Gauguin Connection, The (26 page)

Manny jerked away from me, looking at me as if I was completely insane. He opened his mouth only to close it again while shaking his head. The officers decided they had waited long enough and walked purposefully towards us. Manny gave me another searing look which I supposed was to reiterate his warning. I nodded at him and then turned to the officers. They had holstered their weapons, but I had no doubt that they would reach for them if I posed any threat. I made sure that my body language and facial expressions communicated harmlessness.

The drive to the police station happened too fast for me. I wanted more time to observe the dynamics between the officers. The short officer was driving so aggressively that his partner commented on it. That only put the insecure man more on edge. I was willing to stake my reputation that this officer’s behaviour was going to spiral into something problematic within the next three months.

Too soon we were at the police station and I was escorted to a small room with a wooden table and three steel chairs. Nothing else.

Since I wasn’t an expert on police procedure I didn’t know what to expect. What I didn’t expect was the handcuffs to be taken off, to be told to sit down and then to be left on my own. The sudden solitude was a welcome change. Being in constant close proximity to people these last few days was wearing me down. At least I knew that I had nothing to worry about. Between Phillip and Manny, I had respectable and solid alibis. It would have been impossible for me to have killed anyone. Not when I had been with either one or both men for the larger part of the day.

After fifteen minutes, I got up and tried the door. It was locked. I placed my ear against the door and imagined that I could hear Manny’s annoying voice. Only now it didn’t sound annoying to me. It calmed me. I went back to my seat at the table. A few minutes later an officer came in, rudely dropped my handbag on the table and left without saying a word. Maybe Manny had convinced them to give this to me. I didn’t know. I grabbed my bag to make sure nothing had been taken. It was all there. Including the programme of the Foundation’s annual gala event. I stared unseeingly at the cover.

I glanced at my watch and saw that only another fifteen minutes had passed. If I were going to be detained like this, I might as well make use of the time. I studied the programme from cover to cover, absorbing everything. The niggling in my subconscious started up again and wouldn’t relent. There was a connection to be made. I sat back in the steel chair and called up the Mozart Gavotte that I had started earlier.

When next I looked at my watch, it was ten minutes to six. I had mentally written the Gavotte and two
Minuets and it had only taken me five hours. My mind felt energised and my soul centred. And I was jittery with excitement. The connection I had made was so obvious, I almost felt embarrassed for not seeing it earlier. It was only a theory, yet it was the overwhelming evidence that had my heart racing. I needed one or all of the annoying men in my life as sounding boards.

As if on cue, Manny burst through the door, followed by the leading officer who had stopped us. The other man looked exhausted yet furious. He leaned against the wall close to the door and pulled his lips into a thin line. His eyes kept resting on the back of Manny’s head, narrowing with what laypeople would call a murderous look. Manny had not made any friends during the early-morning hours.

“Are you okay, Doctor Face-reader?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Manny studied me intently for a few seconds. Apparently he decided that I looked fine and he sat down in a chair next to me. “Do you need anything?”

“The lavvy.”

He smiled at my use of the word I had not earlier understood, but quickly sobered. “This is a mess, Genevieve. A big mess.”

I could count on one hand the number of times Manny had called me by my name. This was obviously as bad as I had expected. “Is this about—”

“Not now.” Manny interrupted me before I could finish my question. He looked at the policeman hovering by the table. “They didn’t arrest you?”

“I don’t know.” How did one know if one was arrested? Surely being handcuffed equalled being arrested.

“Did they explain your rights to you?”

“What rights?” My eyes widened with the memory of a few Hollywood movies I had watched in my student years. “Oh, those rights. No. Nobody told me anything. And I didn’t speak to anyone.”

Manny turned to the police officer and glared at him before giving me his full attention again. “They should never have handcuffed you. You were never under arrest. They just wanted to bring you in for questioning.”

“Why? No one has questioned me all night, so why have I been here at all?”

“Brigadier-General Crenshaw was murdered last night.” Manny waited for my response and I realised that I was supposed to look shocked for the benefit of our audience. I was a millisecond late, but quickly manipulated my face into the appropriate expression. He lifted an unbelieving eyebrow at me, but continued. “Your fingerprints were found at the crime scene. They were on a glass of whiskey and also on the coffee table in the room where he was shot.”

This time I did not have to pretend to be shocked. “My fingerprints? How—”

The memory of my hand being forcefully held against a device rushed through my mind. Had those thugs taken my fingerprints? Was it possible to take my fingerprints from a machine and put it on a glass? I wanted to ask Manny this, but didn’t know if it was a good idea. Not with the police officer showing such intense interest in our conversation.

“Your fingerprints were taken when you started working at Rousseau & Rousseau and were placed on a few databases. That is how they managed to identify the prints so quickly.” He had misunderstood my shock and hesitation, but had also answered a question that I was going to ask. Manny noticed the police officer moving closer and shook his head. “We’ll talk about this later. You are not under arrest, which means that you can go home.”

“I can go home?” Relief rushed through me. Not wanting to spend another second in this place, I got up and felt the effects of sitting in an uncomfortable chair for five hours. My legs were a bit shaky and the muscles in my back were stiff. I took my handbag and turned to the door. I couldn’t wait to lie down in a tub of steamy hot water. “Is there any paperwork or something that I still need to do here?”

“I’ve taken care of all of that.” Manny got up and followed me. He gave a dismissive nod towards the police officer and together we walked down a long corridor. I heard some commotion up ahead, but kept my focus on Manny.

“Thank you.”

For a second, I thought that he hadn’t heard my quietly spoken recognition of his help. He stopped next to me, reached for my elbow and just as quickly withdrew his hand. Lowering his brow just enough to look me straight in the eye, he spoke just as quietly. “I did what was necessary. I did this because I know that you don’t have it in you to do anything remotely criminal. But I also did this because I want answers.” He straight
ened. “Honest, complete, full,
detailed
answers.”

My comment on his overuse of adjectives died when Phillip came barrelling down the corridor. He looked as if he was on his way to a meeting, dressed in one of his bespoke suits, smoothly shaved and looking much fresher than I felt. It was the tightness in his face that belied the image of a man in full control. His steps faltered slightly when he saw us and that was when I noticed the empty music sheets he was clutching in his right hand.

He stopped in front of us, indecision making him rock back and forth on the balls of his feet. As a rule it was not something that I liked, needed or allowed, but I knew that Phillip needed more than verbal reassurance. With a slight smile, I opened my arms and immediately found myself in a tight embrace, surrounded by his arms and the scent that was uniquely him. Phillip’s intense concern and now relief meant more to me than I wanted to admit. People were starting to show their care for me and that made me feel uncomfortably vulnerable.

“Enough of this. Let’s get her home.” Manny’s gravelly voice broke the emotional moment and I stepped out of Phillip’s arms. “And before you ask, she’s okay.”

“You brought me music sheets.” I looked at the papers now crumpled in his fist.

“I thought you might need them.”

“I was okay. Am okay.”

“I told you that. Now can we please leave this hell-hole?” The agitation in Manny’s voice and on his face was all we needed to follow him to his car.

He and Phillip agreed over my head that I was to go with Manny and that Phillip would follow us in his car. The trip to my apartment was done in complete silence. I thought it prudent to wait for Manny to initiate the dreaded conversation. For now I was just content watching the activities of the city waking up. A few people were jogging, but mostly the streets were still deserted.

Manny found a parking space a block away from my apartment building and we waited for Phillip in the foyer. The two men talked quietly while we rode up to my apartment. With a sigh I accepted that the hot bath I was so looking forward to was going to have to wait. At least I had the new connection. I placed an inordinate amount of hope that it would placate Manny’s unavoidable fury.

As soon as I inserted the key in the front door to my apartment, the door burst open. I barely had time to register Vinnie’s presence filling the door before he picked me up in a hug so tight I had difficulty catching my breath to complain. My feet were dangling at least twenty centimetres above the floor, my arms encased by his. I felt like a rag doll.

“Jen-girl. You’re okay,” Vinnie mumbled into my hair. It was the slight thickening in his voice that surprised me more than anything. The intimidating man was close to tears. This caused a foreign desire to comfort him. I stopped fighting his hug and rested my head against his shoulder.

“I’m okay, Vinnie. You can let me go now.”

“You heard the lady. Let her go.”

It was like someone had flicked a switch. All the muscles in Vinnie’s body tightened at the hostile order Manny uttered. Still holding on to me, he turned me away from the two older men behind me, presenting them his muscular back, which in turn made him much more vulnerable to attack. His instinctive protectiveness was much stronger than I had thought.

I started squirming. “Vinnie, it’s okay. You know Phillip and that is Manny.”

Over his shoulder Vinnie glared at both men. “What are you doing here?”

“Vinnie.” All this physical closeness was becoming too much for me to handle. The strained tone in my voice evidenced it. Fortunately Vinnie picked up on it and slowly put me down. He moved a strong arm across my chest to keep me behind him as he turned. He was much stronger than I, so I didn’t even attempt to fight his manoeuvre. Instead I walked deeper into my apartment, turned around and sternly addressed all three men.

“This has been a very long evening. We are all tired and I don’t have the patience to deal with the three of you. Unless you are willing to accept my honesty without any niceties, I suggest you go home and come back after I’ve had a long, hot bath and slept for at least eight hours.”

I was really hoping that all three of them would be loath to be with an undiplomatic me. It was not to be. I saw it on their faces.

“Honesty would be a nice change.” Manny pushed past Vinnie and walked straight to the kitchen. “A cup of coffee would also be very nice.”

“I’ll make it.” Vinnie was not only being overprotective of me, he was also being territorial of my apartment. Vinnie left Phillip at the door and stalked to the kitchen. Phillip closed the door quietly and walked past me with amusement in his eyes.

“This is going to be interesting,” he said and then also walked to the kitchen. “Manny, why don’t we all sit here by the dining room table? Vinnie can make us coffee and we can talk.”

Phillip was facing the two men who both were showing power displays. He unquestionably was a master at mediating difficult situations and I was exceedingly grateful for his presence. Manny and Vinnie were staring at each other, measuring the other’s strength. Vinnie might beat Manny when it came to physical strength, but the older man had experience and the law backing him up.

It was he who first stepped back. Not that it made him any less of a threat. Without another word he walked to the dining room table, pulled out a chair and sat down heavily. The night’s events had really taken their toll on him.

After a quick visit to my bathroom, I joined Phillip at the table. We sat in uncomfortable silence while Vinnie moved around the kitchen.

“Who is he?” Manny pointed with his chin to the kitchen.

“He is—” Phillip started to answer, but stopped when Manny started shaking his head.

“No, Phillip. Little Miss Face-reader here is going to answer all my questions today. You are not going to help her. Not any more.” He looked at me. “Now answer me, who is he? And I want the full truth.”

“Vinnie. He’s a friend of Colin’s and is also helping with the case. He knows everything I know.” It looked like I had slapped Manny in the face. He bit down hard on his teeth and I rushed on. He had asked for the full truth and I was going to give it to him. “He has helped a lot to get us this far in the investigation.”

“And I’m Jen-girl’s bodyguard.” Vinnie placed a tray with four large steaming coffee mugs on the table and sat next to me.

“Do you have a record?” Manny addressed Vinnie through his teeth. I assumed that Manny was referring to Vinnie’s relationship with law enforcement, not the Olympics.

“No.”

“But you’ve been investigated?”

“Maybe.”

“He’s not stalling or lying. He’s telling the truth. Had he lied, his eye contact would have changed. When Vinnie lies, he actually engages in greater eye contact, not less,” I quickly explained when anger pulled Manny’s face into a tight scowl.

“Hey.” Vinnie looked offended as if I was sharing a secret he had trusted me with.

“His face would’ve become slightly flushed,” I continued, pointing at Vinnie’s cheeks. “Also his breathing would’ve increased and usually his lips tighten just a bit. We can control only a few of the deception cues, but never all of them. His whole body is congruent with what he said.”

Manny was still clenching his jaws and I could see him struggling for control. “I’m going to need your full name.”

“You can need all you want.” Vinnie shrugged.

“I have a suggestion.” Phillip spoke in his mediating voice. “Why don’t we accept the situation for what it is? Manny, we can’t do anything about Vinnie knowing everything about the case.”

“Or about bloody Colin Frey being in the middle of this.” The way Manny said Colin’s name did not bode well for co-operation. He did not like Colin. I really wanted to know what the history was between the two men.

“So,” Phillip continued, “we are all here. Let’s work with it. I think we should start with what happened tonight and get that out of the way.”

“Yes, I would like to know why Jen-girl was at the police station for such a long time.” Vinnie moved his torso towards me, again showing his protectiveness.

“Vinnie,” Phillip warned. “We’re going to have to get past all this posturing and work together. Let’s just all give full disclosure on what we know so far.”

Neither Manny nor Vinnie liked this suggestion. Fortunately they accepted Phillip’s guidance. I was fascinated by this struggle for male dominance. So much so that I didn’t mind them talking as if I were not in the room.

“I first have to have my say.” Manny’s tone was still very argumentative and Vinnie bristled next to me, but remained silent. “I don’t like being made a fool of. And that is what you have been doing by withholding information from me. In my opinion it equals lying and I won’t stand for it. This is it. From now on you will tell me everything, and I mean everything, that you discover. You are not to use your own discretion and not tell me something because you consider it of lesser importance. Do you understand?”

“What if I discover that all the ships were manufactured in different years or one thousand one hundred and forty-seven Picasso artworks are currently missing? Or that the Foundation spent over eighteen thousand Euros last year on powdered hot chocolate to distribute to children’s homes or—”

“Genevieve.” Phillip had a very specific tone he used when he was warning me. He drowned my name in that tone. “Let’s agree that you’ll tell Manny everything relevant to the case.”

“Oh. Yes, of course.” Why hadn’t he simply asked for that? Everything meant everything. Right? “I hope I didn’t upset you.”

“Upset me? That does not even begin to describe how I feel at this moment. On Phillip’s recommendation, I trusted you. I had to convince the Head of the EDA and Chief Dutoit that you were beyond reproach and that I would stake my reputation on your discretion. Now I find out that you have been working with not one, but two criminals. Telling them more than you’ve been telling me. Sharing confidential bloody information with criminals.” His ranting ended loud enough for me to wince.

“They’re good guys.”

“Really? That is what you are going with? This is your great argument? And here I thought you were a genius.” He leaned towards me. “I don’t care if they are bloody saints. They’re criminals.”

“Hey, watch it, pops.” Vinnie’s warning rumbled deep in his chest.

“No, Vinnie. He’s right. I should have told him everything. But you are wrong, Manny.” I pulled my shoulders back. “They really are good guys. Vinnie and Colin have helped me a lot in this case. Phillip knows me well enough to know that I would never have allowed them in my home if I did not believe or trust them. Things are very black and white for me, but at the moment you seem to be much more intolerant than I am.”

Phillip covered his laugh by coughing discreetly. “Now that we have that off our chests, can we move on?”

Manny closed his eyes and breathed deeply a few times. “Fine, let’s talk about what happened tonight. Doctor Face-reader was in the police station for such a long time because I considered it to be the safest place for her at the time.”

“The safest?” Why would I need to hide in a police station?

“Yes, missy. When we got to the station, the police still didn’t want to tell me anything. I thought you were lying to me about Crenshaw until Leon phoned me, rather frantically. It was—is—all too suspicious for me. I mean, the same day that we talked about suspecting Crenshaw to be Piros, he’s murdered. Your fingerprints were found at the scene even though I knew that you could not have done it. Very convenient. According to preliminary reports, he was murdered around nine o’clock. At that time both Phillip and I were sitting with you in your viewing room. It was very obvious something was off with this case, but I wanted you to be safe. I went with one of the detectives to the crime scene. They said that someone had broken into the house and some things were stolen. While I was talking to them your buddy phoned me.”

“What buddy? I don’t have buddies.”

“Colin Frey, your criminal buddy. He phoned me and shouted at me.” These were two men who stood at opposing ends of the law and societal norms. I did not need much imagination to predict how hostile that conversation must have been. “He wanted to know if you had been arrested. Something you should keep in mind, Doctor Face-reader, is that your co-operation with criminals does not bode well for you.”

“Children, children.” Phillip sounded simultaneously tired and amused. “Let’s stay on point here. Manny, you were saying that Colin phoned you. Did you learn anything interesting?”

“Hmph. He did not tell me much. Only that when he entered Crenshaw’s house, the man was already dead. He also thought that the whole thing seemed staged and he thought that the doc might be someone’s target. He did not say who that someone was, nor did he say why he was in Crenshaw’s house. What he did was threaten me. Me! An officer of the law.”

“What did he threaten you with?” Phillip asked.

“That he was going to destroy my career, my life if he found out that you”—Manny looked at me the way I looked at messy kitchens—“were treated badly in any way. Looks like your buddy is sweet on you, missy.”

Vinnie chuckled and Phillip simply looked horrified.

“I don’t exactly understand the meaning of ‘sweet on me’, but it leads me to infer that you mean Colin is attracted to me. That is ridiculous. He is a highly intelligent, intuitive individual who is also extremely loyal. What you misunderstood for attraction is loyalty.” The human race and their silly romantic notions. I placed the blame completely at the door of fairy tales and Hollywood.

“On point, people. Genevieve, why was Colin at Crenshaw’s house?”

I had no doubt that Phillip would give me one of his fatherly talks later on, warning me against Colin. For now I was happy to stick to a less personal topic. “He didn’t know it was Crenshaw’s house.”

“Whose house did he think he was illegally entering?” Manny emphasised the two last words.

“Mark Smith’s. When we found his name on the manifest, that he had shared a room with the artist Karin Vittone on one of the cruises, there was an address with his name. He had bought a piece of art at the auction on the cruise and it was to be shipped to him to that address. Colin went to check it out.”

Blood was flowing to Manny’s face, indicating fury.

“How did the police know to go to Crenshaw’s house?” Phillip’s question seemed to reduce Manny’s ire. Marginally.

He answered in a tight voice. “Apparently the police received an anonymous phone call telling them that there was someone in the house. When they arrived, there was no one there, but they found Crenshaw in the living room with eleven gunshot wounds to his chest and torso. None of the neighbours had heard any gunshots, so they’re thinking that a silencer was used. As you know, they found Doctor Face-reader’s fingerprints on a whiskey glass and also on the coffee table in the living room.”

“Did they find her fingerprints anywhere else?” Vinnie asked.

“No, but they were still processing the rest of the house when I left.” Manny looked at me strangely. “I might not have a gazillion degrees in face-reading, Doc, but your face is telling me that something is bothering you.”

“Do you know if someone can steal my fingerprints and put them on a glass?”

Manny lifted his eyebrows and then frowned. “When did this happen?”

“When those guys broke into my house, I think they took my fingerprints. Just before I passed out from the drugs, the Spaniard pushed my fingers against what looked like a tablet computer. I saw it scan my hand, but didn’t know what to think of it.”