Fatal Witness (Detective Erika Foster #7) (94)

‘Darlings, and Lady Detective, I didn’t know of this Lily Parkes, but I’d love to meet her. It seems, even though she was languishing on benefits, she still had the ability to set the cat among the pigeons. I regretfully have to take my leave. I have a drinks invitation in the West End,’ he said, getting up.

‘Is there a problem?’ asked Erika.

‘No, darling, I genuinely must dash. Cilla can give you my number if you’d like to catch up further tomorrow,’ he said. ‘Colin. I need you to move your car, to get mine out.’

‘Cilla, would you move my car?’ asked Colin. She looked surprised at the request.

‘I’ve had a lot of wine… And my heels.’

‘Those shoes are not for driving,’ said Ray. ‘Well, they drive the point home that you look fabulous.’ Cilla tilted her face up and Ray dipped down and pecked her on the cheek. Colin looked annoyed that she’d refused.

‘Colin, if I take these heels off, then I won’t get them back on.’

‘Very well. If you could keep Erika company whilst I’m gone,’ he said. Ray gave Erika a wave and they left. She had needed to pee since she arrived, so she asked Cilla where the bathroom was.

‘At the end of the corridor, on the second floor,’ said Cilla, pouring herself another glass of wine. Erika grabbed her crutches and started down the long corridor, past a large kitchen to the end. The rain was louder in this part of the house, and as she reached a staircase, she could see it was open, and the three flights of stairs led up the tower to a stained-glass skylight high above. The stairs were steep, but Erika’s painkillers had kicked in. She made it up to the second floor and found the bathroom next to two large bedrooms. She poked her head around the door of both. One was decorated in a Moroccan style, with lots of gold lacquering on the furniture and bright colours. There was a giant photo of the great dancer Martha Graham on one wall, and above the bed was a print of a topless male model. The second bedroom was decorated all in white, and there were bookshelves on every wall which added a splash of colour.

Who slept where? thought Erika. She needed to pee urgently, so she went into the bathroom and closed the door.

As she sat on the toilet, Erika looked around at the theatrical decor. The toilet, sink and bath were Art Deco style, and there was a vast mirror on the back of the door, which was beautiful, but she wondered why it was there. Why would you want to watch yourself sitting on the lav? There was something odd going on with the three of them downstairs. Was it a strange dynamic, or were they just very bohemian? Erika couldn’t put her finger on it. As she was drying her hands, she heard a clatter of heels on the stairs outside.

Erika came out of the bathroom, and was about to go back downstairs, when she heard Cilla shouting from the floor above.

‘Colin! Is that you? I’m trying to find the photo album for West Side Story… I’m in your office, where are they?’

There was no answer. Through a window opposite her on the landing outside the bathroom, Erika could see down to the driveway and the road out front where Colin was waving Ray off. She started up the stairs towards Cilla on the top floor. It was a steep drop to the ground three floors below.

Erika found Cilla in a large wood-panelled office, similar to Colin’s office at GDA. There were rows of bookshelves and a busy, cluttered desk. Cilla heard Erika on the stairs and turned with a photo album in her hand, tottering on her high heels.

‘Oh, I thought you were Colin,’ she said. She seemed a little rattled and closed the album.

‘What have you got there?’ asked Erika.

‘Well… I really wanted to ask Colin. These are his photos… I found a photo of a cast production of West Side Story.’ She opened the album and hesitated for a moment. ‘That’s Lily Parkes,’ she added.

Erika looked at the photo. It was a picture of the whole cast and crew standing on the stage of a theatre. There was a small, skinny girl with long, dirty blonde hair standing on the end next to Colin. She was the only person not looking at the camera, and instead she was looking up at Colin with an intense stare. He was looking ahead and grinning, with his arm around her waist. Erika peered closer. No. His hand was higher than her waist and seemed to be cupping just under her breast.

‘I’ve never really seen this photo before. Or should I say, never really looked at it, maybe,’ said Cilla, talking to herself.

Erika looked around at the rest of the office. There was a set of shelves on the other side of the desk with office supplies, and above it was a carnival mask. Erika heard Crane’s voice – ‘one of those ones the tourists buy from Venice’. She moved closer to the shelf and saw there was a pile of paper and envelopes. She picked one of the sheets up and held it to the light. It had the same watermark with the name Benatku. She looked through the papers on the desk; there were bank statements and tables with figures and budgets for GDA. She wanted to find something with handwriting on it. She pulled open a drawer and under a pile of utility bills, she found an envelope with ‘FOR RAY – FOR TICKETS’. Feeling a surge of excitement rising in her chest, Erika fumbled in her pocket and took out her phone. She scrolled through and found the photo of the note to Charles with TWO WORDS, ‘LILY PARKES’. YOUR SILENCE KEEPS YOU ALIVE written on it. Comparing the two, she saw the handwriting was the same, particularly on the word ‘TWO’ written in capital letters.