Deadly Dozen: 12 Mysteries/Thrillers (103 page)

“I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important, Fiona. Please?”

Reluctantly, Fiona stood. Lorne glanced over to the stand and smiled a reassuring smile at a panic-stricken Ami. The defence lawyer pounced on the distracted Ami, which almost made Fiona reconsider leaving the court.

Lorne grabbed Fiona’s elbow and steered her out the door. “I’m sorry, Fiona. I need the keys to your flat.”

“What? Lorne, you’re scaring me. What’s happened?”

Lorne peered in Linda’s direction and saw that she and the other girl were approaching them. Hurriedly, she said, “Damn. Fiona, Blackie is dead. I need to remove his body before Ami and Linda see it. It’ll crush them. Please, don’t tell them. Just give me your keys.”

A bewildered Fiona delved into her handbag and passed Lorne her bundle of keys. “Why? How?” As she asked the obvious questions, her confusion gave way to anger. She gasped. “He did it, didn’t he?”

“I’m not sure. I think Blackie was poisoned. Please, don’t react and cause Linda to worry. I’m on my way over there now with Tony. I’ll get the keys back to you as soon as I can.” Lorne rubbed Fiona’s upper arm and left the building before Linda reached them.

Twenty minutes later, Lorne and Tony pulled up outside the girls’ flat and let themselves in. Lorne ran over to Blackie and checked for any signs of life, but he felt cold to the touch. A tsunami of emotions swept through her slightly trembling body. The guilt she felt for placing the dog in such a volatile situation clawed at and squeezed her heart.

Tony had disappeared into the small kitchen and came out carrying a black bag. He shook it out and then knelt on the floor beside Lorne. He winced briefly because of his infection. He draped his arm across her shoulders, and he kissed her cheek to hurry her up.

Lorne cleaned up the blood and saliva first, and as they jointly placed Blackie in the bag, Lorne muttered, “I’m sorry, Blackie. Rest in peace, love.”

They carried the dog’s body out to the car and put it gently in the boot. Lorne looked around nervously, worried what the neighbours might think. Luckily, no one was around.

On the journey back to the court to drop off the keys, Lorne spoke only once. “I know exactly where I want him to be buried. Out in the paddock, underneath the tree he used to mark.”

When they arrived back at the courthouse, a large group of journalists were shoving each other for the best spot as they waited for their prey on the pavement. Lorne glanced at the clock on the dashboard. Could it really be four thirty already?

“I’ll be right back,” she told Tony. She slammed the door and barged through the crowd. Inside, she found the three girls and Linda’s friend, huddled together in their usual spot. By the entrance, Gibson and his entourage were busy prettying themselves up for the waiting press outside.

Lorne narrowed her eyes when Gibson’s arrogant gaze met hers.

For the longest moment, they glared at each other before his mother tugged on his arm. “Come on, darling. She’s not worth it.”

Lorne bit back the retort that had settled on her lips and was dying to be released. Is your mother really that naïve? They say a mother’s love knows no bounds. It sickened her to see such loyalty for a rapist and murderer. You’ll get yours, rich boy!

She broke eye contact with him, scanned his Savile Row–suited body with genuine disgust, and headed towards the girls. She met Fiona halfway and returned the keys. “We’ve cleaned up. How are things progressing here?”

Fiona gave a brief nod, then looked over Lorne’s shoulder at Gibson. “It’s up to the jury, now. Not sure how long they will take to come to a verdict. I’m so proud of the way Linda and Ami coped with the annihilation of their characters. Not sure I would have survived all that crap, if I was in their shoes.”

“I have a feeling the jury won’t be out for long. I’ll see if I can be here tomorrow. Depends on what happens with my father.”

Eyeing Gibson with contempt, Fiona asked, “How is he?”

“He had a comfortable night. I’m going to visit him later; I’ll know more then. What are you going to tell the girls about Blackie?”

“I was hoping you’d help me come up with an excuse.”

“For now, why don’t we tell them that he wasn’t feeling too good, and he’s come back home with me for a few days?”

“Sounds perfect, Lorne. Poor Blackie. I’m not sure I’ll be able to ever have another dog. The guilt of what we put him through is just too much to bear.” Fiona’s eyes grew wet with threatening tears.

“Chin up. Don’t let the other girls see how upset you are. I better go. Tony is parked on double yellows out front. I’ll give you a ring either later on this evening or tomorrow.”

They bid each other farewell, and Lorne exited the courthouse before the attention seekers did. The Gibsons soon followed, and Lorne almost got crushed in the resulting stampede.

She jumped in the passenger seat of the car and let out a huge sigh. “Get me out of here.”

Tony started the engine and indicated out into the stream of late afternoon traffic and headed home.

Carol greeted them and reassured them that the place hadn’t fallen down during their absence. Tony went in search of a wheelbarrow and spade. Lorne and Tony hoisted Blackie’s body out of the vehicle and into the barrow. Then the three of them trudged out to Blackie’s favourite tree. Tony started digging a large hole, while Lorne told Carol that the case was drawing to a conclusion.

“We’ll hear the outcome tomorrow,” Carol said confidently.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lorne noticed the way Carol periodically shook her head as she watched Tony dig the grave. She hoped and prayed that Carol was wrong about how the case would end, but her gut instinct was that come tomorrow she would have a lot of consoling to do.

Carol said a beautiful prayer over Blackie as Tony and Lorne lowered him into the deep hole. Lorne turned and buried her head in her husband’s chest as the tears finally fell for her departed companion.

The three went into the kitchen, where Lorne insisted that Carol should join them for dinner. “It’ll only be pizza, but I’d love you to join us—my way of thanking you for all you’ve done today, Carol.”

“If you insist, who am I to argue? I wanted to have a chat about the little Yorkie I spotted in the kennels, anyway. Any chance I can offer her a new home?” Carol asked hesitantly.

Lorne smiled. “That’s the dog I was telling you about. Little Nelly and you would make an excellent match. Don’t you think, Tony?”

Tony nodded. “No doubts in my mind whatsoever.”

“I don’t want special treatment. I know you have to carry out home checks, et cetera. I’m not opposed to that.”

“I’m sure there won’t be a problem there, Carol.”

“Now tell me all about your new business and why you decided to go it alone?”

Lorne spent the next fifteen minutes assembling the pizzas while explaining what had driven her to become a PI. Carol listened without interruption as Lorne also told her about how she’d met Tony and how he’d lost his leg in Afghanistan.

At the end, Carol sat back in her chair, looking thoughtful. “I’d love to be part of your team, Lorne.”

She placed the pizzas under the grill and went back to sit opposite Carol. “In what way?”

“I just find it all so fascinating. In respect to the PIing I think you know my abilities could be helpful in solving your cases, more so now that you’ve left the force—no restrictions to work with, as such. Around here, I could do what I did today, stand in when needed, to give you all a break. It must be almost impossible to find reliable people to help out who would put the animal’s needs before their own.”

For a second or two, Lorne found that she was dumbfounded by Carol’s statement. Then as the idea sunk in, she felt like jumping for joy at Carol’s suggestion. “That’d be great. Wow, when everyone is fit and well, this team will be a team to be reckoned with. Can’t wait to tell Dad. He’s more than a little sceptical about all things paranormal. Should make for entertaining discussions at our case meetings.”

They both laughed as Tony rejoined them. “Mmm… Something smells great. What’s so funny, you two?”

“We’ll tell you over dinner. Ham and pineapple topping for you, hon?”

During dinner, they bounced a few ideas around how the business was going to go forward. Lorne smiled at her two associates and felt a renewed vigour about being a PI again.

After dinner, they waved Carol off, then hurried over to the hospital for a quick visit. Jade had been there most of the day and was getting ready to leave when they walked into the room.

“Any change?” Lorne asked, kissing her sister on the cheek.

“They say he’s improving, but I haven’t witnessed any change in him yet.” Jade swept her father’s hair off his forehead and gently kissed him goodbye.

“We probably won’t see any change for a few days. You get off. Give my love to Luigi and the boys. Thanks for sitting with Dad today.”

“Any time. I know how busy you are. Sorry for being a grouch yesterday. Ring me if there’s any change. I’ll be here all day tomorrow, so do what you have to do back home, Lorne.”

“You’re a sweetheart. Actually, the jury is out on a case we’re working on so I need to be there rather than at the kennels. I’ll ring you soon.”

The two sisters embraced, and Jade gave Tony a friendly punch on the arm as she walked past him to leave the room. Lorne hated falling out with her sister; it was good to feel forgiven by Jade.

It was the briefest of visits, as her father was still unconscious.

Lorne and Tony finally got home around nine, exhausted and ready for bed.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Somehow Lorne managed to oversleep the next morning. She was still frantically running around, feeding and exercising the dogs, when Carol arrived at eight fifteen.

“Slow down. I’ll take care of the dogs. Shoo… Get ready. The girls will be expecting you.”

Glancing at her watch, Lorne covered her face with her hands and then pulled her hair at the roots. “I’m never going to make it by nine.”

“Take a few deep breaths, then go and jump in the shower. You’ll be fine.”

And she was.

Lorne pulled out of the driveway and got on the main road into London at five minutes to nine, leaving Carol and Tony to finish the chores back at home.

Storm clouds gathered on the horizon in front of her and matched the ominous and foreboding feeling that was churning up her insides. Carol’s words rattled around in her mind: ‘He’ll get off, you know.’ For the girls’ sake, Lorne hoped Gibson didn’t get off.

By the time Lorne parked the car and ran into the courthouse, it was almost nine thirty. The three girls were already there, looking extremely anxious, but their expressions turned to relief once they saw her. “Sorry I’m late. Hectic morning on top of an exhausting day yesterday. Hey, try not to look so petrified. The hard part is over with now.”

The girls all mumbled the same thing under their breath: “Is it?”

Lorne quickly came to the conclusion that it would be best not to say anything further.

Linda inhaled sharply; Lorne followed her gaze back to the entrance. Gibson had just breezed through the door as though he didn’t have a care in the world. He was wearing a crisp grey designer suit. The whiteness of his shirt showed off his recently obtained tan to the maximum.

He glanced in their direction. His eyes bore into Lorne’s. For a moment, she detected a slip in his cool arrogance.

Before Lorne could assess him further, the usher of the court announced that the jury had reached their verdict and urged everyone to take their seats immediately.

Lorne turned to see the girls fiercely clutching each other. “Think positively. Let’s go.” Heads held high, they all walked up the corridor that had taken on a sudden chill and through the double doors into the courtroom. They sat at the end of the benches closest to the door so they could get out of there as soon as the verdict was read out.

Gibson’s smile slipped as he made his way into the dock. His defence counsel were doing their best to keep his spirits high. However, his chest rose and fell heavily. When it comes to the crunch, Gibson, your cockiness is wavering now, isn’t it?

She felt a sucker punch hit her solar plexus, though, when she witnessed the confidence oozing out of his counsel.

The room fell silent at the same moment a door at the far end opened and the jurors filed in. Once they were settled in their seats, the door opened behind the judge’s ornate chair, and the stern-faced rotund judge joined them.

“All rise.” Everyone in the room stood until the judge sat in his throne-like chair, then they all sat down. “Members of the jury, have you reached your verdict?” asked the court usher.

The spokesman on the end, nearest the jury, stood and nodded. “We have.”

“What is your verdict?”

The jury spokesman, a mature man with a receding hairline, hesitated for a brief moment before he stated adamantly, “Not guilty.”

Lorne closed her eyes as she heard the three girls gasp and start to sob. She quickly opened them again when she heard Gibson’s elation filling the courtroom. His parents grinned broadly with relief, leading Lorne to believe that they weren’t all that confident in their son’s innocence to begin with.