Finally he picked up. After all, he told himself, presumably his sister had given Vogel his number, and the detective’s call could well be just routine.
‘Good afternoon, Mr Fairbrother,’ said the DI formally. ‘I have been trying to contact you as a matter of urgency, because, well, there is no easy way of saying this, but I am afraid I have some very bad news for you.’
Freddie was standing by his room’s triple-glazed picture window, idly watching a 747 coast in to land on the runway nearest to his viewpoint. He felt his knees buckle. There were two armchairs by the window. He sank quickly into one of them. Vogel was still talking.
‘Normally, Mr Fairbrother, in situations like this, we would not deliver such news over the telephone. But as we do not know where you are, there seemed little choice—’
‘It’s Bella, isn’t it?’ Freddie interrupted. ‘Something’s happened to my sister. Just tell me, for God’s sake, tell me.’
Freddie had difficulty getting the words out. His throat felt as if it were closing up. He couldn’t swallow. He wasn’t even sure he could breathe properly. He was gasping for air.
‘I’m afraid so, Mr Fairbrother. I am extremely sorry to have to tell you that your sister is dead.’
‘How?’ asked Freddie, his voice little more than a croak. ‘How did Bella die?’
‘I am afraid she has been shot, Mr Fairbrother.’
‘Shot? Murdered?’
‘Yes, sir. I fear so.’
‘Oh my God! Where? Who? Do you know who did it?’
‘Not yet,’ said Vogel quietly. ‘But we will find out, you can trust me on that, Mr Fairbrother. She was killed in her home, in her London flat.’
‘Oh my God,’ said Freddie again.
‘Look sir, I realise you have had a terrible shock, but we do need to interview you as soon as possible. Perhaps you would be kind enough to tell me where you are, and we could make an appointment.’
‘I don’t know. I mean, why do you want to see me? I didn’t have anything to do with it.’
‘I wasn’t suggesting that you did, Mr Fairbrother,’ said Vogel. ‘But you are Bella’s brother and she is now the second member of your family to have died in, at the very least, suspicious circumstances, in under a week. I assume you are in the UK now, sir?’
‘Uh, yes.’
‘So, may I ask if you have seen your sister since your arrival here?’
‘Uh, yes,’ said Freddie again.
He was in too great a state of shock to lie. In any case, he feared he would only further incriminate himself.
‘And when was that, sir?’
‘This morning. I saw her this morning.’
‘In Somerset?’
‘Yes.’
‘Are you still there?’
‘No.’
‘So where are you, sir?’
Freddie was well aware that Vogel’s manner was one of somewhat exaggerated patience. He didn’t entirely blame him.
‘I’m at the Heathrow Sofitel,’ he said.
Again, Freddie felt that lying would probably cause more trouble than telling the truth. He didn’t want to put himself in a position where he was on the run from the British police, not if he could help it anyway.
Vogel continued to speak. ‘Mr Fairbrother, it is quite possible that you are the last person to have seen your sister alive. Apart from her killer. Or certainly the last person to have spoken to her. I need to meet up with you as quickly as possible. I’m in London myself. I will come to your hotel and, traffic permitting, I should be with you in just over an hour.’
‘I don’t think there’s anything I can tell you...’
‘You may well have important information without even realising it, Mr Fairbrother. Please stay exactly where you are, and I shall be with you as soon as possible.’
With that Vogel ended the call.
Freddie’s heart seemed to be beating twice as fast as usual. The back of his neck felt sweaty and his hands were trembling.
Bella was dead. She had been murdered. He felt sure he knew very well who had killed her, or, more probably, arranged her killing. And Freddie himself had been instrumental in his sister’s death. It was the call he had made that morning which had led to this. He had little doubt about that.
Freddie may have been close to his sister once, but he had not seen her in twenty years. And he had always blamed her for the irrevocable rift with his father. After all, she was the one who had blabbed. So, he had felt little love for his sister, seeing her again after all that time. Unlike Bella, the other way around. However, Freddie had probably never really loved anyone in his life. Not since his childhood, anyway. But Bella was his flesh and blood. Not only that, she was the one who, armed with the contents of the briefcase he had handed over to her that morning, had been supposed to oversee the rescue and revitalisation of the family bank. And Freddie had continued to hope that Bella would merely be made to see sense, and that the rescue operation would continue as planned.
The news that she was dead, murdered, was therefore a shock in more ways than one. Not only was Freddie quite terrified by the prospect of an impending police interview that, unless he was very careful indeed, might lead to him being suspected of complicity in his sister’s death; but he did not see how the greater plan he was part of could possibly now proceed. Not without Bella.
Freddie wasn’t good at coping with difficult or stressful situations, which was why he had been more or less content to live the life of a lotus eater for so long. The situation he now found himself in was beyond difficult and stressful. It was a catastrophic debacle. Far from reclaiming his position as leader, if only nominally, of the Fairbrother clan, he could end up in jail. And he had absolutely no idea what to do about it.
Then his phone rang again.
‘Good afternoon, dear boy,’ said the voice of the man he had long ago learned to fear. The man he now quite believed could be capable of anything. But Bella’s murder? Surely not that.
‘Did you do it?’ he asked, his voice still little more than a croak. ‘You couldn’t have done, could you? Did you really kill Bella?’
The reply was swift and uncompromising. ‘Please be very careful what you say. Do not use names. Do you understand me?’
‘Yes,’ croaked Freddie.
‘Right. How do you know she is dead?’
‘The police called me. David Vogel.’
‘How did he have your number? You’ve only just arrived in the country.’
‘I don’t know. I suppose B... uh... she gave it to him. But you haven’t answered me. Did you do it? Did you kill her?’
‘I did what had to be done. She was about to blow the whole thing wide open, and it was you who told me that. Remember? She was out of our control. It was the last thing I wanted to happen. But she brought it on herself. You must see that. She had to be removed, for all our sakes and for the sake of the business, however hurtful you, or I, might find that. We must move on now. And we can move on together. As long as you do what I say, dear boy.’
‘Yes, yes of course,’ croaked Freddie again.
He was now trembling so much so that he had difficulty holding his phone. He suspected that he might have cause to fear for his own life. But he just hoped that he was indispensable, now that Bella was gone.
In any case, he had always been an unlikely rebel. On the one hand so wanting to go his own way, and on the other almost invariably needing to be told what to do if faced with anything remotely difficult or challenging. He knew he shouldn’t be ‘so bloody weak’, as his sister had told him, not for the first time, that very morning. But he’d never been able to help his weakness, Bella wasn’t there anymore. And that was largely down to him. So now all he could do was listen, obey, and hope that his caller still knew what he was doing and had a way out of this mess. He usually did, after all.