Deadly Secrets by Robert Bryndza

Author:Robert Bryndza
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Thriller
ISBN: 9781786814272
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 2018-04-17T22:00:00+00:00

Thirty-One

‘Oh my lord, this case,’ said Erika, as she and Peterson walked back to Charing Cross station. They took the quieter back streets so they could talk over what they had discovered.

‘And what is this diamond thing?’ said Peterson.

‘It was Marissa’s trademark. Perhaps she thought that she, Honey Diamond, would be the one to make a fortune from her career. Dita Von Teese has made millions, and she wanted to be the next Dita Von Teese.’

‘There just seems to be more and more layers of…’

‘Intrigue? Deception?’ asked Erika.

‘Shit. The word is shit. This case is a quagmire. Everyone hated her.’

Erika nodded. ‘Marissa had a big mouth and was indiscreet, but as far as I can tell, she only told Mrs Fryatt about being attacked by the guy in the gas mask.’

‘Just because Marissa was a fantasist and not well-liked by people, doesn’t mean she didn’t have fears and secrets. So many people are too scared to report when they are attacked or assaulted. And the most confident people can often be bluffers, and feign confidence,’ said Peterson.

Erika nodded. They had been so deep in discussion that they hadn’t noticed where they were walking, and they emerged from a side street out into Regent Street. Sleet had started to fall.

‘Do you fancy a coffee?’ asked Peterson, seeing a Starbucks still open on the corner. ‘At least until this sleet stops.’

‘Okay.’

They waited for a couple of red buses and then crossed the street, hurrying out of the snow and into the brightly lit coffee house. Erika found a seat by the window and Peterson returned with two coffees. Erika could see the Christmas displays in the shop windows opposite, and the canopy of Christmas lights strung above Regent Street. They took a sip of the hot coffee and watched the busy street.

‘So, we’ve got Joseph Pitkin, who stalked and photographed Marissa on several occasions and then filmed her, we think at her request, to blackmail Don Walpole?’ started Erika.

‘We have Ivan Stowalski, who was obsessed with her, willing to leave his wife at Christmas and go off with her to New York, and he tried to kill himself,’ said Peterson.

‘There’s Don Walpole, who she slept with when she was fifteen, and then blackmailed him, saying he would go on the sex offenders register if he told… She also allegedly stole a pair of diamond earrings from Mrs Fryatt, but Mrs Fryatt didn’t mention it, and she seemed sharp as a tack when we spoke to her.’

‘Do you think her son knew about it? Isn’t he a jeweller in Hatton Garden?’ asked Peterson.

‘Possibly… But Mrs Fryatt was the only person who Marissa told she was attacked,’ said Erika.

‘By a man in a gas mask, who it seems is somehow linked back to Joseph Pitkin. He topped himself because of those photos you showed him during the interview… Well, what I mean is that he was scared.’

‘It pushed him over the edge,’ she said, wearily. ‘If only we had been able to recover the note with the drawing of the gas mask at the same time.

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