“Age had nothing to do with it,” said Gardener. “We’ve since learned from Fitz that Elizabeth Cranshaw was an asthmatic. She’d had a heart attack, which probably led to a stroke brought on by a lethal dose of sherry mixed with nuts that had been ground into a fine powder, creating the drug ephedrine.”
“What does this have to do with Corndell?”
“Janine Harper was killed the same way.”
“Interesting,” said Sharp.
“Did you speak to anyone who knew both Corndell and the nanny? Someone who could verify what kind of a relationship they had?”
“Briefly. The old lady had a daughter. They were together on the day of her death, shopping in London. She said her mother never stopped complaining about Corndell. He was highly strung, bad tempered, would go out of his way to play tricks on her. She did say her mother could be quite hard to get on with, and she was a bit strict: maybe the lad was just rebelling against a disciplinarian.”
“Not worth killing for,” said Reilly.
“Well, after what you’ve told me, maybe there was more to it. Elizabeth Cranshaw told her daughter about Corndell’s strange behaviour, and the fact that he hated authority, and she figured the only way to get her message across was through his make-up kit.”
“What did she do with it?” asked Gardener.
“That much I don’t know, the daughter never told me.”
“She probably got rid of it,” said Reilly. “That would send him up the wall, so it would. Especially if he was using it at the studio.”
“I’m sure it would be reason enough for Corndell to kill her ... in his eyes,” said Gardener.
“But he can’t have been much more than ten or twelve,” said Sharp. “Surely he wouldn’t have had the know-how at that age.”
“I wouldn’t count on it,” replied Gardener. “That’s something we’re all guilty of – underestimating him.”
“What are you going to do?” asked Sharp.
“Show Briggs your evidence and see if he’ll get us a warrant for his arrest. Did you delve into his bank accounts?”
“I did. We need to take a closer look. His father left him about three million pounds all told, if you take the property into account. All the cash was deposited into an account at a private bank in London. What with client confidentiality, and the fact that I didn’t have a warrant, they wouldn’t tell me too much. What I did find out was that he has taken out large sums of money, and the bank is either not sure what he’s done with them, or won’t tell me.”
“Most likely the latter,” said Reilly.
“In that case, use the computers and the banks up here to find out what you can. My guess is, he’s set up accounts in different names and he’s used them to finance his little ventures, perhaps to hire transport. How else would he get around and do the things he’s done?”
“Makes sense, boss,” said Reilly. “We need somebody to help Colin. The quicker we get this bastard off the streets, the better.”
Gardener’s mobile phone chimed, which he quickly answered.
“Sir, it’s Frank.”
“Hello, Frank, what can I do for you?”
“We’ve just had a call from Mary Phillips. She wants to speak to you urgently.”
“She leave a number?” asked Gardener. Frank Thornton gave him the number and then mentioned that Briggs had been asking after him. Gardener called Mary Phillips.
“Oh, Mr Gardener, I’m so pleased you’ve called.”
“Is there a problem?” he asked.
“A little one. You asked me if I’d look and see if there were anything missing from Henry’s room, after you’d finished with it, like.”
“Is there?”
“Yes, love. It’s his mobile phone, I can’t find it anywhere.”