by Emily Selby
'Soaked!' Julia moaned climbing into the Micra. 'And you said it'd be a nice day, remember?' Her voice brimmed with reproach.
Katie blinked. She had no recollection of making comments about the weather that morning, but she could have just used one of her 'oh-just-hurry-up-for-goodness'-sake' tricks.
'I'm sorry, darling,' Katie said watching her daughter buckle her seatbelt. 'I must have got it wrong.'
'Again!' Julia was clearly in a bad mood.' You got it wrong last week, too. I was boiling in that winter coat.'
Katie closed her eyes to hide the urge to roll them. It wasn't a good moment to remind her daughter that coats were easily removable. 'How about I make you hot cocoa and we'll do something nice before dinner?' she offered instead.
Julia lifted her head. Her long, strawberry blond hair was sticking to her wet face looking sad, but her eyes shone. 'Like what?'
'Whatever you fancy,' Katie said, ignoring her heart dropping heavily onto her stomach. 'I mean, within reason, and assuming you do your homework after dinner without complaints.'
'Okay,' Julia replied. 'How about we do some arts and crafts? We haven't done any for ages.'
'No, we haven't,' Katie said slowly, pushing aside the picture of the previous murder that happened close to their Paper Crafts Club. She turned the ignition key, and the engine's rumble filled the uncomfortable silence.
'You said you were learning origami,' Julia said.
No, origami wasn't much easier to talk about...
'Julia, honey, do you remember our last attempts at the simplest origami?' Katie said and chuckled, but it came out hollow.
'I thought that nice lady at the hotel was helping you learn. You said she was going to teach you on Monday...'
Poor Julia, she'd never told her about Amanda.
'Oh, we didn't meet, I'm afraid,' Katie said as lightly as she could. 'But maybe I could try again. How about we give it another go at home?' Katie rushed to add, keen to shift the focus. 'She's given me a packet of special origami paper.'
'Sounds great! I'll find the book we tried to use last time. Or maybe you'll look for some videos on really easy origami?'
They both laughed. The "easy origami" had become their own inside joke. No matter how many times they watched "easy origami" tutorials or followed book instructions, trying to make a simple folded shape never turned out the way it was supposed to.
At home, Katie let Julia set the kitchen table with arts and crafts supplies, as well as a couple of books with origami, while she prepared the cocoa.
A few minutes later they were both busy folding, unfolding and laughing at their results. It was a lovely, relaxing time. Katie even managed to forget about the case, but just as Julia headed off to her bedroom to do her homework, Katie's phone rang.
It was Jack. She sneaked out to the hallway.
'I thought you may want to know I'm thinking of arresting someone. Dare to guess who?'
Katie opened her mouth to say it was a no-brainer, but she let out a long "mhmh..." instead. 'I would say, given what I've heard from Mr Rychter, it's him, but that would be too obvious and not worth the call, wouldn't it?' she replied,
'Good deduction,' he said, chuckling, 'but he's not quite off my suspect list yet.'
'To be honest, I'm still struggling with him. I'm not convinced I can start trusting him, yet I feel there isn't a mean bone in his body,' Katie said, probably more to herself than to Jack. Yeah, that'd about sum up her feelings about Waldi.
'Who's your number one suspect then?' Jack asked. Katie shifted from foot to foot. Why was he avoiding simply telling her what had happened?
'Well, despite their iron-clad alibi, I still think it's Hamish and/or his friend. Their alibi could easily have been fabricated.'
It could have,' Jack agreed. 'I'd love to lay my hands on their fingerprints, by the way.'
'What about the New Zealand police? Haven't they got back to you?'
'It's been such a crazy mess,' he said, with a hint of annoyance in his voice. 'So far, I've asked them for help in finding Amanda's mum, but you may be right. Now, I've got one of these sorted, I'll use my credit to get them to help with these two camper van travellers.'
Katie pricked her ears. 'What? You've got what sorted?'
'I've talked to Amanda's mum.'
Katie's heart flipped.
'Why didn't you tell me?'
'I've just talked to her.'
'It must be insanely early in New Zealand?'
'It is. Apparently, she suffers from insomnia. I was checking my Skype account and saw a message from her confirming she was online, so I called her.'
'And?' Katie cut in.
'It was a short chat because she had to calm down after the shock of the news of her daughter's death. But among many complaints about Amanda completely ignoring her for years, and not caring about her at all, she gave me a little nugget of information.'
'You're dragging it out on purpose, aren't you?' Katie drawled.
'No, I'm giving you a chance to guess.'
'Are you?' Katie tried to reduce the amount of sarcasm she originally intended for this question. 'Okay, give me a clue.'
'An old friend.'
Katie inhaled sharply. 'Hang on. Let me think it through,' she rattled, her mind spinning. 'Her mother would be in her fifties at least, so the age would work. Waldi said she was a bit of a diva, dramatic type, which also would fit. Did she know Mr McBride by any chance?'
'Well done, Katie,' Jack's voice brimmed with pride. 'She was quite evasive on that, and even tried to change topics when I pushed, but admitted that indeed, she used to work for a certain Alistair McBride back in the early nineties. And I had the distinct impression that Ms Jones', or whatever her current name is, might have known your boss in the biblical sense as well...'
'Whoa! That's news. So, I guess you're going to arrest McBride now. You've got my notes from his bank statements, haven't you?'
'Ha! Yes, thanks. You were spot on. Those withdrawals you marked correspond to the amount of money found in Amanda's safe. Furthermore, the graphological analysis, which I've just got back, confirms that McBride is the likely author of the compliment slip. And' - he paused, no doubt for dramatic effect -'we've also found a number of discrepancies between the hotel’s occupancy records and its accounts. There have been a few guests staying for free and enjoying top-class hospitality.'
'So, you've got enough to arrest him?'
'I've got enough to suspect he might have had a reason for wanting Amanda dead, assuming she was the person who'd discovered the cooked books. But obviously he's going to deny everything, and we haven't got anything to support the hypothesis at this stage. So, I'm going to try to encourage him to have a more honest conversation with me, under the threat of being arrested. And I'd like his wife to be there as well.'
'That sounds quite elaborate and not very textbook like. Not fair.'
'No, it's not fair. And neither is paying your employees under the table, running some of the hotel transactions outside the official channels, gift-giving and favour-trading with local politicians, and - this may be the most interesting although not very significant-looking, employing people without going through the proper process of checking their qualifications and references. His daughter is back and fuming. She's just discovered that McBride falsified some of Amanda's personal records.'
'Whoa, whoa, whoa!' Katie stuttered, catching her breath. 'I've got a child to look after tonight. You should be more measured in feeding me all this information. My brain's about to explode!'
'Oh, sorry,' he said meekly. 'It's been a whirlwind. I just spent an interesting hour with Ellen McBride. And to just give you the highlights. She was furious when her father employed Amanda because they didn't need a receptionist at that time. They were planning to employ someone after the New Year, and, quote-unquote, "He jumped and hired that girl without proper qualifications."'
'Did Ellen say anything about Amanda being bad at her job?' Katie couldn't hel
p her curiosity.
'No. She actually said that fortunately Amanda prove to be quite good. But Ellen has been suspicious of her.'
'It looks like he really wanted to employ her.' Katie said slowly. 'Now, it makes more sense.'
'It surely does.'
Katie chewed on her cheek. Did Jack see it, too?
Forget the fraud and bribing politicians to support him in his electoral campaign. Having an illegitimate child was a much more of a gossip fodder in Sunnyvale!
'Do you think she told him?' Katie asked still running the checks through her head.
'Who told whom what?' Jack asked.
'Amanda told Mr McBride, of course.'
'Told him what?'
Katie cleared her throat. 'Well, you see... if he hired Amanda because he wanted, and it wasn't because he fancied her ...' Katie paused and flinched. The theory, she never supported anyway, was now quickly disappearing into the horizon. 'Maybe he offered her the job because she hinted that she might be his daughter.'
'What?' Jack burst out.
Katie repeated her last sentence a little slower. There was a silence at the other end of the line. Katie could hear Jack's breathing for a good twenty seconds.
'I see...' he said eventually. 'Incidentally, we've got her birth certificate, and it reads "father unknown," but I see where you're coming from. What did you say about being more careful and not overwhelming people with information?'
Katie laughed. 'That's how I've been feeling throughout this case. So, what you're going to do with this new information?'
'The McBrides are coming in again tomorrow morning. I’ll use the new facts to add pressure. Changing the subject, how are you doing?'
'Just finished trying to do some origami with Julia. It was quite fun, even though we didn't manage to get anything done.'
'Is it really so difficult?' he asked, a note of incredulity in his tone. 'You must show me next time.'
'Please, don't make me, unless you want to have a laugh. We didn't even bother using the proper paper. We just played with the scraps we had at home. It's a shame I never had the chance to learn from Amanda,' Katie's voice broke, and she swiped at the tear that rolled down her cheek. 'I've got to go, darling. I need to cook dinner for Julia. What are you eating tonight?'
'Whatever my mum makes for dinner. Sorry, I can't come around tonight. I need to go over the evidence for tomorrow and talk to the fraud unit. But I'll see you tomorrow morning, okay?'
'Of course,' Katie replied, still a little distracted by her thoughts about Amanda's death and the news about Mr McBride being potentially her father. 'Drive safely.'
She ended the call and headed back to her bedroom. In the excitement of doing arts and crafts with Julia, she'd forgotten about Amanda's folder. They could have used the proper origami paper. Amanda mentioned the little squares had dotted lines to help a beginner fold the paper correctly.
She found the folder at the bottom of the pile of books and magazines on her dresser and pulled it out carefully. She rushed to the kitchen, clutching the folder in her arms. She put the casserole with meatballs on the hob and kept glancing at the folder while stirring it. She’d give it one little try with the paper to see if it could help. After all, maybe it wasn't as difficult as she thought...
With the dinner simmering quietly, she sat at the table and opened the little square folder. The pieces of paper were small and slippery, difficult to pull out one by one, so Katie shook the folder gently, allowing the colourful squares to slide out of it. She spread them on the table. Animal skin patterns! Scales, like in a fish! Feathers! Tawny fur with dark spots. She ran her fingers, shuffling the papers to organise them by pattern.
Towards the bottom of the pile she found one piece of paper that didn't look like any of the other ones in the folder.
Katie reached for it. White, roughly rectangular, with one edge ripped and something dark in the centre. She brought it closer to her eyeline.
A photo of a place in a forest or a park? A box and a pile of dirt beside it. And something printed. "Your finger... something"? The bottom part of the second word was right on the ripped edge.
What the heck was that?
She ran her fingers on the rough, ripped edge. The shape reminded her of something.
The missing part of Hamish's letter?
Her hands jerked off the paper. She could have damaged some evidence, maybe fingerprints!
She reached for her phone and dialled Jack's number, but it was busy. The timer beeped. The rice was ready. Katie winced.
'Mum, when's dinner? I'm staaarving!' Julia's yell added to the noise.
Katie jumped to her feet and cancelled the timer.
'Two minutes,' she shouted back. 'Go and wash your hands,' she called out and hopped to the cupboard. She pulled two plastic bags and shoved her hands into them.
She didn't want to damage any more fingerprints on potentially important piece of evidence. And she didn't have the time to find a better way. The origami paper had to disappear from the table now, if Julia was not to see it. Katie wasn't ready to deal with any more questions about the nice lady from the reception who had given her the lovely paper. Katie collected the spilled pieces and put them back into the folder as fast and as gently as she could.
Further investigations would have to wait until tomorrow.
25
Katie woke early the next morning, with a strong sense of duty. Feeling a little guilty about putting her parental obligations before those of Amanda's death case, she hurried Julia through the morning routine, making sure her daughter didn't notice the folder with origami paper Katie slipped into her handbag.
Was it even of any relevance to the case, this strange piece of paper with a photo? What about those two words? Was it the beginning to the first sentence ripped off from Hamish's letter?
Your fingerprints are all over it...
That would fit!
She walked into the staffroom, with a fire burning in her tensed shoulders and her stomach clenched. The room was empty, but the phone was ringing like crazy.
Katie dropped the folder on Jack's desk and grabbed the receiver.
'Sunnyvale police, Katie speaking, how can I help.'
'At long last!' a female's voice brimmed with impatience and irritation. ' I've been trying to get hold of you people for hours. No one bothered to call me back.'
'We're not fully staffed until 8.30 am.'
'And what time is it now?'
What a strange question, t, but answered politely.
'Oh, sorry. It's evening here,' the woman replied.
Confusion cleared from Katie's head.
'Are you calling from New Zealand? Are you Amanda's mum?' she asked.
'Yes, I'm Becky Lee, Jones was my previous name. I'm calling because that inspector told me to ring him if I remembered anything that might be of use.'
'Oh, and did you?'
'I don't know if it's anything important, but I do find it bizarre. I suppose any mother would have found it bizarre.'
'What is it, Mrs Lee?'
'You see, the last conversation I had with her was before Christmas, but I received a message from her just a few days ago. I didn't see the message until after the conversation with your inspector. I was in the shock when I talked to him, honestly! But this message is strange, and it really upset me. She sent it on Saturday.'
'Just two days before her death.'
'Yes. She didn't even bother talking to me, and she just sent me this question about a neighbour's children. Imagine that, she never asked about my health, but was suddenly worried about someone else's kids.'
Katie could imagine why Amanda might have wanted to avoid another exhausting conversation with her mother.
'I've just been to hospital, and she didn't even ask me how I was...'
'I'm sorry to hear that, Mrs Lee. I hope you're feeling better.'
'Yes, I am in fact. It all ended when we moved house. I told her it was that blooming house that made me
sick.'
'And those neighbours were your old or new ones?'
'Old ones. The ones with a sick child. And the other one who died recently. Sad story. But, after all, she should have worried about her mother...'
'I'm sure she did.'
'She's always been an ungrateful daughter. Even when she lived here. We offered her a room, but she moved out at the earliest opportunity. She barely visited us.'
'She didn't live with you?'
'No. She got herself a job, very quickly in fact. I was surprised.'
'It was an estate agency, wasn't it?'
'That’s right, in South Auckland. I bet she got it to keep away from me, pretending that she was busy.'
'Was she not? She seemed like a hard-working type to me.'
'Oh, she was hard working, alright. Apparently, she started selling houses quite fast. '
'Maybe she was just good at it?'
'Maybe. But don't you think it was bizarre to worry more about some people than your own mother? Do you worry about your mother?'
Katie held her breath. Her relationship with her own mother was far from perfect. She'd been working on improving it, but years of difficulties and her mum's personality made it extremely difficult.
'Of course, I do,' she answered smoothly. She made a mental note to call her mum in the evening. Or maybe at the weekend.
'There you go. Any normal daughter would worry about her own mother.'
'By the way, what was that message about?' Katie cut in, reaching for a piece of paper and a pen.
'Hang on, I’ll read it out ... Ah, here it is. "Do you remember those two kids who lived next door in your old house? They were sick a lot. How are they now?"'
Katie scribbled the words. 'Could you send this message to the inspector on Skype as well?'
'I don't know how to do it. You'd have to do with me reading it out.'
Katie stifled a sigh. 'Okay. I'll pass it onto Inspector Heaton. May he ring you later if needed?'
'If he has to,' the woman replied. 'Can you see my phone number?'
