| her head then said, ‘She must have told Johannes she would meet him – somehow…’ ‘Burner phone?’ ‘Yes, it must have been. The SOC guys would have been monitoring her own phone.’ She ran a hand through her hair, then said, ‘Okay, Chris. She has a phone they don’t know about. Probably used it to keep in touch with her money mules. She realises Johannes is getting greedy and calls someone to get rid of him.’ ‘Pretty extreme,’ Chris said. ‘You reckon she has it in her? To have Johannes killed?’ ‘Listen, she’s married to Phil Quinn. She’s no stranger to violence. He’s had some pretty dodgy characters working for him over the years so she wouldn’t be stuck for someone to do it. I’m guessing our Tamsin only has to pick up the phone and Phil’s heavies are only too happy to oblige.’ Chris shook his head. ‘Those young lads, Johannes and Marek – they had no idea who they were dealing with.’ He picked up his teaspoon and began stirring his tea, idly. ‘Thing is, Clare – even if you do track Tamsin down, what could you charge her with? I doubt we can prove she arranged for Johannes to be killed.’ ‘Depends. I’m pretty sure Marek’s evidence will be enough to get her for money laundering. And I’ll have a bloody good go at charging her with Conspiracy to Commit Murder.’ ‘Bit of a long shot, though, isn’t it?’ Clare nodded. ‘It is. Proving it won’t be easy. She’ll have |
slid back down. Desperately, Diane looked round and then, seeing a pile of books, she forced the window back up again, propping the books on the sill to prevent it from closing. Then she ran to the sitting room door and threw it open. Clare heard the sound of the front door opening. Then Diane ran back into the room and through to the kitchen to open the back door. Clare felt a draught run through the house and her heart lifted. Diane was behind her now, dragging the chair over to the window, and Clare gulped in lungfuls of fresh, clean air. Diane stuck her own head out of the window and breathed in and out then, taking an enormous breath in, she ran for the kitchen and returned with a knife. She set about the ties securing Clare’s hands to the chair, stopping every few seconds to breathe in fresh air through the window. It felt like an eternity to Clare as every cut of the knife seemed to rebound off her arms. She was screaming inside her head but her breathing was too shallow to call out. Then, at last, she was free of the ties and she staggered on cramping feet, with Diane supporting her, out into the fresh air, and collapsed on the ground. She gasped and wheezed as she heard Diane’s voice. ‘I need ambulance, fire and police. Daisy Cottage, Craigtoun Road, St Andrews. Carbon monoxide poisoning. One adult female, now in fresh air |
