Wrongful Death

Chapter Thirty-Three

It was after three p.m. by the time Anna and Barolli arrived at the Belgravia station with Aisa. Dewar had also accompanied them, having complained that she felt frustrated at having nothing worthwhile to do at Lynne House. Anna had left Barbara in charge of the remainder of the search of Gloria’s property but had never really expected to find anything of evidential value. She suspected that Gloria would never be so naïve as to keep anything that would incriminate her, and even if she did, it would be very well hidden and could take an eternity to find on such vast premises.

Barolli, assisted by Dewar, booked Aisa in at the custody desk then took a saliva sample from her for DNA and a set of fingerprints on the live scan machine. Anna told the custody officer that other than a phone conversation with Mr Holme, Aisa was not to be allowed to talk to anyone else. She then asked Barolli and Dewar to take the set of keys that were recovered from Samuel Peters’ property at the mortuary and see if they fitted Josh’s old Bayswater flat and the locks taken from Esme’s flat.

Anna went upstairs and handed Joan Aisa’s mobile phone.

‘It’s nice to see you again so quickly, ma’am, but such a shame that you’ve had to miss out on the FBI course, or are you just back with us for a few days…?’

‘It’s nice to see you too, Joan, but I haven’t got time to discuss the FBI course right now.’

Joan looked flustered. ‘Oh, right, sorry. What can I do for you?’

‘I need you to get someone from Tech Support to look at Aisa’s mobile for an application called Cate and also to do the same on the copy they kept of Josh Reynolds’ SIM and micro-card.’

‘Who’s Cate?

‘Not a she, it’s a phone application. Acronym for Call and Text Eraser and commonly used by unfaithful partners,’ Anna explained.

‘Whatever will they think of next?’ Joan remarked, shaking her head, as her desk phone rang. It was Pete Jenkins wanting to speak to Anna.

‘Hi, Pete. I arrested Aisa Lynne and her prints are now on the database and her DNA is on its way to you.’

‘Do you ever stop for breath?’ he asked. ‘Okay, I’m bringing up Aisa’s prints on the computer right now.’

‘Only to speak with you, Pete. Any more good news for me?’

‘Yeah, we still had a blood sample in the lab for Samuel Peters from when he was an unidentified body. I’ve run an initial test and there’s a trace of atropine, but I’ve more tests to do yet.’

Anna was pleased that it was more evidence in support of her theory that Gloria Lynne had more than likely extracted poison from her own plants to poison Reynolds and Samuel.

‘What sort of dosages of atropine are we looking at?’ she asked.

‘It’s impossible to determine accurately. Josh Reynolds, being much younger and fitter, would react more slowly, but the initial symptoms would be the same as Barolli and Marisha suffered. A sudden lethal dose is not the best way to poison someone as people ask questions if you sip a drink and keel over instantly. It’s better to go slowly but surely, leading to a heart attack and no questions asked.’

‘So Gloria knew exactly what she was doing,’ Anna remarked.

‘Looks that way.’

‘Thanks, Pete, and keep me updated.’

‘If you want to hang on a minute or two I’m checking Aisa’s prints against unidentified marks as we speak.’

‘Yeah, sure.’

There was a short pause before Pete continued, ‘Right, here we go. Majority of the fingerprints on the Ferrari match Aisa and Josh Reynolds and none for Donna.’

‘And the money recovered from Esme’s?’ Anna asked.

‘Sorry but no. I’m still working on the certificates recovered from Samuel Peters’ jacket, and so far I’ve only found Josh Reynolds’ and Samuel Peters’ fingerprints. However, the other good news is that the blood spatter on the certificates did fit with them being on the sofa at the time the bullet exited Josh Reynolds’ left temple.’

Anna hung up, slightly disappointed that Aisa’s fingerprints hadn’t been found on the certificates, particularly the one referring to her as Aisa Alleyne. This would have meant that she had physically held and most probably looked at it, and to then deny any knowledge of the document would be a blatant lie. It puzzled Anna why Aisa claimed she was adopted when the certificate made it clear she was Gloria’s natural daughter; it was something she would need to raise at the interview in the morning.

Heading into her office, Anna got out the folder that Jane, the secretary at the Lynne Foundation, had given her containing the records of Aisa’s mobile phone. She immediately noticed that there were a number of calls to Josh Reynolds’ mobile, which started at the end of August and increased in intensity until his death. Anna suspected these calls added up to a secret affair and was not surprised to see there were a number of calls from Aisa to Josh on the fifth of November.

Aisa had called him for two minutes just before the Charity Ball started and then again at 9 p.m. and 10.15 p.m., which was just after she must have left the Savoy Hotel in Donna’s Mini. From that time on she never phoned Josh’s mobile again and, for Anna, there could be only one explanation. Aisa knew Josh was dead and might even have been present when he died.

Significantly, Anna also noticed that there were calls to Josh from Aisa on the days of the illegal transfers of money from the CCS Medical account, and on the same day as the payment for the blue Ferrari was sent. Anna cross-checked Donna’s appointment records, and confirmed Donna was out of the office when the online transactions were made. The evidence was accumulating against Aisa in a most satisfying way; Anna could see that if the young woman did choose to lie there was plenty of hard evidence to hit her with and hopefully convince her that she was only digging a deeper hole for herself.

Anna’s reflections were interrupted by a text from Barolli who told her that he had tested Esme’s Chubb and Yale locks against the keys from Samuel’s property and they fitted perfectly, and he was now on his way with Dewar to Bayswater and Reynolds’ flat.

Opening her office door, Anna called out to Joan to ask if she had a copy of the text messages recovered from Josh’s mobile. Joan brought over a folder.

‘I’ve also got details of all the calls made from Marisha Peters’ landline and mobile, including cell site analysis, going back to July last year. I don’t know how you do it, but yet again, your hunch was right,’ Joan said. ‘Calls were made to Gloria Lynne’s house and mobile from Marisha’s landline and mobile on more than one occasion.’

‘How did you get Gloria Lynne’s mobile number?’ Anna asked, worried that Joan had obtained it by improper means.

‘Off Aisa’s phone, which you gave me earlier – just looked in contacts and found one for Mum and then checked it off against Marisha’s calls.’

‘Brilliant, Joan. At last we have a tangible connection between Samuel Peters and Gloria Lynne. Can you get me details of all the calls from both Gloria’s house and mobile phone for the same period and do a cross-comparison?’ Anna asked.

‘As you have arrested Aisa, the authority to check outgoing landline calls from Lynne House goes without saying as she lives there. But Gloria’s mobile will need at least a DCS’s authority,’ Joan reminded her.

Anna never ceased to be amazed by Joan’s desire to please and help and decided that she’d recommend her for promotion when the case was over.

‘Put Langton’s name on the request.’

Joan looked surprised. ‘Are you sure? He’s not even in the country!’

‘He will be by tomorrow morning and he’s already sanctioned my actions, but please don’t tell anyone, it’s strictly between us.’

Joan nodded and Anna continued, ‘Now tell me more about your good work with the phone calls.’

‘Obviously, there were also calls from Marisha’s phones to Josh’s landline and mobile so I’ve highlighted those in red and any calls to Gloria in blue,’ Joan informed her.

‘Well they had to be from Samuel because according to Marisha she and Josh hadn’t spoken for fifteen years.’

Anna looked closely at the Marisha Peters’ landline list, noticing that the first call made to Gloria’s house phone was one week after all the online requests for certified copies of marriage and birth certificates were made to the Jamaican Registrar General’s office.

‘Once Samuel got the certificates he could, as I am damned sure he did, start to blackmail Gloria,’ Anna observed.

‘That bit makes sense, but why does Gloria kill Marisha months after Samuel? Why not silence them at the same time if she was involved?’ Joan asked.

Anna explained to Joan that she suspected there were different strands of events, the first being the initial blackmail, which Marisha might or might not have been party to, but even if she had been, Gloria could well have had no knowledge of her involvement as Samuel would have done all the talking. Anna had also considered the possibility that Gloria thought Samuel and Marisha would drink the rum together and, having heard nothing from either of them since, thought her evil deed was done. Joan wondered why Marisha had not contacted Gloria since Samuel disappeared. Anna told her she thought it was probably a mixture of things, but predominantly fear that whatever had happened to Samuel might happen to her, and no doubt Marisha didn’t want to lose the forty thousand in the freezer.

Anna studied the numbers dialled from Marisha’s mobile phone and pointed out that the next call recorded to Gloria’s mobile phone was at 10 a.m. on 5 November 2012.

‘A month passes with no calls to Gloria, then out of the blue there’s one the day Josh dies and the cell site is by Marisha’s flat. I believe this was a further blackmail attempt on Gloria by Samuel, but this time she chose to ignore it.’

‘Why do you think she ignored it?’ Joan asked.

‘Because Samuel went to the Trojan and Josh was very upset after speaking to him. He told Marcus Williams he had business to attend to, and I think he went to see Gloria as he then knew she was his real mother. Samuel told Josh the truth to spite Gloria.’

‘So Samuel got paid off first time round in October, but got greedy and wanted more?’ Joan asked, to make sure she understood Anna’s logic.

‘Yes. He pushed his luck and Gloria killed him, made sure he’d never come back,’ Anna added.

Joan nodded and pointed to the list of Marisha’s mobile calls. ‘Calls were made to Josh’s mobile at midday, four fifteen p.m., then also between seven p.m., and nine p.m., but all very brief.’

‘It has to be Samuel making the calls and not Marisha,’ Anna said. ‘Here’s one to Gloria at eleven forty p.m. for two minutes. We know Josh was probably dead by then…’

She hurriedly flicked through the pages to look at the cell site location for the call.

‘The mobile phone mast is right next to Josh’s flat in Bayswater – this can’t be pure coincidence! Samuel must have seen Aisa leave Josh’s flat, went in using the keys Josh gave him and found his body, so he’s straight on the phone to Gloria and making further blackmail demands,’ Anna deduced.

‘But why did Gloria answer her mobile if it was Samuel?’ Joan asked, putting a slight dampener on Anna’s excitement.

Anna thought about Joan’s question. ‘Because she did go upstairs to check on Aisa, who she thought was ill, but as Aisa was not there. Gloria must have wondered where on earth she’d gone.’

Joan, puzzled, told Anna that she didn’t follow her reasoning. Anna reminded her that CCTV clearly showed Samuel turning up at the Savoy just before ten p.m. and then the Mini leaving just after.

‘We suspect Aisa was in the Mini. Samuel doesn’t drive so Aisa would have got to Josh’s long before Samuel did.’

‘Right, I get you, so you are saying that he arrived at Josh’s as Aisa was leaving. But why did Samuel go back to the Savoy?’ Joan asked.

It was irritating that Joan couldn’t grasp what to Anna was the obvious, but then she had to acknowledge that Joan didn’t have the same detailed knowledge of the case as her. Anna also realized how much of what Don Blane had deduced looked to be spot-on.

‘Samuel went to see Gloria, probably desperate to get more money out of her,’ Anna said.

‘Gloria must have been terrified of a confrontation in front of hundreds of her high society friends,’ Joan remarked.

‘Exactly, so if he demanded more money she’d probably offer him some outrageous amount just to get rid of him. Samuel leaves and goes to Josh’s. Gloria had to have been really flustered, she goes upstairs to calm herself and checks on Aisa who, surprise, surprise, is not there.’

Joan clapped her hands together, impressed with Anna’s logic.

Anna banged her hand on the desk in realization that more pieces of the puzzle were fitting into place about what actually happened on the night of Josh’s death.

‘That’s it! That explains the stupid suicide note; Gloria’s control over Samuel is his greed. God, she’s a quick thinker, she must have known instantly how to use him to her advantage even under immeasurable pressure. She is the archetypal Ice Queen.

Joan was again confused but Anna was on a high. ‘I am sort of following but-’

‘Joan, listen to me: even if Samuel thought it was a suicide, seeing Aisa leave was a powerful blackmail tool to use against Gloria. Finding the money in Josh’s already open safe was a bonus.’

Joan was still unsure, but Anna was adamant.

‘Within minutes of seeing Aisa then finding the dead Josh, Samuel was on the phone to Gloria. She couldn’t speak with Aisa at that time as she was on her way back to the Savoy. Gloria couldn’t really tell Samuel to piss off. But what she could do is offer him even more money to make sure it looked like a suicide, thus Samuel stupidly wrote the suicide note.’

‘And with Samuel out of the way and Josh’s death declared a suicide Gloria thought she was in the clear,’ Joan said, understanding.

‘Yes, yes, exactly. I suspect Gloria paid Samuel off the next day. She needed to get close to poison him, and she laced the rum that was already in Marisha’s flat.’

Anna put her hands behind her head, sat back in her chair, took a deep breath in and let it all out again. ‘Samuel started a catastrophic chain of events on the afternoon of the fifth of November by telling Josh that he was his real father and Gloria his mother. It led to Josh’s and eventually his own death.’

She took another deep breath, and skimmed through all Marisha’s mobile calls again. ‘My God, there are also text messages from Marisha’s mobile to Gloria’s. Can you-’

Joan interrupted: ‘Already on it and legally the provider is supposed to keep sent texts for two years.’

‘Joan, I wish I had a whole team made up of clones of you, we’d solve everything in no time.’

‘Even I wouldn’t wish that on me,’ Joan said, leaving the room.

Anna knew that the results of calls and texts made from Gloria’s phones would be crucial to her argument that the woman should be arrested and interviewed for the murder of Samuel Peters. Josh’s death was a different matter. Anna was certain Gloria had somehow poisoned him, probably hoping he would crash his car, but he had survived. It would seem the atropine, and Samuel’s revelations, had caused Josh’s delusional state of mind, which resulted in him taking his own life. Gloria had loaded the gun but never actually pulled the trigger. Attempted murder by poison wasn’t good enough for Anna – she wanted the arrogant socialite Lady Gloria Lynne hanged, drawn and quartered for the misery she had brought to so many people.

So, though elated, Anna still felt uneasy. Gloria held the keys that could unlock the answers to so many unexplained questions, but she would never give them up, not even if her own life depended on it. Gloria was manipulative, controlling and an expert liar who had always got her own way, sometimes through charm, but mostly by deceit. No matter which way Anna looked at the problem, it would always come back to how much Aisa knew and whether she would be willing to incriminate her mother. Anna decided that before she left the station to go home she would visit Aisa in her cell, not to interview her, but rather to impress on her exactly why she had been arrested and the seriousness of her situation.

Just at that moment her mobile rang and she could see from the caller identification that it was Mike Lewis. She’d totally forgotten to call him and could have kicked herself, she knew he’d be upset and quite rightly so.

‘Hi, Mike, I’m really sorry, I meant to phone you earlier-’ Anna started to explain but Mike was quick to interrupt her.

‘Langton called me so I know exactly why you came back, but that’s not the issue right now – your arresting Aisa is.’

Anna jumped in: ‘I’ve plenty of evidence to justify her arrest if that’s what you’re wondering.’

‘Would you just shut up and listen?’ Mike snapped. Anna realized something else must have upset him. She apologized and said she was listening.

‘Walters has just been screaming down the phone at me, wanting to know why the hell you arrested Aisa Lynne. I’m sorry, Anna, but you left me in the dark so I had to tell him I hadn’t a clue what he was talking about.’

‘I’m sorry, Mike. I should have called you ages ago. Has Gloria been complaining again?’ she said, trying to make light of the situation, but Mike was not impressed.

‘Ten out of ten for fucking observation, Anna. Where are you right now?’ he asked in a raised voice.

‘In my office, are you on your way over?’ Anna asked.

‘No, but I think Walters may be. He’s in a foul mood and baying for blood. So I’d hide somewhere, if I were you.’

‘Thanks, Mike, I’ll get Joan to say I’m out and meet with you and Langton tomorrow to discuss everything,’ Anna said as she hurriedly hid her briefcase behind the sofa.

‘Look, I’m keeping well out of it and have agreed to hand the reins back to Langton to oversee the Reynolds case.’

‘If I were in your shoes, I’d be doing the same,’ Anna said, slinging her handbag over her shoulder.

‘Langton’s on your side and I understand why you suspect Lady Lynne, but for God’s sake make sure you have the evidence to back your actions up,’ Mike warned.

‘Believe me, I’m working on it as fast as I can, and it’s the last thing I need Walters to know about at the moment.’ But as Anna ended the call she heard a bellow from behind her.

‘I fear you’re a bit late, DCI Travis!’

Anna recognized the voice of Deputy Commissioner Walters and turned towards the door, to find she had not made her escape in time.

‘You’d better have some bloody good answers because right now your career is hanging by a thread!’ he said, standing in the doorway in full uniform, with a look of thunder and contempt on his face. Grimly, Anna reflected that she only had herself to blame for her current predicament, and now was the time to try and dig herself out of one of the biggest holes she had ever been in. As she put her handbag down on the desk she thought of Gloria Lynne and her unerring instinct for self-preservation. Unseen by Walters, she placed her hand inside her bag and removed her Dictaphone, surreptitiously turning it on and casually placing it in her inside jacket pocket.

‘Would you like a coffee or tea, sir, I’ll get Joan to-’

‘Shut up and sit down!’ Walters said, pointing to the armchair in the corner of the room. Anna knew he was in no mood for pleasantries and was so fidgety he was unlikely to sit down himself.

‘Would you not like an armchair too, sir, they’re more comfortable than the sofa,’ Anna said with a deliberately serene voice.

‘Right now I’d prefer to look down on you, Travis, as the insubordinate officer that you clearly are,’ Walters said scathingly.

‘I’m sorry, sir, but insubordinate, I don’t know what you’re referring to.’

‘Don’t play games with me, Travis. I’ve had the Commissioner breathing down my neck, YET AGAIN, because of your fucking gung ho attitude. I also had to call Lady Lynne and listen to her complain about your aggressive behaviour, for which I had to apologize on your behalf, YET AGAIN.’

Anna would have loved to rebuke Walters for apologizing to Gloria but knew she couldn’t. ‘I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t mean for that to happen.’

‘Sorry is not good enough. Who was that you were on the phone to a moment ago?’ Walters demanded to know.

‘My course instructor at the FBI Academy, sir. I was just telling him how disappointed you would be when you found out I’d come back to London,’ Anna said, knowing that it was a rather feeble answer.

‘Then tell me, Travis, why have you thrown the opportunity of a lifetime away? An opportunity, I might remind you, that but for me you would never have had,’ Walters said condescendingly.

‘I was made aware of information while I was in Quantico that Donna Reynolds was not responsible for the murder of her husband.’

‘And what information was that, Travis?’ Walters asked with a cynical smile.

‘That her sister Aisa Lynne was involved, sir,’ Anna said, trying to avoid a lengthy answer.

He stamped his foot on the floor. ‘You really are trying my patience, and believe me I can have you directing traffic in the blink of an eye. Now answer my bloody question!’ he bellowed.

Anna paused while she thought about how much she should give away in an attempt to appease him, but at the same time she also wanted him to keep losing his composure.

Joan, who had been listening outside, had just received an e-mail from Tech Support that they had found the Cate app on Josh’s phone and had attached the list of dates, times and contents of all texts he sent and received. Realizing Anna needed something to keep Walters at bay, she knocked on the office door.

‘I’m busy with DCI Travis so get out now!’ Walters barked at Joan, who nevertheless handed Anna the documents.

‘Sorry, sir, urgent documents DCI Travis ordered proving Aisa Lynne’s affair,’ Joan said and mouthed the word ‘Cate’ to Anna.

Anna could have hugged her. ‘I have uncovered irrefutable evidence, in the way of text messages from Josh Reynolds’ mobile, that he was having an affair with Aisa Lynne. On the night of his death, she went to his flat to see him, possibly because he had ended their affair by phone earlier in the evening.’ Anna handed the Cate texts to Walters to read. He grabbed them out of her hand and flicked through the pages, skim-reading them, as Anna continued, ‘I also have evidence that proves Aisa Lynne stole money from the Lynne Foundation for Josh Reynolds’ benefit.’ She handed him the documents that Aisa’s secretary had given her and for the first time Walters sat down as he read through them.

Anna decided to keep going, waffling on about Aisa making the fraudulent transfers of monies from the CCS Medical Trust to Josh Reynolds and the purchase of a Ferrari.

‘You’d better not be bullshitting me, Travis!’

‘As you can see, it’s all there in the documents, sir.’

Walters paused as he looked at the papers again. ‘I suppose this does merit the arrest and questioning of Aisa Lynne.’

‘Thank you, sir. I fear Lady Lynne got a little excited and somewhat exaggerated the circumstances of Aisa’s arrest.’

‘You need to learn, Travis, that when the likes of Lady Lynne start to warble, cages get rattled, in the highest of places. There was no need for you to take her daughter back to Lynne House to search the premises, you-’

‘Yes, sir, I accept that now but-’

Walters pointed his finger at her. ‘Shut up, Travis. You wanted to get her back for last time and wind her up, didn’t you? Admit it.’

Anna knew she couldn’t reveal there was method in her madness for fear of Walters wanting chapter and verse on why she suspected Gloria Lynne of murder. ‘Sir, Aisa Lynne had lied to my officers, she made herself a suspect in a murder inquiry.’

‘Tell me, do you think Joshua Reynolds was murdered by Aisa Lynne?’

Anna sighed as she decided to give Walters a reasonably honest answer. ‘On the balance of probabilities, I’d say that Josh Reynolds was depressed, under the influence of drink and drugs, and shot himself with his own gun. I think Aisa Lynne was in the room at the time and lied so the charity fraud and her affair with Josh would not be discovered.’ She was reluctant to say the drug was a poison called atropine as she still awaited Pete Jenkins’ full results. She was however caught out by Walters’ next question.

‘Why have you been interested in an unidentified body at Fulham mortuary?’ Walters asked.

Anna wondered how he knew about that visit.

‘Sorry, sir, what mortuary was that…?’

Walters continued in a sarcastic vein: ‘Within hours of returning to London, not only did you piss off Lady Lynne, the Commissioner and ME, but also Dr Harrow, who complained to the Coroner, who… guess what?’

‘Phoned you, sir?’

‘At last you got something right, Travis,’ Walters said with a mocking smile. ‘The Coroner also mentioned that you were spouting off and accusing Harrow of missing some poison called atropen.’

‘Atropine, sir. The unidentified body is that of Samuel Peters, he was related to Josh Reynolds and died of a heart attack. I was winding Dr Harrow up about the atropine. I also believe Samuel Peters stole large sums of money from Josh,’ Anna said.

‘You’re a laugh a minute, aren’t you, Travis? My days would be so boring without you having your bit of fun and upsetting everyone along the way. Let me get this right: you started with a suicide, which became a murder, and now you think it’s a suicide again.’

‘Yes, sir,’ Anna replied.

Walters shook his head in bewilderment and glared at her. ‘There’s something you aren’t telling me, Travis. This doesn’t all add up and by God you’d better not be fucking with me!’

Anna said nothing at first, fully aware that by lying to Walters she would be digging herself into a bigger hole and possibly ruining her career. She could argue that she had been economical with the truth, but in reality she knew that she had gone beyond the point of no return. She could not at present reveal everything she suspected about Samuel and Gloria to Walters as she still lacked any substantial evidence and feared that he would terminate her involvement in the case for being underhand. More than anything, she knew she needed Langton’s help if she wanted to arrest Gloria Lynne and have someone to defend her actions to Walters.

‘I don’t know what more to say than I’m sorry, sir, and assure you it won’t happen again,’ Anna said sheepishly, deliberately eating humble pie.

Walters came closer and closer to Anna, until their noses were almost touching. ‘It better not, Travis, or let me assure you, I will destroy your bloody career. You have become too much like Langton – disrespectful and belligerent – and that is something I will not tolerate.’

Anna knew he was being deadly serious as he headed towards the door. How she hated this man for duping her and destroying Langton’s prospects of promotion. In one impulsive moment she decided to chance her luck.

‘Have you heard from DCS Langton, sir? I deliberately avoided him before I left for Quantico – he was being very offhand with me.’

Walters stopped, turned and looked at Anna. ‘Personally, I don’t care if I never see or hear of Langton again, Travis, and neither should you if you know what’s good for you.’

Anna nodded her head as if in agreement with Walters, knowing she had touched a nerve. ‘I think he may have found out that I spoke with you about his part in the Fitzpatrick case and because of me he didn’t make Commander.’ Walters laughed with an air of scorn.

‘Well, if it’s any consolation, Travis, you didn’t exactly grass him up, as they say. I was a tad duplicitous in getting out of you what I already suspected, but let me assure you his destiny was in my hands, not yours, so don’t lose any sleep over it.’

‘Thank you, sir, I won’t, and I shall avoid Langton when he comes back to London,’ Anna lied and Walters smirked.

‘The Met’s having to implement five hundred million pounds of budget cuts as part of the Coalition’s austerity measures. One chief superintendent costs the equivalent of three constables, so you do the maths, Travis, and tell me who’s going to be culled first,’ Walters said as he opened the door.

‘A chief superintendent,’ Anna said, feigning pleasure in her answer.

‘Called Langton,’ Walters said and walked off with a strutting conceit.

‘Arrogant prick,’ Anna muttered to herself as she put her hand in her pocket and switched off her Dictaphone.

Anna took the Gardeners’ World magazine with her when she went down to the cells to see Aisa, where she impressed upon the custody officer that due to the sensitive nature of the case Aisa was not to be allowed any visitors. Anna quietly pulled back the sliding viewing hatch to look at the suspect, who was sitting on the plastic mattress of a hardwood bench. She had wrapped the blue cell blanket round her, but was shivering. The custody officer opened the door for Anna, who said she would only be a few minutes. Anna could see that Aisa’s new environment was having the desired effect and decided it was time to take a softer approach. She went to sit down beside Aisa, who moved a few inches away as if intimidated by Anna’s presence.

‘Mr Holme told me not to say anything to you until he is here to represent me,’ Aisa said, attempting to appear curt but failing.

‘You don’t have to take his advice, but you have to make your own choice about whether or not to tell me the truth,’ Anna said, leaning forward to make eye contact with the young woman, who turned her head away.

Anna knew that inwardly Aisa was scared. ‘Do you want to talk to me, Aisa – is there something you want to tell me?’ she asked in a calm voice.

‘My mother also told me I was to say nothing to you without Mr Holme being present.’

‘I know Mr Holme will be acting in your best interests, Aisa, but as for your mother, well…’

Aisa suddenly turned and looked at Anna. ‘What do you mean?’

The distress in her voice at the mention of her mother was all too plain. ‘What do you think I mean, Aisa?’

‘I don’t know. Please can I go home and then come back in the morning for the interview?’ Aisa pleaded.

‘I’m sorry, Aisa, that’s not allowed as you are a suspect in a murder inquiry.’

The look on Aisa’s face at the mention of the word murder was one of devastation. ‘I swear, Detective Travis, I didn’t kill Josh. I loved him and he was going to leave Donna so we could be together.’

‘I don’t doubt that, Aisa, but now you’re in the police station I’m not allowed to ask you questions without Mr Holme being present.’

‘Then why are you here?’

‘Before I go, Aisa, you need to understand that when I interview you I can only help you if you tell me the truth. If you lie for yourself, or anyone else for that matter, you will only make things worse and could find yourself charged with very serious offences.’

Aisa met Anna’s gaze and nodded as she spoke. Her eyes were swollen with tears, she chewed her bottom lip and Anna had a feeling that she might at last be getting through to her.

‘Has my mother phoned?’ Aisa asked.

Anna lifted the blue blanket up around Aisa’s shoulders in a comforting manner. ‘Not as far as I am aware. Do you want me to call her for you?’ she asked kindly.

Aisa hurriedly looked away. ‘No, it’s okay, I’m sure she will contact Mr Holme.’

Anna saw the opportunity to dig a little: ‘I know you’re adopted and may think that Gloria doesn’t care for you like a real mum would, but I think she does.’

Anna tried to make eye contact to gauge Aisa’s reaction but she just stared at the floor. Anna thought it strange that the young woman didn’t pass comment and she suspected Aisa must have discovered the truth, but still couldn’t understand why Gloria would tell her she was adopted.

She moved on. ‘Your mother is upset because she’s just a bit confused by all that’s happening, just like you must be.’

Aisa began to cry. ‘My mother doesn’t get confused, she gets angry when she thinks we’ve let the family name down.’

‘What does she do when she gets angry, Aisa?’

Trembling, Aisa looked at the floor. It was as if Gloria was in the cell staring at her, warning her to keep quiet.

‘Nothing, she does nothing. Please, I want you to leave me alone now,’ Aisa said, and wiped her eyes on the blanket.

‘It’s up to you, Aisa, but remember, you don’t have to be scared any more. If you tell the truth, I can protect you from anyone,’ Anna said, but it seemed that Gloria’s hold on Aisa was stronger than she had realized.

‘Very well, Aisa, but there is one thing I’d ask you to think about very hard.’

Anna paused and waited until Aisa met her gaze. ‘You and I both know your sister Donna is sitting in a prison cell charged with crimes she didn’t commit. She didn’t kill Josh, she didn’t steal the money and whoever knows the truth about the night Josh died can save her. The least you owe Donna is the truth – or are you worried that your mother will be angry with you?’ Anna asked. Aisa began crying uncontrollably and Anna knew she had made her point.

She stood up, got the Gardeners’ World magazine out of her jacket pocket and threw it down nonchalantly next to Aisa. ‘You’ve probably already been forced to read it by your ever-so-proud and distinguished mother, but if you haven’t, it’s an article about poisons by a very poisonous woman.’