‘Are we off to Barcelona?’ asked Ross when they returned to join him at the checkin desk.
‘Not much point,’ said William. ‘By now Faulkner will have flown on to his next destination and once again evaporated into thin air. We may as well go home and face the music.’
‘Do you want to hear the good news or the bad news?’ said Ross.
‘I can’t wait.’
‘You’re going to have to, because the last flight back to Luton has just taken off.’
William looked around at the rows and rows of hard plastic seats, before he asked, ‘What’s the good news?’
‘I’m having dinner with Blanca.’
? ? ?
Danny picked up two dishevelled, yawning detectives off the first flight from Brussels the following morning. Neither of them had slept.
‘Inspector Thomas has just called,’ he said as they climbed into the back seat. ‘They didn’t find any of Miles Faulkner’s prints in the Mercedes, but they found several of his wife’s.’
‘That would explain why there was no one to pick her up from the church.’
‘But there’s better news on the chauffeur’s cap,’ said Danny. ‘One thumb and an index finger turn out to be a perfect match with Faulkner’s right hand.’
‘So,’ said Ross, ‘it appears that right now Miles Faulkner, aka Captain Ralph Neville, is holed up somewhere in Spain under the name of Ricardo Rossi, dress designer.’
‘Though he’s probably changed his name and profession yet again,’ said William. ‘I’ll issue the latest photographic image we have of him to the Spanish police as soon as we get back to the Yard.’
‘Do you want me to bring in Christina Faulkner for questioning?’ asked Ross.
‘No. Not while I’ve got my own undercover agent.’
CHAPTER 11
‘YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED IN New York with me,’ said Beth as they strolled into the bedroom. ‘Ella was fantastic, and we went back to the Met three times …’
‘Although it was only a week, the children missed you terribly, and kept asking where you were,’ said William, as he took off his jacket and hung it in the wardrobe. ‘And it didn’t help that I was roaming around the countryside looking for Christina’s car.’
‘While you somehow managed to lose her husband once again.’
‘But I did find him again,’ protested William.
‘Well, let’s be accurate. You found out which continent he was on, but you can’t even be sure if he’s still there,’ said Beth as she unbuttoned her blouse.
‘I know his name,’ said William as he took off his tie.
‘Ricardo Rossi flew in to Brussels but he may not be the same person who turned up in Barcelona.’
‘Whose side are you on?’ asked William.
‘Yours, caveman,’ said Beth as she slipped off her blouse. ‘But only because I’ll need your help if I’m going to get away with murdering Christina.’
‘That’s the last thing I want you to do. She’s still my best chance of tracking down her late husband.’
‘What can I do to help?’ said Beth eagerly, as William threw his shirt onto a chair.
‘Next time you see her, play innocent. I need you to find out whose side she’s on,’ said William, as Beth slowly unzipped her skirt. ‘You may be surprised.’
‘But she’ll have worked out by now that you know Ralph and Miles are one and the same.’
‘I agree, but is she the jilted bride,’ asked William as he kicked off his shoes, ‘or his partner in crime?’
‘Why should I fall in with your plans, when all I want to do is strangle the damn woman?’ Beth asked, as she undid his belt.
‘Because if I put Faulkner back behind bars, half of his art collection will still be legally hers, so another masterpiece might well find its way onto the walls of the Fitzmolean,’ he said as he fiddled with the clasp of her bra. ‘There’d still be more than enough left over to keep her swimming in champagne for the rest of her life.’
‘Along with endless toy boys to uncork the bottles,’ said Beth, as she ripped off his trousers. ‘While I was away, caveman,’ she asked, as he bent down to kiss her, ‘what did you miss most, my shepherd’s pie or sex?’
‘I’ll need a little time to think about that,’ he said as their lips parted. Beth fell back onto the bed as the door opened and a voice said, ‘Daddy, you promised to read to us when you got home.’