‘You know, Jamie. This awful thing.’
Sandy eyed her. ‘There’s money on the table. The very smell of it makes lunatics out of ordinarily sane people. Whoever did this is inside this hotel right now, perhaps eating, or chatting to people. He might even have given a statement to the police already.’
‘It wasn’t me!’ Tilda said defensively.
Sandy laughed. ‘I know it wasn’t you. Besides, aren’t the police saying it was suicide?’
‘You’re making me nervous,’ Tilda said. Sandy stared at her.
‘Everything makes you nervous, Tilda. Why did you even come? You can’t go anywhere without those gorillas on your tail. You belong in your ivory tower in New York. The English countryside is an inhospitable wilderness.’ She laughed, but Tilda didn’t find it funny. ‘We’ll get to the bottom of thiseventually. It’s probably a jealous competitor. It could be Paul for all I know.’ Sandy became serious again.
‘You think he was pushed?’ Tilda said, her voice low.
Sandy smiled. ‘I have no idea.’
‘What jurisdiction does that detective have?’ Tilda asked.
Sandy looked to the door. A few people had come and gone, taking food with them and not saying much.
‘It’s different here. The US has a treaty with the UK to share witnesses etc, but I’ve spoken to head office and we’ll be heading to New York shortly. Don’t worry. Just act normal. But perhaps ask your gorillas to not cock their weapons around here. You know someone was filming? That shit is illegal in the UK, even if you are rich.’
Sandy looked the CEO up and down and stood her ground. Tilda Dent had no idea what normal was, and frankly, at the moment, neither did Sandy. The fact that it was left to her to contact New York and come up with a damage limitation strategy said everything.
The skin around Tilda’s neck turned pink and Sandy saw fear grip her. ‘I’ve told the detective that we’ll stay here overnight and be available for statements in the morning.’
‘More statements?’
Tilda shrugged. ‘I didn’t speak to legal before I agreed.’
‘Calm down, Tilda. We’ll give our statements and then head to Dow Bank House. When we’re done, we’ll head home. Investigations like this take months in the UK. They have no money, and their legal system is broken like an old Ford engine. Tell them what you know, and we’ll hear from them in a year when they close the inquiry, if there is one. Did you see that old guy who is the coroner? He looks as though he’s going to fall asleep any minute.’
Tilda laughed. It was a rare moment and Sandy thought Tilda quite attractive when she chilled the fuck out.
‘Tell me honestly, Sandy, do you think he was pushed? Do you think it was deliberate? If it’s a competitor, they might not stop at Jamie. What we have is worth killing for, isn’t it?’
Sandy went to take a sip of juice from one of the colourful glasses but thought twice about it and sniffed it instead, for signs of interference. The best poisons were odourless, but that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be telltale traces, such as dyes, or a weird texture. She examined the liquid carefully and stared into the glass.
‘I think the less you know the better,’ Sandy said.
It did the trick. Tilda stood up and backed away and bumped into Lee on her way out.
Sandy forced a weak smile.
‘Am I disturbing you?’ he asked her.
Sandy assessed if she had time to play.
She did not.
She looked around but couldn’t think of an excuse to get rid of Lee and decided to stay and watch the show. The global empire of Hampton-Dent had been brought to its knees in the middle of the English Lake District and suddenly, Sandy felt like laughing. The story of Jamie Robbins’ death had reached the other side of the pond and a scandal was brewing.
‘Everybody is in shock,’ Lee said, looking around.
She saw he wore fresh, clean clothes. The remnants of Jamie’s lifeblood had gone. She’d done the same. The police had allowed her to take a shower but they’d asked for her clothes to test them. As a scientist herself she knew it was to screen them for fibres and trace material to check that no third party was involved. She and Lee were both the closest to the area on the floor where Jamie had landed. She supposed both she and Lee would be covered in splatter and just as blood-pattern experts traced the trajectory of bodily fluids up walls and across carpets and tiles, so they could do it on other items.
‘They let you change,’ she said.
Lee smiled and nodded. ‘You too?’
