Lynda La Plante - Wrongful Death

Holme was so angry he banged the table. ‘I have never seen such shameless breaches of the rules of evidence in my career. You have not heard the end of this, detectives, I will be taking this matter up with the Commissioner himself.’

‘No, Ian, you will not,’ Gloria said in a motherly fashion.

‘Lady Lynne, you and your daughters have been treated dreadfully.’

‘I know, and I think Chief Superintendent Langton has been very much influenced by Detective Travis.’

‘Nevertheless-’

Gloria again interrupted her lawyer: ‘As I said, Ian, I do not bear grudges, and Detective Travis was only doing her job, she was clearly convinced that I was somehow involved in Josh’s death and being blackmailed by Samuel. Admittedly, she has not conducted her investigation in an open and forthright manner; however, we achieve nothing if all we seek is retribution. I hope Detective Travis has learned a lesson here today and we can all move on.’

Anna was fuming but Langton was the first to put his hand out and apologize to Gloria. Anna knew he was doing it for her sake but found it hard to accept he was giving in so easily. She so wanted to give Gloria a piece of her mind, but the look on Langton’s face said that it was finished.

‘I trust that as agreed everything that I have told you will remain strictly confidential?’

Langton and Anna looked at each other. The reality was they’d both have liked to tell Gloria the deal was off, but they knew their hands were tied.

Ian Holme added to Gloria’s question: ‘I have of course recorded the conversation on my Dictaphone and the micro-card will be given to Lady Lynne for safekeeping. Both she and I will treat any breach of confidence as a slur on her good character, and sue the Met.’

There were other questions Anna badly wanted to put to Gloria, but she knew the woman would have the perfect answer. Anna was forced to admit defeat. Langton asked her to take Ian Holme to the custody area and have Aisa released immediately. He himself remained sitting opposite Gloria, who had taken out her powder compact and was carefully checking her appearance, dabbing beneath her eyes with the handkerchief he had given to her. Her mascara had left dark smudges beneath her eyes, and her cheeks showed a faint tear-stained line in her foundation.

‘Dear oh dear, I look dreadful,’ she said coyly and then she snapped the gold compact closed.

As Anna went down the cells to tell Aisa that she was being released without charge, she was deeply depressed. She’d started the day on such a high, convinced that she could get the truth out of Aisa and use her evidence against Gloria Lynne, but everything had backfired on her. Anna had known Gloria would be the greatest challenge she would ever face in an interview situation, but the truth was she had underestimated Gloria’s guile and cunning, and now not only did Anna feel she’d let herself down, but worse, Langton, Mike Lewis and everyone else on the team, even Dewar.

She’d had to sit and watch Gloria Lynne’s masterful performance of deception and lies as she never once revealed the slightest chink in her armour. Defeat was never an easy pill to swallow in a murder investigation. Over the last few years, under Langton’s guidance, Anna had learned to accept that being a detective had its ups and downs and to take comfort from the old adage, ‘You win some, you lose some’. This was different: she’d been outwitted and humiliated by a woman she believed to be a serial killer, and Anna hated to feel she had failed.

After Aisa’s release, Anna decided to walk round the block, get some fresh air and try and make sense of everything that had occurred. It dawned on her she’d never managed to have the office meeting to tell the team about her suspicions and the facts she had uncovered against Gloria Lynne. Most of them knew bits and pieces, but no one apart from Joan had the full story. Anna couldn’t leave them in the dark, and yet what she would be able to say was now restricted by Gloria’s threat to sue if confidentiality was broken. It would be embarrassing for her, but Anna knew that she would just have to swallow her pride and brief the team as best she could.

Entering the incident room, she could see that the team was gathered together and Langton was addressing them. He stood tall and proud as he addressed the officers, and there was a look of admiration and respect on the faces of everyone in the room, even though he must be suffering from jet lag and exhaustion. Although she had come in midway through his debrief she heard enough to realize that he was taking full responsibility for everything, even claiming that he called her back from Quantico. She knew he was doing it to take the burden of pressure off her shoulders and keep the team’s faith in her. He had promised to take the flak and he was sticking to his word.

Without revealing anything confidential, Langton acknowledged that they might feel there were many unanswered questions, but sometimes when politics and policing collided, hands were tied and not everyone could be privy to all the information. He reassured the team that they hadn’t been on a pointless journey – lessons had been learned, and each and every one of them should feel immensely proud of their contribution throughout the investigation. Langton ended by making it clear that the reinvestigation into Josh Reynolds’ death was now closed and the Coroner’s verdict of suicide was correct. He emphasized strongly that there was to be no gossip about the case outside the room, and if anyone betrayed his trust there would be severe repercussions. Sternly he asked if anyone had any questions, and although there was a mixture of confused and gloomy faces around the room, not one person said a word.

Langton’s expression changed as he smiled and shook his head. ‘Cheer up, you miserable lot, you look like you’ve all been to a funeral.’

‘There’s always a wake after a funeral, guvnor!’ boomed the inimitable voice of Detective Dan Ross and everyone gave a loud cheer.

Langton got his wallet out of his pocket and an even louder cheer went up as he pulled out two fifty-pound notes.

‘Go on then, get some nibbles as well. Spiced rum okay for you, DI Barolli?’ he asked to more laughter.

Barolli, playing up to his colleagues, took a theatrical bow. ‘As long as it’s atropine -free, sir, or I’ll be tripping out and dancing on the ceiling again.’

When everyone else had turned back to their desks Langton took Anna into her office to tell her that he had spoken privately with Joan and instructed her that everything she knew about the case was strictly between her, Anna and himself. He had also told her to close down the investigation on the HOLMES murder inquiry computer and ensure the files were only accessible by a security code that was then to be given solely to him.

‘Don’t you trust me?’ Anna asked.

‘I know how much you’re hurting right now, I’ve been there myself, but I don’t want you dwelling on the past, going over and over the case files.’

‘I just feel that there was more we could have put to her – the atropine, money in the freezer-’

Langton wanted to draw a line under the discussion. ‘Listen, she’d secured Aisa’s silence and Walters had revealed your hand. I’m sorry to be blunt, but with all your main witnesses dead only Gloria knows the truth. We were just fishing for evidence in a pool of questionable circumstances.’

Anna knew that he was right and arguing with him was pointless.

‘I feel like you did about Fitzpatrick.’

‘You’ll just have to learn to accept that Gloria Lynne is your one that got away. You win-’

‘Some, you lose some. I know that, but at least you got closure.’