‘Money from Esme’s flat and Marisha’s freezer has Samuel’s prints on it, as do the paint tins over there.’
Pete then indicated the bottle of spiced rum and on seeing it Barolli raised his eyebrows and shook his head. Pete grinned. ‘I heard you got pretty sick. It was probably from this stuff but I’m awaiting the test results. Samuel’s prints are all over it and of course Marisha’s.’
‘I thought she didn’t have a criminal record,’ Barolli said, remembering he had already checked this.
‘To be safe I got one of my guys to go over to the hospital to take a set off her for comparison and elimination. You were right, Anna, there was atropine in her system and your information saved her life. She’s still in a coma but stable and they think she will come round.’
Anna was thrilled that things were falling into place, and even more elated when Pete told her that he had started work on the blood sample from Josh Reynolds and early indications showed traces of atropine. Further tests were needed before he could make a positive confirmation, but it looked promising.
‘Thanks, Pete, you’re an absolute star,’ Anna said.
‘I hope Mike Lewis is going to be okay about all this extra work as it’s going to cost a bob or two.’
‘I’ve spoken with Langton – he said to go ahead and do whatever needs to be done,’ Anna told Pete.
‘Bloody hell, is he not feeling well?’ he exclaimed.
Anna smiled. ‘You can do the DNA familial comparison tests now.’
Pete looked round the room and came closer to Anna and Barolli, ‘Well between us three, I lifted some DNA from the paint-tin fingerprint of Samuel Peters. The profile fits to him being Josh Reynolds’ father.’
‘What about Donna’s DNA? Is she Josh’s half-sister?’ Anna asked.
‘That’s going to take longer. Josh and Samuel’s comparison was easy, as I only had to look at the Y chromosome, which passes down from father to son. To say that Josh and Donna are related I have to create and look at their mitochondrial DNA profile, which is passed down by the mother to her children.’
‘That would only allow you to say they have the same mother but not who the mother is?’ Anna asked, and as Pete nodded she continued, ‘So to be a hundred per cent sure, you would need a DNA sample from Gloria Lynne for comparison as well.’
‘Easier said than done, I expect, but I’ll leave that for you to get,’ Pete told her.
‘I can’t wait, and I will also be getting one from Aisa as it looks like she’s wrapped up in Josh’s death and was having an affair with him.’
‘Fuck me, this case just gets more and more complicated,’ Barolli remarked, having hardly said a word as he attempted to take on board all the new information. Some of it was starting to make sense now, but he was still baffled as to exactly who’d done what, where and when. Plus everyone seemed to be jumping into bed with their brother or sister.
Pete promised he would ring or text Anna as soon as he had any results to give her. She asked Pete if in addition he would take digital photographs of the certificates she had found in Samuel’s coat lining and he assured her he would get it done right away and e-mail them over.
As they got in the car to leave the lab it suddenly dawned on Anna that there might just be an alternative solution to Langton putting his neck on the line for her. She’d use Aisa as a lure to get to Gloria. There was plenty of evidence to justify Aisa’s arrest, detention for interviewing and taking her DNA and fingerprints for comparison.
Aisa would be Gloria’s Achille’s heel and her arrest would also entitle Anna to search the whole of Lynne House. Even if she didn’t find anything, Anna knew that Aisa would be the bait that would draw Gloria in and force her to confront Anna. She was certain that Gloria had never had to worry about Donna saying anything, simply because her elder daughter knew nothing. It was hard to believe, but Donna was the sacrificial lamb, and it didn’t worry Gloria a jot if she was arrested and charged with murder because she herself was then kept in the clear.
Anna suspected that Josh would have shown Aisa the copy of her birth certificate and therefore hoped her prints would be on it. She was also certain, because of Aisa’s alibi, that Gloria now knew of Aisa’s affair with Josh and that she had left the Charity Ball to see him. Gloria had always been there to keep an eye on Aisa, to control and manipulate her, but sitting in a cell sweating it out, Aisa would crumble. Gloria would no longer have the physical power over her and the truth might finally come out. Anna mulled it all over, sitting beside Barolli, leaning back with her eyes closed. He had wrongly assumed she was having a little nap.
‘You want me to drive you back home to your place for a bit of a rest?’ he asked.
At once, she shot bolt upright and clapped her hands.
‘Got it, I’ve got it. No, not home, I want to go to the Lynne Foundation offices to arrest Aisa Lynne,’ she announced assertively.
Barolli hit the brakes. ‘Are you serious?’
‘Never more so, Paul, never more so!’
Chapter Thirty-Two
‘I was hoping you’d come back, lying little cow is in her office,’ said Jane, the personal assistant at the Lynne Foundation.
Barolli, who was slightly out of breath from struggling to keep up with Anna as she strode up the stairs two at a time, made the introductions.
‘Is there something you’d like to tell us?’ Anna said.
Jane threw a glance towards the closed office door and lowered her voice. ‘Yes, I’ve been wondering what I should do because I heard about Donna’s arrest and the money she allegedly took from the charity funds. Donna’s no thief, but she is, Aisa is.’
‘Do you have any evidence to prove that?’ Barolli asked.
Jane unlocked her top drawer with a key. ‘I spent all day Friday and this morning going through Donna’s accounts and checking the movement of the monies against the days she wasn’t here or I had her booked in for a meeting with someone.’
She opened the drawer and removed a blue folder. ‘I’ve highlighted the specific thefts and they were all made at times Donna was out of the office. I always wondered why Aisa sometimes used Donna’s computer, but I never thought she was stealing thousands of pounds.’
Anna glanced at the documents, impressed by how competently prepared they were, giving every detail as Jane had described. Anna thanked her, assuring her that she didn’t need to worry that Aisa would find out who had drawn up the documents.
‘I’m perfectly willing to make a statement and give evidence in court. She’s treated me like a skivvy ever since she started working here, so it’s about time she had her comeuppance.’
‘Are Aisa’s mobile phone bills paid by the company?’ Anna asked.
‘Yes, and if you’d like a copy I can put them in the folder with the other documents.’
‘A copy with the dialled numbers for all of 2012 will be fine, thanks.’
‘No problem, happy to help you, detective,’
‘It’s much appreciated, Jane, but for now I’d be grateful if you didn’t say anything to Lady Lynne about Aisa’s arrest or the paperwork.’
‘You can trust me implicitly,’ Jane, replied loving every minute of what was happening.
Anne looked to Barolli and gave a small nod of her head.
‘Let’s do it,’ she said and asked him for his handcuffs, which he removed from the pouch attached to his trouser belt. Barolli was surprised by Anna’s request, and even more so when she just threw open Aisa’s office door without knocking.
‘Who the fuck are you?’ Aisa exclaimed as she jumped out of her seat.
‘Detective Chief Inspector Anna Travis, murder squad,’ Anna told her and in one move grabbed Aisa, spun her round, and before she knew it her hands were pulled behind her back and cuffed. ‘I am arresting you on suspicion of the murder of Joshua Reynolds, theft from the Lynne charities, perverting the course of justice, obstructing police and serious offences under the Coroners Act,’ Anna said forcefully and then read Aisa her rights.