Murder in the Blood (34 page)

‘I'm not sure,' said Fran. ‘I think it might still be on.'

By the time they'd reached the coffee and brandy stage, Harry had joined them with Peter.

‘Go on then, Ian,' he said, sitting down and pouring himself a large glass of red wine. ‘We're all ears.'

Ian settled back cradling his brandy balloon.

‘You all know by now what Neal Parnham told us yesterday. He was appalled by his mother's decision to leave half her fortune to his newly discovered half-brother. In fact, she was planning to settle money on him in the immediate future. Neal himself, who hasn't worked in years and has a habit of losing money, saw his chance of money dwindling away. So he found out where his half-brother lived and without telling his mother, booked himself a holiday.

‘Of course, when he got there, he found not only Gerald living under another name, but Sally as well.'

‘So did he kill Sally? And Alec?' asked Fran.

‘He did. Alec Wilson's was planned, but then he realised, especially after you started saying the long-lost mother ought to be found, that Sally would immediately realise what had happened, so she had to go, too.'

‘When he left Martha's that time, not long after he'd got there,' said Libby.

‘And then he turned up later with Justin didn't he?' said Peter. ‘Was he in on it, too? Is that why he was killed?'

‘No,' said Ian. ‘I was sure you would have figured that out, as well.'

‘The trafficking?' asked Fran.

‘The trafficking.' Ian nodded.

‘And was it –?' said Harry.

‘Johnny Smith!' said everyone together.

‘Yes, it was. He really had put Alec Wilson, who was ex-Security Services, and Sally Weston, who was also undercover, there to keep an eye on the so-called problem, when in fact he was running it with the help of his friend in the Jandarma in Antalya. The Crokers were on the ground, and Walter Roberts was sent out every year to check up.'

‘But Alec and Sally hardly did anything,' said Libby. ‘We were told that.'

‘No. They were almost like sleepers. Smith told them he would activate them as soon as he had any intelligence. He did a couple of times, we've now found out, but they were false trails.'

‘So he was using us as camouflage,' said Libby.

‘And he had to keep tabs on you over here because you were ferreting around where he wanted no ferrets,' said Ian. ‘I, of course, was an additional nuisance. He couldn't keep me under control as he could Inspector James.'

‘Why did Alec/Gerald have a false name and Sally didn't?' asked Harry.

‘Gerald Burton was ex-Security Services, as I said, and had recently been involved in a very high-profile case – a secret one, of course. He was also left injured, so to protect him, he was given a new name and what appeared to be a cushy job in an idyllic Turkish village.'

‘But what I don't understand,' said Ben, ‘is why Smith risked having anybody out there who could have spoiled his racket.'

‘Because nothing actually left Erzugan.'

There were expressions of astonishment all around the table.

‘You mean it was all a put-up job?' said Peter.

‘Yes. There were trafficking operations, but not from there. A lot of it was organised from there by the Crokers, of course.'

‘And Justin? What about him?' asked Libby.

‘Oh, you said something about creative accounting to Smith, didn't you?' said Ian. ‘Well, that was exactly it. He did all the Crokers' accounting, and several of their friends, too. He came over on business for them, but had to inform the police he was coming because of the ongoing investigation. By this time, he'd become suspicious of Smith, who he'd seen with the Crokers somewhere. We don't know the details of that, just that he decided it would be a good idea to ask Smith and see if he could get cut in on whatever it was. And that was that.'

‘Poor Justin,' said Fran.

‘I didn't realise Smith was back in the country by then,' said Peter.

‘Oh, yes,' said Ian. ‘Now, does that clear everything up? Can I have another brandy?'

Hetty silently poured him a large brandy.

‘I'm sure I'll think of more questions,' said Libby, ‘but you've more or less covered it.'

‘Thank you.' Ian inclined his head. ‘And, as usual, you two managed to be quite useful.'

‘Even if you didn't want to be,' said Harry, giving Libby a dig in the ribs. ‘What now, Miss Marple?'

Libby dug him back. ‘I'm going to manage a nice gentle End Of The Pier Show,' she said. ‘And I'm never getting involved again.'

END

The Libby Sarjeant Series

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Lesley Cookman
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