They
’
d interviewed numerous prostitutes who admitted that they were happy he was dead but all of them had been ruled out as the killer. The only
‘
girl
’
in his stable that they couldn
’
t trace was a woman called
Dolores Wright. They
’
d b
een given a photo of her from one of the other prostitutes but
,
try as they might
,
they couldn
’
t locate her. They heard from many of the other girls that Dolores had hated Lee with a vengeance and had been heard threatening to kill him. Many of the girls said they
’
d been afraid of h
er – that she was a
‘
psycho
’.
There was damning evidence that she was the culprit. She was the only person caught on video camera entering his apartment that day. She
’
d stayed for only half
an
hour and it was within the timeframe that the coroner had said was the time of death. They
’
d taken fresh fingerprints from the handcuffs and from a glass that was found beside his bed. They couldn
’
t find a match for them anywhere but had retained them on file. They set about searching for her but she seemed to have vanished off the face of the earth. And now Donal had found her. He couldn
’
t believe his luck.
Zita was being very uncooperative and hostile but the
evidence stacked against her as the blogger was incontrovertibl
e and the following morning she was charged with incitement to hatred and remanded on her own bail. She smirked as she prepared to leave the court
,
knowing that she would never have to stand trial. She was way cleverer than they were. She would simply disappear again.
Then, as she was leaving the court, her worst nightmar
e came true
.
She heard the Australian accent and knew what was coming.
“
Miss Zita Williams aka Dolores Wright, we have a warrant for your extradition to Adelaide, Australia
,
to stand trial for the murder of Lee Simmons.
”
Zita almost fainted. She was thrust back into her nightmares of Lee
’
s body rising up to stab her and then the awful feeling of not being able to run to get away from him. That
’
s how she felt now. She couldn
’
t move.
It was all over in a flash
.
Because of the extradition warrant, the case against her for incitement to hatred was rushed through the courts. She was found guilty of slandering Carl in the blogs. She was ordered to make an unequivocal apology to him and retract everything she
’
d said, admitting they were lies. She was also ordered to compensate him to the tune of €30,000. This was the least of her troubles. There were much worse things to come.
Eight hours later she was on a flight to Australia, wondering where and how it had all gone so terribly wrong.
Z
ita
’
s face flashed out from every TV network that evening. She was big news. The author of the scurrilous blog was also w
anted for a gruesome murder back in Australia. Rachel was flabbergasted. How could she have misjudged someone so badly? She felt such a fool. But she didn
’
t feel half as bad as Carl felt. He realised what an error of judgement he
’
d made. In fact he was beginning to realise how lightly he
’
d got off. When he read the awful things she
’
d done to that poor guy in Australia he broke into a sweat thinking what she could have done to him. She was evil through and through. Thank God she was out of his life forever.
He hoped Rachel would contact him but she didn
’
t.
The following day he received notice that she was applying for a legal separation. She had allowed him to visit the children but only under the supervision of Palom
a. She herself had kept out of sight. He would have to wait for
the court to decide on custody but that was a foregone conclusion. Rachel was the injured party in their relationship.
With sadness he recognised that his marriage was well and truly over. He would have a tough time repairing his reputation but if they say a week is a long time in politics then three years is an eternity. Hopefully by the next election he would have reinstated himself in the public eye. It was time to start rebuilding and move on. The Zita episode in his life was now closed.
The wine group were all mesmerised by the details that had emerged about Zita. To think they
’
d been friends with a murderess! It was like something out of a movie.
They had their celebratory dinner in Wong
’
s Chinese Restaurant in Dollymount that Friday. Although they had al
l been in touch with each other when the Zita story broke, out of deference to Rachel, nobody mentioned it that night. In a strange way it was as if she was present with them. Sam gave out the results and they were all delighted with them. Everyone clapped Ronan on the back when Sam announced he
’
d scored 100%. Sam
presented
him with a copy of Hugh Johnson
’
s Wine Atlas which delighted him. They cheered Ellie who had scored an excellent 94% and Rachel 92
%.
Hayley had also scored 9
2
% which surprised everyone but Ellie
,
who knew she
’
d studied very hard in an effort to please Sam. The young girl blushed madly when Sam kissed her on the cheek as he presented her with her certificate. They were all looking forward to starting the
Higher Certificate course which would run from September
to Christmas.
“
As a matter of interest how did Zita do?
”
Rachel asked. It was the first mention of her name all night.
Sam grinned.
“
She failed.
”
As one they all raised their glasses and then burst out laughing. Zita
’
s presence was gone from the gathering. They had a great night and all of them looked forward to getting back together for the Higher Cert Course.
Ronan went down to Fiona
’
s in Blessington the following Sunday. He was looking forward to seeing Oisín again. It was amazing how quickly the baby was changing. He was still a very placid baby and growing at a great rate.
“
I
’
m thinking of applying for a part-time job in the Lakeside Inn
,”
Fiona told him.
“
Mam is willing to baby
-
sit for me.
”
“
Will you like bar work?
”
“
Well, not as much as working in a wine shop but beggars can
’
t be choosers. I just think it might be good to get out of the house and meet people for a couple of hours a week.
”
She smiled wanly.
“
How about coming to work part-time in the new Naas shop?
”
“
Are you serious?
”
She looked at him hopefully.
“
Deadly! We can always do with experienced staff and you know I
’
d love to have you working alongside me.
”
She hugged him, her eyes dancing with delight.
“
That would be fabulous! Thank you so much, Ronan!
”
“
To be honest, it was Sam
’
s idea but I would have asked you anyway,
”
he grinned.
She punched him playfully.
“
I should hope so!
”
He took her down to Naas to see the shop that afternoon, strapping Oisín into his chair in the back seat. Fiona smiled to see how gentle he was with her son. On the drive down he told her all about Zita. She
’
d read all about it in the newspaper but Ronan filled her in on all the gory details.
“
My God, what a horrible woman! You
’
re lucky you didn
’
t get involved with her
!”
“
In a way I feel a bit sorry for Carl
,
although he was an idiot. Anyway, he
’
s lost Rachel for good now.
”
“
She
’
s very beautiful from what I can see in her photos.
”
“
Yes, she is,
”
Ronan agreed
, “
and it
’
s not just her looks.
She
’
s a really lovely person too
.”
“
You
’
re very fond of her, aren
’
t you?
”
Fiona asked, cocking her head to one side.
“
Yes, I am. Anyway you
’
ll certainly meet her soon. I plan to invite some friends down at some stage, after I get the shop up and running
.”
“
That
’
s great! I
’
m looking forward to meeting them
.”
“
You
’
ll like them,
”
he told her
, “
and I know they
’
ll like you and love baby Oisín.”
70
Ellie was very excited about her visit to Bordeaux but not as excited as Marie-Noelle. They were booked into the Grand Hotel and neither was
expecting the sheer luxury of the hotel. It was very central and Marie-Noelle felt it was like a homecoming, which in a way it was.
“
Just imagine it, my parents walked these streets as children,
”
she said to Ellie as they explored the beautiful city the first afternoon
.
They had a wonderful time and on Saturday took a tour up to St Emilion where Ellie
’
s mother was amazed at her daughter
’
s knowledge of the wines they tasted. On Sunday they were going to lunch with Marie-Noelle
’
s cousins whom she had contacted. Sam was flying in on Sunday morning and Marie-Noelle asked her cousin, Josette, if she could bring Sam along to the lunch.
“
But of course, we would love to meet him,
”
Josette declared.
Meanwhile
,
back in Dublin, David was calling for Ellie
’
s sister, Sandrine, to take her to the Chartered Accountants
’
Ball.
“
You look nice,
”
he said, as she slipped into the passenger seat of his BMW.
She should have, as she had spent all day getting ready and had bought a new very expensive Marchesa gown for the occasion. For the first time in her life she
’
d had a spray tan and hair extensions. This was the kind of behaviour that she ridiculed when Ellie indulged in it
,
but she had to admit that she felt a million dollars and she knew she looked better than ever. She was so excited about the coming evening. She thought Ellie was an idiot not to have postponed the Bordeaux trip to be with David tonight. But Ellie
’
s loss was her gain. Halleluiah
!
They entered the Four Seasons’ ballroom and David
introduced her to everyone. She saw a few raised eyebro
ws but when they heard that she was Ellie
’
s sister
and that Ellie was away, they made her feel very welcome.
She had a wonderful evening and got on famously with everyone. These were her kind of people, mature and intelligent
,
and the jealousy that she
’
d always felt towards Ellie intensified as the night went on.
David was a pet and it was obvious that he was very much at home in this environment. She could see how much he enjoyed and admired these new friends.
They would all be invited to the wedding, he told her. Towards the end of the night one particular guy who had been flirting with her all night and was now a little the worse for wear, stumbled up to David and said,
“
I think you
’
re marrying the wrong sister, Davy boy. This one
’
s a corker.
”