A Date With Death: Cozy Private Investigator Series (Flora Lively Mysteries Book 2) (22 page)

Flora nodded.

‘About that?’ Celeste said, gesturing towards the brown envelope Flora was still clutching to her chest.

‘No,’ Flora said. ‘In fact, Jack’s here about something else entirely.’ She walked over to Gabriella’s trunk and crouched down, balancing herself with one hand while she propped the envelope up against the side of the trunk where she could see it. From her crouched position, Flora looked up at Jack and Celeste.

‘Actually, I was looking for this.’ She reached into the case again and pulled out Eduardo’s sling. It was a little crushed, but still very authentic with the mud and the plaster work, designed to resemble the crude attempts of Napoleonic medics. A grubby gauze and cotton bandage was attached to the plaster, forming the loop that went over Eduardo’s shoulder and around his back.

‘You see, she obsessed with sling.’ Eduardo was standing just inside the door now, directing his complaint to an astonished-looking Celeste. ‘What is this? You tell me.’ His face was flushed, his thick hair still damp from the shower.

Flora looked up at Jack, then nodded towards Eduardo. The detective narrowed his eyes, then stepped in front of the actor to bar his approach.

‘Just wait a minute,’ he said, watching Flora intently. ‘Let’s hear what she has to say.’

Raquel and Vincenzo were standing just behind Eduardo, and Flora could see Nick Gibson too, craning his stumpy neck for a better view into the room. From outside the door came the clinking of keys, which she guessed meant that Sidney had come along to see what all the fuss was about as well. She smiled to herself, then stood, still holding the sling.

‘I’m glad you’re all here,’ she said. Her mouth was a little dry, but she suddenly felt quite calm. ‘I’m glad you’re here because there’s something I want to show you. I came in here today to look for this. Gabriella told me to look for it, there was something inside she wanted me to find.’

Flora scanned the room, waiting for a reaction. Six pairs of eyes stared back at her. The silence was absolute. She slid her hand into the sling, searching inside with eager fingers, grimacing slightly at the cloying feel of the plaster. Her fingers found nothing but space and bits of fluff, and for a heart-stopping moment she wondered if she’d been wrong, completely wrong. But then she felt it. Her hand closed around the small metal box and she pulled it out of the sling. She looked at it, lying in her palm. It felt so light, so innocuous.

Of course, it was anything but.

‘This,’ she said, holding up the recording device for everyone in the room to see, ‘was Gabriella’s. She had it hidden in Alberto’s room. Gabriella had recorded every conversation that took place in Alberto and Raquel’s room since the day we arrived here.’ Raquel made a noise, halfway between a cry and a laugh. Flora ignored her and carried on. ‘She recorded every conversation, including the one he had with his killer.’

Suddenly unable to look around the room, unable to meet the eyes of a murderer, Flora inspected the device, locating the play button on one side. She nodded once, then held it up again. ‘And I’m going to play it for you right now. It’s time we found out once and for all who killed Alberto, and who murdered Gabriella. But of course, you know whose voice we’re about to hear. Don’t you, Jack?’

She looked up, finally. Jack was smiling at her, but the muscles in his neck were like ropes of flesh. He gave a little laugh, then glanced around at the others. ‘Well, that was all very dramatic, Flora, but I think we’d better listen to this down at the station. You know, in the proper conditions.’ He held out his hand for the recording device. Flora took a step back.

‘No,’ she said. ‘I think I’d rather listen to it here. Right now.’

‘Me to,’ Celeste said. She was standing next to Eduardo now, her arm linked through his, but her posture was angled far enough away from him to betray her suspicions. Raquel and Vincenzo had also stepped apart, as though neither was sure of the other.

Nick poked his head between them and all but growled at Flora. ‘Play the damn thing, will you? Whichever bastard killed Gabriella, I want to know about it.’

‘What do you think, Jack?’ Flora said. Her face felt frozen, like all the muscles had stopped working. ‘Shall we just get it over with?’

‘Absolutely not. I want you to –’

Flora raised her voice and cut him off. ‘The reason Jack doesn’t want me to play the recording is, he knows exactly whose voice is on it. He’s heard it already – when Gabriella played it to him. It’s your voice, isn’t it, Jack? You and Alberto, in his room. You went there on some pretext or other, and then Alberto …’ She swallowed, her throat threatening to close up completely. She took another shaky breath. ‘Did Alberto cry for mercy? Is that how it goes on here, Jack? Or didn’t you give him a chance to beg you not to kill him?’ She looked at him again, the man she’d once thought of as a friend, and saw various emotions cross his face. Not guilt, though, or even fear. Annoyance and frustration flickered across his eyes even while he was shaking his head and arranging his face into a tolerant smile. No fear, she thought, just irritation.

Which was possibly the worst thing of all.

Chapter 14

‘Flora, can I talk to you outside for a moment?’ Jack’s smile had morphed into a mask of concern, his voice low and conspiratorial. He glanced around the room, then looked back at Flora. The others were staring at them, their expressions both alarmed and confused. Flora shook her head.

‘I don’t think so. I think we should discuss it right here.’

‘Okay.’ His posture seemed relaxed, but Flora was wary. She took another step back, her ankle grazing the side of Gabriella’s trunk. Celeste had edged closer to Flora, whether for support or to take a lunge for her blasted envelope, Flora couldn’t tell.

‘Well, I think it’s clear what’s going on here,’ Jack said. ‘You’re still worried about your boyfriend being implicated in Alberto’s murder so you’ve come up with this plan to muddy the waters.’ He looked at Celeste, his face a sneer. ‘You and your friend have a lot in common when it comes to tampering with evidence. But if you give me the recording right now I won’t press charges. Give it to me, Flora.’ He held out his hand again, this time taking a step in her direction.

Flora clutched it to her chest and shook her head.

‘Just let her play it,’ Nick said. He’d elbowed past Vincenzo and Raquel to stand within striking distance of Jack, and if his body language was anything to go by, striking was a distinct possibility. ‘Then we’ll know, won’t we?’

‘This is a police matter,’ Jack said. His tone was firm, and his eyes told Nick to stay back. ‘No one will be listening to that recording here, today. For God’s sake, Flora, you’ve already destroyed the chance of us getting prints off that. And what are you even doing in here? Sidney was supposed to keep this room locked.’

‘It’s not Sidney’s fault. I made him give me the key.’ She looked at the device in her hands. ‘You’d only have found Gabriella’s prints, anyway. I’m sure you never touched it. And once we listen to this, it won’t matter, will it? It won’t matter about evidence. All the evidence you need is right here. Which is why you told Sidney to keep it locked away until you arrived. This device would never have seen the light of day – it would have been lost or destroyed as soon as you found it.’ She stopped, her attention caught by sound outside the room. She thought she heard a low voice, someone speaking to Sidney. She hoped it was Marshall. But what if he hadn’t got her message?

She had no time to think about that now. Whether he had come or not, it was time to end this. Raquel was staring at the device in Flora’s hands, tears forming in the corners of her mascaraed eyes. Celeste had edged her way around the room to Flora’s side, and when Flora glanced her way, she saw her friend nod, just once. A nod of encouragement. Of support.

She located the play button on the device again and rested her finger on it.

‘Don’t do it, Flora.’ Jack’s voice was hoarse now, his eyes imploring.

‘But you’ve left me no choice,’ she said. ‘You did this, not me. You killed Alberto, and then you killed Gabriella. And these people deserve to know the truth.’

‘I didn’t,’ he shouted, whirling round to face the others. ‘She’s making all this up. She’s probably recorded something on there herself, twisting it around to sound like a murder. Why, her best friend is an actress, they probably know someone who could have faked it, could have –’

Flora pressed the button. The recording was clear, as clear as if Alberto was standing in the windowless room with them. He said something in Spanish, then they heard the clinking sound of ice being thrown into glasses, liquid pouring. A creaking noise, perhaps somebody sitting. And then Jack’s voice.

You’ve got it secured like we discussed? She shouldn’t keep on wearing it. Can’t you tell her?

Alberto laughed, a jolly upbeat laugh that made Flora wince. No matter how lecherous he’d been, no matter his personal history, he hadn’t deserved to die. The director said something the recording didn’t quite pick up – it was muffled as though he was bending down – and then Alberto said,
What are you doing with that?
She bit her lip as Jack spoke again.

Just stay back there, old man. Don’t come any closer.

Jack, hey, my friend.
Alberto’s voice was almost amused, his accent even more pronounced.
Is the tiara you want? You take. Take it. Is insured, yes? I won’t say –

Shut up. Don’t make another sound and I won’t hurt you.

A banging now, and something unintelligible, and then Alberto, crying out.

Hey, what you doing? No. No … no …

‘
Detenerlo
.’ Raquel’s hand rose up, pointing at Flora. Her fingers shook, and her face was streaked with tears. ‘Stop it,
por favor
.’ Vincenzo whispered something in her ear and she sagged against him. The recording continued to play.

Silence. And then breathing, something being dragged. A door opening, footsteps. Silence again.

Flora pressed another button and the playback stopped. Celeste slipped her arm through Flora’s and pulled her close. They looked up at Jack.

He hadn’t moved, hadn’t flinched, for the entire duration of the replay. But something had changed. There was a hardening of his face, a tension in his shoulders. His eyes found Flora’s and he lifted his lips into a sneer.

‘How the hell did you work it out?’ The emphasis was on you, and Flora felt the word like a slap.

‘It was easy,’ she said, although this wasn’t true at all. ‘You told me everything I needed to know. You gave yourself away twice over.’

‘A lucky guess,’ he said. His gaze kept jumping to the door and back. His body had shifted, almost imperceptibly, to face it. ‘You didn’t know it was me on that recording. Not until you played it.’

‘True. But I was pretty sure it would be. I figured it out, Jack. You came to Alberto’s room that night, probably on the pretext of checking he was okay after the fight with Nick. Of course, it had been your plan to steal the tiara all along, which was why you told Alberto to keep it here in the house where there is no safe. Anyone else would have brought a safe in, or advised him to keep it in one of the locked rooms. Goodness knows there are plenty of them.’ She could see it now, her imagination playing it out for her like a film. Like a really bad film.

‘I guess you planned to kill him all along, because if it had been just a plain old robbery, CID might not have been involved. You needed to be in on the investigation so you could control it completely. But when Eduardo threatened Alberto, you saw your chance to set it up to look like a crime of passion, not a robbery gone wrong.’ She glanced at Eduardo, who looked back at her blankly. ‘It was easy enough for you to get hold of his sword after filming, to sneak upstairs with it. You knew Raquel was with Vincenzo downstairs, and for once she wasn’t wearing the tiara. But it wasn’t enough to incriminate Eduardo, was it? You had to have a back-up plan.’ She moved her head from side to side. ‘Still the same old Jack. Always had to over-prepare. But you picked on the wrong person this time, didn’t you? You found Marshall’s baseball cap in Alberto’s room, and saw your chance, slipping it under his body so you could discover it there later with plenty of witnesses. And then you sent the note, supposedly from me, telling Marshall to meet me in here. You left the scabbard out, figuring he would recognise what it was straight away, banking on normal human curiosity to do your work for you. And then you sent one of your men in here to catch him red-handed. It was clever, really clever. But it was the note that gave you away in the end, Jack. Just in case you were wondering.’

Jack took a step to the side, keeping his eyes on Flora. ‘You’ve got no evidence that I sent it. If you’re hoping for a confession you’re out of luck, Miss Detective. No court is going to convict me based on that alone.’ He pointed to the device in Flora’s hands, but his expression was desperate, almost lustful. She realised with a jolt that if the two of them were in this room alone, he would kill her to get his hands on the recording. She watched him, her eyes wary.

‘You said it was written on a serviette, Jack. Nobody knew that except Sidney and me. As soon as Sidney told you that the note had been destroyed, you lost interest – he never got the chance to describe it to you. He certainly never told you that it had been written on a serviette. No one could have known that. Except the killer.’

‘It’s true,’ Sidney said. Vincenzo and Nick moved out of the way to allow the butler to look into the room. ‘What she’s saying is true.’ He threw Jack a disgusted glance, then stepped back again.

Behind him, Flora saw Marshall, and her heart jumped just a little. He was back and he was safe. He also looked furious, but that was okay. Even if he was furious with her, that was still okay. Gathering her strength, she turned back to Jack, pulling away from Celeste as she began to speak again.

‘Of course, Celeste helped you, albeit unwittingly, by messing up the room and knocking stuff over. She said she did it because she wanted to protect Eduardo. As soon as she saw the sword she thought he’d killed Alberto to protect her.’