‘Could be, but we need to get to the bottom of exactly when and if he returned to Jamaica. There’s enough to get a search warrant for Marisha’s flat, might find something that’s useful,’ Barolli said.
‘A picture of Samuel would be a good start! We should run his name with the UK Border Agency and get onto the Jamaican police, see if they can help.’
‘I wouldn’t hold your breath on either having any up-to-date records,’ Barolli remarked bluntly. Mike glumly agreed and fell silent, thinking about the case, until Barolli voiced a new idea.
‘I know Marisha was pissed and talking gibberish, but do you think Donna and Samuel could be in this together?’
‘We know jack shit about Samuel, but we do know Donna’s a liar and a thief, the CCS Medical theft shows that. We also know she left the Savoy in a car on the night in question. Mike paused for thought then continued: ‘Get Dan Ross to go over the Savoy Hotel CCTV to see if a man matching the description we have of Samuel was seen entering or leaving the building on the night of the fifth of November.’
‘I’d say at a posh charity event like Lady Lynne’s, dreadlocks and a Rasta hat would make him pretty visible, so if he was seen he’d be remembered,’ Barolli said, grinning.
Anna was abruptly woken from her sleep by the sound of gunfire and thunder flashes. Disorientated, she didn’t have a clue what was going on and sat bolt upright as her eyes adjusted to the light and she realized where she was. Getting out of bed, she saw that her alarm clock gave the time as eight am, but had not rung to wake her. She went over to the window, pulled back the curtains, and could see trainee FBI agents running over assault courses, enacting hostage situations and pumping out live rounds on the firing ranges.
Dressed in her FBI uniform and carrying her notepad she made her way down to the canteen for breakfast and enjoyed some mixed fruit salad and scrambled eggs on toast. Feeling rather bloated and glad that she didn’t have to do any physical exercise yet, she then went to find the library to use the Internet.
The library was an ugly two-storey concrete building, with a drab interior, extensive bookshelves, work desks and computers. Anna glanced out of the window while she waited for her pass card to be issued, and noticed a red Ford Mustang Convertible pull up in the car park. Looking up, the librarian spotted the car as well and commented that he hadn’t realized that Agent Dewar was back from her European trip. The crafty beggar, Anna thought to herself, as she saw Langton get out of the vehicle and lift the cloth roof up. She had wondered why he was so cagey about where he was staying but it did seem churlish that he hadn’t had the decency to tell her it was Dewar’s place. She thought she’d have some fun with him later.
Anna found a free computer desk, went onto her Dropbox and saw that Joan had uploaded the Charity Ball photographs. She scrolled through the files, concentrating on the time each picture was taken, and started to open the photographs taken from nine p.m. onwards.
Donna and Gloria Lynne were easily recognizable in a number of the photographs, as well as a host of politicians, film and television celebrities. Although Anna had not met Aisa, she knew who she was from the description Barolli and Dewar had given, plus there were some pictures of Gloria and Donna together with a young woman who was obviously Aisa.
Anna meticulously wrote down the file number and time of every picture Donna appeared in. She remembered that Donna’s Mini was on the hotel CCTV leaving the underground car park at 10:05 p.m. and returning at 11:50 p.m. Donna was clearly in a number of photographs, either as the subject or in the background, between those times. Anna now knew for certain that Donna Reynolds could not have driven her car or murdered Josh during that time period. While there was still the possibility Donna had hired someone to kill Josh and let them use her car, she thought that unlikely. Still, the fact was that someone had driven Donna’s Mini that night.
Anna returned to her room and rang the office, realizing it was four p.m. in the UK. Joan answered and Anna immediately said that she needed to speak with Mike Lewis, but Joan told her that it was not a good time as there had been a bit of an incident and DPS were interviewing Mike, Barolli and Dewar. Anna asked her what had happened and Joan said that she was not fully aware of the circumstances but that Marisha had had a heart attack whilst being interviewed by Barolli and Dewar and was now in a coma.
‘Tell Mike Lewis from me that Donna did not leave the Savoy between the relevant times and the pictures from the Charity Ball prove it,’ Anna said.
‘Well they are now working on a couple of theories, one being that Samuel Peters knew that Donna killed Josh so she paid him to keep quiet,’ Joan said.
‘Joan, you’re not listening – Donna did not leave the hotel therefore she couldn’t have killed Josh,’ Anna insisted, wondering why Joan was having difficulty in grasping such a vital piece of evidence.
‘Dewar is also considering that Donna may have actually paid Samuel to commit the crime,’ Joan went on.
Anna felt like screaming but held back. ‘Dewar is talking absolute crap, she makes everything fit her theories-’
Joan interrupted, saying it was not a wild theory and Anna needed to listen to what had happened since they last spoke. Joan promised she would send Anna a copy of the interview with Marisha and explained that the woman had said that Samuel and Donna had known each other and Donna gave Samuel money, which Dewar thought must have been for killing Josh.
‘That’s absurd. We don’t even know if Samuel was in London when Josh died and why would he agree to kill his own nephew?’ Anna remarked with disdain, as Joan continued, saying that they had searched Marisha’s flat and found forty thousand pounds cash hidden in the freezer, but nothing to indicate Samuel Peters’ whereabouts. Dewar had suggested it was even possible that Donna had murdered Samuel as well.
‘How much?’ Anna exclaimed, hardly able to take it all in. Joan explained that Barolli had asked her to contact the UK Border Agency about Samuel leaving the country, which she had already done, but they were about as much use as a chocolate teapot and as yet she still had to make enquiries with the Jamaican police.
‘Are you all in Dewar’s dreamworld back there? I really need to speak with Mike Lewis.’ Anna was infuriated at what she thought were wild flights of fancy.
‘He’s in with DPS at the moment but he does believe it’s possible – you know, Samuel using Donna’s car.’
Anna felt like she was going round in circles.
‘Joan, for heaven’s sake, there is not a shred of evidence to support that theory.’
‘Well there is now.’
‘Exactly what evidence have they got?’ Anna was trying very hard to keep her voice on an even level and not shout into the phone.
‘Barbara found a picture of a black man on a Jamaican fishing boat at Marisha’s and he fits the description of the decorator, who we now know is Samuel Peters.’
‘Along with every other Rastafarian with dreadlocks and a beanie hat,’ Anna snapped.
‘No, Dan Ross found CCTV of the same man entering the Savoy Hotel at nine fifty p.m. on the fifth and leaving ten minutes later.’
‘You are kidding me…’ Anna shook her head.
‘I wish I was but the CCTV footage also shows the same man outside the hotel and he clearly walks off round the corner towards the underground car park. Also,when they enlarged the footage it was clear he had some keys in his hand.
There was a pause as Joan waited for Anna to reply, but when she didn’t she continued:
‘They think that Donna gave Samuel the car and flat keys, and he returned them later that night after killing Josh.’ Joan added that Pete Jenkins had found fingerprints on the paint tins at Esme’s flat that matched those on the money under the floorboards and the money in Marisha’s freezer. Although there was no trace on the UK database, they were believed to be Samuel Peters’ prints as they also matched other prints found at Marisha and Esme’s flats.