Observation and the gathering of information, one of the basic tenets of psychological profiling. The problem was, Malcolm almost had too much information to work with. He watched as Dani stood in front of the fireplace, gathering the attention of the room, and how the various family members reacted to her encroachment on their territory.
There was an edge of petulance to William's expression which Malcolm found disappointing. If he were acting more smug, Malcolm would have considered him a prime suspect, not that they had anything concrete to suspect him of at this point. His wife, Ophelia, sat on the couch beside him, curling away from her husband. She was afraid of him, Malcolm surmised, although he was uncertain as to whether it was due to psychological or physical abuse.
Yes, William was capable of murder, Malcolm concluded, but it was unlikely he'd demand a police presence afterwards if he'd done it - although he did have certain narcissistic traits, so it was possible his ego wouldn't allow him to entertain the idea he'd be caught. He definitely should be interviewed next, Malcolm decided as he eyed the rest of the room.
Amelia looked upset, which was an appropriate reaction if Janet's insistence she was having an affair with Chance was true. She kept eyeing the door as if looking for an opportunity to escape the room. Was she hoping to slip away to see how the helicopter pilot was doing?
Janet looked bored, which seemed true to type. Malcolm wasn't sure if he believed she was a Black Widow, but as they were currently unable to contact the mainland, the question was moot.
Beatrice, on the other hand, merely looked perturbed, while her husband seemed just as disengaged as he'd been earlier. Perhaps he suffered from some form of Avoidant Personality Disorder. If so, Malcolm wondered how he had survived in his marriage for so long, perhaps because of the children. Abigail, his daughter was still seated beside Beatrice….and she looking straight at him.
Interesting.
Malcolm smiled at Abigail she tilted her head at him, before searching the rest of the room for her little brother. He was still missing, which might be problematic if William was right and his father was murdered because of the will. There was a strong chance Bobby was in danger.
A movement by the door caught his eye, and Malcolm turned to see Ann O'Kelly, the housekeeper, slip into the room, reminding him he shouldn't forget the staff. Just because the will was the most obvious motive doesn't mean there couldn't be another motive they hadn't figured out yet. After all, if old Robert Alderson was as despicable as his father had said, there was probably a party going on somewhere right now, celebrating his death.
"Bright?" Dani called, raising an eyebrow at him as he started in his seat.
"Oh, right," he said, jumping up. "Well, I think it's safe to say things have escalated, but I think we should continue with the interviews." He smiled at the disgruntled faces that turned in his direction. "How about you, Mr Alderson?" he said, turning to him. "Want to go next? Perhaps we could discuss the details of the will, and maybe even see a copy."
William Alderson did not look happy but he smiled nonetheless. "Of course, of course - Ann?" He glanced over at the Housekeeper. "Can you have Ms Masterson bring a copy of the will to the study?"
Ms Masterson, Roger's personal secretary. Now that he thought about it, it was rather strange she hadn't been present yet. Personal secretaries were usually more integrated into the family dynamic, or maybe he only thought that because his mother's secretary was an ever present staple in his own household.
"After you," he said aloud, waving towards the door, and William Alderson sniffed at him as he swept out of the room.
"Try not to rile him up too much," Dani said out of the corner of her mouth as they followed him. "I really don't want to end this day having to swim home."
"Don't worry," Malcolm said, giving her a smile he suspected was a shade too manic to be believable. "I'll be perfectly appropriate." There was that sigh again. He was beginning to suspect Dani had at last figured out how to read him. Soon she'll be joining Gil in giving him exasperated, knowing looks whenever they're at a crime scene.
"Just try to tone it down a little," she said.
In answer, Malcolm tugged at her arm. "Just slow down a step," he said softly. "Let him get a head of steam on us before we enter the room. Then I might not need to prod at him, he'll do all the work for me." Dani smirked but slowed her step and by the time they reached the study, William had already installed himself behind his father's desk, claiming the room.
"So, he said, clasping his hands on the desk. "What is it you wished to ask of me?"
Dani pulled out her notepad. "Just the usual questions, like when was the last time you spoke to your father before he died?"
William nodded, his expression somber. "Well it was that morning, actually. He's seemed in good spirits, not at all unwell, and was planning to take his morning constitutional on the other side of the island - we have a small beach there."
"And did he say anything to you that might indicate he was in fear of his life?"
A frown line appeared on his forehead. "No, but there was something on his mind because he made a point of asking if I'd be home from the city in time to join him for dinner. That usually was a precursor to a more serious conversation between me and my father-"
There was a soft tap on the door and Malcolm turned to see a beautiful young woman in a navy pantsuit enter the room. "I have the will," she said lightly, lifting a folder up.
"Ah, thank you, Ms Masterson."
The first thing Malcolm noticed was how William's eyes were definitely not concentrating on Ms Masterson's face, the second thing he noticed was how Ms Masterson seemed to welcome the attention. She smiled down at him warmly as she rounded the desk, leaning in a little too closely as she placed the will before him. Malcolm caught her side profile, her high, rounded cheekbones, pale blue eyes, and thick curling hair tied back with a clasp.
"Persephone," Malcolm said, realising where he'd recognised her face from.
The secretary looked up, her expression darkening before she remembered who he was. Her face smoothed. "Roger's little joke, I'm afraid." she said. "I humoured him."
"Right," Bright drawled, and something must have shown in his voice, because William let out a polite cough.
"Yes, well, that's all for now Jenny," he said, and Ms Masterson took the hint, straightening.
"Of, course, Mr Alderson," she said, her tone lightly professional once more.
In his defense, he did wait until she shut the door before he popped the question. "I have only one more question, Mr Alderson, how long have you been sleeping with your father's secretary?"His reaction was immediate. Almost as if he was expecting the question and was prepared to be outraged, Malcolm thought cynically.
"How dare you accuse me of cheating on my wife!" he burst out, his fists slamming into the desk as he got to his feet.
Malcolm swallowed down a sigh. "I'm not making a judgement here, Mr Alderson. I'm merely observing the dynamic between you and Ms Masterson and wondering if your father saw it too. After all, if Roger Alderson thought his Persephone was sprinkling her pomegranate seeds elsewhere, that might explain the change in the will-"
"I've had enough of this," Alderson roared. "I'll see the mayor hears about this. How dare you impugn my character!" Malcolm leaned against the desk as William stalked over to the door and swung it open forcefully, letting it bang into the wall
"Well, that could have gone better," he said.
"You think?" Dani asked dryly.
Edrisa stepped in through the open doorway. "He doesn't look happy."
"I just accused him of being a philandering murderer," Malcolm explained. "People tend to not react too well to that."
"Huh, well, in other news, the pilot is awake," Edrisa said. "But he's a mess. His eyes are dilated and he's been throwing up, which isn't that surprising, really. He's been in a helicopter crash, I'd be surprised if he wasn't concussed-"
"But?" Malcolm prompted her gently. He knew Edrisa well enough to know she was worried.
"But his skin is clammy, and he keeps shivering uncontrollable. His lucidity isn't the best either. I'm worried he has serious internal injuries, maybe even kidney damage. He might not make it until the morning."
"That isn't good." Malcolm said. "Maybe we should try the skiff after all. I mean, how hard can it be?" Actually, it could be pretty damned hard. The east river was a tidal river and while he had done some rowing at Harvard, he had no experience maneuvering a small boat with an engine.
Dani looked at him as if she knew what he was thinking. "Someone here must know how to use it, it wouldn't be moored here otherwise."
"Malcolm nodded. "Probably the groundskeeper."
"Right," Dani stood. I"'ll go get him. You try to get something out of Chance while we still can."
"Good idea," he said, picking up the will from the desk "Lead the way."
t was a testament to the Alderman's need to protect their status in the world,"Malcolm thought, as they wound down a back corridor and up a flight of narrow stairs , hat even then a man was on death's door, they still took the time to make sure he was laid out in a room appropriate to his station.
"Please tell me you were at least able to use an elevator to carry him up here," Malcolm said as they eventually reached the top, and Edrisa snorted.
"Eventually," she said. "These people are very weird."
Malcolm decided this was Edrisa's polite way of saying the Aldersons were overly privileged assholes. "Do you think he'll be okay to move again?" he asked.
"Honestly, no," Edrisa said. "We're definitely going to need a medivac." She pushed open a door and Malcolm followed her inside. It was immediately evident why Edrisa was so worried. Chance Burke's eyes were open but unfocused, and his forehead had broken out into beads of sweat. The smell of vomit permeated the air and grew stronger as they neared the bed.
"Yeah, I tried to clean it up as much as possible but the odour kind of lingers," Edrisa said as Malcolm wrinkled his nose. "Hi, it's Edrisa. Mr Burke, can you hear me?
"No," he moaned, "please don't." He rocked to his side and Edrisa hastily reached for the bucket again. "It's okay, Mr Burke," she said. "We're going to get you to the hospital."
"No time," he gasped out. "Dying."
Malcolm hunched down beside him. "Mr Burke, my name is Malcolm Bright," he said. "I'm a consultant with the police. Can you tell me about the crash? Did something go wrong with the Helicopter?"
Chance closed his eyes. "Not the helicopter, me."
Malcolm frowned, was he saying the crash was due to pilot error or something more? "I don't understand, Mr. Burke, are you saying it was an accident?"
"No," he said, clutching at his stomach. "Please, no, I won't tell anyone."
Edrisa leaned forward and raised an eyelid. "Totally unfocused," she pronounced."I don't think you're going to get much sense out of him. I think he's delirious."
"Abigail," he cried out. "Abigail, please."
A floorboard creaked and Malcolm turned to see Abigail Cambridge standing in the doorway. "Sorry," she said. "I didn't know I'd upset him so much. Is he going to be okay?"
"Honestly? he's in pretty bad shape," Malcolm said. "Did you come to see Chance or were you looking for one of us?"
"Uh," she said. "I know who you are?"
Malcolm blinked. "Well, I did introduce myself," he bluffed.
"But that's not your real name, is it?" she countered. "I mean, I get it, if my dad was a serial killer, I'd want to change my name too but…" she faltered before steeling herself. "I went to high school with Ainsley."
"I hadn't realised that." But he should have. Beatrice Cambridge may have forbidden her daughter to fraternise with the a Whitley, but Ainsley still went to one of the most prestigious schools on the upper east side. They couldn't kick her out, the Miltons had donated too generously to the school. "It still doesn't explain how you recognised me." Ainsley had gone to Chapin, while he had gone to Regis before transferring to Remington. He felt the tremor in his hand come to life as a flash of memory ran through his mind, the walls of that cupboard closing in. He twisted his hand into a fist, willing it to recede.
"She missed you when you went to Harvard," Abigail. "You remember that term break when you brought her with you to the campus? She showed me pictures."
He did remember that, as a matter of fact. Although it was more a case of him taking her away from their mother than to Harvard. "I see," he said loud.
"Sorry," she offered. "I didn't mean to blurt it out like that. I just thought you should know. I'm not going to say anything, if you're worried."
"My name is Bright, by the way. I had it legally changed." Malcolm said, looking down at Chance Burke's feverish body. He got to his feet. "Maybe we should take this conversation outside. Are you good here, Edrisa?"
"Good might be pushing it," Edrisa said, a worried expression on her face. "I'm managing."
Malcolm pulled a face of commiseration as he followed Abigail out of the room. Edrisa was always more comfortable with the dead. He eyed Abigail as she stood in the hallway with her arms wrapped around herself protectively. So," he started. "How about you tell me what you're trying to gather up courage to say."
She bit her lip, with an almost apologetic smile "Chance and I were the signatories for the new will," she said. "He called us into his study last week, and demanded that we witness it. I knew it was a bad idea, that William would go through the roof, and I begged him to wait until he met with his lawyer, but he wouldn't listen. Grandfather was always a hard man to say no to."
"I see," Malcolm said, as he looked down at the will in his hands. "And a week later, he dies. Tell me, when did William find out about the new will?"
"Well I certainly didn't tell him," Abigail said. "And I'm not sure Roger did either. I think he was waiting for the right moment, so that the announcement would make maximum impact. He could be vindictive that way"
Malcolm's eyes slid to the door of Chance's room. "Is it possible Mr Burke told him?"
"Not if he wanted to hang onto his job,he didn't" Abigail said, with a snort. "I think he was already terrified that Grandfather would find out about him and Amelia. He wouldn't want to give William the impetus to tell him."
"So William knew about the affair."
"We all knew about the affair, they weren't exactly discreet."
Malcolm nodded. "Listen, I want to talk to your brother-"
"Bright!"
Malcolm followed the sound of Edrisa's voice, barreling through the bedroom door. Edrisa was on the bed, straddling Chance, who was seizing violently underneath her. "What can I do?"
"Grab his arms," she gasped out. "All we can do is make sure he doesn't hurt himself and ride this out."
He ran to the far side of the bed, grasping at his wrists, and kneeling onto the edge of the mattress as he tried to prevent his arms flying from his grasp. "Is this normal?"
"It can happen, especially if the patient has had a bad knock to the head," Edrisa said, panting. "It fits with the nausea and the less than lucid conversation - of course, it also fits with a lot poisons."
Malcolm blinked, looking down at the rictus grimace on Chance's face. "Strychnine?"
No, I've already tested for that. They probably keep strychnine on a property of this size to keep the rats down, so I thought it might be a good bet. I think you're on the right track, though. If it's a poison, it's definitely an alkaloid poisoning
"No!" Chance cried out. "I wasn't going to tell. I promise-" His body seized one more time, arching off the bed before slumping. Edrisa's eyes widened.
"No, oh no," she bent down and checked to see if he was breathing or had a pulse, and then proceeded to give him CPR. Malcolm uncurled his hands from Chance's wrists, watching as she desperately tried to resuscitate him.
"Edrisa," he said. "He's gone."
"Don't say that," she said. She pressed down on his chest, her face the picture of quiet desperation. "Only I get to say that."
Malcolm sat back on his heels as Edrisa tried to get him to breath. She was at a minute in when Dani entered the room. Malcolm lifted his hand as she opened her mouth to speak, and she shut it again as she realised what was going on.
At three minutes, Edrisa called it. "Time of death, 2.34pm." She slowly climbed off the bed, looking more tired than he had ever seen her.
"It wasn't your fault, Edrisa"
"Wasn't it?" Then whose was it?" There was a sharpness to her voice that was rarely directed at him.
"Edrisa, you did your best. We can all see that," Dani said softly. "What was it in the end?"
"Cardiac arrest, brought on by a grand mal seizure," Edrisa said flatly, sitting on the end of the bed.
"I hadn't thought his injuries were that serious," Dani said.
Malcolm raised an eyebrow at Edrisa who nodded her head. "We think he might have been poisoned," he told Dani. "His injuries covered up a lot of the symptoms until it was too late."
"What kind of poison," she asked.
"We've narrowed it down to an alkaloid poison," Malcolm said, turning to Edrisa, who nodded solemnly.
"So when do you think he was poisoned?" she asked softly.
"It depends on a variety of factors," Edrisa said. "Anything from two to six hours."
"Which means it's possible he even wasn't even killed at the house," Malcolm said, sighing.
Edrisa got to her feet. "I'm going to process the body," she said. "See if I can narrow that down." It was a dismissal if ever Malcolm had heard one, and he tilted his head at Dani, who nodded.
"We'll continue with the interviews," she said, and Malcolm pressed a hand on Edrisa's shoulder. She didn't even look up, which had Malcolm more than a little worried. He followed Dani out of the room.
"How is she?" Dani asked.
"Not good, she feels responsible for his death," he said. "Which she shouldn't. She did the best she could with what she had." Although he knew from personal experience that logic rarely assuaged guilt.
"Well, even if she could have kept him alive a little bit longer, it wouldn't have helped," she said. "The skiff has been sabotaged."
"What? How?" Malcolm's mind whirled with the possibilities. "Does this place have security cameras?"
Dani gave him a rueful look. "We should be so lucky. There is no surveillance on the Island. The Aldersons won't even allow drones to fly over it." She came to a halt on the corridor, grabbing his arm as she looked down at his hand. The tremors had stopped, thankfully. "The skiff was holed," she said. "It looked like someone had taken an axe to it."
Malcolm nodded. "We should ask Peterson where they keep the tools," he said. "They might not have surveillance but they might have a lock on the storage room. We might be able to narrow down who had access to them."
"I already asked. Peterson had a key, as does the housekeeper, and apparently old Robert Alderson had one too but-"
"It's missing," Malcolm finished. He could feel the tension in his jaw tightening. This was usually the part of the case he enjoyed the most, putting the puzzle pieces of his profile together until it made a satisfactory whole, but there was something about the events of this day that were putting him on edge. Firstly, there were the poisonings themselves. It was a dispassionate way of killing, usually performed by someone who doesn't gain pleasure from the act of killing but merely wishes to gain from it. Someone cool and clinical and wanting to run under the radar - but then there was the sabotaging of the skiff and the phone line, as well as the use of the cell phone jammer. That seemed clumsier, somehow, more desperate.
"You've got that look on your face," Dani said. "Spit it out."
"It's probably nothing," Malcolm said, shaking his head. There was no point in sharing his suspicions right now as he only had a hunch to back it up. "We should probably continue with the interviews."
Dani's face smoothed over, the picture of professionalism. "Who should be next?"
"Bobby Alderson," he said.
"Really? But he's just a kid."
"A kid whose just inherited a 50 billion dollar fortune," Malcolm said. "I want to hear what he thinks about that." And how everyone else reacts to him being questioned. It was the profiling equivalent of shaking the tree to see what came loose, but needs must.
And it worked like a charm, almost a little too well. Bobby sat in the chair in front of the desk, looking down at his hands as his mother stood behind him on the left and his uncle on the right, like two buzzards waiting to see which corpse was about to be picked over.
"Hi Bobby, my name is Malcolm Bright and this is Detective Dani Powell," Malcolm said."We just want to ask you a few questions about your grandfather's will." He and Dani had taken the opportunity to look over it before Bobby arrived. Like Abigail had said, it had been signed by her and Chance, and held a couple of surprises. For one, Robert Alderson was even wealthier than Malcolm had originally surmised. Not Bezos rich but 87 billion dollars was definitely a healthy bank balance. The other surprise was the 10 million he'd left Jenny Masterson - the same amount he's left his last wife. Robert Alderson seems to have been very enamoured with his Persephone.
"What do you want to know?" Bobby's voice was high and nervous, but that wasn't necessarily a sign of guilt. He was thirteen years old. Any kid that age would have felt intimidated by a police interrogation.
"Well, we'd like to know if you knew your Grandfather had left you his fortune," Malcolm said. "Did you?" He looked up and silently shook his head. Malcolm got a quick glimpse of intelligent green eyes before he dropped his chin again. Suspicion rose in Malcolm's mind. The kid was definitely hiding something. The question was whether it was about the murder or something else. William Alderson's hand dropped on the boy's shoulder, causing him to flinch, and Malcolm looked up into his bullish expression.
"I think it's best we wait until Bobby has some legal representation if you're going to pursue this line of inquiry," he said.
"It's the line of inquiry you asked us to follow, Mr Alderson," Malcolm reminded him. "In fact, you insisted on it."
"My son is a minor and totally incapable of such an act," Beatrice said. "I'm sure my brother hadn't expected you to treat him like a suspect."
"I'm not accusing Bobby of anything, Mrs Cambridge," he said. "I'm just trying to verify how many people knew about the changes to the will before your father's death - other than the witnesses, of course." Something flickered in Beatrice's eyes, something that was tamped down quickly. "Is there something you want to say, Mrs Cambridge?" he prompted.
Beatrice lips pulled back into a snarl. "I've had enough of this, come along, Bobby."
Bobby's green eyes bobbed up again. Was it his imagination of that a plea for help in his eyes. "Bobby, when was the last time you spoke to your grandfather."
"Yesterday, after dinner,"he said.
"And did he mention the will to you?"
"That's enough!" William snapped. "My sister had already told you you're going to have to wait until our lawyer gets here to question him - Bobby, get up."
The boy stood, and followed his mother to door. He turned back just as he was about to leave the will. "He told me about the will," he admitted. "But I don't care about the money."
'No,' thought Malcolm, as he caught the expression on his mother's face, 'but your family does.'
"So," Dani said, as the door closed behind them. "Did you see anything that might help you profile?"
"The boy's is hiding something, and the mother is protecting him," Malcolm said. "And William is definitely regretting calling us in."
"Yeah, you don't have to be a profiler to realise that," Dani said, with a small smile. "But you don't think the kid had anything to to with it, do you?"
Malcolm's mind flashed to the blank rage on Ainsley's face as she butchered Nicholas Endicott. Having grown up in a household where sociopathic behaviour was not only a genetic component, but also ingrained into the ethos of the family, he knew better than to dismiss it. Bobby was inherently capable of it, even at such a young age. He pulled his hand under the desk before it's tremour was noticed and cleared his throat. "We can't rule it out."
The door opened again, and Edrisa entered. "It was definitely poison," she said. "I found these in his front shirt pocket." She placed a small bottle of capsule pills on the table with a pair of gloved hands.
""Tramadol?" Malcolm asked. "He was killed with prescription painkillers?"
No, although those do pack quite a punch." She carefully broke open a pill, and a finely ground brown substance spilled onto the polished desk."It's aconite"
"From the Monkshood plant, also known as Wolfsbane?" Malcolm said, leaning forward on his desk.
Edrisa nodded, excitement lighting up her eyes. "The very same. It's quite ingenious, really, aconite is very bitter, even in this processed granular form. A coated pill is the perfect delivery system. I was able to cobble together a test. She held up a test tube that had a greenish liquid in it. "Mixed it with some formic acid and potassium ferricyanide, green indicates the presence of Aconite. I also checked Robert Alderson's room." She placed another bottle on the table. This time it was blood pressure pills. "They've been tampered with as well."
"I don't know why you're looking so happy. If it was in their medication, it means that anyone could have killed them," Dani said. "They didn't even have to be in the same country when they were swallowed.
But Malcolm knew why Edrisa looked so relieved. "Aconite poisoning has no counter agent. Mr Burke would have died no matter what you did."
"I know, it's stupid, right?" Edrisa said, slumping into a chair.
"It's not stupid, Edrisa," Malcolm said, remembering how helpless he'd felt when he'd never been able to find the girl in the box. "Believe me, I'm intimately familiar with the feeling."
"So where do we go from here?" Dani asked, the frustration showing in her voice. "Did you find anything else on the bottles?"
"No fingerprints,". Dani said. "And the aconite compound was handmade. Someone literally dug up an aconite flower, dried it out, and ground down it's roots."
"Wouldn't that take some kind of know how?"
Malcolm shook his head. "Nothing Google couldn't tell you. Aconite is incredibly potent, They used to coat arrows with the stuff in order to take down large game. Even its touch is toxic. You only need a gramme of ground aconite root to kill someone." He was suddenly acutely aware of two pairs of eyes trained on him. "What? I track serial killers. Knowing this much about poisons is totally normal."
"Hey, I'm not complaining, I think it's cool," Edrisa protested.
Dani smirked. "That's because you two are peas in a pod when it comes to all this macabre stuff."
Malcolm shrugged, looking at Edrisa, who grinned back.
"Did you find anything else?" Malcolm asked.
"Nothing yet. I had the body moved down to the scullery. I won't be able to do a full autopsy but hopefully I'll learn something with a preliminary examination."
"Right, he said. "So I suppose we should continue with the interviews while you do that?"
"Who's next?" Dani asked.
"Robert's second wife or his Persephone," Malcolm mused. "If all the indicators are correct, both of them were were sleeping with him, and one of them was sleeping with both of our murder victims.
"Right," Dani said. "We'll go with the wife first.
The first thing Malcolm learned about Amelia Alderson was that she wasn't the brightest bulb in the box.
"Me and Chance?" she echoed. "Why would you ever think such a thing?"
"Maybe because every single person in the house has told us you were sleeping with him," Malcolm said. "And then there is the will. I mean, 87 billion dollars and all he left you were a lousy 10 million. You must have been pissed."
Her face reddened. "This family has always had it in for me. Poking their noses where it doesn't belong. It wouldn't surprise me if they all were in it together, hoping they could pin it on me. They probably thought that if they told Robert that bullshit story about me and Chance that he'd cut me off without a cent and give them a controlling interest in the money." She got to her feet. "Well, I guess they were half right. If you wish to speak to me again, you're going to have to do it in the presence of my lawyer."
"Well, that didn't go well," Dani said, as the door slammed.
"On the contrary, I think we learned a lot," Malcolm said. "Did you see the way she flushed when we accused her of killing Robert because of the will. That was an autonomic response, usually triggered by emotions like, fear, guilt, embarrassment… The point is, I think it genuinely hadn't occurred to her she might be viewed as a suspect, which means-"
"She isn't guilty," Dani said.
No, she wasn't, and that complicated things. Malcolm thought of Chance Burke's last words, how desperate and pleading he'd sounded. Betrayal is a big word. One you only used for those closest to you. If it wasn't Amelia, then who was it. Did Chance have another lover? "Perhaps we'll have better luck with Ms Masterson," Malcolm said aloud. "That stained glass window was a statement, Robert Alderson immortalised her face and installed it in his castle for everyone to see when they entered his home. If Persephone was sleeping with his son, a man like Robert might go to extreme levels to exact his revenge. "
"So, the secretary next, then."
Malcolm pulled a face. "If you say it like that, it sounds so boring. The old rich guy is sleeping with his secretary."
"You think it was something more?"
"I think Robert thought it was something more." The light to his darkness. His mind flashed to his parents, an intrusive thought he quickly shied away from. It was best not to go there. He glanced up and realised Dani had already left the room. That wasn't good. Usually a case kept him focused and present, but there was something about this family that was pinging on his subconscious and keeping him on edge, and it wasn't just the surface details, bit was something else...something he couldn't quite grasp yet.
The door opened and Jenny Masterson walked in, Dani behind her. She was beautiful, there was no denying that. Even with her hair clasped back, her gold curls shone in the sun, her peaches and cream skin and bright blue eyes rounding off the picture. She looked like something out of a Klimt painting, Malcolm realised, which made the navy suit look even more incongruous.
"Ms Masterson, could you please sit down," Malcolm said. For a moment, he thought she'd insist she stand but she relented quickly, perching herself on the edge of the chair in front of the desk.
"You want to talk about the stained glass," she said, without preamble. She had been preparing herself for this conversation, which meant she knew something she thought she shouldn't share.
"Yes," Malcolm said, "Although the work kind of speaks for itself, don't you think?"
She slumped in her seat. "There wasn't anything physical going on," she said. "He hasn't really been able for that for a number of years." A half truth, Malcolm thought, they mightn't have been having sexual intercourse, but there certainly had been intimacy; the lack of eye contact, that nervous way she tucked at the edges of her jacket, all spoke to it.
"But there was an emotional component to it," he prompted.
Reluctantly, she nodded. "It was kind of sweet, really. I guess that's why I didn't realise it had gone too far until it was too late."
"When he commissioned the stained glass windows," Malcolm guessed, and she nodded.
"They're beautiful, really they are, but...I thought it was just a bit of skirt chasing, you know? He's always had a reputation for having wandering hands but that was as far as it went. Secretaries weren't wife material."
"Until you," he said. She closed her eyes and nodded and Malcolm leaned back in his chair. So that's why Robert wasn't as vindictive about Amelia's affair with Chance as he could have been. In fact… "Ms Masterson...Jenny?"
She looked up warily. "Yeah?"
"Did Robert pay Chance to sleep with his wife?" It was the only thing that made sense. Robert wasn't the type of man to give away money he didn't have to. If he's been the one who admitted infidelity, he'd have to pay out the full settlement, but if he could prove she had been sleeping with another man, he could cut her off without a dime.
Jenny Masterson nodded warily. "How did you know?"
"It was the only thing that made sense," he said simply. He could see Dani move restlessly out of the corner of his eye. She had figured it out too. Chance had another lover and they were probably the killer.
"We need to speak to Amelia again," Malcolm said, getting to his feet.
"She won't talk to us without a lawyer," Dani reminded him.
"I'm pretty sure she'll change her mind about that once she realises her life is in danger," he said, darting towards to the door. He pulled it open and found Ms O'Kelly outside it, her hand raised to knock.
"You're needed in the morning room, it's the room beside the drawing room" she said. "Mrs Alderson has been attacked.
"Where is Doctor Tanaka?" he asked.
"She's already there," she said.
The morning room was a crime scene investigator's nightmare, with the rest of the Alderson family milling around as Edrisa crouched over Amelia's body.
"Thank god," Edrisa said, as they entered the room. "I need my bag. She's been stabbed in the chest. They missed the heart but I think the blade hit the spleen."
"Where is it?" Dani asked.
"Down in the scullery, where I laid out Mr Burke. I don't need the whole bag, just the red satchel packed inside it." Dani nodded , sprinting out of the room and Malcolm shed his jacket as he crouched over Amelia.
"How bad is it?" he asked.
"Very bad," She's had one lung punctured as well and she's lost a lot of blood and I'm trying to keep up the pressure as much as I can, but I'm pretty sure she's suffering from internal bleeding."
Malcolm nodded in understanding, looking down into Amelia Alderson's face, her eyelashes fluttered as her breath rattled in her chest, but she was still conscious. He held her hand. "Mrs Alderson, squeeze if you can you hear me" It was slight, barely there, but it was a squeeze.
Malcolm smiled down at her. "Good," he said. "I know you're in pain and this is very difficult but did you recognise your killer. One squeeze for yes, two for no." Another solitary squeeze - that tightened into a death grip.
"Edrisa?" Malcolm asked, as Amelia's eyes rolled back into her head.
"I know," Edrisa said softly. "It's her lungs, They're filling up with blood. We're losing her."
Malcolm looked at her sharply. He wasn't sure if Edrisa could handle losing another patient. Belatedly, he realised this is one of those times he would have called his father for help. Now he couldn't even if he wanted to.
Amelia Alderson's hand went limp in his, and Edrisa closed her eyes. "Time, 4.03," was all she said. This time there was no CPR, there was no point. Her lungs were too shot.
Dani ran back into the room, bag in hand, her eyes quickly picking up what happened. "Damn."
"Damn, is that all you have to say?" William Alderson boomed. "I'm going to speak-"
"Mr Alderson!" Dani cut in sharply, causing him to blink at her in surprise. "This is an active crime scene, I would very much appreciate it if you vacated the room immediately and wait in a drawing room while we examine the area. Thank you."
William Alderson looked like he wanted to argue the point some more but he must have seen something in Dani's eyes that told him that was a bad idea. "Very well," he said. "But I will be talking to the Mayor about this."
Malcolm was pretty sure Dani said something like 'knock yourself out' under her breath but he couldn't be sure. Edrisa was sitting back on her heels, a look of distress on her face. He felt his heart go out to her. He knew today was pretty much her worst nightmare come to life.
He glanced at the couch behind her and realised it was covered in blood. "She was sitting down when it happened?"
Edrisa took a deep shuddering breath. "I think so, she'd already slid off onto the floor by the time I got here. Beatrice found her and raised the alarm. I was on my way down from upstairs and came to help."
Malcolm sighed. "So the downward trajectory of the knife isn't an indicator of height," he said.
"Not a knife," Edrisa said dully. "It was larger blade, maybe a dagger or a smallsword."
"And there are plenty of those at hand," Malcolm said, eyeing the display of daggers over the fireplace. Unfortunately, none of them were handily missing.
Dani had spotted the same thing. "They must have have brought the blade with them,"
"Or just cleaned it down and put it back on the wall," Edrisa said, her voice bereft of its usual excitement. "I brought some luminol with me." She glanced at the satchel in Dani's hands. "It's still in the bag in the scullery though."
"I'll get it," Malcolm said, getting to his feet.
"Uh, you might want to clean yourself up while you're down there," Dan said.
Malcolm looked down at his blood splattered shirt. "Right, I'll do that." he picked up his jacket. Maybe it might cover up some of the damage if it didn't rinse out. "Do you need anything else, Edrisa?"
Edrisa let out a shaky breath."Yeah, I'll need my fragile evidence kit - it's the black plastic kit box near the bottom of the bag.
"Got it," he said, glancing at Dani, who nodded in understanding and crouched down beside Edrisa as he left the room. He stalked down the long corridor, his shoes echoing on the dark polished floors. One thing was for sure, they needed to get off this Island before one of them got in the firing line.
By the time he reached the scullery, his mind had gone through at least half a dozen possibilities. Beatrice, Abigail,Ophelia and Jenny were the most likely candidates, although there was Ann O'Kelly, the housekeeper, and the two house servants who had been doing an admirable job of staying invisible since they'd arrived.
He stepped into the scullery, his eyes scanning the room as he headed towards Edrisa's bag.. There was something off here, something- He slapped hiss forehead: of course, Chance's body, where had it gone? He eyed the shut door of the walk-in freezer. Surely Edrisa wouldn't have put him in there?"
But someone else might, someone who'd been paying attention and thought freezing his body would prevent them form collecting further evidence before they left the island. On instinct, he crouched down and poked through her used evidence bags. Both the pain and blood pressure medication was missing. Well that explained why they didn't bother poisoning Amelia and went straight for the dagger.
He looked through the freezer's window and, sure enough, there was a second body in there He stepped inside, shivering as shrugged on his jacket again and placed his hand on the body's arm and then chest. The extremities were already frozen but the main torso was still pliable. He didn't know what was best thing to do in this sort of situation. Should he remove the body or should he let it freeze completely and let Edrisa sort it out later in the mortuary?
The scrape of disturbed ice, caught Malcolm's attention and he turned to see the freezer door shut behind him. "No!" he cried out, rushing the door. But it was too late, the latch had already engaged and the shadow on the other side of the door had already slipped away. For a moment, his mind blanked in panic, His tremor lacing through his hand as he curled it into his chest. He tried to think.
I can create a place of peace and safety no matter where I am. I can create a place of peace and safety no matter where I am. The mantra had helped him escape a killer before, it might do so again.
He was in a small enclosed pace with limited air. The temperature of the average walk in freezer was 0° Fahrenheit and the ultraviolet light that had engaged when the door had shut...well, that was just annoying. He glanced up. No fire suppression system, of course not. This was a private dwelling, not a lab. They might have a fire alarm in the scullery but not in here.
What would kill him first, oxygen deprivation or the cold? If he stayed still, probably the cold, but if he moved around, that would speed up the depletion of his oxygen supply.
"Great, just great," he muttered. He needed to get out of here fast.
And he needed to find out why a 13 year old boy just tried to kill him.
