at his school.'
'Couldn't she find anything elsewhere? I'm sure a language school would appreciate a native English speaker teaching the language.'
'I'm sure they would. But there is no language school in What's-it-ville, as she told me. Which is one of the reasons they needed to move.'
Katie chewed on her cheek. Yes, another information overload headache was coming on.
'What does he stand to lose if his secret is exposed?' Katie asked.
'Given the current political climate in the town where he's trying to become a head teacher, a lot. And then, his family would almost certainly turn against him.'
'That's cruel and so discriminative.'
'Sadly. But I know them well. Harsh people.'
Katie shuddered. How sad so many people had to still deal with discrimination because of their sexual orientation.
'So, Amanda wanted out of the marriage and he didn't? They must have had an agreement. She must have known what she was getting into?'
'As far as I know, she did understand. I'm not sure about an agreement. You'd need to ask Waldi. I think he hoped that once they lived in a bigger town their life together would get easier. Or maybe they had an agreement for three years, or however long it takes to get the citizenship and then they would separate, and things would settle. She would disappear, and he would not look for her. Just like she wanted.'
That made sense. Katie's head, fuelled by coffee and Zuza's explanations, kicked into the next gear.
'In other words, Amanda disappeared, like she wanted to, and Waldi didn’t have to look for her, because, well ... she's dead. It's kind of what they both wanted, but with some side effects.'
Zuza glared at her. 'I suppose, you can put it th
at way,' she said frostily. 'But Waldi is not a killer, I told you.'
Katie bit her lip. She'd heard that comment made about people who turned out to be the killers enough times to find it hard to believe.
'Yet, he stands to gain immensely from her death.'
'He nearly died himself,' Zuza protested.
'Trying to defend his own interests,' Katie fired back, not sure where her drive was coming from.
Despite her sympathy for Waldi, the sense of justice was clear in her head. No human being had the right to kill another human being. Murder was murder and the perpetrator deserved to be punished. But first, of course, she would have to find the killer. The real one, and anyone, including Waldi, was innocent until proven guilty. And anyone, including Waldi, deserved a fair treatment.
Zuza's face tensed. Tears appeared in the corners of her big blue eyes. 'Katie, I understand this is a murder investigation and justice must be served, but Waldi is a friend of mine and I care about him. If you have to investigate, you have to do it, but please, don't tell everyone about his ... secret.'
Katie touched Zuza's hand. 'Sorry, Zuza. I'll talk to DI Heaton, who is leading the case and explain the situation. I'll ask him to be as discreet as possible, but I can't promise anything. And thank you for being such an awesome, tolerant, non-judgmental friend for Waldi.'
'Okay,' Zuza said quietly. 'Please, don't hurt him any more than he has been hurt already. I'll be there for him.'
Katie tucked the loose strand of hair behind her ear and started to twirl it. The simple quirk usually helped her think, but this time it wasn't helping much. Waldi's fake marriage enabled him to conceal his homosexuality from his family. With Amanda being dead, there was no risk of her exposing his secret. He’d also acquired the status of a widower, together with empathy, sympathy and extra time to think through the next steps that came with it. If anything, Waldi should be happy that Amanda was dead. Why would he try to kill himself then? Did he harbour more secrets? He had been near the scene of Amanda’s death all the time, in the backyard, in and out of the hotel building. Should they really exclude Waldi as a key suspect?
Katie needed to talk to Jack. Immediately.
21
Katie phoned Jack as soon as the pub entrance door closed behind her. She listened to the signal, heading towards the gap between the buildings to make sure she could have a private conversation. The phone rang out and Jack's voicemail message kicked on. Katie prepared to leave a message, but a familiar white camper van caught her eye. She dropped the call and slide into the gap.
It seemed as though Hamish and his nervous friend were coming to the pub for breakfast.
She scrolled through the apps on her phone and pressed the camera button. But what for? She already captured their registration plate, and spending time in the pub was not a crime. In fact, if they could prove they were in the pub that fatal Monday morning, as per Zuza's vague recollection, they would have perfect alibis and would drop off her suspect list.
Hold on...
A thought popped in Katie's mind. She waited until the two guys, still wearing the same t-shirts, shorts, and flip-flops, disappeared inside the pub and she sneaked out of her spying position.
In three long strides she was standing on the empty parking lot, looking straight at the CCTV camera. If their van had been here on Monday, it would offer some proof.
She dialled Jack's number again. Still no answer. Was he still dealing with McBrides?
Next, she called Chris.
'Hi, lass,' her friend's voice greeted her with a note of enthusiasm. 'Where are you? I've just got your message. Had to help Heaton deal with some of the stuff to do with your dishonest employer.'
'Not sure he's dishonest, as such,' Katie protested. 'He's just failed to paid me the once.'
'That's dishonest in my books,' Chris replied firmly. 'By the way, why are you defending him? He's no angel, and his financial records are not as squeaky clean as he's tried to make them look. In fact-'
'Wait,' Katie interrupted. She was already overwhelmed with the information she'd collected. Chris' latest revelation could be too much to process. 'The two New Zealanders with the camper van, have you checked their alibis for the time of Amanda's death?'
'I thought you'd gone to collect more gossip about Amanda's husband, not those two.'
'I have,' Katie replied hastily, 'and I'll tell you about that later. But for now, I need this information, please.'
'Yes, they did. Not very eagerly. They both claimed to be in the pub, having lunch. They've showed me a credit card receipt. We've run it against the till receipts, and it's all there. Two beers, two portions of fish and chips.'
'There is a CCTV camera outside.'
'Celia has gone through the recording and found their van.'
Katie's heart dropped a few inches. Everyone deserved a fair chance, but she couldn't shake the impression that Hamish was implicated in Amanda's death.
'It could have been only one of them.'
'Yes, except for you can see two guys get out the van and the same two get back into it later.'
Chris and Celia had clearly done a good job. Katie massaged her stomach. Her heart was still weighing heavy.
'So, those two are off the list then. Which is really strange because I have a strong feeling Amanda wanted me to know about Hamish. I have a feeling she gave the origami-disguised note to me on purpose.'
'Have you ever thought she might have done that to frame Hamish?'
Frankly speaking ... no, but...
'But why would she do that?' she asked.
'What do you think?'
Okay, Katie. As you've said several times today, everyone deserves a fair chance. Rack your brain!
'The letter might have been a veiled blackmail,' Katie said, her free hand still pressing against her stomach. It was hard being objective when you had a preferred suspect. 'Zuza told me about a stalker, a jealous ex-boyfriend Amanda complained about over three years ago, if I got it correctly. It could have been Hamish. The text messages I found in the paper crane were creepy in a stalky kind of way. Maybe she committed suicide and tried to cast the blame on him.'
'Good thinking,' Chris replied. 'Does it change your position on Hamish's involvement in Amanda's death?'
'Not really,' Katie replied, firmly. 'If she took her own life to get away from him, to me, he is as guilty as if he pulled the trigger.'
'Morally, I can see where you're coming from, but from the legal point of view, it’s not as straight forward,' Chris replied, calmly.
Katie compressed her lips. Chris had a point.
'But why did Amanda want me to get the letter? Why not simply spell it all out in her note? What was the point of passing me a secret message?'
'No idea,' Chris replied, impatience edging into his voice. 'Maybe she liked to complicate things, overdramatize them.'
'She wasn't like that,' Katie protested. 'Changing the subject, you need to talk to Mr Rychter. He's in hospital.' She gave him a brief summary of the incident and of Waldi’s leanings.
'And please, keep his secret a secret, okay?' she added.
'We can try to find a way of concealing this while exploring how he benefits from her death,' Chris said. 'On another note, are you coming back to the office? We could do with an extra pair of eyes. I'll probably need to go and interview Mr Rychter again. Celia is out on patrol, and Heaton is dealing with Amanda's old phone.'
'What do you want me to help with?'
'Go over the statements from Mr McBride's secret bank account, looking for regular withdrawals of cash and comparing it with Amanda's statements, or the wads of cash she h in the safe.'
'Did McBride admit to paying her?'
'No, but he did reveal he had a personal bank account, as he says, where he keeps some "spare money" as he calls it. It's to handle his future political campaign.'
'Spare money?' Katie's pulse accelerated. 'Like the money he doesn't pay his employers?'
'You've got my earl
ier point then!' Chris said with a note of humour. 'His wife was fuming when she heard him admit that. It was a good move to interview them together, hats off to DI Heaton.'
'It was me who suggested that,' Katie muttered. 'But never mind. What else did you find out?'
'The daughter didn't approve of hiring Amanda and smelled a rat there. That's a second-hand information though, Ella McBride is due back in town tonight, if I'm not mistaken. Apparently, Moira McBride didn't mind initially, but she had a real meltdown when she met the new receptionist. "But, by that time, it was already too late," she said.'
'Too late to do what?'
'To fire Amanda, I suppose.'
'Why would she fire her? Mrs McBride has nothing to do with management of the hotel, and Amanda was clearly a good receptionist.'
'You seem to be forgetting that Mrs McBride may not be formally an owner, but the McBrides have been married for nearly forty years. She knows him inside out. I've got a feeling Amanda was his type.'
Would they ever stop suspecting Amanda was having an affair?
'He never made a move on her or behaved inappropriately towards her. She's never complained...'
'Why was he paying her that hidden money then?' Chris cut in smoothly.
'That's yet to be confirmed,' Katie snapped.
'And the faster we can do it the better. So, are you coming in?'
Katie let out a long breath. The whole thing was getting far too messy, and she felt trapped and constrained by various old and new allegiances. To be useful in solving the case, she needed to remain clearheaded.
And unbiased.
'I'll be there in a few minutes,' she said through a sigh.
22
Back at the police station, Chris was waiting for her with a printout of account statements.
'Here it is. Look for cash withdrawals. Any. Just note the dates and the amount,' he said handing the documents across.
'I guess, you don't want me to go too far into the past. I'll start with December, which is when Amanda started work. What do you think?'