Aisa let out a loud screech as the handcuffs bit into her wrist. ‘Ow, you’re hurting me, you bitch! My mother will be livid when she finds out I’m being arrested for something I didn’t do. I’ve never stolen any money, Donna took it for Joshua and she bought him the car.’
‘What car?’ Anna asked innocently.
‘The blue Ferrari, you idiot! What other fucking car do you think I’m talking about?’
Anna lightly squeezed the handcuff ratchet, causing Aisa to wince and squeal as the metal pinched her skin.
‘Come on, Aisa, behave yourself or they can go even tighter,’ Anna warned.
Barolli was shocked, as he had never seen Anna behave as aggressively as this when making an arrest. He thought it was over-the-top as the handcuffs were not necessary for someone as diminutive as Aisa. Anna caught the look of surprise on his face and winked, at which point Barolli understood everything was deliberate and intended to put the frighteners on Aisa.
‘Is there a problem, Inspector Barolli?’ Anna demanded loudly.
Barolli instantly was onto the fact she wanted him to play the good cop to her bad – an old trick, yes, but one that Aisa would not realize was being pulled on her.
‘No, ma’am,’ Barolli said nervously for Aisa’s benefit.
‘Have you spoken to Donna or her barrister Mr Holme about the Ferrari?’ Anna asked Aisa.
‘No, she’s been in prison. My mother spoke with Mr Holme but not me as yet. You’ve got this all wrong and you’ll pay for treating me like this.’
‘Tell me, Inspector Barolli, what colour would you naturally associate with a Ferrari?’
‘Red, ma’am, or maybe yellow, but a blue one, that must be a very rare sight indeed.’
‘So how do you know it’s a blue Ferrari?’ Anna asked, making direct eye contact with Aisa.
The wide-eyed gawping look on her face clearly showed that the young woman knew she’d just put her foot in it as she visibly struggled to think of an explanation.
‘I overheard my mother speaking to Mr Holme about it on the phone. We were in the kitchen at the time, you can ask her, she’ll tell you it’s true,’ Aisa said nervously.
‘Well, if Lady Lynne says it’s true then it must be. I mean, Lady Lynne wouldn’t lie to protect you, would she, Aisa?’
Anna asked with deliberate scepticism.
‘No, my mother would never lie for me, or anyone, for that matter.’
‘I would hope not, Aisa, a lady of her standing lie, now that would be unthinkable,’ Anna said sarcastically.
Barolli was finding it all very entertaining and thought his colleague was giving a star performance.
‘I agree with you, ma’am, Lady Lynne wouldn’t lie,’ he added for good measure.
Anna continued with the strategy. ‘On the night of the Charity Ball, when you became so ill and had to go and lie down, Lady Lynne told me personally how concerned she was for your well-being – she said she even left the ball to see how you were.’
Aisa nodded.
‘That was so caring of her, wasn’t it?’ Anna asked with mock concern.
‘Yes, she checked on me a few times. It made me feel better so I went back downstairs to the ball,’ Aisa said, but she was not quite so confident.
‘Now that’s the thing, Aisa, the times your mother came to check on you, were they while you were out in Donna’s Mini, or maybe visiting Mr Reynolds at his flat when he was shot through the head, or do you have an identical twin your mother comforted in the hotel room?’
Aisa grimaced despairingly as she realized that she had allowed herself to be trapped.
Anna stared her straight in the eye. ‘I don’t think Mummy’s going to be too pleased, Aisa, do you?’
Aisa’s face twisted with anxiety. ‘I want to speak to her and Mr Holme.’
‘Of course you can, with pleasure, as soon as we have finished searching Lynne House. From top to bottom this time!’ Anna said firmly.
‘Please will you take the handcuffs off, they hurt and I don’t want everyone in the building or street to see me like this,’ Aisa pleaded.
‘You should have thought of the consequences of lying about Josh’s death and framing your sister for theft. You’ve only yourself to blame now,’ Anna said.
She picked up Aisa’s mobile and handbag from her desk, handed them to Barolli and told him to take her out to the car.
Once they were out of sight, Anna returned to Jane to pick up the folder with all the documents and told her a tow truck would be collecting Aisa’s Lotus later to take it to the lab.
‘I was just wondering,’ Jane began. ‘Obviously, I won’t say anything if Lady Lynne phones, well I will, but I’ll say Aisa’s gone out shopping again. It’s just that I wondered what should I do if the press phone or come here?’
‘Good thought, Jane. Obviously, don’t say anything about what you’ve given us regarding the theft, but did you overhear what I arrested Aisa for?’
‘Yes, that will be imprinted in my brain for many years to come,’ Jane said with a big smile.
‘Well you can tell the press that’s what you heard the lady detective say,’ Anna said and smiled back, longing for the moment when the news of Aisa’s arrest went public and aspersions were cast on Gloria Lynne. She could see the headline now, in fact she wished she could write it herself: ‘Lady Gloria Lynne, Founder and Director of the Lynne Foundation, defends her daughter Aisa arrested on suspicion of murder, fraud and other related offences.’
Arriving at the car, Anna found Barolli sitting with Aisa, who was in floods of tears.
‘Right, let’s make our way to Lynne House. I want Aisa to be present while we search it.’
Barolli was confused; although this was fine legally, it was general practice for other officers to do the search while the prisoner was booked in at the station.
‘The game commences,’ Anna said quietly and once again winked at him.
He realized that it was also part of Anna’s ‘aggressive’ tactic, and he was able to witness even more of her full-throttle energy as she phoned Central Command at Scotland Yard.
‘DCI Travis, murder squad. I want two POLSA search units to meet me asap at Weybridge railway station car park.’
There was a brief pause before Anna gave a terse reply: ‘Don’t ask, just do as I say or you’ll have DCS Langton on your back!’
Anna then phoned the office and spoke to Joan, who was totally flummoxed when she heard the DCI was back in London. From the serious tone in Anna’s voice Joan didn’t dare ask why but was soon informed what was happening.
‘I’ve arrested Aisa Lynne. Muster together as many of the team as you can to meet me and Barolli at Weybridge railway station, and tell Barbara to get a warrant to search Lynne House on the way. Also I want SOCOs, a dog van and some locals to help us.’
‘Yes, ma’am. Are you sure about Barbara with the warrant – she did cock it up last time?’
‘That’s why I can count on her to get it right this time, Joan, and by the way you were spot-on about the body at Fulham. It’s Samuel Peters.’
‘I thought it might be. Does Mike Lewis know you’re back?’ Joan asked.
‘Not yet, everything is moving so quickly I haven’t had a chance to call him yet but I will do shortly,’ Anna said and hung up.
Barolli was aware that Anna had hardly had time to draw breath since her flight landed. ‘Jet lag not kicking in then?’ he asked, smiling, as he turned the steering wheel.
‘No way, you have no idea how much I have been waiting to do this, my adrenalin is pumping, it feels like all I have been doing since I left London for Quantico was work this damned case out.’
‘Well you have my admiration, though I’m still at a loss as to what exactly you’ve worked out,’ he admitted.