False Money (15 page)

Besides, Bea recognized that peal. It was either the police being heavy-handed, or CJ making sure he was let in.

It wasn't the police.

CJ wasn't carrying a bottle, but he had news. She took him into the sitting room, where he drifted around, hardly disturbing the air.

‘You have bad news?'

He sighed, sat down, addressed the fireplace. ‘The police have a great many important cases on. They are under stress and undermanned. They are very happy to pursue the drug dealers named in Maggie's lists. They see no prospect of a conviction for the murder of Tomi since Harry admitted culpability before he killed himself.'

‘Oh. Did he really commit suicide?'

‘There was a note to that effect on his laptop. According to the autopsy, he took some drugs, put the cord of his dressing gown around his neck while he sat on a chair behind his bedroom door, fell off the chair – or pushed it away – and strangled himself. Scuff marks on the carpet indicated that he'd tried to pull himself up, but had tied the rope too tight and so failed. He was probably out of it, anyway; comatose from the drugs he'd taken.'

Bea sank into a seat. She was shocked. ‘So they aren't going to pursue either case?'

‘No. Officially Tomi's case is down as a murder which was committed by Harry, who needed to ditch her in order to curry favour with Hermia. The call alerting the police to where Tomi's body might be found came from Harry's mobile phone. Case proved.'

‘But, according to Maggie, Tomi wasn't all that smitten by Harry and was preparing to move on.'

‘Hermia has been questioned by the police, who says she did agree to go out for the day with Harry last Saturday, but wasn't serious about him. When she found he'd not even bothered to get dressed in outdoor clothes, she changed her mind and went off with Chris. She cited witnesses, so you may be asked to confirm that she did just that. The police have already been round to ask Chris if he'd confirm that Hermia left with him and was with him most of the day. Which he did. In the early evening he saw her back to her place; confirmed by her flatmate. Hermia then changed into evening wear and went on to some charity “do” or other, as a partner to her old friend Lord Fairley.'

‘So her on-and-off boyfriend has a title? I suppose that explains his attraction for her.'

‘Don't be so cynical. He's a decent enough sort. Her appearance at the function is confirmed by a hundred people. She stayed overnight with her host and hostess somewhere out in the Home Counties. Confirmed.'

‘So she dumped Chris to return to the titled one? Well, well. You know that Chris is still in touch with her?' Bea sighed. ‘I don't understand her. Does she play fast and loose with everyone?'

‘Possibly. But she's in the clear as regards Harry's demise.'

‘They're not trying to make out that Chris killed Harry, are they?'

‘They did ask him where he was on Saturday night, but luckily he met up with some friends in the pub immediately after he left Hermia, so he's in the clear. No, the police are quite happy to leave it that Harry murdered Tomi and then committed suicide.'

‘Humph!' said Bea, ‘Which leaves Hermia believing that she was responsible for his death. She'll have a guilt complex from here to eternity.'

‘She's a very well-balanced young lady,' said CJ, non-committally. ‘On past form, she'll rise above it.' Of course, CJ would be pleased if Hermia had dumped Chris.

Bea said, ‘I don't like it. Do you?'

‘It's a neat enough outcome.'

‘There were no prints apart from his on the laptop?'

‘Only his. However, I was involved in another case some time ago where I was asked whether or not the defendant had left a damning message on his laptop. I did an experiment using the tip of a pen to depress the keys. I found I could type whatever I liked that way, and it hardly disturbed the existing fingerprints. On the other hand, I found there was a certain irregularity, a lack of rhythm in the key strokes, a hint that the message might have been typed by someone who was not an experienced keyboard user.'

‘What you're saying is that someone else might have put the suicide note on his laptop without disturbing fingerprints Harry had put on it before?'

A hesitation. ‘It is not easily provable. My evidence wasn't accepted in the case to which I refer, though it didn't make any difference to the result of the trial in the long run, since there was plenty else to convict the man.'

‘So it's possible that Harry didn't type that message himself? Right. Well, what about his mobile phone? That was missing. Or have they found it somewhere? Also, the floor and table top had been cleaned. Surely that's proof that someone else was there after we left.'

CJ cleared his throat. ‘Someone else might have been there quite innocently, perhaps even tried to divert him from committing suicide. When Harry hung himself they might have panicked, decided to remove all trace of their having been there, cleaned up and scarpered.'

‘I don't believe that, and neither do you.'

‘I'm not sure what I believe. What I do know is that there are no grounds for the police to look any further. They received the lists of names which Maggie put together and will give special attention to those who may have been dealing with drugs. That's about it, as far as they are concerned.'

Bea produced Tomi's bible and the original agreement. ‘This might help to muddy the waters. It's Tomi's bible, which was left out of the boxes of her belongings by mistake. I don't think the police have seen it. I thought there might be some sort of clue in it as to how Tomi was thinking, and I found this paper in the back. I haven't the slightest idea what it means, but you might be able to work it out.'

He scanned the paper, looked at the back of it. ‘Who's “Leo”?'

‘The person who organized this game, or whatever it is they were playing? I tried his phone, left a message to ring me.'

‘What!'

‘Not a good idea?'

He frowned, shook his head. ‘Well, it's done now. Probably this hasn't got anything to do with her death and Leo is not in any way involved, but I think I'd have been happier if you hadn't phoned him. Suppose he's the drug dealer who supplied the dose which killed her? Did you leave your name?'

Bea felt herself pale. ‘I did. I never thought.'

‘Well, well. It's probably nothing. Is there someone called “Leo” on the list of names Maggie got for us?'

‘I don't think so. I'll check.'

Oliver tapped on the door and slid in. He could be as pussyfooted as CJ when he chose. ‘I'm glad you're here,' he said to CJ. ‘Did you get the latest emails that came through on Tomi's computer? I'm particularly thinking about those from her parents, who've been worrying about her. What are the police doing about it? Shouldn't they have been in touch with her people by now?'

CJ said, ‘They have been. Her mother and father are flying over later this week.'

‘Why did you ask me to check on her emails, then?' Oliver was not pleased. ‘Anything else been happening that I don't know about?'

Bea said, ‘Tomi's parents have been in touch with Miss Drobny, asking her to keep her things for them. She's putting everything in storage, which seems sensible to me. Apart from her bible.'

CJ handed Oliver the agreement. ‘Here's something new. What do you make of it? It was in the back of Tomi's bible.'

Oliver read it, shook his head and shrugged. ‘A charity appeal.'

Bea said, ‘When is Tomi's birthday? Do you know?'

‘Last autumn some time? I seem to remember there was some sort of celebration when they finished putting the music on the film, and it coincided with her birthday.'

‘So she could have been a Libran?'

‘I don't think she put much stock in that sort of thing.' He turned the folder over. ‘Who is this Leo? Can he cast any light on things?'

CJ held out his hand for it. ‘It's a forlorn hope, but I'll give the original to the police and check it out myself. I have to tell you, Oliver, that the police have closed the case. They think Harry killed Tomi because she'd become a nuisance and he was after Hermia. When Tomi's body didn't turn up straight away, he phoned the police to tell them where she might be found, and then killed himself. The phone call to the police definitely came from his phone. There really is no point in taking the matter further.'

‘What? I don't agree. Surely they don't believe . . . I can see how it might look like . . . No, I just don't believe it. What about the text from Tomi's phone to Chris? Where is her phone, and where is his?'

Bea gave a little cough. ‘I had a thought about that. I think the killer took the mobiles to conceal the fact that he'd rung his victim to make an appointment earlier. The caller's number would automatically come up on the screen, wouldn't it? So it was necessary to take the mobiles away after the murders. That might explain why Tomi's diary is missing, too. The killer might fear Tomi had jotted down that she was meeting so and so that day, which is why her diary is nowhere to be found. What about Harry's diary? Is it still there?'

‘I'll check. But even if it's not there, I doubt your theory is strong enough to move the police to action.'

‘It sounds right to me.' Oliver was more positive. ‘We'd better ask Chris if Tomi took a phone call when he was with her that morning.' He looked at his watch. ‘Chris is out now, at this very minute, trying to track Brian down. You remember Brian? The man who met Chris and Tomi in the street the last time he saw her outside the library? Chris knows roughly where he lives, in one of those big red brick blocks of flats up the road from the library, so he's going to see if he can find him—'

‘Brian will be at work, won't he?'

‘Yes, but if Chris can find someone who lives there, they may know which flat is Brian's, or even where he works.'

Bea said, ‘There must be a hundred flats in those blocks, and they're all six storeys high, aren't they? Would any one person know anyone else, even if they used the same staircase or lift?'

‘I know that, but Chris needs to try everything. You understand?'

‘Wouldn't it be easier to track him down through the Health Club? He's a member, and so are you and Chris.'

Oliver struck his forehead. ‘I'm not using my head, am I? Sorry. Yes, of course it would be easier. I'll see if I can catch up with him, stop him wasting time. We can go down to the Health Club together, make up some story about needing to contact Brian urgently. They're not supposed to give out addresses, but – we'll think of something.'

CJ got to his feet. ‘Just remember that the case is closed in the eyes of the Law.'

‘Is that justice?' Oliver tried to smile.

‘You may not think it is, but it is the law.'

Bea pushed her hair back, and then swept her fringe across her forehead. ‘We'll feel better when Tomi's been buried, no doubt. Meantime, it's back to work for me.'

‘And for me,' said CJ, making a soundless exit.

The front doorbell rang, and in came Chris and Oliver, pushing a protesting man in his mid thirties before them. After a tiring day, Bea was not amused to see them.

Chris turned on the charm. ‘I know, I know, Mrs Abbot. You've had an awful day with cleaners pretending they can cook, and butlers downing the port instead of decanting it. You've had society hostesses crying on your shoulder because they've no staff to run a charity event for six hundred, and your feet are killing you. But this –' he indicated his captive – ‘is Brian.'

Bea had to laugh. ‘How do you do, Brian. What can I do for you?'

‘It's not for you, it's for Tomi,' said Oliver, steering them all into the kitchen. ‘Will supper go around?'

‘No, it won't,' said Maggie, pointing a spatula at them. Maggie was frying something and in no mood to admit intruders. ‘Out of my kitchen, this minute.'

Chris changed direction and pushed Brian ahead of them into the sitting room. Bea laughed, shrugged and followed.

‘I'm sorry, Brian. When these two take the bit between their teeth . . .'

‘If I could help, I would.' Brian had a brawny physique, but perhaps not too many brains. He was dressed in a brown suit under a camel-haired overcoat. Tidy, but probably not a city type. He might, perhaps, work for an estate agent? What was it that Chris had said about him? Health Club. Yes, but there was something else, too. Ah. His father owned a share in a racehorse.

Chris pushed Brian into a chair, saying, ‘You may think you don't know anything, but you do. After all, you must be the last person who saw Tomi alive.'

‘I've told you, I don't know any Tomi and—'

Chris poked Brian's shoulder. ‘You were talking to me in the street. I'd just come out of the library, remember? You came up the road from the High Street on your way back home. Now the girl I was with—'

‘I don't know where she went.'

Chris turned to Bea. ‘You see how he is. We can't get any sense out of him, so we thought you could have a go before we turn him over to the cops.'

‘The police? Why? I haven't done anything.' He was not afraid, but he was angry and bewildered.

Bea sat down beside Brian and did her best to soothe him. ‘I know you haven't done anything wrong. These two clowns know it, too. They've gone way over the top. Admit it, boys,' she said to them. ‘You've behaved very badly. Fancy dragging your friend in here, and yelling at him—'