The Yacht Party (Lara Stone)

Lara pictured Pandora, white and glistening in the Côte d’Azur sun, the ultimate status symbol of the super-rich.

‘But Meyer was successful,’ she frowned. ‘I saw his yacht…’

Sachs gave a snort. ‘Meyer was operating a Ponzi scheme to plug the black hole in his accounts.’

‘A black hole? I thought Jonathon was a financial genius?’

‘Well, shit happens,’ hissed Sachs, spittle flying towards Lara.

‘What did he want from you, Michael?’

He was pacing around now as if he was unravelling it in his own head.

‘When Jonathon realised he needed more investors to plump his pot, he figured that the best way to attract them was to go public with his client list. Money follows money. But most of them always wanted anonymity so he begged me not just to invest but be open about our relationship. He knew that my involvement would attract others. When I said no, he used Helen Groves as leverage.’

‘Let me guess, you used Schmitt to get rid of Meyer.’

‘What goes around comes around,’ he said, his voice dripping with menace. ‘Besides, Schmitt didn’t mind. I pay that psychopath better.’

There was a sound behind them: the ping of the lift arriving.

‘Ah, here he comes now…’

Lara’s heart was beating hard. There was the sound of footsteps now. Light heels tapping against concrete. Female.

Not how she’d imagined Schmitt. But as she turned she saw Victoria Sachs. Her peacock-green trench coat was belted at the waist, her black umbrella still glistening from the rain. She propped it up against a desk and walked towards them, plucking off her gloves. Concern fluttered across Michael’s expression at the sight of his wife.

‘What are you doing here?’

‘I wanted to see this in person.’

A flash of Michael’s wolf-smile again as he checked his watch.

‘Oh don’t bother, Schmitt won’t be coming,’ said Victoria briskly. ‘Not up here, anyway. In fact, I don’t think he’ll be going anywhere for a while.’

Lara watched the woman’s face. Something was wrong here she thought, hope flowering in her chest.

‘What are you talking about?’ said Michael. ‘We agreed…’

‘No, Michael,’ she snapped. ‘We did not agree. We did not agree to anything. I let Helen Groves down, I admit that. I dealt with it badly. I tried to ignore her allegations and then I panicked and came to you for advice. If you recall, I told you about the problems we were having in Haiti. But I did not ask you to kill anyone. That was all your doing.’

‘I see,’ he snorted. ‘The furious back-pedal. The let’s-pretend-I-didn’t-know-how-you-would-deal-with-this.’

She shook her head wearily. ‘For the record, let me say this, Michael. You’re many things, but I never, for one moment, thought you were a murderer.’

‘For the record?’ repeated Michael, just as Victoria turned and called out: ‘Chief Inspector Fox? Would you care to join us?’

Lara gasped as the policeman walked out, accompanied by two uniformed officers. Sachs jumped to his feet, his face a mask of shock. ‘What the hell is this?’

‘I told you what Lara had said to me at Claridge’s. I suggested we invite her here, because I wanted you to tell her what you’ve done. Then, I did my homework too, Michael. It was easy to find out who was investigating Sandrine Legard’s death and Detective Fox was only too happy to come along as a witness to your confession.’ She pointed to one of the cameras. ‘And before you think about denying anything, all that smart-tech stuff you like to crow about? It’s been recording everything.’

With a roar, Michael lunged at Victoria, but Fox and his two colleagues restrained him easily.

One of the officers wrenched Sachs’s arm up behind his back. ‘Mr. Sachs,’ said Fox. ‘I am arresting you on suspicion of murder, you do not have to say anything…’

Michael ignored him and twisted his head towards his wife. ‘Victoria!’ He yelled. ‘What did you do?’

‘I outplayed you, Michael,’ she said calmly. ‘You’ve always been such a bore boasting about your so-called achievements, I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist telling Ms. Stone how clever you were. If you can call murder clever.’