Wicked Beauty

by Susan Lewis

  Her eyes were starting to show panic. ‘Well who else?’ she demanded. ‘He was in her flat, and she’s the one who’s missing now, so isn’t it reasonable to think she did it?’

  He nodded as though agreeing. ‘Where did you go when you left the party that night, Mrs Hendon?’ he said suddenly.

  Her face instantly drained. ‘What?’ she said, her voice barely more than a whisper.

  ‘Where did you go when you left the party?’ he repeated.

  ‘I came home,’ she answered, shakily. ‘I’ve already told you. I came straight home.’

  ‘But you have no alibi.’

  A cold sweat was breaking out on her skin as she looked at him. Footprints of a smaller shoe size, dark hair … ‘You said … DCI Bartle said that I was not a suspect.’

  His smile was small.

  She stared at him in horror. The tide was turning. ‘Why … why do you think I would do it?’ she stammered. ‘I loved my husband …’

  ‘I’m sure you did.’

  ‘It’s the truth!’ she cried.

  ‘What is your shoe size?’

  ‘Five,’ she answered, her eyes bulging with fear.

  He continued to look at her, then, treating her to an almost avuncular smile, he said, ‘If Miss Sumner were to contact you, you would tell us, wouldn’t you?’

  She stared at him in amazement. ‘Why would she contact me?’ she said, her voice rising with incredulity.

  ‘Or if Mr Koehler were to get in touch. You would let us know, I’m sure.’

  A horrible sense of foreboding was starting to smother her mind, making it hard to think, though she was in no doubt now that they knew a great deal more than they were telling. ‘Why would he get in touch?’ she demanded. ‘I don’t know him, I have no reason to believe my husband did either, so maybe you could tell me why you’re asking these questions.’

  Getting to his feet he said, ‘I’m doing everything I can to help you, Mrs Hendon, but you’re not making it easy.’

  ‘What on earth is that supposed to mean?’ she cried angrily.

  ‘I mean that you’re holding back on your husband’s connections to the Phraxos Group,’ he stated.

  ‘I’m telling you that I didn’t know he had any,’ she said through her teeth. ‘But if you’re telling me he did, then I want to know what they were, because it sounds to me as though you’re making some very serious insinuations.’

  ‘Indeed I am,’ he agreed, ‘because it would be highly irregular, to say the least, for a man in his position to have any financial connections at all to a company that specializes in defence investments. But I’m sure you know that.’

  ‘Of course I know that,’ she said bitterly.

  ‘Though it was you, I believe, who introduced Katherine Sumner to your husband?’

  Her head was spinning. ‘And just what are you insinuating now?’ she demanded.

  His eyes were almost hawk-like in their intensity as he said, ‘That is the case, isn’t it?’

  ‘As far as I knew, Katherine Sumner’s relationship with Franz Koehler had ended over a year before she joined us,’ she told him hotly. ‘But even if it hadn’t, there’s no crime in using a professional campaign manager to do the job she does, regardless of who she’s involved with or related to.’

  His expression showed cynicism, but after a few more tense moments of staring directly into her eyes, he obviously decided not to take it any further and said, ‘You know where to get hold of me if there’s anything else you’d like to tell me.’

  He was almost at the door when she realized she hadn’t asked the most obvious question of all. ‘I take it you’ve contacted Franz Koehler to find out if he knows where Katherine Sumner is?’

  He looked back over his shoulder. ‘Certainly we’ve been in touch with Mr Koehler,’ he replied. ‘Though he’s claiming that he doesn’t know where Katherine Sumner is either.’

  ‘And you believe him?’

  ‘Would I have any reason not to?’

  She stared at him, stunned by the question. ‘I have no idea,’ she said.

  His smile effectively conveyed his disbelief, then after wishing her a good day, he left.

  Half an hour later Rachel was sitting in the conservatory with Anna and Rose Newman whose crinkled, rather stern, features were magically transformed into a vision of loveliness whenever she smiled. However, at that moment, the piercing shrewdness of her pale grey eyes was dominating her expression, as she considered what Rachel had just told them about her meeting with Haynes.

  Anna was watching her closely, waiting for her response, while carefully masking how shaken she was by the way Rachel had been informed that she might actually be a suspect herself now. In the end, unnerved by Rose’s failure to take the umbrage she’d expected, she said to Rachel, ‘They can’t seriously think you had anything to do with it. It’s absurd. It doesn’t make any sense at all.’

  Coming out of her reverie Rose said, ‘Actually, they probably don’t.’ She looked at Rachel. ‘But I think you understand why they’re not going to eliminate you entirely from their inquiries?’

  ‘The Ashby Affair,’ Rachel said.

  ‘Not quite the same thing as we’re talking about here, it’s true,’ Rose conceded, ‘but it’s still a case of cherchez la femme and as they were burned once by a wife, they’re not going to let it happen again.’

  Rachel glanced at Anna, then back to Rose as she continued.

  ‘The fallout from that scandal is still being felt, as we all know, because it virtually devastated the party, and it’s really only thanks to the weakness of the Opposition that they’re still in power – and, of course, to the likes of Tim, and our current leader, who were promising to bring new hope and new focus to the future.’ She took a sip of her tea, then replaced the cup carefully in its saucer. ‘I’ve lost count now of how many fortunes were lost, and careers ruined thanks to the party’s involvement with that syndicate of billionaire powerbrokers,’ she said, ‘and God knows how many of them have been sent to prison already. The amazing thing was, that it never seemed to occur to any one of them, until it was too late, that far from being a politically motivated murder that was going to expose their corruption, it was no more complicated, and indeed no less tragic, than a wife reaching the end of her tether with her husband’s infidelity. So they’ll never make the mistake of ruling the wife out again – especially when this particular wife, namely you, Rachel, doesn’t have an alibi.’

  ‘Or a motive,’ Anna pointed out, still bristling in Rachel’s defence.

  ‘The mistress,’ Rose reminded her. ‘I’m sorry,’ she added, seeing Rachel blanch, ‘but that’s the way they’ll be seeing it.’

  ‘But I wasn’t there, so there can’t be any evidence even to suggest it,’ Rachel said.

  ‘It sounds as though your shoe size counted in your favour,’ Rose said, ‘and they’ve obviously got your DNA anyway, so they’ll run tests, because they have to. Then this little bit of nastiness should be over.’ She gazed meditatively down at her teacup. ‘In my opinion,’ she said, ‘based on everything you’ve just told me, what it’s really about is Tim’s connection to this Franz Koehler, whatever that might be.’

  ‘The police have all his files,’ Rachel said, ‘and all our computers, even Lucy’s, so it’s not going to be easy to find out. We should have new laptops within the next couple of days, so I should be able to get online to do some research into the Phraxos Group – and who else, if anyone, in that impenetrable department Tim detested so much, has links to it, because I’m damned sure we’re going to find that someone does.’

  Rose was nodding distractedly. ‘You know, what I’m finding particularly curious,’ she said, ‘is the fact that they seem to think either Katherine, or this chap Koehler, might contact you.’ Her eyes came up to Rachel’s. ‘I take it neither of them have.’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Rachel answered. ‘There was a call, on my personal mobile, a few days ago, but Nigel answered and whoever it was
rang off without speaking. And then there was the call to Michael Jarrett, our lawyer, about the Swiss bank account. We still don’t know who that was from.’

  Rose pursed her lips as she thought some more.

  ‘What about telling the police about the money?’ Rachel said after a while. ‘Do you think I should?’

  ‘I must admit, when you first mentioned it I thought so,’ Rose told her, ‘but you’re right, it does give you some good bargaining power, should this anonymous person contact you again, so I’d be inclined to wait a while, see if that happens, and then take it from there.’

  Rachel glanced at Anna again, then back to Rose as she continued.

  ‘I’m intrigued by this other person who was supposed to be in the flat,’ she said. ‘We know it wasn’t you, and apparently the shoe doesn’t fit Franz Koehler, so who was it? Surely not someone from Tim’s department.’ She frowned as she looked at Rachel. ‘Do you think they’d go that far?’

  ‘I don’t know what they’re capable of,’ she responded.

  ‘Did Katherine have a particularly close friendship with any of them, that you know of?’

  Rachel shook her head.

  ‘What about her brother,’ Anna piped up. ‘Might it have been him at the flat?’

  Rose looked at her in surprise. ‘The brother’s dead,’ she stated. ‘He committed suicide about six years ago. I thought you’d know that. It’s been in the papers.’

  Rachel looked shocked. ‘I don’t remember seeing that in the file,’ she said. ‘And Katherine certainly never mentioned it.’

  Rose shrugged, then looked at Anna’s mobile as it started to ring.

  ‘It’s Robert,’ Anna said, reading the display. ‘I’ll be right back,’ and getting up she went outside into the garden.

  ‘Would you like some more?’ Rachel offered, as Rose drained the last of her tea.

  ‘No, that’s fine, thanks,’ Rose replied, putting her cup down. Then after watching Anna stroll over to the fountain, she turned back and looked directly at Rachel. ‘Before we go any further,’ she said, ‘there’s something I should have told you at the outset, about me and the programme’s current commitments, and, I guess, its current dynamics.’

  Rachel’s face started to drain.

  Rose smiled. ‘It’s OK,’ she assured her. ‘We’re certainly going to help you, there’s no question about that, it’s simply that I, personally, have already committed to an Amnesty project that’s going to see me in South East Asia for most of the summer. However,’ she rushed on, ‘make no mistake, if I thought I could do a better job than my partner, I’d arrange a swap right now and take this on myself. But she’s exactly the person you need on this. In fact I can’t think of anyone more suited. I don’t think you’ve ever met her, in fact I know you haven’t, because she told me so. You’ll have heard of her, though, and I’m only sorry that she couldn’t come with me today. She wanted to, but there was just no way she could get back in time.’

  Rachel’s eyes were closing, at the crushing disappointment of losing first Nigel and now Rose. It felt as if everyone was deserting her, and she hardly knew where to turn next.

  ‘OK, from your lack of enthusiasm I can see that you really don’t know who my partner is these days.’ Rose said, chirpily.

  Rachel was not sure she even wanted to know.

  ‘If I said the name Laurie Forbes, would that mean anything to you?’

  Rachel’s eyes immediately widened. ‘You mean the Laurie Forbes?’ she said. ‘One of the lead reporters on the Ashby case?’

  Rose nodded. ‘She’s been with me for about eighteen months now, in fact, more or less since the whole Ashby thing erupted, so who better to take this on?’

  Rachel was still taking it in, finding it hard to adapt to the idea of confiding in someone she didn’t know, even if it was the woman who, together with another legendary reporter, Elliot Russell, had exposed more than a dozen corrupt politicians, and sent at least a handful of billionaires to jail with their earth-shattering exposés of currency and investment scams. And it had all come to light thanks to Laurie Forbes’s dogged pursuit of the truth.

  ‘Is she willing to take it on?’ Rachel asked.

  Rose smiled. ‘Of course. Show me a reporter who wouldn’t be.’

  Rachel’s eyes remained on hers as more details of the Ashby affair began resurfacing in her mind. After a while it started to make her feel strangely light-headed, almost as though she was losing her nerve. ‘In the Ashby case,’ she said quietly in the end, ‘as we all know now, it turned out to be the wife who’d committed the murder.’ Her eyes were still very intently on Rose’s. ‘I swear to you, that didn’t happen here.’

  Rose reached for her hand. ‘I know,’ she said gently. ‘In fact, what concerns me more is how prepared you are to find out that your wonderful husband might not have been the paragon we all took him for.’

  A cold vacuum opened up inside Rachel as she almost physically shied away from the notion, even though she knew already that she’d probably have to face it, especially the way it was all starting to look now.

  Rose’s voice was solemn, but still firm, as she said, ‘There’s something missing from all we’ve discussed so far, and though it pains me even to mention it, it can’t be ignored.’ She waited for Rachel to look at her. ‘You know what I’m talking about.’

  Rachel took a breath. ‘Terrorism,’ she said.

  Rose nodded.

  ‘I know there are a thousand theories abounding in the press,’ Rachel said, ‘but there’s truly not been anything even to suggest it. Or nothing that I know of anyway, and it doesn’t exactly bear any hallmarks, does it?’

  ‘Maybe not, but I read that it was the Anti-Terrorist chaps who emptied his offices.’

  ‘His position would dictate that,’ Rachel responded.

  Rose was willing to concede that point, since it would be true of any senior-ranking politician in such circumstances. ‘Has anyone from the Anti-Terrorist Branch questioned you?’ she asked.

  ‘No. Which is why I’m presuming that there’s nothing to worry about.’ She looked at Rose again. ‘Katherine doesn’t exactly fit the profile of a terrorist,’ she reminded her.

  ‘And since she’s been so close to so many US politicians in her career,’ Rose continued, ‘she’s probably had more background checks than half the Senate put together. But I had to bring it up.’

  ‘Of course,’ Rachel said. Her eyes and heart were growing as heavy as the intrigue itself as Anna came back inside.

  ‘Are you OK?’ Anna said.

  ‘Just tired,’ Rachel answered. Then to Rose, ‘I’m pregnant,’ she told her.

  ‘Oh my dear,’ Rose murmured, her expression showing how deeply she felt for the joy and tragedy of that news. ‘I had no idea. My goodness, what a very difficult time this is for you.’

  Rachel looked at Anna. ‘How’s Robert?’ she said.

  Anna forced a smile. ‘Fine,’ she answered. Then to Rose, ‘So where are we? What do we need to do next?’

  After telling her about Laurie Forbes, Rose said, ‘This is probably where I should bow out to go and prepare a report for Laurie who’s in the States right now, so has probably already made a start, knowing her. She’s due back at the beginning of next week, by the way. In the meantime, I don’t want any of us to underestimate the kind of brains that could be at work here, because they’ll be so convoluted, and brilliant, they’ll make a chessmaster’s look about as cunning as a tiddlywink.’

  Rachel’s face was losing its colour, as the dreaded fatigue began smothering her like a fog. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, putting a hand to her head as a dizzy spell blurred her vision. ‘I’m just … It comes over me like this sometimes.’

  ‘Don’t worry, I understand,’ Rose assured her. ‘How far along are you?’

  ‘Fourteen weeks. I went for a scan yesterday.’ Her heart was suddenly heavier than she could bear as she recalled her first glimpse of Tim’s child. That he hadn’t been the
re to share such a special and momentous occasion was probably one of the hardest, and cruellest, moments she’d known since his death. ‘When can I meet Laurie Forbes?’ she asked, clinging to Anna’s hand as it closed over hers.

  ‘As soon as she’s back,’ Rose answered. ‘But I can give you her contact numbers if you want to get in touch before.’

  Rachel looked at her sister.

  ‘OK,’ Anna said, getting to her feet. ‘I think that’s enough for today.’

  Having no will left to resist, Rachel stood up too, then embraced Rose warmly. ‘Thanks for coming,’ she said.

  Rose smiled, and touched her cheek. ‘Take care of that baby,’ she said softly, ‘and leave the rest to us. Or I should say, to one rather gifted reporter.’

  It was early the following evening when Anna let herself quietly into Rachel’s darkened bedroom and went to sit on the edge of the bed.

  ‘Are you awake?’ she whispered, her heart turning over at the sight of her sister virtually wrapped in her dead husband’s clothes.

  ‘Yes,’ Rachel answered, not moving.

  Anna put a hand on her shoulder. This was the first time she’d left her alone for a day, and now, seeing her like this, the guilt and concern were crushing.

  ‘How are the girls?’ Rachel said.

  ‘They’re fine. They send their love. How are you?’

  Rachel’s voice was shredded with pain as she said, ‘I can’t get rid of his things, Anna. I just can’t. I was going through them, and I could smell him …’

  ‘Ssh, it’s OK, you don’t have to,’ Anna assured her, stroking her hair, as she bunched one of Tim’s shirts in tighter to her face.

  Finally she rolled on to her back, allowing Anna to see the utter devastation of her face. ‘All this talk, all this scheming with Rose, and Laurie Forbes, it’s getting us nowhere,’ she said. ‘We still don’t know where Katherine is and she’s the key to it all.’ She gasped and sobbed. ‘I’m becoming consumed by her, Anna,’ she confessed. ‘I can hardly think about anything else. Even when I’m thinking about Tim, she’s there, destroying my memories, making a mockery of everything we had. I just can’t bear it that she was the last one to see him, to touch him, to … I hate her, Anna. I hate her like I’ve never hated anyone in my life.’