‘I dunno off hand.’ He scratched his head. ‘Does it matter?’
‘It could be vital. Try to think.’
‘Well, we’d just finished painting the annexe and most of it was furniture for the—’
‘Marcel touched the furniture?’ Ty asked, an edge to his voice.
‘Well yeah, he had to move it out the way in order to get to the back of the van.’
‘Was it bedroom furniture?’ Alexi asked, holding her breath as Mike took his sweet time thinking about it.
‘Yeah, the smaller bits. Night tables, and stuff—’
‘But the furniture came wrapped in protective plastic, I seem to recall,’ Alexi said, her excitement dwindling.
‘Yeah, but that stuff is so thin it’s worse than useless. Grab something too hard and you put a finger straight through it.’
‘Thank you, Mike!’ Alexi was sorely tempted to kiss him. ‘You have just fitted the final piece of the puzzle into place.’
Mike looked bewildered. ‘Have I?’
Ty nodded. ‘It would explain why there was only one print. I’d been wondering about that. If Marcel had touched the table, he wouldn’t have done it with just one finger.’
‘But if his finger broke through the plastic cover…’ Alexi nodded. ‘Vickery needs to know about this.’
‘Indeed he does. Mike, did anyone else other than you see Marcel in the back of that lorry, moving the contents about?’
‘Yeah, the lorry driver and his mate. They seemed a bit surprised that a chef in his kitchen whites would lower himself to do the donkey work so they’d probably remember.’
Ty pulled out his phone, got put through to Vickery and said he had a new witness he would want to talk to.
‘Come on, Mike,’ he said. ‘You and I are going to take a trip into Reading.’
‘What can I do while you’re gone?’ Alexi asked, taking Ty aside. ‘We’ve cleared Marcel and Anton. We’re almost certain John couldn’t have done it and I can’t think why Guy would. My money’s still on Dakin but how the hell do I prove it? There must be something we’re missing.’
‘Take another look at the camera footage from the time in question. Sometimes things that previously seemed unimportant take on a new meaning.’ He smiled at her. ‘Oh, and you might want to let Marcel know that he’s off the hook as far as the fingerprint goes.’
‘That will be a pleasure.’
Ty planted a quick—far too quick—kiss on her lips and disappeared off with Mike.
Alexi shrugged back into her coat and wandered outside at a more leisurely pace. Cosmo had been outside with Toby ever since Alexi and Ty had got back from their trip to the school that morning. He appeared now, trotting behind Alexi as she headed for the restaurant’s kitchen.
‘You know better than that,’ she told him, bending to tug on one of his flat ears. ‘If you set one paw in Marcel’s kitchen you’ll probably finish up as dish of the day.’
Cosmo meowed indignantly and beat a hasty retreat.
Smiling, Alexi let herself in through the back door. Marcel was busy instructing his regular kitchen help and the contestants in what was required for that day’s lunch service. Standing back to listen, he sounded lacklustre to Alexi and most unlike his usual forceful self. It was obvious from the expressions on the faces of contestants and minions alike that he was not inspiring them.
Marcel saw her standing there, told his people to get to work and came across to join her.
‘News?’ he asked. ‘I only want to know if it’s good.’
‘It is. Do you remember when your wine coolers weren’t delivered and turned up later—’
‘Shit of course!’ He picked Alexi up, swung her around and, to the obvious astonishment of the workforce, all of whom had stopped what they were doing to watch them, planted a sound kiss on her cheek. ‘I was steamed up about the mix-up and insisted on inspecting the coolers on the lorry. Didn’t want the ones that wouldn’t fit delivered for a second time.’
‘And you moved some of the small items on the lorry out of the way in order to get to them?’
Marcel growled. ‘How the fuck could I have forgotten that?’
‘Fortunately for you, Mike, the lad who helps Drew sometimes, remembered. He’s gone into Reading now with Ty to tell Vickery.’
‘So whoever tried to frame me with my knife and that glass caught a lucky break with that fingerprint.’ He folded his arms, scowling, and shouted something across the kitchen to Greta who had obviously done something to displease him. Alexi wondered how he could tell from such a distance. ‘Any closer to knowing who it was?’
‘We’re working on it. The main thing is, you are looking less and less like a suspect.’
‘Thanks, Alexi.’ He groaned when he saw another of the contestants commit a culinary travesty. ‘I’d better sort this lot out before what’s left of my reputation gets put through the shredder.’
‘Rather them than me,’ Alexi said, shuddering.
He winked at her, looking more like his old self already. ‘They love me really.’
‘If you say so. Catch you later.’
Chapter Eighteen
Cheryl and Drew were both in their kitchen when Alexi returned.
‘You’ll be pleased to hear that Marcel is back in full tantrum mode,’ she told them, throwing herself into a chair.
‘How come?’ Drew asked.
Alexi explained. ‘Ty’s taken Mike into Reading nick so he can tell Vickery.’
‘Thank heavens!’ Cheryl sank into a chair. ‘I knew there had to be a logical explanation. He must be beyond relieved.’
‘I wasn’t here when the furniture was delivered,’ Drew added. ‘Otherwise I would have remembered.’ He grinned. ‘I mean, anything as out of the ordinary as Marcel helping to unload a delivery truck would have stuck in my mind.’
‘I had no idea he’d done it,’ Cheryl said. ‘I had Mike organise the delivery but he didn’t mention it.’
‘I don’t think Marcel went so far as to do any heavy lifting,’ Alexi pointed out. ‘Anyway, it might help, Drew, if you dig out the name of the company who delivered that furniture, just in case Vickery wants to speak with the driver to confirm Mike’s account.’
‘That I can do.’
‘I’m glad it looks as though Marcel’s in the clear,’ Cheryl said, ‘but it doesn’t get us any closer to unmasking the identity of the real killer. Speaking of which, I don’t suppose Anton’s the guilty party?’
‘Far from it.’
Alexi repeated the gist of Anton’s reason for borrowing all that money.
‘Aw, that’s so sweet of him to care about his granny,’ Cheryl said. ‘I knew there was a reason why I liked that kid.’
‘Nothing to do with his good looks, hunky body and killer smile then?’ Drew asked with a smile of his own.
‘We’re not all that shallow,’ Cheryl replied, trying not to laugh.
‘Still,’ Alexi mused, tilting her head to one side. ‘They are factors that need to be taken into consideration, if I can be permitted to say so.’
‘You can, since, unlike some I could name,’ Drew said, pinioning his wife with a look of mock disapproval, ‘you’re not spoken for. Whoops, sorry, that’s all changed, hasn’t it?’
Alexi pushed herself to her feet. ‘A situation which isn’t likely to endure if Ty keeps on giving me all the best jobs.’
‘Since when did anyone get you to do anything you didn’t want to?’ Cheryl asked. ‘She’s obviously got it bad, Drew.’
‘Ha, much you know! I have to go through all the footage for the time of the murder, see if I can spot any anomalies.’ Alexi grimaced. ‘Lucky me.’
‘You’ve been through it twice already,’ Cheryl protested.
‘Yeah, but practice makes perfect, apparently.’
‘Good luck with that,’ Drew said.
‘Want some help?’ Cheryl asked.
‘Nah. There’s no need for both of us to lose the will to live.’ Alexi p
oured herself yet more coffee, snagged a couple of Cheryl’s homemade biscuits and headed for the door. ‘If I survive this mind-numbingly boring assignment, I’ll catch you both later.’
‘Where’s Cosmo?’ Cheryl asked.
Alexi rolled her eyes. ‘He was out the back earlier with Toby, posing for the cameras. Honestly, talk about a precocious brat.’
Drew laughed. ‘Everyone wants to be a star.’
Alexi shook her head decisively. ‘Not me.’
Alexi took her coffee up to the residents’ lounge, where her laptop was set up. She had the footage that Ty downloaded and, with a weary sigh, settled down to watch. She tried hard to concentrate but it wasn’t long before her eyes started to droop. She’d not had much sleep and watching people trying to act normally when they knew they were in the spotlight was akin to watching paint dry, televised golf or reruns of sixties sit.coms. Even Cosmo hadn’t come in to see what she was doing. Talk about a fair weather feline. She’d left the lounge door open, hoping for distractions from passers-by, but for the hour she’d been working not a soul had passed.
‘I can’t take much more of this,’ she said aloud. ‘There has got to be something.’
But Alexi knew the police experts would have been crawling all over it and had a much better eye for these things than she did. Surely, if there was something there, they would have found it by now? This was a massive waste of time. Even so, she persevered, wondering why Ty had insisted she do it. She thought how preoccupied he’d been on the drive back from the school. She refused to believe that was because he was having second thoughts about getting involved with her so could only mean that an alternative possibility had occurred to him. Something he was hoping she’d hit on and independently corroborate.
Alexi blinked to clear her vision and continued with her task. She noted down the times and durations of Anton’s absences from his room, even though she was confident he hadn’t killed Juliette. Still, she knew very well that a competent defence lawyer would use those absences to point the finger of guilt at him as an alternative suspect.
Having completed Anton’s tape, she transferred her attention to John’s. The time stamp at the corner of the screen confirmed what she already knew; he hadn’t left his room for the entire time period when Juliette had been killed.
Alexi leaned back, placed both hands on the small of her back and leaned into them, more convinced than ever that this was a waste of time. Still, all out of alternative suggestions, she moved onto the footage of the residents’ lounge in the annexe, already knowing what she would see. Greta with her feet tucked beneath her bum, lounged in a corner of a settee, reading a book. Alexi yawned, surprised that anyone could sit that still for two entire hours. Alexi liked to read as much as the next person and knew how easy it was to get lost in a good book, but Greta had made an art form out of being a couch potato.
‘No wonder she’s put on a few pounds since her school days,’ Alexi muttered, glad no one was there to hear her rather catty remark.
Her eyes fluttered to a close. She’d been fighting sleep all the time she’d been watching the footage, and the three coffees she’d had that morning weren’t up to the job of keeping her awake.
She glanced at her watch after what felt like a minute or two and swore. Over half an hour had elapsed. Good job she’d pressed the pause button on the footage, even though she didn’t recall doing so, otherwise she’d have to start all over again.
Except she hadn’t pressed pause, she realised, sitting a little straighter. She was still watching Greta in the same pose she’d been in when Alexi had nodded off. She knew because at that point she had removed a foot from beneath her backside and scratched at the sole. She was doing exactly the same thing again now, even though the time stamp in the corner of the frame confirmed thirty minutes had elapsed.
Wide awake, Alexi ran the footage back and confirmed what she already knew.
‘Bloody hell!’ she said aloud, when there could be no further doubt. ‘Someone fixed the tape to make it—’
‘I knew you’d figure it out eventually.’
Alexi nearly jumped out of her skin. She’d been so absorbed in watching the tape that she hadn’t heard anyone enter the room. How long had Greta been there? She was like a statue, leaning against the door jamb, observing Alexi with unnerving stillness, and probably heard Alexi’s reaction when the truth dawned. Greta pushed herself away from the door and loomed over Alexi, causing Alexi to momentarily panic. What the hell should she do now?
Her first reaction was to yell for help, but it was unlikely to be forthcoming. No one had passed this room, at least while Alexi had been awake. Cheryl and Drew were in the bowels of the house somewhere and would never hear her. Cosmo was nowhere to be seen. The only alternative was to dial 999 but something held Alexi back. In spite of the fact that Greta might be a cold-blooded killer, Alexi didn’t feel afraid of her. She examined Greta’s face for clues as to her state of mind and got the impression that she was more nervous than dangerous.
Greta might or might not have killed Juliette but definitely knew way more about the crime than she’d so far admitted. That much was obvious. So many things were. Now. Ty had almost certainly cottoned on to Greta while they’d been at the school, hence the reason for his introspection on the drive back. Nice of him to share. Alexi decided against calling the cavalry. An underlying need to hear the truth before it got muddied by aggressive police and protective defence lawyers won the day.
‘What’s going on, Greta?’ Alexi asked, surprised by how composed she sounded.
‘You know, don’t you?’
Alexi saw no point in prevaricating. ‘Some of it, but I’d like to hear your side.’
‘Come on, pick up your bag, we’re going for a little ride.’
Now fear did kick in and her hand moved towards her mobile, sitting beside her laptop. ‘What’s wrong with talking here?’
‘There’s something you need to see.’
‘Look, Greta, you’re obviously involved in some way with Juliette’s death so why would I voluntarily go anywhere alone with you?’
‘I did not murder Juliette.’ She met Alexi’s gaze unflinchingly and Alexi believed her.
‘But you know who did.’
‘I know how she died, yes.’
‘But didn’t tell the police.’
She sent Alexi a scathing look. ‘They would never understand.’
‘But you think I will?’
‘You’re a journalist, a damned good one. I think you will come with me because your curiosity has got the better of you and because you can sense I’m no threat to your wellbeing.’ She sighed. ‘I just need to make you understand and that conversation needs to take place somewhere that’ll make you see the whole picture that much more clearly.’
The obvious thing to do would be to stand her ground but Greta was right about one thing; Alexi’s journalistic antennae were twitching. This was potentially the story of a lifetime and an opportunity to make things right for the hotel. Of course, there was a very real possibility that Greta wanted to take her somewhere quiet to…well, keep her permanently quiet, but Alexi still didn’t feel afraid. She was either very stupid, very trusting or had good instincts.
‘Ty knows,’ she said. ‘He told me to look at this footage again and I’d see it for myself.’
Greta briefly lowered her head. ‘Then the police will be here soon. We don’t have much time. Do you want to hear this or not?’
‘Let me just tell Drew and Cheryl we’re going out for a while.’
‘There’s no time but keep your phone with you if it makes you feel safer.’
Greta scooped Alexi’s phone from the desk and threw it into Alexi’s bag, which she handed to her. Well, unless Greta was taking her somewhere outside of mobile phone coverage, she’d be okay, wouldn’t she? Of course, half the places around here had dodgy reception but she’d take a chance. Greta seemed calm, rational, resigned to being caught, but Alexi also sensed a mild
desperation about her. She needed to find out what was going on with her, what she or someone else had done to Juliette and why. Besides, one of the few favours Patrick had done Alexi was to insist that she took self-defence classes, given some of the questionable areas her pursuit of a good story led her to. Unless Greta had a gun, which Alexi doubted, then Alexi was confident she could defend herself if it came to it.
Where the hell was Cosmo? She would feel safer if he came along wherever they were going, Damned poser of a cat was probably still showing his better profile to the cameras.
‘We’ll go in your car, Alexi,’ Greta said, leading the way out of the hotel.
***
Ty and Vickery chatted in the inspector’s office, the latter having just watched as Mike gave his statement.
‘We never would have pressed charges against Gasquet, even without proof of how that fingerprint got there,’ Vickery said. ‘But I’m glad we’ve cleared it up.’
‘Nice of you to let me know,’ Ty replied with a wry smile.
Vickery spread his hands. ‘You know how it is. We had to go through the motions. Dakin is still our number one suspect but so far we’ve got nothing to connect him to the crime.’
‘Other than him being at the hotel when he wasn’t supposed to be and arguing with Juliette.’
‘Yeah, apart from those inconsequential matters that could be explained away by a sharp defence barrister. We’re still waiting for the DNA results to come in on Juliette’s foetus. The lab’s backed up just like always. Urgent means two weeks if you’re lucky. Anyway, if Dakin turns out to be the father then his fancy lawyers won’t be able to protect him.’
‘Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.’
Vickery nodded emphatically. ‘I hear you.’
Ty explained to Vickery what Anton had told them that morning about his loan.
‘We were getting around to him later today. We’ll still have to but it sounds as though he’s in the clear.’
‘Thought you would have spoken to him before now.’
‘We had a double murder last night here in Reading.’ Vickery rolled his eyes and Ty noticed how gaunt and tired he looked. ‘Guess who got landed with that one.’
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