Private Investigation

Suspect 1

The sound of the typewriter greeted Sophie into the study. It was a device her late late husband never used, always preferring to put pen to paper. Ever since she moved in she had hated the room, an overpowering aroma of dust, cologne and alcohol always hung in the air. The desk would always be piled high with papers, a  plate of crumbs or a glass of scotch always balancing precariously on top. A jacket and tie would be thrown over the back of the chair, more often than not ending up on the floor by the end of the day, creased and forgotten about. 

So, entering the study and seeing none of this gave Sophie a strange feeling. It wasn't necessarily sadness, their relationship could be described as many things but it was never love at least not when she found out the truth. The lack of familiarity made her feel lost and alone in a way she hadn't felt since her mother passed away. 

"I suppose I'm first then." 

The three detectives occupying the room looked to see the widow standing in the doorway. Dot pressed one final key then changed the piece of paper before typing another eight characters. 

S-u-s-p-e-c-t-1 

"Take a seat." Sophie noticed that Hester had removed her worn trench coat making her tattoo far more visible.  Two horns the colour of blood and a devil's tail were visible above her collar the rest still obscured. Her coat had been thrown over a shiny leather arm chair that had seen little use in its lifetime. Although it made her feel foolish it gave Sophie a sense of familiarity, which relaxed her a little. Familiarity had always been her weakness. 

The detective behind the desk gave Sophie a reassuring smile. It was only at this moment that Sophie realised how much Dot stood out from the other two. Her short brown hair was styled to a fashion, every time Sophie had seen her she had a warm expression on her face, hardly capable of any threatening or fear inducing behaviour. There were also several sweet treats littering the desk and poking out of her dress pockets. 

 Behind her stood a woman drained of all colour apart from her ruby eyes that never seemed to blink, constantly focused on Sophie. It seemed like she picked up on every microscopic movement. Her ghostly lips parted but she waited a moment before she spoke, considering her words, "How long had you been married?" 

The widow froze, of all the questions that crossed her mind she  really didn't think this would be the first. "About three years. We got married in the summer of '55." Despite her best efforts Sophie couldn't cover her shaking voice. 

"How'd you meet?" 

Was this really a murder investigation?

"I was walking in a show back in London, he came to watch. I'd been going through a rough patch with the press but he saw through all of that, he saw the good in me." A smile tugged at her lips. She could remember his kind smile, the glint in his eye from the catwalk lights, the feeling of finally being wanted. That was until she found out his real motives and everything fell apart. 

She missed being loved. 

"What happened to a marriage of convenience?" The tattooed detective spoke up. 

"Where did you hear-?" The moment her eyes met Hester's the rest of the question disappeared in her throat. "I believed the lies. Rhian had so many secrets, I don't think anyone knew the whole truth, not even Japeth." 

Silence spread across the room. No one could read this woman, one minute she seemed to be deep in mourning, grieving her late husband, and later she would seem relieved of a burden, rather than a lover. 

"Did you ever resent him for taking you away from modelin'? Looks like you had a good thing going." Dot pulled an old magazine from her pocket and slid it across the desk. On the cover was a group of girls posing on a promenade and in the centre stood a young blonde with piercing green eyes around the age  of eighteen. Her pink dress fanned out from the waist and reached her midthighs, a stark contrast to the figure hugging black skirt and blazer she now wore.

"It's not all it's cracked up to be, anyway Rhian and I had an understanding. This is the worst case scenario." 

Dot's face contorted into a bewildered expression as she tried to keep up with everything, her fingers quickly skimming across the keys. Adjacent her Hester was grinning. 

They were getting somewhere. 

"You said Rhian left everything to me not Japeth." Sophie said, answering a  question that didn't need to be asked. "If I know one thing about Japeth its that he's dangerous. He believes that the money, the estate, everything that belonged to Rhian is rightfully his. The one person that could protect me from him is dead." Her voice remained eerily calm.   

"Why does  he think it's his? Surely it's down to Rhian." Dot questioned stretching out her finger, grateful for a pause. 

"Japeth did all the dirty work while Rhian kept his hands clean." Sophie could feel Anadil's eyes burning into her, analysing every word, every move, every breath. "They knew if there was even a slight possibilities of Rhian's reputation being tarnished everything would fall apart and he wouldn't get the title. Just look at Tedros. So, Japeth did what needed to be done." 

"Did what exactly?" Hester pushed, acutely aware of the fact that fear often closed people off.

As she predicted the blonde hesitated, considering her options. I could lie, she thought, no, they'd instantly see through that. However, if she told the truth they'd go looking and it would be traced back to her. Her face remained emotionless, working very hard not to give anything away. 

Japeth was smart, they wouldn't find out. 

Sophie chanted this in her mind to reassure herself as she took a deep breath. She locked eyes with Hester, who was now standing behind Dot, arms folded on the back of the chair. 

"I don't know." Sophie impressed herself by the certainty in her tone. Any ordinary person would have believed her. 

Modelling was wasted on me. 

The problem for her was that Hester had seen far too many liars and could spot them from a mile off. She looked over to Anadil and they knew they were not going to get much further on this topic. 

"Ms Pendragon, your handkerchief was found at the scene of the crime. Can you explain how it got there?" 

All of Sophie's confidence evaporated and the detectives had her exactly where they wanted her.

*** 

The dial tone of the phone rang for what seemed like an eternity. Agatha didn't know who else to talk to. Sophie was still in her interview and she couldn't bare to put more stress on Tedros. 

The sound of someone picking up the receiver filled her ears. "Hello, is Kiko there?" 

Agatha took a deep breath to calm her nerves. 

"Agatha," a sweet welcoming voice rang through her handset, doing far more to ground her than deep breaths. "Is everything ok? Couldn't wait until tomorrow to talk?" she was so cheery Agatha felt bad for breaking the news to her.  

"It's about Rhian, Sophie's husband. Kiko, he's been murdered." 

The line went silent.