Page 1 of A Simple Mistake
She Was Murdered
AidanConradreadthecoroner’s conclusions twice more before he lowered the report and took a deep breath.“Miss McTavish.According to this report, your aunt died in her sleep.”
The coroner had said more than that, but Aidan had no plans to rehash the paragraphs detailing years of self-neglect on top of the signs of ageing.If his client had known her aunt, she’d know how the woman had lived.
He tidied the papers before setting them in the middle of his blotter.His desk was immaculate: notepad aligned with the bottom left edge of the thick, mahogany board, pencils parallel in their tray, and two fountain pens upright in a mother-of-pearl stand.An antique brass candlestick telephone, and an equally venerable brass lamp took up the other side of the desk, while the wall of books at Aidan’s back, and a deep green carpet and matching curtains added to the impression of a long-ago gentleman’s club.
In her neat cream suit and shell-pink shirt, Claire McTavish appeared out of place in Aidan’s chambers.The visual mismatch was familiar to him, but unlike many of his visitors, Claire McTavish didn’t let the surroundings intimidate her.
“I don’t care what that report says, Mr Conrad.The coroner doesn’t know my aunt like I do.And I’m telling you she was murdered.”
Aidan came close to applauding.Only two from his latest crop of pupils could have matched her composure.He pulled the notepad close and reached for a fountain pen.“Please explain.”
“It was her ring, you see.She had this one ring she never took off.Not to bathe, not to sleep, not ever.And she wasn’t wearing it when she was found.”She gave a little apologetic shrug.“That’s all I have for you to go on.Sorry.”
Aidan kept his eyes on his notepad, not letting on that her focus on a tiny, material detail enticed him to listen.“Can you describe the ring for me, please?”
“I have photos of her wearing it.I’ve enlarged one for you.”She fished it from her bag and slid it across the desk, and Aidan settled down to ask more questions.
Twenty minutes later, he escorted Claire McTavish to the door and saw her out.He even managed a smile while his mind flipped through his mental index of contacts for someone to call.Murders weren’t his cup of tea.Murders that looked like something else, though… “Can you give me another half hour?”he asked his PA on the way back to his office.“I need to make a call.”
She scrutinised his diary and nodded.“That shouldn’t be a problem.I’ll call Sir Bernard and tell him you’re running later than planned.”
“Thanks.”
As soon as Aidan was back at his desk, he reached for his phone.Not the fancy antique number that drew admiring glances and had cost a small fortune, but the functional one he kept out of sight in his desk drawer.
“Hiya.Need me for anything exciting?”Skylar Payne asked as soon as the call connected.A mix of announcements and conversations overlaid his voice, and Aidan frowned.Skylar was a top-shelf stylist and close protection specialist working jobs that took him all over the world.
“Are you in London?”
“Just about.Got in this morning.What do you have for me?”
Aidan wanted to claim that he’d called to shoot the breeze, but Skylar knew him too well for that.“A woman who died in her sleep,” he said instead, raising his voice to make sure Skylar heard him.He hated having to repeat himself.“Her niece is adamant she was murdered, on account of a ring her aunt wasn’t wearing when she was found.”
“A ring?What sort of ring?”
Hooked!Aidan breathed out, relieved he wouldn’t have to cajole Skylar into taking the job.“I’m no jeweller.But I have pictures.”
“You want me to do what, exactly?Find the ring?”
“Mrs McTavish lived in Seven Dials, and her niece has given me a key to her flat.Can you look around, check if anything there hints at violence?”
“Fair enough.That actually sounds like fun.”
“Your idea of, not mine.”Aidan took a breath.“The police looked the place over when she was found, but saw nothing suspicious.”
“Then what makes you think there’s anything for me to spot?”
“The niece.She sounded convinced.And convincing.”His job had given Aidan an excellent recall for faces and expressions, and Claire McTavish’s conviction her aunt hadn’t died of natural causes had been hard to miss and harder to resist.
“Right.”Skylar said nothing else for a moment.The background noise dropped without warning, and his voice came through loud and clear.“Do we need to prove it was murder and find the culprit?”
“I shouldn’t think so.Any evidence the police overlooked should be enough to get an investigation underway.”
“Especially if you present our findings?Fair enough.Send me the key and the details and I’ll pop round and take a look.”He rang off.
Aidan copied the photo of the ring.He slipped it into an envelope, adding Margot McTavish’s door key and a note giving her address.As he dropped the letter into his post tray, he wondered if it was bad form to hope Miss McTavish had been right about her aunt’s death.Her quiet conviction deserved a reward.
