Read Shifting Sands Online

Authors: Anthea Fraser

Tags: #Fiction, #Suspense, #Mystery & Detective, #General, #Sudden Death, #Safaris, #Journalists, #South Africa, #Suspense Fiction, #Widows, #Safaris - South Africa

Shifting Sands (14 page)

BOOK: Shifting Sands
6.31Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads
Eventually, shaking, he sat back on his heels and wiped his mouth before rising unsteadily to his feet and sluicing his face under the cold tap. Nothing seemed real, nothing except that broken body in the bath, the blind eyes looking pleadingly up at him. How could they ever have doubted her?
As he emerged from the men's room, Steve was making his way towards him.
‘Jon – are you OK? You look ghastly! Come and sit down.'
In a daze, he allowed himself to be led to the table.
‘What happened?' Steve demanded urgently. ‘Did you get the envelope? No one saw you, did they?'
Jonathan lowered himself gingerly on to a chair. ‘No,' he said, ‘I didn't get the envelope. The safe was empty.'
Steve's exclamation was lost as he added tonelessly, ‘And Elise's body was lying in the bath.'
Steve gazed at him, aghast. ‘She's
dead
?'
Jonathan glanced round. ‘Keep your voice down, for God's sake!'
‘But – I don't understand. Had she drowned or something?'
He shook his head impatiently. ‘There was no water – she was fully dressed.' He ran a hand over his hair, made himself say it. ‘She'd been stabbed, I think. That, or shot. There was a brown stain on her blouse.'
Steve paled. ‘You'd better start at the beginning. Was her door open, or did you have to use the key?'
‘It was locked, but before I even got there, I came face-to-face with a guy at the lift. He wouldn't have any difficulty describing me.'
‘Nor you him, presumably.'
‘God, you think—? No, he couldn't have done it: the blood on her blouse was dry.'
Steve bit his lip. ‘Then, by the same token, neither could you. And since she must have died some time earlier, the police won't be asking about strangers around at midday. Come to that, in a hotel, who can tell who's a stranger? Forget the guy – he's not important. So, go on. You used her key to open the door. Then what?'
Trying to make sense of it as he did so, Jonathan stumbled through an account of his search and eventual discovery. As he came to an end, they both sat in silence, wondering with a sense of helplessness what they should do now.
‘Ready to order?' asked a voice above them, and both men, lost in their private concerns, jumped.
Steve glanced at his empty beer glass. His appetite had vanished, and one look at Jonathan showed he was incapable of eating. ‘We'll just have two whiskies, please,' he said.
The waitress frowned. ‘We only serve alcohol with food.'
‘Please! We'd be very grateful. My friend isn't feeling too well.'
A glance at Jonathan's face was corroboration enough.
‘In the circumstances, then,' she allowed grudgingly, and moved away.
Jonathan said, ‘We should phone the police. Anonymously, of course.'
‘No point,' Steve replied briskly. ‘She's up here with colleagues, don't forget. She'll soon be missed, and someone will go to look for her. They might have already found her.'
He leant forward, putting his hand on Jonathan's arm. ‘Look, Jon, it would have been different if she'd still been alive, but as things stand there's absolutely no reason for us to get involved. Nothing we do can help her now. OK, she told us various things, but without the memory stick we've no way of proving them, and we can't go shooting our mouths off, accusing her colleagues of God knows what.'
Jonathan wiped a hand across his face. ‘Why the hell didn't she tell me before? Then this might never have happened.' A worrying thought struck him. ‘God, Steve, it's just occurred to me: whoever killed her must have that envelope with my name on it! My address too, for all I know.'
‘Hell's bells! Though, come to think of it, she didn't have your address, did she?'
‘She had the newspaper's.'
‘Well, you're safe there. They wouldn't pass it on.'
Jonathan wasn't reassured. ‘But since it's obvious I've been in contact with her, whoever it is might think I know more than I do.'
Their whiskies arrived, plonked unceremoniously on the table in front of them. Steve nodded their thanks, while Jonathan sipped cautiously at his, hoping he wouldn't have to make a rapid return to the men's room. Fortunately, it seemed to settle his stomach and he began to feel marginally better.
‘It must mean she was on to something, mustn't it?' he said.
‘It would certainly appear so.'
‘If only she'd brought the bloody thing with her last night! Then I'd never have gone near her hotel, let alone found her body.'
‘She'd still be dead, though. Thank God we didn't meet her in the bar. Her photo's bound to be in the local paper, and someone might have remembered seeing us with her.' Steve studied his friend for a moment. ‘Why do you keep looking at the door?'
Jonathan shrugged. ‘Nerves, I suppose. I'll be glad when I'm safely on that plane, I can tell you.'
‘Then let's go. No point hanging around here, and you'll be able to relax at the airport.'
The flight passed uneventfully, and in little more than an hour Steve was manoeuvring his car out of the airport car park.
As they emerged on to the M4, Jonathan commented, ‘I'd better give Vicky a ring; she asked me to let her know what time I'd be home. God knows what I'm going to tell her, though; if I say too much, she could be in danger herself.'
‘I hadn't thought of that,' Steve admitted. ‘Same applies to Maddy, I suppose, though obviously I'm not as involved as you are. We'd better get our story straight before we see them.'
Jonathan took out his mobile, but as he switched it on, the phone bleeped, indicating receipt of a text, and the next instant he startled Steve by exclaiming forcefully, ‘Oh, my God!'
‘What?'
‘It's from Elise! Sent this morning at eight forty-one.
Dare not keep item any longer, so am posting it to you. Will explain later. E.
' He spun to face Steve. ‘So the killer
didn't
get the envelope, and he
doesn't
know my name! God, that's a relief!'
‘But if she sent that at eight forty-one, why the
hell
didn't you get it sooner?' Steve demanded explosively, overtaking a pantechnicon.
Jonathan thought back. ‘It would have been around the time we were arriving at Perceval's. I'd have turned the phone off ready for the meeting, and what with the rush to pack our things and dash out again, I never switched it back on. It would have had to be off for the flight anyway, and it wasn't as though I was expecting anything.'
‘You do realize you could have saved yourself all that trauma?'
Jonathan nodded soberly. ‘She must have sent it to the paper. Come to think of it, it could have travelled in a mailbag on our plane!'
‘Well, at least we'll find out what it was all about,' Steve said philosophically.
That evening, Anna had another phone call from Lewis.
‘Anna, I'm so very sorry but I might not be able to make tomorrow. Something pretty ghastly has happened, and for the moment I'm stuck in Manchester.'
She felt a shaft of alarm. ‘What is it, Lewis? What's happened?'
‘A member of our staff has been found dead, and the police want to speak to us.'
She struggled to understand. ‘That's terrible, of course, but . . . why the police? How did he die?'
There was a pause, then Lewis said flatly, ‘It was a she, and she was murdered.'
‘
Murdered
?' Horror rang in Anna's voice. ‘How?'
‘She was stabbed in her hotel room.' And, at her gasp, he added, ‘I know, it's . . . unbelievable. None of us can quite take it in. I can't go into it all now, but obviously we have to account for our movements, and so on. Fortunately, we were together most of the time.'
‘But I don't understand! Was it a robbery gone wrong?'
‘At this stage, no one knows. Look, sweetheart, I have to go – they're waiting for me. I'll be in touch as soon as I can.' And he rang off.
Anna stood stock-still, the phone in her hand.
Murdered
? Someone who worked for Lewis? And an unwelcome memory came of the conversation she'd overheard in the game park. It could be that Lewis Masters was a dangerous man to know.
The two detectives settled themselves and regarded him blandly. Then the more senior – Pringle, was it? – cleared his throat.
‘Now, Mr Masters, what position did you say Ms du Pré held in your organization?'
‘She was my son's personal assistant.'
‘And could you explain again what brought you and your colleagues to Manchester?'
Lewis bit back his irritation. He'd done nothing
but
explain for the last two hours, but it was unwise to antagonize the police.
‘My Group is hoping to purchase a new health resort, and we've been looking over some possibilities.'
‘What was the victim's role in the process?'
‘In the early stages, we aim to obtain as wide a view as possible of the assets or otherwise of the resorts we're considering. Women, as you'll appreciate, have different values and notice details a man might miss. Their opinions are an important part of our deliberations.'
Pringle studied some notes in front of him. ‘She accompanied you on these expeditions earlier in the week?'
‘Of course.'
‘And how did she seem, sir?'
Lewis wished to hell he'd discussed this with Cameron, but they'd had little privacy since the girl's body was found. He thought back. ‘With hindsight, a little tense,' he said slowly.
‘How so?'
‘Hard to put a finger on it. A bit jumpy, perhaps. Nothing dramatic.'
‘Did she get on well with other members of the team?'
‘As far as I know. You'd have to ask them.'
‘I'm asking you, Mr Masters.'
Again, Lewis held himself in check. ‘Then if I have to express an opinion, it would be a qualified yes.'
‘Qualified?'
‘Being French set her slightly apart; I sensed reserve on both sides.'
Pringle exchanged a glance with his colleague, the significance of which was lost on Lewis. ‘There were six of you engaged in this – exploratory visit?'
‘That's right: myself, my son, our Managing Director, and our three PAs, the women, as I've explained, for their different perspective.'
‘And you visited one of these places yesterday?'
Lewis nodded.
‘Where would that have been?'
‘The Forest of Bowland. We're also looking at possibilities in Cheshire and Derbyshire, which is why Manchester seemed a good base.'
‘And during yesterday's trip, did Ms du Pré seem in good spirits?'
Lewis considered. ‘On reflection, she was slightly on edge. We were running late, and I had the impression she was anxious to get back to Manchester.'
‘For a date, possibly?'
Lewis looked surprised. ‘I can't think with whom, and she was with us at dinner.'
‘What did you all do, when you arrived back at your hotel?'
‘As I said, it was rather later than we'd envisaged – about six fifteen, I believe. I can only speak for myself, but I imagine we all went to our rooms, to relax for a while before dinner.'
‘Where, you say, Ms du Pré joined you.'
‘Correct.'
Pringle pursed his lips thoughtfully. ‘And how did she seem then?'
‘A little flushed, but otherwise much as usual.'
‘She was also at breakfast this morning?'
‘Only briefly. It was a buffet, and as we were all at separate tables, I didn't see her myself. My PA told me later she had only a cup of coffee and left before finishing it. Consequently, she wasn't surprised by the text.'
‘Ah yes, the text. Received by your son, I believe?'
‘That's right. Asking to be excused from today's visit, due to not feeling well.'
‘And you thought no more of it?'
Lewis frowned. ‘Why should I? She'd been flushed and a little overwrought; this offered an explanation.'
‘Right.' Pringle toyed with his ballpoint, upending and righting it in a monotonous rhythm. ‘So Ms du Pré left the dining room at about what time?'
‘You'd have to check with Mrs Standish, my PA.'
‘Who were you yourself sitting with?'
‘My son briefly, but none of us lingered; we all had things to do before setting off for the day.'
‘What time did
you
leave the dining room, Mr Masters?'
Lewis pursed his lips. ‘Probably around eight forty-five. We were leaving for Chester at nine fifteen.'
‘You went straight to your room?'
‘Yes.' Lewis's tone was clipped.
‘Did you see or speak to any of your group before you all assembled in the lobby at nine fifteen?'
‘No, but that's hardly surprising; our rooms are on different floors.' Lewis paused, and added with heavy irony, ‘The chambermaid will vouch for me; she was finishing my room as I arrived.'
Pringle nodded, and Lewis had the uneasy suspicion this had already been checked. Fair enough; in a hotel of strangers, those who knew the girl were obvious suspects.
‘The text, then: were you with your son when he received it?'
‘No; he told us about it when he joined us.' Lewis stirred. ‘Look, Sergeant, I appreciate you have to go into all this, but surely it's obvious that someone went to her room after we'd left? We know she was alive at ten past nine, the time on the text, and we left the hotel at quarter past. It doesn't leave us much time to do the deed!' He gave a crooked smile.
BOOK: Shifting Sands
6.31Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

Mercenaries by Knight, Angela
Taste of Torment by Suzanne Wright
Shelter Us: A Novel by Laura Nicole Diamond
Abysm by G. S. Jennsen
Codename Winter by Ross, Aubrey
Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood
Coming Home by Gwen Kirkwood


readsbookonline.com Copyright 2016 - 2024