Web of Lies by Sally Rigby (classic novels for teens txt) 📗

don’t loan a huge amount of money then kill the person before you get a penny back.’

‘Maybe they really were good friends, and Donald had helped him out in the past and so he was returning the favour. He could have done it out of duty.’

‘It’s possible. I’ll see if there’s anything in Donald’s files showing a payment made to Yates in the past.’

‘Can you go back to him and ask?’

‘I could, although, he didn’t appear pleased to learn that we were investigating the death. I asked why he didn’t go to the funeral and he said he couldn’t bring himself to. He also mentioned that his wife didn’t like Donald.’

‘We should interview her. She might have had something to do with it.’

‘Yes, I agree. But we’ll have to tread carefully as we have no reason, and she could easily report us to the police.’

‘You mean she could report me to myself.’ Birdie chuckled. ‘Did he have an alibi?’

‘He avoided the question, but it wasn’t something I could push as I’m no longer in the force.’

‘Where to now? It seems to me that we’re going around in circles. Have we moved forward at all?’

‘Not forward but we have gone deeper. We have his brother and best friend lending him money in the guise of an investment. He’d approached people he knew who could help him out. We know he’s very persuasive and a good salesperson, so did he borrow from anyone else?’

‘What about Andrea Wood? We should interview her and see if she knew him personally. Not only is she a celebrity, she also invested a big chunk of money. If we can talk to her, that is. She might refuse.’

‘Rob, my friend at the Met, might be able to help. I expect I’ll have to travel to London for the interview as I don’t want to wait until the weekend in the hope she might be visiting her home here. I’ll let you know once I’ve spoken to him and we’ll go from there.’

Chapter 17

13 May

The next morning Seb got up at six and grabbed the lead from the side.

‘Come on, Elsa, let’s go for a walk before I have to work.’

He drove to the Welland River where she had a good run around. It was surprisingly busy for so early in the day, but it was still enjoyable walking down by the river. It helped clear his head, and he was able to plan his next steps. Later, he’d give Rob a call to see if he could arrange an interview with Andrea Wood. It was Seb’s best chance of getting to see her without alerting her agent or management team, which he didn’t want to do at the moment as this was meant to be an unofficial enquiry. Also, as a TV personality, she wouldn’t want her dirty linen aired in public, if there was any.

Sarah had invited him around for tea later so he could give her an update on the investigation. She’d sounded very keen to see him when they’d spoken on the phone which didn’t surprise him. Now the hard work of arranging the funeral was over and the boys had left, she had a lot of time on her hands. She needed to start planning her future, whatever that was going to be. He hoped that eventually the family would come around and see that what had happened wasn’t her fault and give her the support she deserved. But he imagined they would want the dust to settle in case the press was still hanging around, especially as the funeral had reignited media interest.

That was the trouble with their family being so high profile. They were overly concerned with what the outside world might think and how it could damage their reputation. It wasn’t all selfish. Members of the family were patrons of various charities, and bad publicity could have an adverse effect on them.

‘Elsa,’ he called, spotting her playing near two dogs who were in the water. It wasn’t warm enough for her to go for a swim as it would make her arthritis worse. The dog glanced up at him. ‘Come on, girl. You know you can’t go in there.’

She reluctantly ran back to him. Many people anthropomorphised their pets and he was one of them. But how could he not when Elsa clearly understood everything he was saying? And she made her feelings known to him.

They’d arrived back at the house by seven-thirty and, after breakfast, he opened the computer and started researching into Andrea Wood. She was aged thirty-nine. Used to be a journalist and then worked in the newsroom for a local BBC station. From there she secured a position at an independent TV station, eventually ending up hosting their breakfast show. She was an attractive woman with short blonde hair, tucked behind her ears, and large green eyes. She appeared much younger than her age. Unless the photo had been Photoshopped. She’d been to York University to study English and was married, now separated, to a radio producer. Currently, she was dating a celebrity chef. Provided Wikipedia was to be believed, of course. He didn’t recognise her from the image, but that was hardly surprising, as he seldom watched TV, and never in the morning. Nothing in what he’d read set off any alarm bells.

At ten-thirty he picked up his phone and called his friend and ex-colleague Rob Lawson, hoping he’d be able to assist.

‘Sebastian Clifford. Hello, stranger,’ Rob said, answering almost immediately. ‘How are you?’

‘Very well, thank you. I’m staying in Market Harborough at the moment.’

‘What are you doing in that dump?’ Rob had an aversion to any place outside of London, unless it was New York or Paris.

‘You’re such a snob,’ Seb said, laughing.

‘Anyway, to what do I owe this pleasure? It’s not like you’ve called regularly since leaving. Come to think of it, you haven’t called at all. I was beginning to feel I’d done something wrong.’

When Seb had left the force, he’d