Swindled

by Mayes, June

  “You are kidding right?” Beth asked incredulously looking more closely at the stranger sitting opposite her.

  “Oh I’m relieved, don’t get me wrong but after murder what’s business?” Vickie asked with a shrug. She gave Beth a sweet smile as she sipped more of her hot frothy drink.

  “Too true I guess,” Beth said reluctant to agree. Looking at it that way it did seem a bit of an anticlimax. She smiled. Who was she kidding? Having the business up and running was a thrill. Now all they could wish for was the police to do their job, solve the murders and life would be good. Beth sat back. Surely there had to be an easy answer to the murder?

  “It just seems that there must be as simple an answer to Brian’s death as there was to the business,” Vickie said setting down her cup taking the thoughts right out of Beth’s head.

  “How do you figure that?” Beth asked. Maybe Vickie could shed some light on what was bugging Beth about the whole murder. The detective seemed determined to make it a complicated case but did it have to be? Maybe the answer was right in front of their noses but nobody was paying attention. Beth decided that she and Vickie needed to figure out what happened before the detectives let it get out of hand. If they didn’t at least look in the right direction no one else seemed like they would.

  “Well, for the business to work out all we needed was that one contact, Stephen Wilash, to make an order,” Vickie leaned forward to explain.

  “We always said we just needed one purchase.” Beth agreed. It had been, in the end, a simple solution to a simple problem.

  “Yeah but it was all about timing and the right person. Put the two together and the business is up and running. Everything else was in there but we needed that one crucial piece for it all to work,” Vickie went on. Beth was content to let her as it might make things clear in her own mind.

  “So you’re saying that Brian’s murder is the same?” Beth said trying to get Vickie to explain in more detail. Nothing yet was clicking into place. There had to be a simple answer.

  “We’re missing one crucial piece,” Vickie said “One thing that would make sense of the whole thing.”

  “Yes,” Beth replied nodding. That made sense although it didn’t help them get closer to finding out who did it. “We’re missing the murderer,” she said looking pensively out the window.

  “Right,” Vickie agreed and continued leaning closer to her sister. “But the police aren’t finding the right piece. Instead they seem determined to link you or anyone else remotely guilty looking to it. That’s not how it works,” Vickie paused. “They have to find the right piece or they’ll never solve the murder.”

  “Don’t remind me,” Beth groaned and waved over a waitress, it was time to ask for the bill. This wasn’t getting them anywhere. She still couldn’t figure out who would kill Brian and why the police couldn’t find the culprit. Never mind she decided, it was time to get back into the real world and get working on their order. The sooner everything was delivered the sooner the invoice would be paid and the sooner they could make their loan payment.

  “But don’t you see? It means that there is a piece missing. They have lots of people who didn’t like Brian but no one that was particularly standing out as the person who did it,” Vickie was earnestly trying to explain. Beth sighed and sat back ordering another couple of coffees. It didn’t look like they were going to leave until Vickie had had her say.

  “All that means is that the murder covered their tracks,” Beth said frustrated. She didn’t like being the murder suspect anymore then Vickie liked her being suspected but there was nothing she could do about it until the police found the guilty person. So much for something simple to solve the whole thing.

  “No what it means is that we haven’t seen something to put it into the puzzle,” Vickie put her hand over Beth’s to get her attention. “Who would really want him dead and why? Brian owed a lot of money but the people he owed wouldn’t want him dead. They had a chance of getting their money back with him alive and the business working. Now they have no chance at all. Who else would want to do it?”

  “You mean we’re missing a motive,” Beth said focusing on what Vickie was saying as it started to turn over in her mind. “Why kill Brian? It seems a really drastic thing to do unless, well…”

  “Unless it was more personal then money,” Vickie finished.

  “Exactly,” murmured Beth thinking about it.

  “It had to be more then that,” Vickie said with a flourish.

  “Like an ex-wife or a dumped girlfriend,” Beth thought. “He had plenty of each but I don’t see any of them breaking a nail to do it.”

  “No I agree. That doesn’t feel right. If it were a crime of passion then surely it would have been done in the spur of the moment. There would be some evidence for the police. They wouldn’t be chasing you if they had more evidence,” Vickie agreed. “We have to look at what doesn’t fit. Think about the flat. Was there anything there that seemed out of place,” she asked.

  “Everything was the same,” Beth said helplessly. She could feel they were getting closer but couldn’t for the life of her figure out what it was. So they figured it wasn’t someone Brian owed money to and it wasn’t one of the exes. Who did that leave? She thought about the flat as she and Karin had seen it. “It didn’t look any different then usual. It was just spotless,” she explained. She talked Vickie through exactly what she and Karin had seen from the minute they went into the flat. The sisters fell into an uneasy silence as they thought. What were they missing?

  “Well who cleaned it up?” Vickie asked suddenly looking up at her sister.

  “The housekeeper was the one to find him so she probably did,” Beth said vaguely thinking what about what else she could have missed from the flat.

  “Everything?” Vickie asked slowly as she thought about it. “The bathroom and kitchen, yes but what about his stuff?”

  “What do you mean?” sipping her coffee, Beth sat back to try and understand where Vickie was going with it. It was obvious that her sister was spending most of her spare time in front of the daytime detective shows. Some of it seemed to be rubbing off on her which given the situation was no bad thing Beth decided.

  “There is no way that Brian could have kept the place as neat as you say it was. Remember the last time we were there? He liked having his papers and his charts and his diary out in the open to show off. We both know that. Brian liked his stuff around and there is no way that any housekeeper worth her salt would have touched it without his permission. You’re saying that everything was neatly put away. That doesn’t sound like Brian,” Vickie rushed to explain. She paused, “There had to be a reason someone cleaned up like maybe they were looking for something.”

  “Or maybe,” Beth said struck, “They were taking something away and didn’t want anyone to know.” That seemed far to simple an answer.

  “Nothing was missing was it? The detective would have said something if it were a robbery. Something like that would be the missing piece. The motive,” Vickie said confused.

  “Nothing of obvious value was missing,” Beth agreed nodding in agreement and trying to stop herself from getting excited. A piece had just fallen into place in her mind. “But something was missing that was back by the time we left his flat the next day.”

  “The paperwork,” Vickie said sitting up in her chair and sliding her empty coffee cup to the side. The two sisters stared at each other. Could that be it?

  “It’s the only thing I can think of,” Beth replied.

  “But there was nothing in the paperwork,” Vickie was exasperated and she was right. There was nothing in the paperwork, nothing that they could see anyway.

  “No but did the person who took it have time to look through it? Did they have time to find out? And maybe what they were looking for wasn’t in there,” Beth said as she thought it through.

  “What do you mean?” Vickie asked.

  “We were calling the office making pests of ourselves asking
for the papers. Anne must have had someone start looking for the files in the office. Everyone knows everyone else’s business there so it wouldn’t have been a secret from anybody that we were looking for it. It would only be a matter of time before someone went upstairs to Brian’s flat to look for the paperwork if they couldn’t find it in the office. The murderer knew the paperwork they took the night of the murder was what we were looking for,” It was Beth’s turn to explain.

  “So?” Vickie didn’t look like she knew where Beth was going with this.

  “Well if Anne hadn’t found it in the office or in his flat, she would have raised the alarm that something was missing. She knew Brian as well as we did and it was no secret that he liked to have his papers around him. There is no way they would have been anywhere else. Even if she didn’t think it was serious enough to raise the alarm, at the very least she would have told us and we would have said something to the police,” it made sense to Beth. Whoever put it back would have done it to try and cover their tracks either after they took what they want or because what they wanted wasn’t there.

  “So they had to put it back,” Vickie finished quietly. Her eyes were wide open as she took it all in. Around them people shifted in and out of the warm as they had their coffees and cakes.

  “Exactly,” Beth finished satisfied.

  “It would prove that it must be someone from the office. Why else would anyone return the papers or even know that we were looking for them?” Vickie pondered it. It was a simple explanation and one the detectives had probably not looked into. It seemed to simple to actually be true but there was no other way to take into account both Brian’s murder and the missing paperwork. It also conveniently linked in Tina’s murder. She also worked in the office. Had she seen or known something that had got her killed Beth wondered.

  “You’re right. We need to shake them up again. Anything to get them to make a mistake,” Beth said with a grin to her sister. “I think we need to give back the stuff that isn’t ours.”

  “How will that help?” Vickie smiled back sure that Beth was coming up with another plan.

  “Well if we make a big deal about the fact that we found our paperwork but the police want it for the investigation. Maybe we leave the box in the reception for Joseph to pick it up for fingerprinting or something,” Beth suggested taking the last sip of her coffee. She was wired. Too much caffeine and now she was going to be bouncing off the walls.

  “Sneaky. And then?” Vickie asked.

  “Well someone might just panic and try to do something about the box. All we have to do is drop Joseph Serrate a line to get him to watch who takes the box. About time he did something for us,” shrugging, Beth paid the bill and the two sisters got up.

  “All we have to do is say that there is paperwork being checked for clues and the detective is looking into it,” Vickie agreed. “It won’t that make us a target will it?”

  “They’ve had it before. All we have to do is leave it somewhere they can get to it before the detectives pick it up. All we really need is for someone to panic and do something stupid for the police to take notice,” Beth said helping Vickie get her arms into the wool jacket she had draped over her chair. It was cool enough to need the protection. Beth wrapped a long multicoloured scarf around her own neck to ward off the chill.

  “At the very least it might get the police looking in the right direction,” Beth said over the noise of buses and the sheer mass of people. It sounded like a mad idea but it might just work. It was also all that they had. She couldn’t think of anything else that might help get the detectives off their backs.

  Arriving home the sisters put their plan into action. Beth wasn’t sure that it was going to make any difference but it felt good to be doing something positive. Everything else was fitting in to her life, the company was up and running. David, well David seemed to be hanging around. Beth didn’t want to look too closely at his motives for staying. She just enjoyed his company and maybe just maybe this would turn into something wonderful.

  Beth grabbed the paperwork from the box that was meant to go back to the office. She headed into the kitchen with Vickie and ten minutes after arriving home, Vickie was calling Anne. They had decided that in her ultra efficient way Anne would spread the word. By evening everyone would know the sisters were dropping off a sampling of their paperwork at the office so that the detectives wanted to check it for fingerprints. That, the twins decided, would get someone worried. Hopefully enough to make some mistake to get some notice. In the meantime, they would send back the papers that weren’t theirs. It should if nothing else prove to whoever heard the news that they had seen the papers from under the bed.

  Anne had been very surprised to hear that they had retrieved the paperwork themselves and sounded very distracted when Vickie explained the story. Still knowing how efficient Anne was, Beth had no doubt that she would organise a reception for the material before the hour was out.

  Beth then made a call to Joseph but got his passive associate instead. She explained what they were doing and asked if the detectives could be so kind to pick up the papers if someone hadn’t beaten him to the punch. If the box was still there then all he had to do was pick it up Beth suggested. If someone had taken it they would have to get rid of the paperwork somehow so perhaps keeping a watch might help? Not that she was telling them how to do their job of course but maybe, she suggested, they might find a lead. There was so little response on the other end of the phone that Beth wasn’t sure what she had said had actually sunk in. By the time he thanked her and hung up Beth was sure he hadn’t been too impressed with her amateur sleuthing. She took heart though. He had agreed to ‘look into the matter’ as he so quietly put it before he hung up. Well it was worth a try she figured. It really couldn’t hurt.

  Chapter 35

  “You made it!” Beth exclaimed, hugging Bee and her fiancé Ken as they arrived. The two grinned happily back at her with the glow of soon to be newly weds. Thanks to Beth and David’s early disappearance at Brian’s funeral no one had got around to celebrating the demise of the twin’s company. Instead, less then a day later, the friends arranged to meet in order to celebrate the unofficial start of the new lingerie line. In usual chaotic fashion they agreed to eat at a local Chinese restaurant where their merriment was less likely to be frowned upon. There was a great deal to celebrate. With the first orders for the lingerie in, the bank had pronounced itself satisfied that the payment would be made against the loan and were willing to wait for the money to credit the account before collecting. It was just the news the twins had needed to hear and they along with everyone else decided to celebrate in style.

  “We wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Ken said as Bee gave a beaming smile next to him. Ken was a slight man who was keenly intelligent and had a quiet way about him that made it easy to have him around. As always he was unfailingly polite and watched Bee with adoring eyes. Beth liked him. She couldn’t wait to watch the two of them finally tie the knot. The wedding was just days away Beth realised shaking her head and they were here for dinner. It just seemed unbelievable but then Bee was always calm and collected. Not even her own upcoming wedding was fazing her.

  Bee tugged off her jacket and Beth burst into laughter. David looked up from where he was chatting with his friend and smiled in response. It looked like Beth wasn’t the only one who had decided that it was the most appropriate occasion to wear one of their creations. Bee had put on a sheer white top that made the black crisscross bra she was wearing stand out for all its glory.

  “Greetings everyone!” Charlotte called as she came sweeping into the restaurant followed closely by a nervous looking fellow with thinning brown hair. Beth and Bee turned in unison and hugged the latest arrival. Charlotte had arrived sporting a similar dress sense and as she shed her jacket, Beth realised that the restaurant wasn’t going to know what hit it. Underneath all the arriving sensible scarves and jackets were breasts framed in colours and textures overflowing every wh
ich way from plunging tops and chiffon numbers. Everyone had come out in style.

  “It looks like Chinese New Year has come early,” David murmured in her ear as he came up behind her and Beth could feel him smile against her ear. They watched the waitresses giggling as they ushered in each newcomer.

  “It’s a feast for the eyes isn’t it?” Beth said with a delighted laugh. “One the men in particular seemed to appreciate.” Looking around at their friends there were smiles everywhere as everyone complimented one another on their outfits. David gave a deep laugh, he was obviously enjoying it as much as she was and together they turned their attention to saying hello to Charlotte’s date.

  Beth was surprised, to be honest, that Charlotte had brought her latest date along. This long into a relationship, a week or so, Charlotte would normally be grinding her teeth and treating all the friends to a detailed description of the man’s faults. Beth couldn’t believe it had lasted this long as the guy didn’t seem to be that inspiring. She raised an eyebrow at Charlotte and had to restrain herself from hooting out loud. Given the look in Charlotte’s eye there was no way the relationship such as it was would last much longer. Charlotte caught her look and shrugged with a grin. She was never going to change. Beth smiled.

  “Let’s sit,” Beth said ushering everyone toward the table to settle in. Karin wasn’t there yet but without a doubt she would turn up. David’s friends had all arrived on time and were making a real effort to get to know everyone else there. Beth looked around as she sat down and realised that they formed a jolly group of people. As a whole they were drawing smiles from the tables near them and the staff were still wide eyed and grinning at the variety of outfits. Everyone was in good spirits and Beth settled in to have fun. There was a general chatter as everyone else got comfortable as well and a buzz filled the air.