Chapter 37: Sunset & Echo

"I'm really not sure about this," Nikki muttered to Cameron as they walked up the gravel driveway of Christopher Jones' large house.

"It'll be fine," Cameron hissed, pressing the doorbell.

A moment later and a young woman opened it, smiling at them. She had dark blonde hair and was wearing a pretty floral dress and sandals. "Hi. Can I help you?"

"Mrs Jones?" Nikki asked.

"Yes..."

"Hi. I'm Nikki Alexander, Home Office pathologist." Once again, Nikki held up her ID. "This is Cameron Gables. Is your husband at home? We'd like to speak to him about the death of his brother."

"No," Mrs Jones said, frowning, "He's at a business meeting. He shouldn't be too long, though, if you want to come in and wait."

"Well, we'll speak to you, if that's all right?" Cameron asked quickly.

"No, that's fine." Mrs Jones showed them into the house and through to the kitchen, where she asked them to sit down at the large, oak table in the middle of the spacious room. There were numerous pieces of paper scattered across the table showing different flower arrangements. "Sorry," she said, sweeping up the paper, "I'm a florist. We're just completing a long-overdue refurbishment on the shop and it's a bit of a nightmare trying to sort it all out. Would you like some tea?"

Both Cameron and Nikki nodded, and Mrs Jones set about putting water into the kettle.

"Can I ask why you're dragging all of this up again?" she said; slightly apprehensively, Nikki noticed.

"Well, as you probably know, it's the trial in just a couple of days, and we want to make sure we've got our facts straight," Cameron said professionally.

"Oh, yes," Mrs Jones sighed. "The trial. I just can't wait to put this whole thing to rest."

"Mrs Jones, what can you tell us about Robert?" Nikki asked, and in her pocket she switched on the dictaphone, unsure of how Mrs Jones would react to it.

"Helen, please," Mrs Jones smiled. "Well... Robert was nice enough, when he wanted to be. He was a charmer, that's for sure. Good-looking, charismatic. Never had any problem with the ladies if his string of inappropriate girlfriends was anything to go by."

She paused a moment as she poured hot water into three mugs and then brought them over to the table.

"But he had a temper," she continued. "Sometimes he could be really nasty, you know? Really obnoxious. Especially to Christopher, who had done nothing but support Robert."

"What was the relationship between Robert and Christopher like?" Nikki asked, hoping not to be too obvious that it was Christopher they were interested in.

Helen shook her head. "Fraught at times, to say the least. Chris has a temper that would rival Robert's, when he's in a bad mood. The pair of them were like chalk and cheese; they were always arguing. But at the same time, they were ever so close. When their parents died they stuck together, and have done ever since. Robert may have gone off the rails a little bit, but rather than give up on him Chris always made sure that he was there to catch Robert when he fell, so to speak."

Nikki nodded and sipped at her tea. "Robert was a part-time mechanic, wasn't he?"

Mrs Jones sighed. "Yes. So many arguments revolved around that fact."

"What do you mean?"

"Christopher was fed up of paying for Robert all of the time. We were paying for his rent, his food, you name it. Chris just wanted Robert to get a proper job, one that would actually provide a decent income. If I'm honest, it was more that we couldn't afford to keep paying for him. It would still be another fourteen months until he received his trust fund, and with our finances as they were, we certainly wouldn't have been able to pay another year's rent on that apartment he had."

"You say 'with our finances as they were'," Cameron probed carefully. "I'm sorry if it's too personal a question, but how are your finances now?"

"Well, Robert had left us everything in his will, so the little money he had stashed away and the two million pound trust fund came to us," Helen explained. "Bloody trust fund was more trouble that it was worth, though," she added bitterly.

"How's that?" Nikki quizzed.

"Well ... Chris thought that Robert owed him the money as a way of paying him back. He wanted to set up an architecture business with it. They argued for a while, but eventually Robert agreed to sign it over. So Chris quit his job and told James, his architect friend, about his plan. But then Robert called on the day that he died."

"Robert rang here on the day that he died?" Nikki asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"Yes," Helen told them, sighing as she looked down at her hands. "Christopher was yelling at him. I couldn't really hear what it was about, exactly."

"But you have a rough idea?" Cameron said.

Mrs Jones nodded. "I'm pretty sure Robert had told Chris that he'd changed his mind about signing over his trust fund... Chris was madder than I'd ever seen him. I told him to go and calm down, so he went for a walk."

"Do you know where he went?" Nikki asked, knowing that he actually went to kill his brother.

"Not exactly, but there's a route he likes to take down by the river. Near The Lock and Key pub. He'll often pop in there for a drink."

Just then the front door opened and a moment later Christopher Jones walked into the room.

"Helen, I'm going-"

He stopped dead when he saw Nikki and Cameron. He was exactly as Nikki remembered him to be that time she briefly saw him in the lab. There wasn't a dark hair out of place on his head, he was about the same height as Harry, although slightly more thick-set, and his suit was immaculate.

"Who are you?" he shot.

"Chris, they're Home Office pathologists," Helen explained. "They were just asking a few questions about Robert."

"Why? What about him? I thought all this mess was over with?" Christopher Jones said shrewdly.

"We just wanted to make sure we had all the evidence before Harry Cunningham takes the stand on Wednesday," Nikki said calmly.

"Well you have. I've already told the police everything they need to know. They've got the bastard who did it, and that's all that matters," he growled.

Nikki felt a swoop of anger in her stomach. This man was the reason they were all where they were in the first place. Because of him and his notion that he can get away with anything, Harry was about to be punished for something that he didn't do.

"Is it all right if we ask you some questions, Mr Jones?" Cameron attempted bravely, but he received the answer that Nikki was expecting.

"No, it's bloody well not all right! Helen, get them out of here!" he thundered.

Sighing, Helen got to her feet and led the way back to the front door, whilst Christopher stormed off to another part of the house.

"I'm sorry about him," Helen muttered once they were standing on the doorstep. "He took Robert's death quite hard. He's not been himself since."

Resisting the urge to declare that it was because her beloved husband was feeling guilty, Nikki instead forced a smile and said, "That's okay. Thanks for talking to us, Helen. And for the tea."

"You're welcome."

She closed the door and Nikki and Cameron walked back to the car. As she climbed into the passenger seat, Nikki could see Christopher Jones glaring at them from the window. Unable to prevent the involuntary shudder that crawled up her spine, she did up her seatbelt and relaxed into the seat as Cameron swiftly pulled out of the driveway.

"He's so guilty!" Nikki burst out suddenly as they drove back to the lab. "How can the police not see that?"

"Well, it's easier for them to think it's Harry," Cameron said.

"But that's ridiculous!"

"It's happens a lot more than you realise. Why do you think my profession exists?"

Nikki lapsed into a miserable silence. As far as she could see, there wasn't anything else they could do. They were no better off than that time yesterday; expect Nikki was now even more certain that Christopher Jones was the murderer.

"What do we do?" she muttered.

"There's not a lot we can do, Niks."

"But there has to be something!"

"Let's go back to the lab and check in with Leo. We'll see what he suggests," Cameron said smoothly.

As it transpired, Leo didn't have anything to suggest other than, "We'll try again tomorrow."

"You are kidding me," Nikki said hotly, following Leo back into his office as Cameron waited awkwardly by her desk.

"There's nothing more to be done today. It's late. You need to go home and sleep," Leo told her firmly. "Get some rest. It's not good for you or the baby."

"But, Leo!"

"There's no 'but' about it, Nikki. Go home," he ordered sternly.

Frustrated, but knowing that Leo wouldn't be swayed on this, Nikki stormed out of his office, grabbed her handbag and stomped from the lab. Cameron followed her swiftly.

"Are you all right?" he asked, grabbing her arm before she could get into her car.

"No, I'm not all right," she snapped. "Harry is going to be going to jail in about the thirty-six hours time! My best friend! The man I love more than anything! The man whose baby I am carrying!"

Cameron's eyes widened in shock. "You're pregnant?"

Nikki nodded, tears itching at the corners of her eyes.

"Does Harry know?"

"No," she confessed.

"Oh, Nikki..." Cameron sighed, gathering her into his arms.

"I just want him back, Cameron," she muttered as she sobbed into his shoulder. "I just want him back."

. . .

The next day was no different. Despite spending twelve hours in the lab staring at the evidence board that they'd set up, very much like the police would do, the idea that Christopher Jones killed his brother remained nothing more than that – an idea. They still lacked the physical evidence that could place him at the scene of the crime, one thing that Harry had in abundance.

So when eight o'clock in the evening came and Nikki and Leo were still pacing the cutting room, desperate for ideas, hope was running a bit thin on the ground. Harry's trial started at ten o'clock the next morning, and the expectation that they would find this miracle piece of evidence now, with only fourteen hours left, was a very distant long-shot.

Leo hadn't even suggested to Nikki that she go home tonight. Instead he had ordered them a Chinese takeaway, not that either of them had been able to eat much, and simply assumed that they would both work through the night. Something which Nikki was more than happy to do; if not for her own peace of mind, then to keep her distracted enough from dwelling on what the next day was going to bring.

With an aching head and heavy joints, Nikki struggled to focus at all on what Leo was telling her. She was exhausted and lacking on caffeine, due to the baby, so wasn't in the best of moods. It wasn't until they were interrupted by Joe that she got a brief respite from what seemed like the impossible.

"G'night, guys," Joe smiled as he walked into the cutting room.

Both Nikki and Leo responded wearily, causing Joe to frown. "Y'know, maybe if you let me help you might find whatever it is you're looking for," he suggested, eyeing the board in front of them.

However, Nikki was reluctant to have Joe involved, as she'd explained to Leo a month back, so told him, "Thanks, but you go home and get some sleep."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Leo replied with a forced smile. "But thank you."

"All right then," Joe resigned. "Nikki, can I have a word quickly?"

Nikki tiredly pushed herself up from her stool and followed Joe out of the room and into the corridor outside.

"It's Harry's trial tomorrow, isn't it?" he said gently.

"Yes," Nikki responded, surprised and touched that he'd remembered.

"That's what you're trying to find now, isn't it?" he continued. "That missing piece of the puzzle that proves he didn't commit that murder?"

Sighing, Nikki nodded. "I don't know if there is a missing piece, Joe."

"Well, if there is, you'll find it," he told her certainly, placing a reassuring hand on the top of her arm. "You and Leo are the best pathologists in the city."

She smiled at him, but wasn't entirely convinced. Besides, she was too exhausted to argue.

"Anyway, I just wanted to say good luck," Joe smiled. "In case I don't get to see you in the morning."

"Thank you," Nikki said earnestly, taking Joe's hand and giving it a squeeze. "We're going to need all the luck we can get..."

You know, you guys who keep reading and reviewing this really are awesome. I hope you know that. :)

So many of you keep asking me whether Harry is / will be found guilty. All I'll say is this (and it is the God-honest truth): Nikki and Leo DO NOT find the missing piece of the puzzle that they're looking for...