Why Not Murder

38. Stung

38. Stung

The following day Winnie said to Maya, "I have another favour to ask of you." Maya was thinking that Winnie's request to recover the paintings she had given her art dealer and were never returned was a diversion, something like Winnie's whole idea that Hudson had killed a blackmailer, so that Maya would be distracted away from discovering the truth, which lay down in the yard like a wild rabbit hiding. "Actually there are several things I need your investigative skills for," Winnie continued, "I need you to keep gathering information relating to Hudson being blackmailed. I want this uncovered. Initially I concluded that it was Wyler Roberts who was blackmailing him, but since Wyler Roberts and Warren Lockmere were the same man using more than one identity, I find it impossible to reconcile Warren Lockmere with the blackmailer. I am certain that Hudson was being blackmailed but I am not certain on exactly who the blackmailer he was paying was. Possibly it had nothing to do with Hudson's affair with Heather Roberts but was about something else entirely. This is the priority and depending on what you come up with, I will reward you with compensation that has significance for you."

"I will fulfill your request with all my skill," Maya said, "I will prioritize and expedite this investigation to conclusion."

"The police are coming this afternoon," Winnie said, "To conduct an extensive search further to their investigation regarding the burglary on the night of the party. Before that, I want you to thoroughly search all of Hudson's belongings and keep for my benefit anything pertaining to blackmailing, the law suit against the security company he fired and which I am continuing in the name of his estate, and anything regarding the new security company in order to ensure whether or not they are to blame in any capacity for the burglary. Also, most importantly, anything that may point to who committed the burglary."

"So, the effect would be that the police discover nothing from their search," Maya said.

"Yes," Winnie answered, "I don't want them having any reason to come around here anymore."

"Understood," Maya said, "I'll start immediately," and Maya began her own search making sure that things were left looking organized so that the police would have no reason to suspect any search other than their own took place. She removed all financial documents putting them into large envelopes. The police would be able to access all that information online. She removed all photos of Heather and of Heather and Hudson together, likewise all documentation relating to the security companies. She searched Hudson's bedroom, his study in case anything was left there since the gardeners started using it, and all around the house. She worked methodically and quickly. Meantime, Harriet was searching Hudson's home computer for anything Winnie would not want to be seen by the police and those files she was removing and saving onto USBs for Winnie's records offline.

Maya looked through all of Hudson's photos. There were old photo albums of Hudson's childhood and thousands of photos of his own architectural work. There were boxes of old photos in nice frames. Amongst these, Maya found one she recognized. It was a larger version of the same photo Maya had found while searching Heather's place shortly after Heather died. It was of a family with four children. She recognized Hudson as one of the boys. She hadn't noticed that in the smaller version. His face was unmistakable even though Maya knew him only as a middle aged adult. She looked very closely at the photo. 'It's interesting how people change and yet stay the same,' Maya thought. She looked at the other children. The two girls had died in a tragic car accident with their parents and one was the brother who Hudson had not seen since they were teenagers.

Maya gasped. It hit her like a rock in the face. The brother looked exactly like the driver's license photos of Warren Lockmere and Wyler Roberts. Just as much as Hudson was recognizable in his childhood version of self, so too was this brother with Warren/Wyler! Maya took the photo to Harriet and showed it to her. Maya had put a sheet of paper over the photo, with a hole in the paper, so that only the brother who looked like Warren could be seen.