The townhouse where Heidi lived stood proudly in the upscale neighbourhood of the Upper East Side, its classic brownstone facade exuding the historical charm of old New York. Ru rang the doorbell, but there was no answer.
‘You hear that?’ Harris said as laughter rang out from around the back of the house. Ru walked over to the gate next to the house and tried it. It opened easily and the two officers walked in. As they drew closer, the laughter was replaced with moaning and they saw steam rising into the freezing late afternoon air.
‘I feel like I’m in a porno,’ Harris said as the moans grew louder. ‘Is this the bit where the two hot detectives interrupt?’
They stepped into the garden to discover Anja Thorsen bare-chested in a jacuzzi, eyes closed as a muscular black man kissed her neck, Heidi Stone watching with a glass of champagne from nearby.
Heidi didn’t know the Thorsens, according to the last time they’d spoken in her office. And yet here she now was, watching one of the Thorsen twins being pleasured by someone in her back garden.
The detectives exchanged a brief, bemused look, then Ru coughed. Anja’s eyes snapped open and Heidi gasped. ‘What in God’s name are you doing here?’ she hissed, wrapping her white fur coat tightly around her.
Anja tapped the man on the head. ‘Sawyer, darling, we have company,’ she said in her calm, Nordic accent.
Sawyer looked over his shoulder and let out a small, girlish scream.
Anja stepped from the steaming jacuzzi – seemingly unbothered that she was completely naked – and wrapped a towel around herself. ‘If this is about Madeline,’ she said, ‘she’s not a real friend, I barely know her.’
‘We’re actually here to speak to Ms Stone,’ Ru said.
Anja quirked an eyebrow. ‘Interesting. I’d better get out of your hair, then.’
She padded past Ru, narrowing her blue eyes at him as she did. Sawyer wrapped a towel around himself, too, and jogged in after her. When they were out of sight, Ru and Harris joined Heidi at her table.
‘This is private property,’ Heidi said. ‘You can’t just barge in like this.’
‘The gate was open,’ Harris said, ‘and this is a multiple murder investigation.’
‘I thought you didn’t know the Thorsens?’ Ru asked.
‘I never said that,’ Heidi snapped.
‘You did,’ Ru replied. ‘I asked you “What about the Thorsens? Are you familiar with them?” to which you replied, “I know they own the hotel where Maximilian died. Otherwise, no.”’
‘He has a photographic memory,’ Harris explained.
Heidi breathed in through her nostrils. ‘Fine. I know them.’
‘Why lie?’ Ru asked. ‘Especially to a detective?’
‘Because you are a detective,’ Heidi said. ‘Wouldn’t exactly go down well, would it? Me admitting I know a family rumoured to be involved with criminal activities?’
‘Lying goes down a lot worse,’ Harris said.
Ru held up his phone. ‘Do you recognise this?’ Ru showed Heidi a photo of the hair clip Cordelia had been wearing.
‘No,’ Heidi said after a brief pause.
‘I’d strongly recommend you avoid lying again,’ Ru advised.
Anja dipped her head out from the patio doors. ‘Are you OK, Heidi?’ she called out. ‘Do you want me to call my lawyer?’
Ru noticed a flash of fear in Heidi’s eyes as she looked at Anja. Then she quickly recovered herself, smiling. ‘You don’t have to worry about a thing, Anja, it’s just a few questions about poor Cordelia and Maximilian. You can head off if you want – it’s been a pleasure, as always. Tell Sawyer to make a start on dinner.’
Anja gave Ru another hard look, then nodded, closing the door and walking away.
Heidi sighed. ‘I need a cigarette for this.’ She picked a bag up from the floor, reaching a trembling hand into it. Ru noticed a bottle of pills in there. She pulled a packet of cigarettes out and lit one. ‘OK. I received the hair clip in the post on Valentine’s Day, and assumed it was from the Thorsens as it was their packaging. I decided to give it to Cordelia, so had it couriered over the morning of fourteenth February, then called later to explain it was a gift for her.’
‘Why leave this detail out when I saw you in your office last week?’ Ru asked.
Heidi shrugged. ‘I didn’t think it was necessary. I have proof, I’ll show you the box and label before you leave.’ She shuddered. ‘To think if I hadn’t given this as a gift to dear Cordelia, I’d be dead.’
‘But Cordelia would be alive,’ Ru couldn’t help himself saying. ‘In the grand scheme of things, which option would be better?’
Harris gave him a sharp look.
‘Do you recognise this?’ Ru asked, showing Heidi a photo of the watermark.
She leaned forward. ‘Something rings a bell. Why?’
‘It’s the watermark used by Tillie Pearson in her designs.’
‘Your niece,’ Harris added.
Heidi shifted uncomfortably in her chair.
‘Interesting, isn’t it?’ Ru said, ‘how the exact same watermark can be found on the gift boxes linked to multiple homicides, two of whom are your clients.’
‘Yes, Tillie is my niece,’ Heidi said. ‘I introduced her beautiful work to Anja at a party last year, and as a consequence, they now commission Tillie to design their packaging. It’s really as innocent as that. Honestly, there is nothing more I can say.’
‘What about “sorry” for not coming to us sooner about this?’ Harris said.
Heidi blinked. ‘You don’t understand. Jacqueline Thorsen is connected to some very powerful people.’
‘So you were trying to protect the Thorsens by holding back this information?’
‘More myself. As soon as I realised the connection between these deaths and the gifts – gifts featuring the same logo the Thorsens use for these special items – I knew it would be safer for me to keep my mouth shut. But why target me? I – I just don’t understand.’ She chewed at her lip as she peered into the distance. ‘So, what happens now?’
‘You let us take the gift box,’ Ru said, ‘then we talk to the captain about whether we need to bring you in for obstructing the course of justice.’
Ru’s phone rang. It was Ramos.
‘Excuse me,’ he said as he walked down to the end of the garden, putting his phone to his ear. ‘What’s up?’
‘Tillie Pearson’s Etsy order list came through,’ Ramos replied. ‘In the past month, twenty-two orders had been made through the Etsy site, eight of which were delivered to a warehouse unit in Brooklyn Navy Yard.’
‘Any names?’ he asked.
‘Sadly not,’ Ramos replied. ‘I spoke to the landlord. The units are rented out via an online platform and the person who rents this place, Unit 17B, has used a prepaid debit card which was purchased using cash. It’s completely untraceable. But at least it’s something.’
A surge of energy coursed through Ru’s body – had they just found the site where their killer had been operating from?