‘Is there somewhere we can talk?’ Alexi asked.
‘You don’t want to look at the horse?’ The friendliness in Fuller’s smile, such as it was, evaporated. ‘I’m a busy man.’
‘Okay then, I’ll try not to waste your time. What can you tell me about Natalie Parker?’
She watched him carefully and was convinced there was a momentary shift in his expression when she mentioned Natalie’s name. It was gone before she could be sure, leaving her with no opportunity to decide if it was guilt, fear or merely recognition.
‘She’s thinking of taking the remaining share in Super Nova. I guess the two of you must be friends, which is how you would know and what brought you here.’ He leaned closer and Alexi caught a whiff of alcohol on his breath. It was only ten in the morning. She knew these people got up at some ungodly hour, so probably worked on a different time clock, but still… ‘What I don’t understand is why. Oh, and in case you’re wondering about the horse, I haven’t heard from her for a while, so I don’t know what she’s decided.’
‘She’s gone missing. I’m trying to find out what’s happened to her and your name appeared a lot on her phone records.’
‘So you’re not interested in Super Nova?’
Thanks for your concern about Natalie. ‘I didn’t say I was interested in a share. Your girl just assumed. Anyway, I should have thought you’d be keen to help me find Natalie, seeing as you appear to have so much invested in…well, in her investment in the horse.’
It was true. Fuller seemed awfully keen to shift the remaining share, reinforcing Tyler’s impression that he was strapped for cash. There again, there could be a perfectly innocent explanation. Perhaps the principal owner was a personal friend, or someone who couldn’t afford to keep the horse in training with Fuller unless another investor took up some of the slack. Part-owners were responsible for a share of the training fees, she thought. If the horse had the potential Tod implied, Fuller would be keen to hang onto it. Trainers took a percentage of a horse’s winnings, didn’t they?
Perhaps he actually owned the horse himself, as opposed to simply training it. If he did, and needed others to take up shares, he must definitely be harder up than this top-notch set-up implied. Appearances, Alexi knew full well, could be as misleading as hell. Were trainers allowed to be owners? What Alexi knew about the rules and regulations pertaining to horseracing was woefully negligible. She was usually far more diligent about her research and blamed Tyler for distracting her. Even so, her journalist’s nose seldom let her down when something wasn’t quite right, and at that precise moment it was twitching like she was in danger of developing serious allergies.
She knew next to nothing about racehorse syndicates. She knew next to nothing about a lot of the stories she’d worked on in the past, but that hadn’t stopped her from sticking her oar in. The only difference this time was that she hadn’t made sure of her basic facts before piling in. Hitting the ground running on a live investigation changed all the rules.
‘Aren’t racehorse syndicates managed through an agency of some sort?’ Alexi vaguely recalled reading an article in the Telegraph a while back. Some minor royal had got involved, sparking a public need to criticise royal over-expenditure.
‘Usually, but Nova’s owner doesn’t want a ton of people muscling in on the act.’
‘Who owns him?’
Fuller shrugged, evasive. ‘What’s that got to do with anything?’
‘I can find out easily enough.’
‘Then that’s what I suggest you do.’ He scowled off into the distance, but continued to stroke Nova’s sleek neck. It was an impulsive gesture, she sensed, and he probably wasn’t even aware he was doing it. ‘Look, syndicates can work. They do work, but just as often they don’t. No pun intended, but it’s all a bit of a gamble. People disagree. They know sod all about training, but their horse wins a couple of races, they get flushed with success and seem to think they’re experts all of a sudden. If an owner wants to keep a majority share in a horse, but doesn’t want the hassle of a load of armchair experts looking over his shoulder, he might look for a private investor. Someone who has some spare cash, enjoys the sport and he gets along with.’
Someone like Natalie, who wouldn’t want to put herself into partnership with a load of strangers asking questions about her background. ‘I see,’ Alexi replied pensively. ‘How much does it cost to train a decent horse?’
‘After the initial cost of purchase?’ She nodded. ‘Well, buying a horse as good as Nova could cost anything up to a hundred thou. Then training fees add up to a good twenty k a year, and that’s without entry fees, veterinary costs, insurance…’
‘Blimey,’ Alexi said faintly. ‘You really do have to want to do it, don’t you?’
He actually smiled. ‘You really do.’
‘What if a horse breaks a leg?’ She watched one being led across the yard. ‘Those legs look awfully spindly.’
Fuller said nothing. He appeared to be deep in thought and she wasn’t sure if he’d even heard her speak. She would give a lot to know what was going through his mind.
‘I’m sorry,’ Fuller said after a prolonged silence that was in danger of becoming embarrassing. ‘Of course I’m concerned about Natalie. It certainly explains why she hasn’t returned any of my recent calls. I was annoyed with her, if you want the truth. She’d all but committed to the horse, then gave me the silent treatment. If she’d had a change of heart, it wouldn’t have killed her to let me know.’
Unfortunate choice of words. ‘When did you last see her?’
‘Well, let me see.’ He paused to think about it, but something told Alexi he didn’t really need to. ‘I suppose a couple of weeks ago now. She was very keen on Nova and said she’d be in touch again in a few days, once she’d organised the necessary funds. I’m still waiting to hear from her.’
‘Did she ever bring anyone with her when she came here?’
‘No, not that I recall.’
‘How often did she come?’
He shrugged. ‘A few times.’
‘Did you always deal with her?’
‘No, I think I only saw her the last time; or maybe twice.’
Which didn’t jibe with what Tod had told her. He’d implied the two of them always seemed to have a lot to say to one another. Alexi’s list of suspects had just gained another name. Why Fuller would want to murder an investor was less clear, and would require more research. Perhaps she’d actually told him that she’d had a last minute change of heart about the horse. But she couldn’t imagine Fuller resorting to murder because of it.
‘Okay, Mr Fuller.’ Alexi extended her hand. ‘Thanks for your time. If you think of anything else that might help, perhaps you’d give me a call.’
She handed him a card with just her name and mobile number printed on it. It gave no indication as to her profession. He took the card from her and pocketed it without looking at it.
‘When you find Natalie, ask he to call me about Nova, will you?’
‘Yes, I’ll do that. Presumably you’ve left messages for her.’
‘Several, but she’s not answering.’
‘Where did you leave them?’
‘Excuse me?’
‘On her mobile, or landline?’
‘Oh, both.’
Unless he’d left a message on Natalie’s landline before she went missing and she’d deleted it, then that was the first lie she could call him on, Alexi thought. Whether it was the only lie he’d told her was another matter, but Alexi’s mild suspicions about Fuller had just gone up several notches. Interviewees who had something to hide often embellished the truth in an effort to appear helpful. It was the small details that caught a person ut and Fuller had just needlessly stumbled over a tripwire.
‘Right, thanks then.’
‘Er, sure I can’t interest you in Nova? He’s going to make quite an impression on the racing world, you just mark my words.’
So why are you having so much troubl
e getting backers? ‘Sorry,’ Alexi replied, shaking her head. ‘Horses scare the shit out of me. Besides, I don’t have that sort of money.’
He continued to stand by Super Nova’s door as she walked away, still absently stroking the horse’s neck, watching her intently. Tod waved to her from across the yard. She waved back as she climbed into her car and drove away.
‘Well, Cosmo,’ she said. ‘That was interesting. Two things stood out. First off, he didn’t once ask me why I was investigating, or what my connection was to Natalie. Odd, don’t you think? And secondly he used the phrase to tell you the truth. And what do we know about that? That’s right, baby. Whenever anyone feels the need to say that, it’s a pretty safe bet they’re lying through their pointy little teeth. And he didn’t ask if the police were involved, or any of the questions you’d expect from a concerned friend, or even a decent person. Not that he’s decent. And he was far too full of himself, but still…’
Cosmo offered up no opinion. That’s what made him such a good partner. He’d listen all day if needs be, and never disagree. Tyler could take a lesson or two from her cat.
She was still chatting aloud to Cosmo when she pulled up at the side of Natalie’s cottage. She cut the engine and rummaged in her bag for the key.
‘Okay, Cosmo,’ she said, releasing his leash and leaning across to open the passenger door for him. ‘You and I are officially on a mission and we’re not leaving here until we find Natalie’s hiding place. It’s a small cottage. How hard can it be?’
Cosmo streaked from the car, hissing and growling like the tiger he sometimes pretended to be. Alexi tensed. He only ever got like that when he sensed the presence of someone he especially didn’t like. Admittedly, that wasn’t saying much because he didn’t like most people but, even so, this particular reaction was extreme, even by Cosmo’s standards.
On edge, Alexi hesitated, unsure what to do. Stay in the car and call for help, or go and investigate? Who could she call, and what could she tell them? My cat thinks there’s someone here who shouldn’t be. They wouldn’t send help. They’d send the men in white coats. Or did they wear unflattering green scrubs nowadays?
That settled it. Apart from not wanting to be sectioned, passivity didn’t sit well with Alexi. Besides, Cosmo made a pretty formidable distraction. He hadn’t attacked anyone for several days—not since that little game he’d played with the postman back in Battersea—and was probably getting withdrawal symptoms.
She grabbed a spanner from the glove box of her car, just in case Cosmo needed any help.
‘Never leave home without one,’ she said, gripping the spanner firmly and smacking it against the palm of her other hand.
She slid her phone into the front pocket of her jeans and found a travel-size can of hairspray at the bottom of her bag which went into the other pocket. Carrying pepper spray in England was against the law, but there was nothing that said a girl shouldn’t be prepared for a bad-hair day. She tucked her bag beneath the seat, not needing to be hampered by it if she got into a fight.
As ready as she would ever be, she climbed from the car, clicked the doors locked and pocketed the key. Then she walked around to the front of the cottage, following the racket Cosmo was making.
A shiny Mercedes C Class was parked there, and Gerry Seaton leaned against its bonnet, casting wary glances at Cosmo, who was alternately hissing at him, and trying to take nips out of his ankles.
***
Tyler met his client in the lobby of a Newbury hotel, and imparted the good tidings. His investigations had uncovered the name of the employee who was using customers’ credit card details for his own purposes. It happened more frequently than Joe Average realised, but no one got away with it for long. Tyler didn’t see any need to point out to his client that he could easily have discovered the employee’s identity without expensive help from the Fenton-Maddox Investigation Agency. Everyone has to eat.
He returned to the office by late morning, pleased to find Cassie was out on a case of her own. Alexi had identified what he should have seen for himself long before now. By letting Cassie get too close at the time of his divorce, then going into a business partnership with her, he’d given the impression that he wanted more from her than that. He slapped his forehead with the heel of his hand. He was an idiot! Still, he’d talk to her about it today, if she came back before he needed to leave for Lambourn again, and clear the air. He hoped it wouldn’t affect their working relationship but if she had expectations he wasn’t willing to fulfil he couldn’t see how it wouldn’t.
Tyler sighed, conceding Alexi was right. It was necessary to be cruel to be kind. He wondered if, on a visceral level, he’d known Cassie’s obsession was getting out of control but hadn’t wanted to deal with it. Coward! The time has come the walrus said… Worse-case scenario, if their partnership became untenable he’d just have to re-establish himself—again—but this time on his own.
He completed the paperwork on the case he’d just cleared up and emailed the client his final account. He checked the progress on a few other on-going enquiries, made phone calls relating to them and updated his notes. When everything on the paying side of his workload was current he called Natalie’s shrink. He was with a client but called Tyler back half-an-hour later.
‘Obviously, I can’t tell you anything about the sessions I had with my client, Mr Maddox, but I do share your concern as to her whereabouts. Disappearing doesn’t sound at all like something she would do.’
Then help me out here. ‘Did she mention anyone she was particularly close to? Someone she might have run off to see if they were in trouble.’
It was a forlorn hope, and Tyler knew it. She wouldn’t have gone without her car. Unless she’d been picked up, of course.
‘Even if she did…I’m sorry, but—’
‘I’m not asking you to name names, doctor. It was a non-specific question.’
The shrink’s prevarication confirmed Tyler’s feelings about the uselessness of his profession in general and he hung up, none the wiser. The solicitor’s office however was another matter. He was put straight through to the guy who handled Natalie’s affairs. Apparently he’d been warned by the helpful Athena at Mayfair Escorts to expect his call. Since that establishment provided him with a lot of work, it stood to reason that he would be as helpful as possible.
‘Still no news of Natalie?’ he asked.
‘Unfortunately not. Is there anything you can tell me that might help?’
Tyler was leaning precariously back in his swivel chair, feet propped on his desk, thinking he was chasing another dead end as he anticipated another lecture on client confidentiality. He was stunned out of his lethargy when the solicitor replied in the affirmative.
‘I’ve been thinking about that since receiving Athena’s call, and actually there is one thing that isn’t bound by confidentiality,’ he said.
Tyler sat bolt upright and his feet hit the floor with a resounding thud. ‘Tell me.’
‘It happened a few months before Natalie retired from the agency. I received a call from another solicitor asking me if I represented Natalie. He knew her date of birth, national insurance number and a few other official details that enabled me to confirm we were talking about the same person.’ Tyler felt his blood pressure spike, the way it always did when he caught a break in a case. ‘It transpired this other solicitor represented the estate of a woman who’d just died. She had left Natalie a bequest, which he wanted to pass to me so I could give it to Natalie.’
‘Are you able to tell me what the bequest was?’
‘No, unfortunately not.’ Tyler’s blood pressure returned to normal. Another brick wall. ‘Because I don’t know. It was a thick bundle of papers. Natalie opened them in my office. She only glanced at them but became very agitated and, as I say, shortly after that, she gave up working for the agency.’
‘Do you know the name of the person the other solicitor represented?’
‘Oh yes.’ He paused. ‘The dead
woman was Laura Brooks, Natalie’s natural mother.’
Chapter Fifteen
‘Miss Ellis,’ Seaton said with a flash of even white teeth. This time Alexi wasn’t taken in by the charisma. She was grateful for Cosmo’s presence, which clearly bothered Seaton if the frequency of his glances in her cat’s direction were anything to go by. Cosmo, when he decided to let his inner tiger out, wasn’t for the faint-hearted. ‘Fancy seeing you here.’
‘Isn’t that supposed to be my line?’
Cosmo’s caterwauling got louder—a cross between a growl and an angry mewl. He arched his back, hair standing on end as he stalked back and forth in front of Seaton, hisses and spits interspersing his bad language. Alexi had never seen him react quite so aggressively towards anyone but, then again, she’d never found herself in such a potentially threatening situation before. Seaton was their main suspect in a possible murder, she was here alone and to say she was concerned for her personal safety would be a gross understatement. Beneath all that glossy charm, Seaton definitely had a dark side to his character that he probably didn’t often allow people to see. Presumably Cosmo had picked up on her fear and sought to defend her.
‘I thought you’d never been to Lambourn and didn’t know where Natalie lived?’ Alexi said scathingly.
‘Can we talk inside? I can’t think straight with that racket going on.’ He nodded towards Cosmo who obligingly growled a little louder.
Alexi shook her head. ‘I don’t think so.’
‘I’m no danger to anyone. Besides, you have a pretty ferocious guard cat there.’
‘Shame Natalie didn’t have him around when you killed her.’
Seaton expelled a long sigh. ‘I. Did. Not. Kill. My. Daughter.’ He enunciated each word, slowly, as though speaking to a moron.
‘Just like you didn’t rape her and didn’t know where she lives?’
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