“Also, my friends and I have some information in the Mary Brown case. We’d like to talk to you about it. I made an appointment with your assistant, but she couldn’t find a time until next week. Would it be possible to come in sooner? I think you’ll find our evidence quite compelling.”
He eyed her with curiosity and a little irritation. “Tomorrow at ten is fine.”
“I’ll see you then. Thank you, Detective…”
“Mooney.”
“Thank you, Detective Mooney.”
The next day, Bea, Charmaine and Evie all gathered for a coffee at the dock before heading to the police station together. On the way there, they stopped by the bank. Charmaine took a photograph of the jewellery on her phone, then put it back in her lock box.
Inside the station, Bea’s fingers drummed out a steady rhythm on the arm of her chair. Evie chewed a fingernail. Charmaine sat opposite Bea and stared at the floor by her feet.
“Come with me,” a cheerful woman said.
They followed her to Detective Mooney’s office, and each took a seat against the wall. He wasn’t there, but came in soon after carrying a cup of tea on a saucer. He set the saucer down on his desk and went to shake hands with each of the women. His demeanour was much friendlier than it had been the day before when it was only Bea in his office.
“Welcome, ladies. How nice to see you. Can I offer you a drink?”
“No, thank you,” Evie said. “We’ve had one.”
“Beatrice told me you have something to share with me. A statement to make in the Mary Brown case?”
He glanced from one woman to the other. His gaze finally landed on Bea.
She nodded. “Thank you for seeing us, Detective. We have a story to tell that I think you’ll enjoy.”
By the time Bea had finished relaying what Betsy had told her and Charmaine had woven her own tale of the events of her life and shown the photographs of stolen jewellery, the detective’s attitude had become more serious and pensive. He called for another detective to come into the room, and between them, they had the women repeat everything from the beginning in a formal recorded statement.
“One of the keys to breaking the case was that Betsy had photographs of herself pinned up behind the cash register in the florist shop,” Charmaine explained. “Taken with famous people.”
“How did she know so many of them, I wonder?” Bea asked.
“I imagine her former husband had relationships with a lot of powerful people,” Detective Mooney mused. “From what you’ve told me.”
Had Detective Mooney already discovered Betsy’s true identity when investigating the case? It seemed like he knew more than he’d let on to them. Regardless, the truth was out in the open now, and Bea was glad. It was no longer her burden to carry.
Finally, Detective Mooney sat back in his chair, hands linked behind his head, and sighed. “Well, that’s a lot more detail than I would’ve thought possible. Well done, ladies. You make fine detectives.”
“Will you arrest Betsy?” Bea asked.
The two detectives exchanged a glance. “We’ll need to get a warrant from a judge on the mainland, and that might not happen for a few days. But there is something we can tell you that might give you a bit more understanding of the situation. Before you came into the station today, Frank Norton visited and informed us that Betsy Norton, his mother, is missing.”
Fifteen
The pool in her parents’backyard had always been a place of sanctuary and rest for Taya. She swam a lazy lap down the length of it, then did a somersault turn at the end and swam back again. A splash caught her attention and she stood up with a start, her feet scrambling for a foothold on the concrete bottom of the pool.
“Mum, you almost landed on me,” she stuttered before coughing up pool water.
Her mother’s hair was wet and plastered down against her head. She giggled and used one hand to splash Taya in the face. With mock horror, Taya gaped, then splashed her back. Pretty soon, they were engaged in an all-out water fight, Taya hiding behind a large blow-up swan and her mother alternating between ducking beneath the water and emerging like a slow-motion superhero to rain down more water on Taya’s exposed head.
After a while, Taya was exhausted and raised both hands in surrender, laughing so hard that she could barely speak. “Okay, Mum, stop. I’m going to keel over if I don’t catch my breath soon.”
Her mother was panting as well. They both climbed out of the pool and lay on banana lounges in the shade to calm their heart rates.
“You do pretty well for an old lady,” Taya quipped.
Mum crossed her eyes and poked out her tongue. “Old! Gah. I’m not old. I go to Pilates three times a week and walk five kilometres every morning.”
