Ru stood in front of the briefing room with Lieutenant Haworth. It felt even more personal now, a potential victim linked to one of their own. And Dr Marwood felt like one of their own now.
He scanned the faces of his colleagues, each one etched with the weariness that came from too little sleep and too many bad cups of precinct coffee.
‘So,’ Haworth began, ‘we have our eighth and, we hope, final gift recipient. Dr Vanessa Marwood’s mother was the one who purchased the necklace from Ali Perkins.’
A ripple of surprise passed through the officers who didn’t know this news yet. Some exchanged glances, others just looked puzzled.
‘That leaves us with one person to track down,’ the lieutenant said. ‘Ru, tell us more.’
Ru clicked a button on his remote and Vanessa’s mother appeared on screen:
Name: Delilah de Souza
Job: Artist/Sculptor
Age: 65
Last contact: Sunday 19 February, 11 a.m., Craft fair in Williamsburg
Jewellery item: Necklace
Suspicious item: Unknown
Illegal insect: Atlas moth
‘Let’s start in Williamsburg,’ Haworth said. She turned to Bouchier. ‘Any luck with your canvassing there?’
‘Hardly anything,’ she replied. ‘Some people recognised Ali from her stall and one remembered the necklace but nobody recalls seeing the person that bought it.’
‘Maybe they will with a photo,’ Ru said.
‘Good point,’ Haworth said. ‘Get a printout and head back out there with uniforms, Bouchier. I’ll get the photo circulated on the media, too.’
Bouchier nodded. ‘I’ll brief the media guys on the way out.’
‘Any more general updates?’ Haworth asked the room as Bouchier walked out.
One by one, the officers reported in. Leads had run dry; informants were silent. The frustration in the room grew palpable.
‘Connections,’ Ru said. ‘Motives.’
He pressed some keys on his laptop and the faces of the eight targets came up.
Cordelia Montgomery
Maximilian Rossi
Jerry Bowman
Kendra Grey
Madeline Layton
Jimmy Tandy
Owen Harman
Ali Perkins
‘Oh, Ramos left a note,’ Adiche said. ‘Sorry, I forgot. She reckons Cordelia and Ali worked on some film together, years back? When Cordelia started out. Ali was the lead.’
Ru frowned. It did keep coming back to Cordelia. He googled the film, and an insipid-looking romance came up: Ali’s perky face smiling out, a younger Cordelia giving a wry smile behind her. He scrolled down, pausing when he got to an interview with a celebrity news item.
Ali Perkins Throws Shade at Former Co-Star Cordelia Montgomery: ‘Some of Us Had to Work Our Way Up’
In a recent sit-down with Celebrity Insight, Ali Perkins didn’t hold back when discussing her early career and the paths taken by her former co-stars. Reflecting on their shared project, Love Beware, the once sizzling romance film that introduced Cordelia Montgomery to the silver screen, Perkins remarked, ‘It’s interesting to see how some have skyrocketed to fame. I guess not everyone needs to grind it out in auditions and small roles. Some of us had to work our way up the hard way.’ Perkins’ comments have sparked speculation of a simmering jealousy towards Montgomery’s rapid rise in Hollywood. This comes not long after speculation about the reasons for Cordelia’s break-up with hottie Owen Harmon, involving a certain plump-lipped influencer, Madeline Layton.
‘I have to ask,’ Haworth said with a sigh, ‘why haven’t we noticed this before?’
‘Cordelia had a few casual boyfriends,’ Adiche said, ‘and lots of snarky articles written about her. Ramos was following all the leads she could.’
Haworth nodded. ‘Understood.’
‘So,’ Ru said, ‘a snarky article from Ali about Cordelia. Rumours of her abuse at the hands of Maximilian Rossi. Her ex, Owen, cheating on her with Madeline, another target.’
‘Oh!’ Adiche said, ‘another thing. There are rumours online that Jimmy Tandy made comments about Cordelia’s weight after she turned down a role in one of his films.’
Ru thought about what Simeon had said about an article on Maximilian’s abuse being pulled by Kendra … Kendra, whose boss was Jerry Bowman. He sat up straight. ‘Most of these targets,’ he said, ‘if not all, have caused Cordelia Montgomery distress in some way.’
‘Maybe whoever sent those gifts out on Valentine’s Day did it for Cordelia?’ Harris suggested.
‘But why kill Cordelia, too?’ Haworth asked, voicing the question Ru was turning over.
An officer popped their head in then. She’d been tasked with trawling sites like Etsy for any signs of the Japanese symbol Ru had noticed on the delivered gift boxes. ‘We finally have a lead for the gift boxes,’ she said, looking exhausted but happy. ‘It’s an Etsy page run by a packaging designer called Tillie Pearson.’
Tillie Pearson was just twenty-one, living in a small flat in Queens, and had, according to Adiche, who’d managed to gather some information on her, dropped out of Harvard Law. When Ru arrived at her flat with Harris, they were greeted by a young woman with brown owlish eyes and a smattering of freckles.
‘I’m Detective Hoshino,’ Ru said, flashing his badge. ‘This is Detective Harris.’
She blinked. ‘OK.’
‘Is this one of your designs?’ Harris asked, showing her a photo of the gift box.
Ru watched the woman closely, noticing a faint flicker of unease cross her face. ‘Y-yes.’
‘Can we come in?’ Harris asked.
The woman opened the door wider and Ru walked in with Harris. She led them to a small living space with fake ivy hanging from the corners of the room, plus shelves of anime books and characters. Now Ru could understand the Japanese watermark on her packaging. They both took seats on the soft blue sofas across from Tillie. She looked like she was on the verge of tears.
‘I saw the news conference on Sunday,’ she said in a trembly voice, ‘and I swear, I have nothing to do with those deaths.’
‘We’re not suggesting you did,’ Harris said, voice gentle. He could be gentle when he needed to be. ‘But you could really help. You want to help, right?’
She quickly nodded. ‘Sure.’
‘It would be useful if we could have the addresses of all those you’ve supplied these gift boxes to,’ Ru asked.
‘Most of them are through one client,’ she continued. ‘I don’t sell many of these black boxes through my actual Etsy store.’
‘What client?’ Ru asked.
‘I – I don’t know who that client is. It’s all done through my aunt. I design the packaging, that’s all.’
‘And your aunt is?’ Ru asked.
Tillie suddenly burst into tears. ‘I promised her I wouldn’t tell anyone about all this!’
‘Tillie, who is your aunt?’ Harris pushed.
Tillie bit her lip. ‘Heidi Stone,’ she whispered. Harris’s mouth actually dropped open and Ru took in a sharp breath. Tillie looked between them, a panicked expression on her face. ‘Will she get in trouble?’ she asked. ‘She’s a good woman, really, I swear! She didn’t know the hair clip would be so dangerous.’
Ru frowned, confused. ‘Heidi gave Cordelia the hair clip?’
‘Yes. Heidi got it as a gift in the post, like all those victims,’ Tillie said, wiping her tears. ‘She – she showed it to me. It was so cute. She said she was going to give it to Cordelia.’
So Cordelia Montgomery hadn’t been the target. It had been Heidi Stone.