Ten million dollars.
A hefty incentive for
anyone to commit murder.
I think I realized then
why I’d been selected for the case. New, naive, and easily
manipulated. Not necessarily by Angela, but by two very experienced women
who had no doubt been planning how to escape their husbands for a long time. Now I knew who the other woman in the car
was, that first time I met Jennifer.
Retribution for Cathy,
and ten million dollars as a bonus, only it didn’t look like Angela was invited
to the celebration. I wondered just how close she had come to joining Al
on the floor.
If, as she claimed,
Jennifer did not shoot Al, it left only one other person. It was the
reason why Angela was tied up, Al was dead, and Jennifer ‘found’ the gun when she
arrived. And, of course, why the door was open and she just walked
in. Was Jennifer here to ‘clean up’?
It was then a question of
how Al was shot, and Angela was injured, both bullets fired from the same gun,
the one Jennifer had a tight grip on. I stretched, and turned in my seat,
just enough to see the window behind Angela. No broken glass, but a speck
of light showing through the curtain beside her.
Both Al and Angela had
been shot from outside.
By Edwina.
A memory fragment came
back to me, something Corinne had mentioned when researching the Jones’ family
history. Edwina had once tried out for pistol shooting for the Olympics
but wasn’t good enough.
Then. Now, I
suspect, it was a different story.
I looked at Edwina.
“I’m surprised you would want to kill your own daughter.”
She frowned at me, most
likely seeing the astonished expression on Angela’s face.
“I couldn’t, and
wouldn’t. It was for show so Sykes wouldn’t be able to pin Al’s murder on
her.”
“You did it, didn’t
you. From outside. It’s not much of a shot to make given the short
distance, not for someone with your experience is using guns.”
“You shot me?” Angela
said, in anger and with a tinge of fear.
“It’s for your own
good. But after meddling in affairs that don’t concern you, I almost
changed my mind.” Edwina switched her attention to Jennifer. “Did
you find the computer?”
She nodded.
“Yes. Got it, and we’re good to go.”
I had another question
for Edwina. “Did you also kill Miriam?”
“No, she committed
suicide. It took a little persuasion, but she finally did the right
thing.”
“After giving you the
banking details where a sizable retirement fund was residing?”
“She tried to use it as
leverage but I wasn’t in a forgiving mood. What can I say, her conscience
got the better of her.”
I could see Edwina
stuffing the pills down her throat.
My gaze turned to
Jennifer, “Al told you what he suspected.”
“You were right when you
said Al was a blunt instrument. He had no idea what was going on, except
money was going missing. He suspected Joe was behind it, but after Joe died,
and money was still going missing, I think he started to suspect it was more
than just Miriam he had to worry about, and that was probably why he staged his
death. So he could continue his
investigation in peace”
I turned to look at
Edwina, “Did you kill Joe?”
“No. That was
Al.” She looked at her daughter. “I suspect you were there when he
did it. I said once an eye for an eye would never give you closure.”
So perhaps Angela had
been lying about that, and her involvement.
Angela said nothing, but
I think her mother was right. I had seen her leaving in the car
registered to Outtel, so either she or Al had been driving it away from the
scene of the crime. Once again I had become a witness and almost a patsy.
Whatever sympathy I may
have had for Angela was diminishing rapidly. Retribution like that only made
you as bad as the person you seek retribution against.
Now I was at the scene of
another crime, the real killing of Al, and I doubted Angela would be creating a
smokescreen this time. “What now?” I asked.
“We leave. I’m
sorry, but we will have to tie you up.”
“Are you going to kill us
too?”
“No, of course not.
There’s no reason to kill either of you. Not now.”
“But we can tell the
police everything, and especially what you two have done.”
“We’ll be long gone by
the time the police get here.”
Jennifer picked up the
gun and pointed it at me. Edwina took some twine out of her handbag and
used it to bind my hands and legs to the chair.
“Where are you going?”
It was worth asking, even if they didn’t tell me.
“Somewhere far away, with
no extradition treaty,” Jennifer said.
Edwina replaced Angela’s
gag, then put one on me.
For a moment Edwina
disappeared behind us, checking the ropes, but then I felt a pin pricking my
neck. It was either the end, or the women needed us unconscious long
enough for them to getaway. I was hoping it was the latter.
The last words I heard
before the darkness came was Jennifer saying, “Sorry, but we have a plane to
catch.”
© Charles Heath 2016 - 2019
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