Ten Guilty Men (A DCI Morton Crime Novel Book 3) (27 page)

‘A few,’ Ayala admitted.

‘Then we’ll distract them. Take me out first – and while their cameras are pointed my way, Mayberry can take our detainees around the side.’

‘You got it.’

‘And Ayala?’

‘Yes, boss?’ Ayala’s tone was hopeful, as if he might finally get complimented on a job well done.

Instead, Morton tossed him a key ring. ‘There’s an Aston Martin parked across the street that I, ah, borrowed. Could you see it gets back to its rightful owner please?’

Chapter 55: Means

Tuesday April 21st – 15:15

The leg wound wasn’t as serious as it looked. The blood certainly made for a bit of a scene, and it almost worked as a lure for the journalists – until one of them spotted Mayberry taking Brianna out a side door, with Ayala and Gabriella trailing behind. They’d both been bundled into squad cars, and were now waiting down at the station for Morton to interview them.

If only he could get past all of the well-wishers first. Morton waited half an hour in his office, then headed down towards the interview suites that Ayala had hastily set up. On the way, he spotted Purcell ambling along the corridor in the direction of his office.

He turned around quickly. Purcell might not have seen him.

‘David, wait up!’

Morton continued to limp away.

‘Hey, Morton!’ The tech waddled towards Morton as they ran out of corridor. ‘Where you going?’

‘Erm... To find Ayala.’

‘He’s downstairs. Walk with me. I’ve got something for you.’

Morton led on towards the main lifts, and Purcell nattered on as they made their way down.

‘I’ve been going through pictures of Edgecombe Lodge from
The Impartial
. You know they’ve got their annual design awards? Guess what? Edgecombe Lodge–’

‘Won last year. Yes, yes. Ayala told me. What’s the big deal?’

‘Look at this,’ Purcell said, and then handed Morton a copy of the article.

‘Stu, I’m in pain. What am I looking at?’

‘Look at the swimming pool pic. Sorry about your leg, by the way. What do you see?’

‘A clean, tidy pool area.’

‘OK. Now the crime scene photos. What’s missing?’ Purcell put another photo into Morton’s hands. ‘You see it, right?’

The chubby man bounced up and down excitedly as they reached the lift. Morton looked, but saw nothing amiss.

‘Pool bricks.’ Purcell pointed.

Morton squinted at the photo. Sure enough, there were three pool bricks, the rubber kind used for diving games, stacked neatly under a table.

‘That’s what she was hit with. It’s large, heavy and has a big surface area. I’ve done some testing–’

‘By testing, do you mean you bought a pool brick and started hitting watermelons with it?’ Morton asked. He hit the button for his floor.

‘Well, yeah. But it works. I think Ellis was hit from the right-hand side with the long flat end of a pool brick. They’re gone from the crime scene.’

‘They’ve probably been tossed into the Thames, but I’ll get Ayala to search Brianna and Gabriella’s homes for any sign of them. And all of our suspects are right-handed, so that doesn’t narrow things down a jot.’

The lift doors pinged open, and Morton stepped out. ‘It’s good work, but it doesn’t help. Get me something that can actually prove which sister is the killer.’

Chapter 56: Means, Motive and Opportunity

Tuesday April 22nd – 15:30

Brianna and Gabriella had been checked over, offered counsel and placed into two separate interview suites. Morton found Ayala waiting for him in the corridor.

‘They both accept lawyers?’

‘Yep. Your lucky day too. Guess who.’

Morton resisted the urge to go and peek into the interview suites. ‘Who?’

‘Elliot Morgan-Bryant.’

‘You’re kidding. He’s representing three of my five suspects? That’s no coincidence. Which one of them is he representing now?’

‘Brianna.’

‘Paid for using her inheritance, I presume. A year of working as a veterinary assistant doesn’t pay for a week of his time, after all. Who has Gabriella got?’

‘Duty solicitor. Miss Genevieve Hollis.’

‘Brilliant. London is such a small city sometimes. I swear there are eight million people in this miserable hellhole, but I have to run into those two twice in a week.’

‘Maybe it’s like the birthday paradox?’

‘Don’t start quoting statistics at me. Let’s go after Brianna first. She’s just confessed after all.’

***

‘Three times in one month. Business must be booming, Mr Morgan-Bryant,’ Morton said.

‘Isn’t it always?’ Morgan-Bryant said. ‘What are you planning on charging my client with today? Probate fraud, again? Or a little public indecency?’

‘Just murder.’

‘Murder? What evidence do you have?’

‘Your client returned to her sister’s home after leaving her birthday party.’

‘To apologise. She has already explained that to you.’

‘And she concealed her journey with a spare Oyster card,’ Morton said.

‘That one’s easy to explain. She bought that for a friend who visited London, and it’s been in her purse ever since. All Oyster cards look identical, so Brianna must have mixed them up.’

‘You’ve got an answer for everything, don’t you? Brianna confessed to killing Ellis less than an hour ago, in my presence.’

‘My client had a knife held to her throat! If that isn’t a classic example of duress, I don’t know what is.’

‘And then there’s the fact that your client is inheriting three million pounds’ worth of prime real estate.’

‘I don’t see how that’s a crime.’

‘It goes to motive,’ Morton said. ‘Miss Jackson, did you visit Sparks Rehabilitation Clinic with your late sister?’

‘Well, yes, but–’

‘And is it not true that she wanted to get clean?’

‘Yes, but–’

‘And you’re the one that’s been selling her pentobarbital, aren’t you?’ Morton bluffed. He didn’t have any proof yet.

‘No comment,’ Brianna muttered.

‘You don’t need to comment. I’ve got a team searching your home now. If we find nembies, I’m sure that’ll more than enough for magistrates.’

‘She said no comment, Mr Morton.’

‘Right. Then we’ll park that until my team gets back. You were receiving money from your sister each month.’

Brianna nodded. ‘Yes.’

‘Two thousand pounds?’

‘About that much.’

‘Why?’ Morton asked.

‘She was helping me out,’ Brianna said. ‘London is expensive, and I don’t earn much.’

‘You can’t spend much either. Your flat can’t be much more than a hundred and fifty square feet. I assume, by the way, that you’ll be declaring the last seven years of gifts for inheritance tax? By my calculations, that’s, let’s see, a hundred and sixty-eight grand at forty percent – about £67,200 or so you owe HMRC. Plus interest.’

Brianna paled, and looked over at her lawyer in dismay.

Morgan-Bryant turned towards Morton with a cold stare. ‘Mr Morton, I wasn’t aware that you were a tax accountant. Do you fancy doing my VAT returns for me? No? Then perhaps you could ask a relevant question next.’

Morton bristled. ‘Miss Jackson, did you kill Ellis?’

‘No!’

‘So you didn’t bash her head in with a rubber pool brick?’

Brianna’s jaw dropped. She sat there, stunned.

‘Miss Jackson,’ Morton prompted again. ‘Did you or did you not bash your sister in the back of the head with a rubber pool brick?’

‘My client won’t be commenting on that.’

‘Did you ditch the body in the pool to make it look like drowning?’

‘No comment,’ Brianna said tersely.

‘And did you set up Kallum Fielder by asking Gabriella Curzon to steal money from his wallet?’

‘It was a prank! We wanted to see if he’d argue with Gabby. It was a test–’

‘Because he was going to propose to her?’

‘Yes.’

‘Glad you brought that up,’ Morton said. ‘Isn’t it true that if Ellis married Kal, you’d never inherit the house?’

‘She isn’t a lawyer, Mr Morton. She wouldn’t have the expertise to answer that question.’

‘Perhaps you can answer that one then.’

‘I could, if you’d like to give me eight hundred pounds an hour for my services. I may be a lawyer, but I’m not your lawyer,’ Morgan-Bryant said.

‘Eight hundred an hour? Blimey. How are you affording that, Miss Jackson?’

‘Our funding arrangement is none of your business, Mr Morton. Stop going off on tangents and present your evidence. Then either charge her or let us go.’

‘Miss Jackson, what time did you return to the house?’

‘I don’t know. Half twelve maybe?’

‘After you exited the District Line service at Kew Gardens?’

‘Yes.’

‘Did you go straight back to Edgecombe Lodge?’

‘No. I walked for a bit, thinking. I wanted to word my apology just so.’

‘But you think you got back about half twelve. Who was in the house when you got there?’

‘Nobody, as far as I could tell. I went in, the lights were off. All was quiet. I assumed Ellis had gone to bed, and I left.’

‘That’s interesting. If you arrived at half twelve then you’d have arrived when Gabriella was still there.’

‘Maybe it was a little after that, I don’t know.’

‘How did you get in?’

‘Through the front door...’ Brianna gave Morton a quizzical look as if to ask ‘How else would I get back in?’.

‘Was it unlocked?’

‘No. I’ve got a key,’ Brianna said. ‘We all do.’

‘You all do?’

‘Kal, Gabby, Paddy and I.’

Everyone except Culloden
. ‘Is it true you hated your sister?’

‘Absolutely not. We had our ups and downs, but don’t all siblings argue?’

‘Speaking of siblings, did you know Gabriella is your half-sister?’

‘I only found out today when that lunatic took me hostage. She’s the one that killed Ellis. Can’t you see that she’s using me to distract you?’

‘You picked up the knife afterwards.’

‘I was defending myself!’

‘From a police officer?’ Morton gestured down at his bandaged leg.

‘Sorry about that.’

‘Two inches higher, and you’d have nicked my femoral artery and you’d be having this conversation with one of my colleagues. You clearly don’t have much compunction against wounding other human beings. I think you killed your sister. Your timeline doesn’t add up. You returned after midnight for a spurious reason–’

‘To apologise!’

‘Why not wait until morning? Why not call or text?’

‘I felt bad. I doubled back. And unless you can prove otherwise, I’ll be leaving.’

‘Not yet you won’t. I’ve got detectives searching your home right now. Want to tell me what they’re going to find? A pool brick perhaps?’

‘Morton, you’re badgering my client. This interview is over.’

***

It took Ayala just ten minutes to find what he was looking for in Brianna Jackson’s flat. The nembies were hidden inside a Ziploc bag in the toilet cistern.

He called Morton with the news.

‘Good work. Get the sample to the lab, and check for consistency with the sample we found in Ellis’ blood. Any sign of pool bricks?’

‘Nothing, boss. We’ve searched every inch of this place, not that that’s saying much. How’s it going with our suspects?’

‘I’ve got Gabriella to go, but Brianna wasn’t giving anything up. She admitted returning, so we’ve got her in the right place at the right time, which she claims was half twelve–’

‘When Gabriella was there alone,’ Ayala said sharply.

‘That’s the thing. Brianna claims not to have seen Gabriella, which either means she’s lying or her timing is off. A few minutes could make all the difference here.’

‘Do you think she did it?’

‘I honestly don’t know. One of the two sisters did it. If Brianna didn’t then Gabriella did, and vice versa. I’m reserving judgement until after I’ve had the chance to interview Gabriella. If you’re going to be quick getting back, I’ll wait for you to join us.’

‘Sounds like fun. I’ll be half an hour if I swing by the lab. Can you spare Mayberry for a bit?’

‘What do you want from him?’

‘I need him to fetch the victim’s toxicology report, and the chemical analysis of the pento sample we collected from Walworth Veterinary Clinic. I want to compare those with the sample I just collected.’

‘Done. Good work, Ayala. Keep it up.’

Chapter 57: The Other Sister

Tuesday April 22nd – 16:15

Gabriella refused to make eye contact with DCI Morton as he prepared the tapes and introduced the attendees. Instead, she simply stared at the table, her eyes fixed upon the knife she had used to hold Brianna Jackson hostage. Her lawyer, Genevieve Hollis, started talking the moment Morton began the tape.

‘My client would prefer to make a brief statement before any questions begin, if that is permissible, Mr Morton?’

‘By all means, go ahead. I may still have to ask questions of her, though.’

‘My client would like to put it on the record that she feels a great deal of remorse for her actions today. She would like to make it clear that she had no intention of threatening Brianna when she attended the funeral, but went into a state of agitation when she heard Brianna discussing her home renovation plans for Edgecombe Lodge. After the funeral, the party travelled to the crematorium, where Brianna denied my client the chance to speak at the Committal Ceremony. Brianna told my client that “only family get to speak” and that “she was no sister of hers”. Brianna went so far as to call my client a “mongrel half-blood”. It was at this point that my client snapped. She has no memory of anything that happened after that point.’

Here we go. Time to set up a dodgy defence.
‘She doesn’t remember anything? Then let me refresh her memory. She held a knife to Brianna Jackson’s throat, and had an entire room subject to her whim, including me. We have an audio recording if you’d care to listen to it.’

‘That won’t be necessary. My client admits what she did, knows it was wrong and is truly very sorry for what she did. This was not a planned act–’

‘Not planned? Why did she have a knife then?’