The dark streets were a blur as Vanessa ran towards the building where the winter gala was taking place. She rounded the corner and saw the venue up ahead, glittering with lights. Sirens sounded in the distance but no officers came running. It was rush hour, after all, in the heart of Manhattan on a snowy day. Only so many officers would be free.
Vanessa slowed her pace, moving more cautiously now. She needed to be calm enough to talk her way in. She peered down at what she was wearing. At least it was a dress, a pattern of vibrant red roses trailing down one side of the A-line skirt, her velvet blazer matching the colour of the roses.
The building where the event was taking place was an elegant piece of modern architecture with expansive glass facades that reflected the evening lights of the city. The entrance was marked by a red carpet, leading to a set of grand double doors that were flanked by tall plants. At the door, a woman was holding a clipboard. Vanessa approached, her heart rate quickening. She knew she wasn’t on that list, and she couldn’t declare she was an officer of the law without a badge.
‘Your name?’ the woman asked with a smile.
‘I’m sorry, I’m not on the list, but Felicity – Cordelia’s mother – knows me. She’ll vouch for my presence.’
The woman at the door looked sceptical, her eyes scanning Vanessa’s gothabilly attire with a hint of doubt. ‘Do you have any way to contact her? I can’t just let you in without confirmation.’
She didn’t have Felicity’s number, but she pulled out her phone anyway, relieved to see there was no reception. She grimaced and showed the woman her screen. ‘Reception isn’t great here.’
‘I’m sorry, I can’t let you in. Reception is better at the back – you can go down that alleyway and try there. Maybe then get her to come out and speak to me?’ She shrugged. ‘Sorry.’
As she said that, Vanessa noticed a blonde woman striding over. She remembered her from the funeral. It was Levi’s wife, Lucy, and judging from the smile on her face, she had no idea yet that her husband had been arrested. Vanessa waved at her. ‘Lucy!’
Lucy looked over, frowning as she took Vanessa in.
‘Do you know this woman, Lucy?’ the woman at the door asked.
‘I suppose I do,’ she said hesitantly.
‘Felicity invited me,’ Vanessa lied, hating herself for it. ‘She must have forgotten to put me on the list.’
‘Typical Felicity,’ Lucy snapped. ‘Please, come in.’
Vanessa stepped in. ‘The gift bags. Where are they?’
Lucy frowned, perhaps thinking Vanessa was just there for the swag. ‘They won’t be given out until the end.’
‘I need to know where they are. They may have been tampered with.’
Lucy’s eyes widened. ‘Th-that’s impossible. I did them myself.’
‘Alone?’
‘Well, no, Levi was there and—’ Vanessa gave her a pointed look and Lucy quickly shook her head. ‘Absolutely not.’
‘I’m afraid he’s been arrested, Lucy. I’m so sorry.’
‘No, that’s impossible.’
‘Please, Lucy,’ Vanessa said, grabbing her hands. ‘I need to make sure nobody’s near the gift bags.’
Lucy gulped, tears flooding her eyes. Then she gestured for Vanessa to follow her. Together, they walked into the main area of the gala. As Vanessa and Lucy made their way to the back of the room, Vanessa’s phone buzzed with a flurry of messages. Finally, some reception. She glanced at the screen to see one of the messages was from Ru, informing her that two officers were a five-minute walk away.
‘The gift bags are in there,’ Lucy said, gesturing to a door.
‘You stay here.’
Lucy nodded, already checking her own phone for reception and putting it to her ear.
Gift bags in back room, she quickly typed back to Ru. Heading there now.
Vanessa opened the door and slipped into a small back room, away from the buzz of the gala. Lined up on a table at the back were carefully arranged rows of gift bags, each adorned with delicate gold accents and a subtle floral pattern. As Vanessa’s eyes scanned the neat rows, she imagined the deadly perfumed weapons that might be hidden within them.
‘Oh. Dr Marwood!’ a voice announced.
Vanessa turned to see Felicity appear through a door at the back of the room, a gift bag clutched in both hands. Her expression was troubled, her usual poise replaced by a pallor of distress. Had she heard the news about her son? The ashen look on her face suggested she may have done.
‘I didn’t realise you were attending,’ she said.
‘Felicity, I need you to put those gift bags down. They could be dangerous.’
Felicity looked confused as she peered down at the bags. ‘I don’t understand.’
‘We believe there may be tampered items within some of them.’
‘T-tampered? What on earth do you mean?’
‘The small bottles of perfume,’ Vanessa said. ‘Please, put the bags down, then I can explain. I don’t want to risk you getting hurt.’
Felicity blinked, tears flooding her sad eyes, the bags still hanging from her hands.
Why wasn’t she putting them down?
And then something occurred to Vanessa.
‘Felicity, what work did you do before you retired?’
‘I don’t understand the relevance.’
‘What job did you do?’
‘I helped run my husband’s medical supply business. Before that, I was a biomedical engineer.’ She frowned. ‘Dr Marwood, I really don’t understand—’
A horrible realisation settled. Vanessa looked down at the gift bags. ‘A biomedical engineer. So you know something about designing intricate items to place in bodies, like tiny aerosol dispensers and pressure pads?’ she asked.
Felicity’s face suddenly dropped. ‘Oh.’
It was one simple word but it spoke volumes. Felicity Montgomery was the killer behind all these deaths.