Deadly Secrets (Detective Erika Foster #6)(87)
‘I’m glad you’ve got the bastard who done this to her… I’d seen the stuff on the news about him, skulking around the streets at night. I know this is a rough area, but you never expect this kind of thing to happen, literally on your own doorstep.’
‘Would you mind if we took one last look in Marissa’s bedroom, just to make absolutely sure we have everything for the court case?’ asked Erika.
‘Yes, go on up. Of course, you know where it is,’ said Mandy. The sun came out, and she rested her head against the brick wall, closing her eyes and tilting her pale lined face upwards.
They came inside and went up the stairs to the front bedroom. It looked just as it had when Erika had come to look at it with McGorry. The same posters were on the wall, and all of the burlesque gear was untouched. She went to the window and looked down at the street below. Several of the neighbours had come out to gawp at the team of forensic height analysts. A bell rang opposite, signalling the end of break time, and the children all started to run to line up at the top end of the playground. Mandy had crossed the road, still in her slippers, nightie and thick winter coat, and she was talking to Joan, who was smoking a cigarette on her front step.
‘The diamond earrings are still bugging me,’ said Erika. ‘They feel like they are the key to this. Why did Marissa go to the jeweller where Charles Fryatt worked? And did he know she was there? I’ve read the reports, and he says he only knew when McGorry went back with Marissa’s friend, Ella. And they deny that the earrings were even the same ones belonging to Mrs Fryatt.’
‘Charles Fryatt has an alibi, his wife, and he’s also a very tall man,’ said Moss, picking up a fire-eating rod from in front of the tiny fireplace and examining the tip.
‘According to Martin, the costume guy at the Matrix Club, and Ella, one of the dancers, Marissa said she took the diamond earrings from Mrs Fryatt, but who is telling the truth? We don’t know where those earrings came from, or where they are now.’
‘Could Mandy have taken them off the dead body?’ asked Moss, joining her at the window. Joan and Mandy were lighting up fresh cigarettes.
‘There’s still a question mark where Mandy was sleeping on the night Marissa died. She told us that she was sleeping upstairs in the back bedroom, but there was evidence that she slept downstairs on the sofa.’
‘There was a duvet on the downstairs sofa,’ said Erika. ‘But that’s hardly evidence. She could have just been napping.’
‘Erika. This case comes down to the height of whoever did it. It’s not all about diamonds, or should I say, the diamond earrings.’
‘What did you just say?’
‘This case is about the height of the person who killed her, we know it’s not Taro Williams…’
‘No, after that.’
‘It’s not all about the earrings. At least, I don’t think it is.’
Erika was now pacing up and down the room.
‘When me and Peterson went to the Matrix Club, the guy who does the costumes told us Marissa kept saying it was all about “the diamond” not “diamonds”. That it would be “the diamond” that would make her fortune… He said something along the lines, like, “I know Marissa was stupid, but she did know the difference between the singular and plural”. If she wasn’t talking about the diamond earrings, then what was she talking about?’
‘Now I’m getting confused,’ said Moss. ‘There’s a diamond embroidered on her costumes.’ She went over to the three mannequins, which were lined up along the wall and wearing some of Marissa’s costumes, embroidered with the diamond logo. ‘She was planning to go off to New York, and perform as Honey Diamond. Maybe she thought she was going to make her fortune there?’
Erika shook her head, and looked out of the window. Mandy and Joan were still deep in conversation. Joan said something out of the corner of her mouth, and Mandy hooted with laughter, expelling a long stream of cigarette smoke. The last of the kids were filing back into the school building, and one of the forensic guys was shouting at a group of the neighbours.
‘Please get back!’ he said, waving his gloved hands at them. They were walking backwards – two old ladies, and a young lad, much like sheep do when they are being herded.
Erika looked back at the bedroom, and spied a large framed photo on the wall, amongst the framed publicity shots of Marissa. It was of a huge diamond, mounted on a ring, sparkling with clarity. She crossed to the picture and carefully lifted it off the wall. She started to examine it. There was a thin paper backing on the frame.
‘Do you have any latex gloves?’ she said. Moss rummaged in her pockets and handed her a pair.
Sixty-Eight
Erika placed the framed print face-down on the bed, and they stared at the thick backing paper.
‘The frame is pretty old and crappy,’ said Erika. ‘And the diamond image is faded, like it’s been on the wall and caught the sun, but this backing paper looks brand new.’
Erika took a pair of nail scissors from a pot on the desk by the window, and Moss held the frame as she neatly scored the thin backing paper, and then carefully peeled it away. They stood back and stared. There was nothing inside but the print, which was on a piece of card. Erika lifted it gently away from the frame. It felt thick, and she held it up to the light.