Page 41 of Secrets of the Forgotten Heir

I saw what she meant: the ward she’d placed on his skin was only faintly visible. No wonder he was totally covered up and wearing a flat cap and sunglasses. ‘I’ll make an appointment when I need an appointment,’ he snarled in a deep New York drawl.

Well, if that wasn’t customer service, I wasn’t sure what was. I half-expected him to chuck my coffee at me and charge extra for the trauma.

‘So?’ he said, shifting his gaze to me.

‘So?’ I asked, a little taken aback.

‘What do you want to drink? I assume that’s why you’re standing here.’

Wow. Polite. He was a New Yorker through and through: busy, direct and brusque. ‘Can we get two cappuccinos, please?’ I said, trying my most charming smile. It didn’t seem to impress him.

With a grunt, he moved to the coffee machine. As he filled the filter with freshly ground beans, a commotion started near the door. ‘In the police car? You’re sure?’ someone asked loudly.

‘Absolutely. In the back of the car. They’ve arrested her.’

I turned my attention away from the counter to listen. ‘Sorry?’ I said, tapping the shoulder of the person next to me. ‘What was that?’

The man squinted as if he recognised me but then shook his head. ‘Mrs D. The old schoolteacher. She was in the back of a police car. It looks like she’s been arrested.’

Chapter Twenty-Seven

I didn’t wait to hear any more. With Eva hot on my heels, I pushed my way out of the shop. Maddie called my name, but I didn’t bother looking back to see if she was following me. If Mrs D had been arrested, did that mean that Yanni had found more evidence? No way did Mrs D murder Warren Storcrest! It had to be a mistake.

When I reached the station, Dove was sitting behind her desk. ‘What the hell is going on?’ I demanded.

‘Bea,’ Dove began. ‘I was about to call you. Mrs D was—’

‘It’s okay, Dove, I’ll take this. Beatrix.’ Yanni’s voice was firm and controlled. I turned and saw she was standing in front of her office door, hands on her hips.

I realised I was trembling. The strength of my reaction surprised me, but then again I knew what it was like when everyone thought you were guilty of a crime youhadn’t committed. ‘You arrested her?’ I said brokenly. ‘She’s innocent, Yanni, and you paraded her in front of everybody!’

Her eyes were sympathetic: she knew me too well. ‘I didnotarrest Mrs D,’ she responded calmly. ‘And I most certainly did notparadeher anywhere. I brought her in for questioning, which I’m entitled to do – and which I need to do. This is a murder case and we have reason to suspect her.’

‘You can’t be serious! It’s Mrs D!’

Yanni studied me. ‘Tell me this, Bea. Before yesterday, would you have expected Mrs D could poison someone?’

I didn’t reply because I couldn’t, not without proving her point.

‘Exactly,’ she said, taking my silence as the answer she wanted. ‘Now, I understand she didn’t mean to poison someone but shedidintend to rig a competition so that she won. You wouldn’t have thought she was capable of cheating, either, would you? Would you have thought Mrs D could cheat to win money?’

I remained silent and my shoulders slumped. There was no point replying. Yanni knew she had me.

Her voice softened still further. ‘I’m not doing this to be cruel, Bea. The last thing I want is to find that Mrs D is guilty. She taught Maddie too, remember? And Maddie’s mum and dad –she taught all my kids and all the kids around here. Iget it. But right now, I need to question her because she had a motive and she has form, albeit accidental. Plus, she might know other people who had similar motives and were willing to take it a little further. You can’t let your personal feelings affect this investigation.’

I ground my back teeth. I loved Yanni, I understood it was her job, and from her perspective I was being unreasonable. But I couldn’t help it: my emotions were too high. ‘You put her in the back of the police car,’ I said accusingly.

‘Because she was more comfortable there. I offered her the front seat but she wanted to stretch out a bit because she has arthritis in her shoulders. It was her choice to go in the back, like it was her choice to come down to the station rather than have me question her at home. Fingers crossed she can give us an alibi for Warren’s time of death and we’ll move on with the investigation.’

‘And if she can’t?’

Yanni didn’t reply. I sucked in a sharp breath. I needed to clear Mrs D and that meant I had tothink,dammit. ‘Do we have an official time of death?’

Yanni’s gaze didn’t waver. ‘Yes. The coroner placed it between thirty minutes to an hour before we got there.’

As I thought about those times, a thought struck me. ‘We wentto Storcrest’s house after I’d seen Mrs D, so it can’t possibly be her.I’mher alibi.’ I shot Yanni a triumphant smile.

‘Beatrix,’ she said evenly, ‘you were with her for all of twenty minutes and after that you came back to the station. That doesn’t give her an alibi. If anything, knowing we were onto her could have been the reason she finished him off.’

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