Chapter 24
SUNDAY AFTERNOON
After giving Oscar a walk around the garden, I went back to my room to resume my online investigation.
There had been no sign of Alice, Mary or Dirk Foster, and I hoped this meant that they’d been able to sit and discuss things amicably.
Before opening my laptop, I called Anna to tell her what had been happening, and I heard her groan.
‘What is it about you, Dan? Everywhere you go, murder seems to follow you. So who’s the murderer this time? Don’t tell me you haven’t solved the case by now?’
I decided it would take far too long to run through all the suspects so I just muttered something about needing a bit of time and changed the subject to her holiday in the mountains.
She told me all about the long walk she’d had this morning and how much Oscar would have enjoyed being there and then she reminded me of my obligations.
‘Have you phoned your mum? She was complaining that you’re awful at staying in touch, so why not surprise her with a phone call? ’
I can recognise a direct order when I hear it, so when my call to Anna finished, I obediently rang my parents. Mum answered the phone and immediately told me off.
‘Daniel, honestly, you phone at the most inconvenient times. I’ve just put the roast on the table, and your father’s carving it as I speak. Is something wrong?’
I adopted my humblest tone. ‘Nothing’s wrong, Mum, and I’m sorry about the timing. I forgot the UK’s an hour behind Italy. I just wanted to ring and tell you that I’m okay and to see how you two are doing.’
Just like Giulia Trevisan, my mum doesn’t miss much.
‘Anna put you up to it, didn’t she? I bet she told you to call.
’ I mumbled something in reply, and she took pity on me.
‘Well, I’m pleased to say we’re both fine, and it’s good of you to call.
Now I’m going to hand you to your father while I go and get the gravy. ’
A couple of seconds later, I heard my father’s voice. ‘Hello, Dan, you okay?’ He never was a great conversationalist, but then neither am I.
‘Hi, Dad.’ There was silence for a couple of seconds before, desperate for something to say, all I could think of was the case. ‘I’m here in Venice and two people, Hollywood people, have been murdered. It’s a complex case, and I’m a bit stumped.’
This brought an immediate reply. He wasn’t the father of the boy in the Sherlock Holmes Club for nothing. ‘Presumably, it was the same killer in both cases?’
‘That’s pretty much the conclusion I’ve come to, but I’m struggling to find motive for both murders.’
‘Same MO?’ I had a feeling he’d been watching more of his beloved murder mysteries on TV. He certainly sounded as if he had picked up the jargon. I confirmed that they had indeed both been killed in the same way and he carried on. ‘Were the victims male or female?’
‘One of each.’
‘Were they romantically involved with each other?’
‘No.’ I waited for him to give me his verdict. I was actually quite interested to hear what he would say. I needed all the help I could get with this case.
‘Then it has to be about money. Follow the money… Hang on, your mother’s telling me to hang up.’ And that was that.
My father’s words echoing in my ears, I opened the laptop and set about getting to the bottom of whether the mysterious Bloc actually existed and, if so, doing my best to find the names of any of the shadowy characters involved with it.
After at least half an hour, I hadn’t got much further, but then one line in an article in one of the lesser-known showbiz journals caught my eye.
Although membership of the Bloc is a closely guarded secret, it has been reported that it is made up not just of financiers, but also movie professionals and well-known actors.
Well-known actors. I sat there and stared at the words for a few seconds.
Here I was on an island belonging to one of the best-known, and no doubt wealthiest, actors in the world.
What if Alice were a member of the Bloc?
Suddenly, I had a feeling I might have discovered the motive a single perpetrator might have had for killing both Sloane and Alice.
Was Freddie Baker the murderer?
Had he come here to kill the two members of the cartel that he saw as the obstacle to his success?
This, of course, would give him motive, he certainly would have had the opportunity, but what about the means to commit two murders?
Was it possible that he’d chanced upon the suicide tree here in the greenhouse, or had he come prepared?
I checked back onto some of the websites I’d seen mentioning him and, in particular, his luxurious villa in the mock-Renaissance style.
Remembering what I’d read in the article about the suicide tree now being used by garden designers because of its aesthetic appearance, I scanned the gardens surrounding his house closely.
It didn’t take long. Standing in the middle of a luxuriant lawn – no doubt watered by a sprinkler system – was a tall, statuesque tree, covered in white blossoms. Without question, here it was – Cerbera odollam, the suicide tree.
I slammed the laptop shut and jumped to my feet, rousing Oscar from dreams of prawn heads and Alice Graceland. As I headed for the door, I turned to call him.
‘Come on, dog, we’re going to see your girlfriend.’
It was baking hot outside and many of the guests had retired to their air-conditioned rooms, but not all of them.
I heard splashing coming from the pool and spotted two people sitting against the perimeter walls in the shade on the far side of the island, deep in conversation.
I was interested to see that these were Dirk Foster and Mary and I left them alone; they had a lot to talk about.
Instead, I hurried across to Alice’s study and tapped on the door.
I rather expected her to be having a siesta, but I was delighted to hear a voice from inside telling me to come in.
I opened the door, stepped inside, and made sure I closed it firmly behind me.
Alice was reclining on one of the sofas and I had the suspicion that I had indeed interrupted her snooze, but this was potentially far more important and urgent than an afternoon nap.
She waved me over, and the weary expression on her face was replaced with a smile as Oscar climbed straight onto the sofa and stretched out across her lap, his tail sweeping the leather as he did so.
She seemed only too happy to let him climb on the furniture, so I let him be and sat down opposite her. I got straight to the point.
‘Hi, Alice, I’m sorry if I disturbed you, but there’s something really urgent I need to ask you. Would I be right in thinking that you’re involved with something called the Bloc?’
The cosy expression on her face suddenly changed to a much more guarded one. ‘Who told you that, Dan?’
‘Nobody, Alice, it’s just an idea that came to me.
Listen, I know this is all top secret and I guarantee you that anything you say will be strictly between the two of us and the inspector, but it could be the key to solving both murders.
Most particularly, if you are involved with the Bloc, I think that confirms that Lucy’s murderer was indeed aiming for you rather than her last night, and your life could still be in danger. ’
I sat back expectantly, mentally crossing my fingers in hope. She didn’t answer immediately but, when she did, things started to become clear in my head.
‘I trust you, Dan, and so I’m going to tell you.
Yes, I have been involved with the Bloc for a few years now, although I made up my mind to step back from any further involvement ever since Jack Sloane took over at the head a month ago.
’ She caught my eye. ‘It’s been bad enough seeing him in Zoom meetings without having to meet him face to face.
Of course, now that he’s dead, I might have to review that decision, but I’ve got far too much going on in my head at the moment to even begin to think of that. What made you ask?’
There was no subtle way of saying this, so I just went for it. ‘I believe the person who murdered Lucy, thinking it was you, and then murdered Jack Sloane, was Freddie Baker.’
She looked genuinely stunned and, before she could voice her scepticism, I carried on.
‘Baker has his own production company, and the word on the street is that it’s in serious financial difficulty.
I’ve been talking to Antoinette, and she tells me he’s convinced himself that the Bloc cartel has, in his words, got it in for him.
Now, I don’t know whether that’s right or not, but it seems to me that he came here determined to take radical action against two people that he knew to be part of the Bloc. ’
‘You really think Freddie came here to kill me… and Jack?’ There was incredulity but also a hint of fear in her voice.
‘I’m afraid so, and the sooner he’s arrested, the better. Would you mind if I make a call to the inspector from in here where there’s less likelihood of us being overheard?’ She nodded and I made the call.
I got straight through to Giulia Trevisan and she listened intently. ‘You could well be right, Dan. It fits. Where is Baker now?’
‘I’m not sure. I presume he’s still on the island but I’ll go and look for him now. Don’t worry, I’ll wait until you get here for the arrest, but I just want to be absolutely sure that he isn’t planning to make another attempt on Alice’s life.’
‘Give me fifteen minutes and I’ll be there.’ There was a pause. ‘Be careful, Dan. If he is our man, remember he’s already killed twice.’