Lynda La Plante: Wrongful Death

Walters knew he had no choice but to comply. He nodded and walked out of the room.

Langton punched the air with joy. ‘God, that felt good, that was a bloody masterstroke you pulled. Did you see the look on his face when you played the recording?’ He laughed in delight as he slumped down into an armchair.

‘If you’d asked to be made Commander, he’d have had no choice – you didn’t need to give him your resignation,’ Anna said, hoping that he would reconsider his position.

‘I was just about to tell you I was retiring when Walters walked in. I’ll miss the job, the thrill of the chase and the wonderful and dedicated people I’ve worked with, none more so than you, Anna. For once my decision isn’t about me though, it’s for Laura and the children. I want to save my marriage and see my kids grow up.’

Anna was immensely sad. They’d been through so much together, even right up to the end with Gloria Lynne, and the prospect of losing her mentor scared her more than she wanted to imagine. No matter how much they had argued he had always been there for her, making sense out of confusion and supporting her through the turmoils of being a murder squad detective. She knew that but for Langton she would never have achieved so much and become a DCI in such a short space of time. He’d now even secured her promotion to Superintendent, albeit through a bit of skulduggery. She wanted to beg him to stay but knew that would be selfish and it was clear his mind was made up.

‘You will keep in touch, won’t you?’ she asked quietly.

Langton could see the sadness in her eyes; he got up, stood in front of her and gently placed his hands on her shoulders.

‘Of course I bloody will, but I won’t be talking shop any more and I’m expecting to be guest of honour at the team’s Christmas lunch,’ Langton said, trying to make light of what for him was also a very emotional moment.

He drew her close, put his arms around her, gave her a long loving hug, and whispered softly in her ear, ‘I’m the one who owes you a big thank-you for putting up with me for so long. Working with you has been a pleasure and a privilege that I will always cherish.’ He kissed her lightly on the cheek and stepped back. ‘Right, let’s have a drink with the rest of the motley crew.’

‘I don’t really feel up to it right now, not after Gloria Lynne,’ she said, trying to conceal the fact that Langton walking away hurt her more than losing to Gloria.

‘It sometimes does you good to drown your sorrows,’ he said with a smile of encouragement, ‘but more importantly you owe it to your team. They stuck by you because they admire and respect you for who you are and your leadership. For them to be strong, you have to be strong. If you just walk out the door you’ll damage that respect.’

As Anna and Langton joined the rest of the team in the main office, Barolli was recounting the effects of atropine and Dan Ross was having fun barracking him. As the merriment continued and Anna chatted to Joan, Langton looked over at her, smiled and raised his glass. As she raised her glass in return she knew it was a private moment between two people, a toast to both their futures.

Langton stayed on for about an hour and, not long after, most of the team drifted over to the pub. Anna was in her office tidying up her desk and getting her things together to go home when Jessie Dewar walked in. She asked Anna if she was okay.

‘I’m fine, Jessie.’ Anna sighed. ‘Other than being completely exhausted, that is.’

Dewar apologized for not being able to provide her and Langton with a detailed psychological profile of Gloria Lynne, but Anna reassured her she wasn’t to know that Gloria wouldn’t allow the interview to be recorded.

‘Well, I don’t expect it’s of any use to you now but it may be of interest anyway,’ Dewar said, and she handed Anna a document she had drafted while Langton and Anna were interviewing Gloria. Dewar explained that she had thought Gloria might be arrested, so she had prepared a strategy for a further interview with her.

‘It’s just some advice and tactics on how to deal with and counter someone who’s a sociopath,’ Dewar said.

Anna thanked her and promised she would read it.

Dewar stepped forward and put her hand out to Anna.

‘Although we’ve had our disagreements, I’d just like to say I’ve enjoyed working with you and learned a lot.’

Anna shook her hand. ‘I hope the next case we both work on will be more straightforward.’

‘Sadly my time with the Met is over. The FBI Academy Director called me to say he wanted me back in the States to help on a serial-killer case. Flight’s booked for Saturday morning, so I best get off and start getting my bits and pieces together.’ Dewar turned to leave when Anna said she wanted to ask her something.

‘From a psychological aspect, where did I go wrong with Gloria?’

‘You didn’t, we all did. I think all your suspicions are right but we all underestimated her. With hindsight, as you’ll see in my report, we should have played her at her own game.’

Anna asked Dewar what she meant and the agent explained that a sociopath’s ability to act normally is determined by the information they have available to them.

‘Gloria, thanks mostly to Walters and Ian Holme, knew what you knew, so she twisted and used it to her advantage,’ Dewar said.

‘How could I have countered that?’ Anna asked.

‘By trying to confuse her, and the best way to do that is to feed her false information: if she’s confused and you are not, then you are the one in control.’

‘And then?’ Anna wondered.

‘You hoist her by her own petard, point out her failures, and tell her she’s a phoney and a shyster.’

‘Bit late now, I guess.’

‘Sadly, yes, you need to strike while the iron is hot,’ Dewar said. ‘Well, guess I’ll see you in the morning.’

As she left the room, Anna sat down once more and began to read her report. As she finished it she stood up, slammed both hands on the desk, and let out a yell of pent-up emotion. That iron was still very hot!

As she drove out to Weybridge, Anna did her best to calm her nerves, knowing it was a dangerous thing to walk into the witch’s lair alone. Needing a viable reason to go to Lynne House she had gathered together the flat keys, and other documents, that could be legitimately restored to Donna Lynne. It didn’t matter to her whether Donna or Aisa were in, the purpose of her visit was much deeper than a polite house call.

Although Dewar’s advice was thought-provoking, her suggestion to feed Gloria false information and berate her was of no value to the criminal investigation. Lying about the evidence to a suspect or being oppressive in an interview was not allowed and any resulting confession would be rendered worthless.

Anna realized that Gloria had deliberately used the confines of the police station, and the legal representation of Ian Holme, to suit her purpose. She still had no evidence against Gloria and was only too aware that arresting her was not an option. For Anna this was personal, a need to show Gloria up for the evil bitch that she was. Anna knew that Gloria was not as smart as she thought she was; it was now time for her to be the one in control, and play Gloria at her own game, on her own ground!

Arriving at Lynne House, Anna wondered if she would even get past the front gates. But as she got out of the car and before she could press the intercom, she was aware of the movement of the security camera, and then the gates slowly opened. Anna had the strangest feeling that it was Gloria who was watching and luring her in. She drove up to the house, her heart beating ten to the dozen, forcing herself to breathe in and exhale slowly to keep calm. As she pulled up at the front door, Gloria appeared, dressed in a white, full-length, toga-style dress and gold sandals. The lights from the interior of the house spilled out into the dark night, illuminating Gloria from behind as if she were an angelic apparition.