9. Samuel Peters has two sisters, Esme three years older, and Marisha one year younger, both emigrated to UK in 1984. I can find no record in Jamaica of them having been married or giving birth to any children.
Anna leaned back, closing her eyes. ‘Lady bloody Lynne’s a bigamist and her daughter was in an incestuous relationship! My God, this is unbelievable stuff; Josh Reynolds must be Gloria’s son. Bill Roberts is bloody amazing.’ Anna sighed with elation as she flicked through the copies of the birth and marriage certificates. She stamped her feet and banged the dashboard with excitement. ‘There’s so much information here, and boy oh boy has it thrown a bunch of spanners into the Reynolds investigation.’
‘You can forward the e-mail to your team in London when we get back to the cabin,’ Blane suggested, hoping she would agree.
‘Not yet, I need to make sense of all this first.’ She waved the documents animatedly.
Blane was disappointed, as he’d been looking forward to a quiet afternoon and evening together. ‘Would you prefer me to take you back to the Academy?’
‘No. I’d appreciate your help in trying to make sense of all this.’
He forced a smile, slightly relieved that she had not wanted to return to the Academy. ‘I’ll do my best but I don’t really know anything about the Reynolds case.’
‘Well I can tell you all about it while you do the barbecue.’
Blane resigned himself to the fact that making love by the fireplace would just have to wait.
Making the most of the journey time, Anna phoned Joan, who was delighted to hear her voice and wanted to know all about the course and her classmates. Anna looked across at Blane as she told Joan that she was having the most wonderful time and her course instructor was one of the nicest and most interesting people she had ever met. He smiled as Anna continued her conversation.
‘I want as much detail as you can find on Lord Henry Lynne, his death in Egypt and who his will was made out to,’ she said, pausing at Joan’s sharp intake of breath.
‘Also, look through the documents taken from Esme’s flat and see if there is a birth certificate or adoption papers for Josh. This is very important, Joan – if you find it, scan it and e-mail me a copy.’
‘Can I ask why?’
‘It’s work in progress, but I think I may be on to something big about Lady Lynne.’
‘Should I tell Mike Lewis?’ Joan asked.
‘No. Please don’t say anything to anyone yet; at the moment it’s just a gut feeling.’
‘Mum’s the word and I’ll get on to it first thing in the morning,’ Joan promised.
Anna looked at her watch and realized she’d got her time difference the wrong way round. It was five p.m. in the UK and not early morning as she thought and in her excitement she’d forgotten it was a Sunday.
‘Josh’s birth certificate is really important. Would you mind going in this evening?’
‘I’ll do what I can but…’
‘I’ll make sure you get paid double time,’ Anna promised, piling on the pressure.
‘Okay, my mum’s visiting her sister in Bournemouth so I’m on my own anyway.’
‘From the information I have in front of me Samuel Peters may not have returned to Jamaica.’
‘What! He’s still in London?’
‘I don’t know for certain, but it looks like he was up to something and if I’m right he may have paid for his meddling with his life.’
Joan gave a small gasp. ‘Marisha is still in a coma, but when you think about it, could she have killed Samuel to keep the money for herself?’
Now worried that she had asked too much of Joan, Anna was eager to calm her down.
‘I can’t say at the moment, but finding the whereabouts of Samuel, dead or alive, will be a major breakthrough,’ Anna said.
‘I’ll do my best to find him for you.’
‘Thanks, Joan, and remember, not a word to anyone’ Anna cautioned.
‘Course not. By the way, did you read the magazine article about Lady Lynne?’
Anna wondered if she should be upfront and admit she hadn’t, but she didn’t want to offend Joan after asking so much of her. ‘Um, yeah, really interesting – I’m glad you told me about it.’
‘Amazing, isn’t it, that so many poisonous plants are actually used as medicines. Lady Lynne created the David Rediker Trust in memory of her father who was a botanist. She’s put millions into research on plants that can be used for medicinal purposes,’ Joan gushed.
Yet again she could have kicked herself where Joan was concerned, Anna thought as she hung up, wishing she had read the Gardeners’ World article on the plane as it might have heightened her suspicions long before she read Bill Roberts’ report.
Anna next phoned Pete Jenkins, who, from the background sounds, was bathing his daughter.
‘I need you to look at some stuff on the Reynolds case for me first thing in the morning.’
‘Sorry, Anna, but Mike Lewis is now holding the purse for the forensic budget so only he can authorize further examinations.’
‘I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important, Pete. If I’m right it will be crucial to finding out what really happened to Josh Reynolds.’
‘I’d love to help you, Anna, but…’
‘Samuel Peters may have been murdered as well,’ Anna said as persuasively as she could.
‘How did I know before you even said a word that this was going to be complicated?’
‘It’s a simple DNA comparison, that’s all, and you already have the two samples in the lab.’
‘Whose?’ Pete asked bluntly.
‘Donna and Josh Reynolds – I need you to tell me if they have the same maternal DNA.’
‘You bloody what? You want me to do a mitochondrial test to see if Josh Reynolds was shagging his sister?’
‘Half-sister would be more exact, but yes, that is the general idea.’
‘I’ll go stick a needle in Lady Lynne’s arse for a drop of blood to compare it against, shall I?’
‘That won’t be necessary right now, and if she is the mother that will be my pleasure.’
‘Anna, for fuck’s sake get real, you’re asking me to do something that you have no evidence to support and is totally unethical,’ Pete said, alarmed at her outrageous request.
‘I have certified copies of both their birth certificates and I believe they have the same mother.’
‘Copies? How did you get them? No, no, on second thought don’t tell me, I don’t want to know. It was good speaking to you, Anna, but you need to talk to Mike Lewis.’
‘Pete, don’t hang up, there is some other stuff that is of use to you about Samuel Peters.’
‘What?’
‘His fingerprints were taken at the British Embassy in Jamaica when he applied for a visa so they should be on the UK Border Agency database by now.’
There was a brief pause during which Anna could practically hear the cogs turning in Pete’s head.
Finally, he sighed. ‘Can I ask where the hell you’re getting all this information from, particularly when you’re thousands of miles away?’
‘Can’t say at the moment, but I’ve no reason to doubt it’s reliable and true. If I’m right, and I think I am, then politically it is very sensitive stuff.’
‘But you want me to put my job on the line to see if the Lynne family have links back to the likes of Cleopatra and Oedipus,’ Pete said indignantly.
‘Okay, the maternal DNA can wait, it was an impetuous request and I shouldn’t have asked you to take risks like that. You could say you located Samuel Peters’ prints having thought about how he would have needed a visa to come to the UK,’ Anna said, still hoping to win Pete over.
Again there was a pause before Pete continued: ‘I’ll do the fingerprints, but I want copies of the birth certificates and written authority before I do the maternal DNA testing.’