by L E Fraser
The bonus, along with her regular fee, would enable her to take a few months off to finish her PhD thesis. “Okay,” she reluctantly agreed. “Since the cops are searching for Gabriella, where do you want us to start?”
“Find Isabella.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
One Week Later: Toronto, Ontario
Reece
DEREK’S CAR WASN’T on the airport surveillance tapes. He’d lied. Gabriella’s body was still missing. Jim had worked his magic, and the court released Derek on a $100,000 consent bail, with a $50,000 deposit to the court. He was under house arrest, when he wasn’t with his surety, Marty Alderson.
Derek’s newest defence was that his wife had set him up to ruin him. Without a body, Reece was willing to entertain the idea. Since Gabriella was close to her sister, they needed to find Isabella.
Reece parked in the Martinas’ driveway, and Derek opened the front door while they walked up to the house. His bravado and false charm had vanished. Dark circles shadowed his fatigue-lined eyes, and he was pale, which made the age spots on his face stand out. His formerly flawless hair was a mess, and a tuft stuck up at the back of his head.
Derek opened the door just wide enough for them to slip in sideways in single file. “Lots of reporters,” he muttered.
That was an understatement. The press were having a great time. When Reece squeezed by him, he caught a whiff of ripe body odour, and, looking back, he saw Sam’s eyes widen. She discreetly pushed at him to move faster.
Inside the house, Reece got straight to the point. “Jim wants us to find Isabella. Where can we start looking?”
“Did Jim tell you I think my wife did this?”
Much to Reece’s dismay, Derek cried. He walked to the living room and collapsed onto the sofa, pulling a tattered tissue from the pocket of his fleece hoodie.
Sam appeared unmoved by the tears. “Where can we look for Isabella?”
“Do you think Gabriella’s with her?”
“We don’t know but we need to find the woman,” Reece said.
“They grew up in London.” Derek sniffled and blew his nose.
“We can’t find birth records for Isabella LeBlanc born in London.” Reece took a seat beside Sam. “It might help if we could speak with someone who knew the family. Do you know the address?”
“I never went over. Her father was a heavy drinker when I met Gabriella, and her mother was sick.” He thought for a moment. “Reece, what’s the name of that residential area east of Westmount Mall?”
Sam took out her phone. “It looks like Norton Estates.”
“Yeah, that’s it.”
“We can pull the property archive records.” Reece turned to Sam. “Rather than going door-to-door, it’ll be easier to check ownership dates to find someone living there now who was there when the LeBlanc family owned their house.”
Sam nodded. “What are her parent’s names?”
“Her mother’s name was Nina,” Derek said. “She’s dead. I don’t remember Gabriella mentioning her dad’s name. She hated him because he left her mother.”
“Have you noticed anything missing from the house?” Reece asked.
Derek rubbed his hands over his face and slouched on the sofa. “My daughter went through Gabriella’s closet. Nothing seems to be missing.” He pulled something out of his pocket. “Her passport was in our safe deposit box. The police took her purse.” He handed Reece the passport.
Renewed in July 2013, it was valid for ten years. “Did she take any trips outside Canada?”
“I don’t remember,” Derek said. “Maybe shopping in the US.”
“We can notify Canadian Customs and see what they have on file against her passport number,” Sam suggested.
“Was Gabriella older or younger than her sister?” Reece asked.
“I think older.”
“You don’t know? You married your child-bride two decades ago,” Sam snapped, and Reece wasn’t surprised she was reaching her limit with Derek quickly.
“I wanted to respect her privacy. She always got so upset if I brought up her family.” Derek sucked on the inside of his cheek. “Besides,” he added, “Gabriella was protective of her relationship with Isabella.”
“Why?” Sam asked.
“She complained about me.” He was staring at his slippers while he spoke. “Two nights before she disappeared, I heard them on the kitchen polycom and Isabella was furious.”
Sensing another outburst from Sam, Reece gave her hand a warning squeeze. She shot him a scathing glare but nodded curtly and stood. “Where’s your bedroom? I’d like to have a look around.”
“Ah…” Derek’s face flushed with embarrassment. “We have separate rooms. Hers is the last door on the right.”
Reece caught Sam’s eye. She looked curious that Derek didn’t sleep with his wife but made no comment.
After she marched upstairs, Reece turned back to Derek. “Why was Isabella coming?”
“Gabriella didn’t say.”
“What did you think?”
Derek stuffed his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. “I thought she was leaving me,” he whispered. “Gabby didn’t have any friends. Isabella was her support, so I planned on telling her I loved her sister and asking for help. There wasn’t any option except to admit I was an asshole and beg forgiveness. Then…” He chewed on his lower lip. “I… well… I was hoping my wife could stay with Isabella until after I ran for office. I needed to get her out of Toronto. I was planning to tell her boss, Jack Belinski, she had a breakdown. I thought…” he mumbled something Reece didn’t catch.
“Excuse me?”
“I thought Jack would be sympathetic and contribute to my campaign.”
If it was true Gabriella was leaving the marriage, it went toward motive. Divorce was expensive when property and children were involved. “Did Gabriella imply she was leaving?” Reece asked.
“No, but after dinner with you, she asked me to pick up her sister the next day.” Derek’s expression was one of bewilderment. “It was out of the blue. We had an argument the night before, and… I don’t know what I thought.”
“What did you argue about?” Reece asked.
“Her job.”
“Go on…”
“She wanted to quit. Jack Belinski is a chauvinistic jerk.” Derek’s lips tightened in anger. “I didn’t like the way he treated her, but her job was to support him and that means doing personal shit beneath your pay grade. It bugged me that she took it so personally.”
“I understand she was fired. Do you know why?”
Derek shook his head. “No, I found out when Melissa called her office. My wife was fired three or four times in the past couple of years, without warning or explanation.”
“Why did she have such a difficult time keeping a job?”
Derek’s lip curled. “Gabby didn’t play well with others.”
Didn’t, Reece noted. “We’ll need a list of her friends.”
“What did I just say? She didn’t have any. Except for her sister.”
“Whom you never met,” Reece replied incredulously, “and know nothing about, including her address.”
Derek shuffled his feet against the carpet. “Last week, Nick received a birthday gift from his aunt, and Gabriella sent her gifts, but I’ve torn apart the house and can’t find an address.”
“Did a courier service deliver the gift?
Derek nodded. “Yeah, I guess. Gabriella took care of that sort of stuff. Why?”
“It might be a lead. I can see about tracing deliveries to the house.” Reece tapped on his iPad to add that to his list. “Didn’t your kids ask their aunt what city she lived in?”
Derek shook his head again. “I don’t remember them ever talking to her on the phone.”
That was tough to believe, but Reece kept his opinion to himself. “I need to speak with the kids.”
“Nicholas is gone,” Derek said. “You can speak with Anna and Kevin, I guess.”
Sam had returned to the living room looking surly. “What do you mean he’s gone?”
“He left when I was arrested. I haven’t heard from him.”
“Did the kids know they had an aunt?” Sam asked.
“Of course they did, what kind of question is that?”
“Let’s see,” Sam said. “No one ever talked to her or met her, she wasn’t on any flights into Toronto, and the police can’t find her.”
“Are you saying I made her up?” Derek leaped to his feet. “That’s absurd. Why would I do that?”
“I don’t know.” Sam sat down and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “You tell me.”
“What would I gain from making up a sister-in-law?” The heat was gone from his voice. He looked scared.
“Picking up Isabella at the airport is your alibi,” Reece said.
Sam was smiling at Derek. “Forgot about the massive number of security cameras at an international airport, eh?”
“I… ah…”
“Where were you?” Reece asked.
Derek licked his lips. “I… I was angry Gabriella lost her job. I did start to go to the airport.”
“But you never made it. Where did you go?” Reece asked.
Derek mumbled something.
Leaning forward, Reece repeated, “Where did you go?”
“I went to Sonia’s place.”
Sam was on her feet in an instant. “Are you kidding me? Who the fuck is Sonia?”
“My girlfriend. If it comes out I’m having an affair, it’ll ruin my political opportunities.”
Reece couldn’t believe it. Did he think a murder charge wasn’t ruining his political career?
“Let me see if I’ve got this straight.” Sam crossed her arms against her chest again. “Pissed off at your wife, you ditched your sister-in-law at the airport to get laid?”
With a sigh, Reece picked up his iPad. “Give me Sonia’s full name, address and her contact details.”
“Can’t we leave her out of this?” Derek whined.
“No. Are you seriously this stupid, Derek?” Sam yelled. “Why hasn’t she stepped forward?”
“Our relationship is casual. I’m sure she doesn’t want to be involved in my mess.”
Sam looked ready to smack Derek, so Reece jumped in. “If Sonia can confirm you were with her, they’ll have to drop the charges. Have you talked to her?”
“No. She won’t take my calls and I can’t reach her.”
“Are you suggesting she’s not going to admit being with you?” Reece asked.
Derek shrugged. “Sonia passed the bar exam six months ago. She works for a firm that does legal aid. The pay is shit, the hours are terrible, and her clients are scum. She wants out. Being tied up in my mess will damage her reputation.”
The shock on Sam’s face mirrored Reece’s disbelief. “Your girlfriend is going to allow you to stand trial for murder because she doesn’t want to jeopardize her career?” he asked.
“She’s twenty-five,” Derek said. “Something like this could ruin her.”
“Many women don’t view sex as a recreational activity, Derek,” Sam said in disgust.
Reece saw where she was going. “Maybe Sonia wanted your wife out of the picture.”
Derek’s eyes widened. “That’s preposterous. Besides, I was with Sonia. She couldn’t have done it.”
“You said Sonia works with scum. She could have paid a client to do it,” Reece said. “Did you tell her you were going to the airport?”
Derek nodded. “Sure, yeah.”
“If Sonia wanted your wife out of the way and didn’t want you implicated, you’d have an airtight alibi,” Sam said. “You’d be on the airport’s surveillance tapes, proving you weren’t at your house at the time of the incident.”
“But if Sonia was home alone,” Reece said to Sam, “she wouldn’t have an alibi. We’re missing something.” He turned to Derek. “When you arrived, was she planning on going out? Was she expecting a visitor?”
“No. She was alone.”
Reece thought about it. “Does Sonia have a home landline?”
Derek nodded.
“Did she receive a phone call while you were there?”
Derek nodded again. “Yeah, her office called. Why?”
“Why didn’t they call her work cell, do you know?” Reece asked.
“I do, actually. I was pissed off she was taking the call. I wanted her to let it go to voice mail. After she hung up, we argued. She told me she had to take it because she’d emailed her boss before she left to call her at home to review some case files. Her cell kept rebooting, and she gave it to IT. She left it with them because she wasn’t feeling well and wanted to go home.”
Sam was nodding. “She probably arranged the call. If she was ever under suspicion, she could prove she was home.”
Derek laughed. “You don’t know Sonia. She wouldn’t kill my wife. She didn’t care.”
“We’ll see,” Sam said.
“I’m telling you, this is a set-up. The only person who could have helped Gabriella was her sister,” Derek insisted. “All you have to do is find Isabella. She was in Toronto I know it. She must have arrived earlier in the week.” He looked excited. “If I was driving to the airport by myself, I wouldn’t have an alibi. Gabriella specifically told me not to park because Isabella would meet me outside the arrival doors.”
Reece considered that scenario. If Gabriella and Isabella had forgotten about the video cameras, they would assume Derek wouldn’t be able to corroborate his whereabouts. But it was risky. He could have stopped for coffee or spoken to one of the security guards outside arrivals.
Before he could respond, Sam walked over to Derek’s chair and leaned into his face. “Did you and Sonia get rid of your wife? Did you make up Isabella in case either of you came under suspicion?”
“Check the phone records,” Derek yelled.
“The police did,” Reece said. “Gabriella never made or received any calls that can be traced to Isabella. The polycom connects to your landline. You couldn’t have heard Isabella on the speaker two nights ago because any dialled or received calls would have shown on the records.”
“There were two voices,” Derek insisted. “Gabriella must have had another phone.”
“Derek,” Sam said, “why would she hide her sister?”
“I don’t know, but Isabella does exist. Wait, I can prove it.” He scrambled over to the fireplace mantel to rifle through a stack of birthday cards. He waved a card at Reece. “This one, see? It has a note from Isabella.”
Reece took the card. Unsigned, the note read: Now you’re legal, Nicholas, and can buy your own liquor. Happy birthday. Odd sentiment for a card. He passed it to Sam, who looked puzzled.
“Can we see the other cards?” Reece asked.
Derek passed them to him. There was one from Nicholas’s sister, one from his brother and one signed Love Mom and Dad.
“Is this one from Gabriella?” Reece asked.
“I wrote that card,” Derek answered. “Gabriella was embarrassed about her handwriting. She bought the gifts but refused to write the cards.”
Sam’s eyes narrowed. “Derek, do you have something in the house Gabriella wrote — a note or grocery list?”
“I told you, she never wrote anything by hand. She put lists on her phone or printed them off the computer.”
More lies. Jim’s office had provided them with photocopies of Gabriella’s handwritten diary. Was Derek’s next claim going to be that his wife didn’t write the diary?
Reece took a deep breath. “This handwriting,” he waved the card at Sam, “isn’t the same as the diary. The letters slant. It’s backhand cursive. It looks to me as if it was written by a left-handed person.”
Derek grabbed Reece’s elbow. “You have to find Isabella. Why aren’t the police looking for her?”
“The cops don’t believe she exists.” Reece was having a hard time trying to adjust from cop to private investigator. T
hey’d already caught Derek in multiple lies, and Reece’s cop-sense was screaming at him that Derek was guilty. It felt like they were trying to manufacture evidence to acquit him. It was a shitty feeling.
“The police are certain you killed your wife,” he said. “They have hard evidence to support the charge. Right now, we have to find Isabella.”
“The cops are supposed to be investigating. That’s their job. I’m a taxpayer, and I pay their salaries,” Derek said in a haughty tone.
Every taxpaying criminal’s mantra. “Their job,” Reece hoped he sounded supportive, “is to build an airtight case against you. It’s up to us to give them reason to look at another suspect.”
“Help me,” Derek begged them. “I didn’t kill my wife.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Reece
THE NEXT MORNING, Reece strolled out of the bathroom and kissed the side of Sam’s neck. “Off to London?”
“Afraid so.”
He knew she wasn’t excited about the five-hour round trip. After sorting through over twenty years of property records, he’d located an older woman who still lived down the street from Gabriella’s childhood home. They’d decided Sam would do the interview.
“You’re sure your family never lived there?” he asked again. “I saw the name McNamara in the property records. They sold in 1991.”
“I told you that Joyce and I were born in Toronto.”
“Maybe it’s a relative you didn’t know you had. Wanna take a look?”
“I don’t have any relatives. Did Jack Belinski agree to talk to you?”
“I have a meeting with him this morning.” Reece grabbed his travel mug from the kitchen counter. “By the way, Jim sent a text this morning. Sonia, Derek’s girlfriend, denies she was with him the afternoon of the murder. He wants us to talk to her.”
“I’ll leak it to the press,” she suggested. “If Sonia’s lying because she doesn’t want to be involved, let’s involve her.”
Reece nodded. “Good idea. We can speak with her face-to-face after a couple of stories are printed.”
