‘Of course,’ Breightling said.
‘It’s nearly one o’clock,’ Miranda said.
‘I’d go and see her if it was five o’clock, Miranda.’
‘Yes, of course and I will too, she’s had a terrible time,’ Miranda conceded with a deep sigh.
Emma disappeared upstairs and Christopher offered Stevie a seat on an uncomfortable wooden bench near the window. The sound of trickling water from the garden pond and the croaking of the frogs reminded Stevie of the sound effects at Stoppard’s Chateau-by-the-Lake. Christopher suggested a drink. When she declined he poured a double measure of scotch into a crystal glass for himself, topped up Miranda’s orange juice with vodka.
‘You must believe us, we had no idea that Aidan was like this, no idea at all,’ Miranda said, agitating the ice in her glass.
‘The pornography in that secret room ... all those visitors he gets to the Chateau...’ Breightling forked slim fingers through his sparse hair. ‘Everything is beginning to make sense.’
‘I can’t believe that he tried to hurt her. He’s her godfather for God’s sake!’ Miranda’s voice was shrill, only a couple of notches below hysteria.
‘Last time we went up to the Chateau, she didn’t want to go, remember how she was, Miranda?’ Breightling didn’t look at his wife, just stared into his glass, swirling the liquid.
‘Well, she only said that to you. I wasn’t privileged to the information.’
‘I thought it was because of the hideous statues on the lawn,’ Christopher looked at Stevie. ‘I told her to stop being silly.’ His voice shook. He pulled out a bar stool and slumped next to his wife. Stevie wondered why they never seemed to opt for the more comfortable sofa—too intimate perhaps?
‘You’ve known Stoppard for a long time?’ Stevie asked him.
‘I was involved in a land development with him years ago. I was cutting down my practice hours, sick of the long hours and my frequent trips abroad. Aidan had been at school with Miranda.’
‘We met when we were both in year ten,’ Miranda said. ‘He’d just come over from England with his mother. He was so much more interesting than the other children, bright, worldly.’ Her sigh was almost dreamy. Jesus, woman, Stevie thought, do you have no regrets at all?
‘Worldly all right,’ Breightling laughed bitterly. ‘He’s got money now of course. He’s a self-made man who never tires of reminding me of it.’
Miranda stiffened on her stool. ‘It’s all very well to be clever after the event, Christopher. No one forced you to do business with him. You haven’t always thought this way about him.’
Stevie held her palms up to the couple.
Breightling took a breath and his eyes dropped once more to his scotch. ‘Yes well, he introduced us, actually.’ Stevie got the idea he would have been more than happy to erase that part of his life. Had it really been love at first sight? Maybe as far as Breightling was concerned—but did he have an inkling of what a prize he would have been for a woman like Miranda? And one tall poppy Aidan Stoppard must have relished shooting down.
Stevie wondered what else had been in it for Stoppard. A soft touch surgeon with little business acumen, perhaps? An attractive wife who produced an even more attractive daughter? The thought was so sickening, it had to be true.
‘Are you still involved in business with Stoppard, Mr Breightling? Stevie asked.
‘Of course, he was our accountant,’ Miranda put in.
Christopher gave a vague wave of his hand. ‘Still a few things here and there—more’s the pity.’
‘And how are they going?’ Stevie asked.
‘Terribly,’ said Miranda.
Breightling put his empty glass down. His face was twitching. ‘Nothing we can’t extract ourselves from. Just don’t, don’t be so melodramatic, Miranda.’
‘I’d like to warn you, Mr Breightling, that it won’t be hard for us to get access to your financial records,’ Stevie said.
Christopher Breightling dropped his head into his hands.
35
Monday morning
EXCERPT FROM CHAT ROOM TRANSCRIPT 141106
HARUM SCARUM: things beta with u now?
BETTYBO: no. scary
HARUM SCARUM did u c him again?
BETTYBO: mum did. he hit her. I wan 2 meet u F2F
HARUM SCARUM: sme and tell me about it
BETTYBO: ok
Wayne picked up Stevie on his way to the Breightling house. She’d already taken Izzy to see Monty in hospital, and told him how much better Monty looked—well enough even to complain about the food and speculate that there might really be such a place as the Rosa Klebb School of Nursing.
Wayne told her about his second interview with Sammy Nguyen. The kid had confirmed his suspicions that Aidan Stoppard was the man who’d introduced them to Zhang Li’s killer—identified him from his recent mugshot. And identified Christopher Breightling as the murdering doctor from a photograph Wayne found on a cosmetic surgery site.
‘I think he knew the doc’s name all along. Looks like Sammy was thinking of going into the blackmail business—get the doctor to pay for his silence. He’s been casing out Breightling’s joint and Miranda’s business.’
Stevie grunted. ‘Just as well he didn’t get any further. One manipulative kid on the loose is enough.’
‘Interesting thing, one night he was about to jump the wall at the Breightlings’ house when he saw a girl fishing around in the garden pond and chickened out. The girl had to be Emma. What do you reckon she was doing?’
‘Somehow I doubt she was catching tadpoles,’ Stevie murmured.
She was still pondering what Emma might have been up to in the pond when Angus rang. She listened to his report while Wayne continued to weave his way through the traffic to the Breightling’s home.
‘We’ve got him,’ she said to Wayne when she punched the off button. ‘We now have a convincing motive for Li’s murder and it backs up everything Sammy’s told you.’
‘Financial pressure from Stoppard?’
‘Financial thumbscrews more like. According to Angus, Stoppard and Breightling have been involved in a series of small developments since they first met, all instigated by Stoppard and all yielding modest returns. Then a few years ago the investment opportunity of a lifetime pops up. They invest in a large property in Wanneroo with plans of developing it into some kind of golfing estate. Stoppard provides the security for the loan with both parties responsible for repayments. But once the development starts, Stoppard calls on Breightling to repay the lot, which of course he doesn’t have, having just poured thousands into his wife’s business—which suddenly happens to be failing—upon the advice of his accountant.’
‘Who happens to be Stoppard—and, let me guess, Tall Poppies is far from failing?’ Wayne asked.
‘Right. Angus thinks Stoppard’s been cooking the books, getting together a tasty nest egg for himself, with or without Miranda, we’re not yet sure. Anyway, Breightling can’t get the money in the required time frame, so Stoppard puts the partnership into receivership and they are forced to sell the property for a song.’
‘Don’t tell me, to another company owned by Stoppard...’