‘For chrissakes, I told you I left it on your desk. Tell me, Jane, do I have to do everything for you?’ she asked in a public-school accent, but the plump lady, close to tears, said nothing.
‘Excuse me, I don’t mean to interrupt you but I’m looking for Miss Lynne,’ Barolli said as he held up his warrant card.
‘Which one?’ the mixed-race lady asked.
‘Aisa,’ Barolli replied.
‘You’re talking to her,’ she said with a cheesy smile.
Barolli looked surprised. ‘Sorry, I didn’t realize…’
‘The colour of my skin threw you, did it, cos it’s different from my mother and sister’s?’ Aisa said in an offhand way.
‘No, not at all.’ Barolli blushed.
Aisa laughed. ‘Don’t worry, officer, it happens all the time. So, what do you want?’
At that moment, Dewar came through the stairwell door.
‘Is she in?’ the agent asked before Barolli could say anything.
‘This is Miss Aisa Lynne,’ Barolli said, noticing that Aisa was not impressed with the repeat of his own mistake.
‘Sorry, I assumed you’d be white,’ Dewar said nonchalantly and without malice.
‘From your accent I assume that you must be the FBI lady, though strangely enough you appear very different from the way my mother described you,’ Aisa said, sharply enough to make her point. Aisa walked towards her office, followed by Dewar and Barolli.
‘I wasn’t being racist,’ Dewar protested.
‘I wasn’t implying you were. I know what it’s like to be the butt of racist remarks. Even the upper classes are not immune from ignorance when it comes to skin colour. Donna and I were referred to as the Salt and Pepper Sisters at school,’ Aisa said casually.
Dewar couldn’t help thinking to herself that although upper class, Aisa, like her mother, was rough round the edges. Gloria’s first husband, Xavier, must have been black or mixed race, hence the genetic difference in skin colour between the sisters.
‘Looks like you and Donna had the last laugh, successful businesswomen from a wealthy family,’ Dewar said.
‘You sound like Mummy, who by the way, would not be very happy that you have come here without an appointment.’
‘We didn’t want to worry her unnecessarily,’ Barolli said.
‘Rubbish, you really pissed her off the other day and didn’t want to incur her wrath again,’ Aisa remarked, and then sat at her desk, pressed the intercom, and without a please or thank-you, asked Jane to bring in a pot of coffee.
Barolli and Dewar looked at each other, neither of them quite sure how to begin the interview, but Barolli decided to take the lead. ‘Do you mind if we ask you some questions about the night Josh died? It’s routine to go over everyone’s movements.’
‘There’s no need to beat about the bush: you mean Donna’s movements – that’s why you’re here, isn’t it?’ Aisa said, kicking off her red shoes and walking over to the leather sofa. She invited Dewar and Barolli to sit in the armchairs opposite as she flopped down and swung her outstretched legs onto the sofa cushions. Her floral dress slid up to mid-thigh and Barolli couldn’t help but notice her very shapely legs.
‘If you’re worried about Mummy, don’t be, as I’m not going to tell her about your impromptu visit. She’s naturally concerned for Donna and so am I. If Josh was murdered, I can assure you my sister had nothing to do with it.’
‘We are continuing with our enquiries and don’t as yet know if he was murdered,’ Barolli said, nervous that Dewar may say something to the contrary.
Jane, the secretary, entered the room carrying a tray with a cafetière of coffee, cream and two cups, which she put down on the table. Aisa, again without a please or thank-you, told Jane to get her a glass of fizzy water, ice and lemon. Jane obediently went over to the drinks cabinet, did as she was told and then asked Aisa if there was anything else she needed.
‘Book me a manicure at Harrods, my Chanel dress needs to go to the dry-cleaner’s and don’t disturb us unless it’s urgent,’ Aisa, said, pointing to the dress, which was hanging on the coat rack.
Dewar could see that Jane was clearly hurt by this treatment, as Aisa swallowed a large mouthful of her fizzy water, promptly belched then remarked that champagne had the same effect on her.
Barolli asked Aisa to go over her and Donna’s movements on the day and evening of the Savoy charity ball.
‘We left Lynne House around noon and went in Donna’s Mini to the Savoy. The day was spent with the hotel functions manager and other staff preparing for the ball.’
‘Did you have your own rooms at the Savoy?’ Dewar asked.
‘No, we shared. The ball started at eight, but the lobster and prawn tian with beluga caviar dressing made me ill so I went upstairs for a lie-down and returned to the party for the late-night firework display.’
‘So you didn’t see your sister for a few hours?’
Aisa, plainly disliking Dewar’s implication, was firm in her reply: ‘No, but Donna was with my mother and hundreds of guests downstairs. We went to bed at around three a.m. and Donna was very drunk.’
‘And in the morning?’ Dewar asked.
‘I got a lift home with Mummy in the Rolls and poor Donna returned to her flat, where she discovered, erm, she… she found Josh’s body,’ Aisa said, clearly moved by the thought of what that moment must have been like.
Dewar took out her notebook and flicked it open to her meeting with Donna. ‘Your sister said she and Josh had been going through a bit of rough patch. Did she tell you about any problems or disagreements they were having?’
‘Nope, she never even mentioned anything like that. Donna only told me things that she knew would annoy Mummy, like them running off to Las Vegas to get married. If they were having marital problems then she’d never tell me.’ Aisa took a sip of her water followed by another belch.
‘So Donna used you to annoy your mother. Do you have a good relationship with you sister?’ Dewar asked.
Aisa frowned, lifted her legs off the sofa then set her glass of water down on the coffee table with a thud, causing some of it to splash over the rim of the glass.
‘Donna and I have always been close, looked after each other and consider ourselves true sisters. Even though we are not blood sisters. Gloria is not my real mother. I was adopted by her and Xavier Alleyne in Jamaica.’
Barolli and Dewar looked at each other, surprised.
‘It makes no difference to us or our inquiry,’ Dewar replied, in an effort to ease the tension.
Aisa picked up her water and took another mouthful, this time without a belch. She placed her hands on her knees and took a deep breath to compose herself.
‘I don’t bear a grudge about being adopted, but I do get annoyed when people make assumptions about who or what I am,’ she said calmly.
Dewar didn’t feel that she had said anything that could be taken in such a way. As much as she would have liked to know more about Aisa’s background she realized it was a sensitive subject and not the time or place to ask about it, so she steered the conversation back to the investigation.
‘How did you get on with Josh Reynolds?’
‘I never really got to know him. Josh was a quiet man who kept things to himself.’
‘Can you think of any reason he would take his own life?’
‘No, but I can tell you one thing for certain. My sister Donna had nothing to do with his death. They were very happy and I more than anyone know how badly his death affected her. She was just coming to terms with her loss when you reignited all the pain by implying that Josh was murdered and Donna involved. That was why Mummy was so livid.’
‘Your mother is obviously very protective of you and Donna,’ Dewar remarked.