But Malastra didn’t believe in coincidences, and that’s where they’d slipped up, made their big mistake: the hit on Ferrer, with Nel-M even having the bare-faced cheek to call and apologize with some feeble excuse about Ferrer ripping-off Roche, and a sweetener pay-off to boot. That’s Malastra thrown off the scent, Nel-M no doubt thought. Then Gerry Strelloff killed as well — too muchof a coincidence — with someone else in the frame so that it didn’t link back directly to Nel-M.
From that moment Malastra was on to it, and as he looked back through the video-cam footage of the casino floor and saw the envelopes being passed between Strelloff and Ferrer, he knew. He knew without any remaining shadow of doubt: Nel-M had been in on it with Jouliern from the start — he should have guessed earlier that it was a bit rich for Jouliern’s blood to plan on his own — and Nel-M’s part of it had been to get rid of the couriers in the middle so that there was no possible trace back.
But in the end, that’s exactlywhat had alerted him: they’d tried to be too thorough, too clever. Divine justice, Malastra thought as he made the last delete key-tap.
When Alaysha had seen George Jouliern’s name on the back of the envelope that the messenger held out, her heart leapt into her throat. A note from the grave: ‘ They know. They know it all. And they’re coming to get you.’ Or maybe the messenger would now hand her a second note from Malastra: ‘ We found this letter addressed to you from George Jouliern. Just go quietly with the messenger, no fuss, into the car parked outside.’
But the messenger simply smiled as he took her signature for George Jouliern’s letter, and walked away.
Her hands still trembled faintly now as she read the letter again. How many read-throughs for it to finally sink home that it was all over? She was safe.
If you’re reading this, then it means I’m no longer around and Malastra has probably put together the pieces of our little scam
But with you trying to save your mother, out of all of us you were probably the only one to have noble, unselfish reasons for doing what you did, and that touched me. I knew too that you were only roped into all of this by Gerry. All in all, I thought it would be unfair if Malastra’s hammer came down on you as well. So I took the precaution of erasing all the video-cam shots where you’re passed the envelopes. Hopefully I’ve been successful in burying everything. Good luck with your mom.
Alaysha’s eyes filled, and she closed them as a faint shudder ran through her. Hopefully, finally, shaking off the last of the nightmare. Jac too would be so pleased, so relieved to hear; but at that moment, it looked like he had more than enough on his plate.
The ups and downs and last-minute dramas of the Durrant case had filled every news channel throughout the day.
And when she did finally speak to Jac close to midnight and he told her breathlessly, ‘I made it! That’s it… it’s official! They’ve stopped the execution!’, it was as if the last of his nightmare was falling away from him too. Falling away with each excitable, faltering breath. He was quick to reassure that he was fine, just minor injuries, then, hardly pausing for breath, he told her the rest: the Sancti Spiritus post office, Truelle and Nel-M, the hospital, the delayed execution, the tape from Truelle’s briefcase that finally saved the day. ‘And then when I get hold of Candaret with just forty minutes to spare, he starts arguing the toss. I think that’s the first time I’ve told a State Governor exactly what I thought of them.’
‘Oh, Jac… Jac. That’s great, fantastic! You must be ecstatic… not to mention exhausted.’
‘Yeah… yeah.’
But at that moment, as Jac finally paused for breath, realizing that he’d talked non-stop for almost twenty minutes — or perhaps suddenly remembering that he still had one nightmare to sort out, his own false murder-rap — and he asked how shewas, Alaysha didn’t mention anything, simply said she was okay.
‘Fine… everything just fine here with me and Molly.’
This was hisday. There’d be time enough for her to tell Jac when they were together face to face. Hopefully a lot of time.
47
Two Christmases.
It took eight days to clear up Jac’s own problems with his false murder rap.
The first breakthrough came when Nel-M’s rental-car was seen on a cam around the corner on St. Joseph Street a minute after the murder. Then the timing of the calls on his cell-phone to Strelloff, and finally when the police searched Nel-M’s apartment, they found a jacket with blood-spots that matched Strelloff’s and fibres from the same jacket on the hallway outside Alaysha’s apartment. The charges against Jac were dropped.
By then it was December 16 th, and Jac was told that it might take yet another five days to sort out the immigration issues, bothends, of him flying into Cuba falsely as Darrell Ayliss, and flying out again as Jac McElroy. Diplomatic machinations between the USA and Cuba were slow. So Jac phoned Alaysha and asked if her and Molly would like to spend Christmas in Cuba.
‘There’s this great beach near Havana — Playa Paraiso. Pure white sand, crystal clear Caribbean waters…’
Alaysha arrived with Molly four days later. And between playing on the beach with Molly in the day and sipping rum punches, candlelight lobster dinners, dancing the samba and making love at night, they’d get occasional calls from Mike Coultaine with updates on Roche. About right, Jac thought wistfully: their heaven while hearing about Roche’s hell.
The first main detail to come out was about the DNA evidence, Roche apparently almost gloating over the ingenuity of the set-up. After his wife’s death, he’d contacted Dr Thallerey and asked him to send back her blood and ovary samples, ‘ Something to remember her by. I’ve even kept a lock of her hair…’ But he did so afterLieutenant Coyne had questioned Thallerey, so no suspicions were raised. Then Nel-M broke into Durrant’s apartment and placed some spots of Jessica Roche’s blood on one of his jackets.
‘That’s why Dr Thallerey was killed,’ Coultaine explained. ‘When they heard over your tapped line that you were planning to visit Thallerey, Roche feared that that detail might come out, and you’d put all the pieces together.’
The motive, though, behind killing his wife, Roche was more reluctant to talk about, and took another five days of police questioning to finally come out. Jessica Roche had suddenly become a keen ‘green’ and ecologist, and discovered a false report he’d had made by a marine survey company regarding water quality by one of his plants. She’d pushed him to become more green and make the necessary changes at the plant, and, when he dug in his heel, she threatened to blow the whistle.
‘Roche said that he could have bitten the bullet over that one plant and made the changes — but he’d apparently been doing the same thing for the past eight years with false water-reporting at allhis plants. And that’s what he feared coming out.’
Far from the noblest of motives, Jac thought, but as Coultaine went on to explain, the resultant shares collapse from the news would have ruined Roche. Not to mention the five-year jail term for fraud.
Larry spent that first Christmas out of Libreville with Mack Elliott, though he had a full day with Franny and Joshua at a top downtown hotel, the Royal Sonesta, on Boxing Day. Turkey and all the trimmings, champagne and the best cigars, all courtesy of Governor Candaret’s office. Gracious gesture, but also a great photo-opportunity with strong media points scored for Candaret’s next year Presidential bid, Jac thought. He was becoming cynical.