Miss No One, Mark Ayre [romantic love story reading .TXT] 📗

"No," said Abbie. "I've come because I can't stand loose ends. Sometimes, they're unavoidable. There are a couple in this particular case I think we can tie up here and now."

Ndidi stared at Abbie. He opened his mouth, knowing what she wanted of him, but found he hadn't the strength to talk. Instead, he drank his coffee and waited for Abbie to go on.

She drank a little of her own, then did so.

"For me, this all started when I followed Christine over a fence into Davesh's dealership," said Abbie. "When we arrived, we found someone had murdered the man himself not long before. Right after we discovered this, Winston arrived with three associates. I helped Christine escape before taking on Winston's team. A fight which ended with Winston fleeing and his associates dead."

Ndidi's eyes widened at this, but Abbie ignored the look and went on before he could interrupt.

"Someone removed the bodies and all traces of the murders later that night. The reason for this is plain enough. The bodies were a link to Orion on the eve of his grand plan. Cleaning up the scene broke that link. But what's never been clear is who murdered Davesh and why."

Tapping the side of his mug, Ndidi forced himself to look at Abbie.

"You have a theory?"

"I have a theory." Abbie finished her coffee and replaced the mug on the coaster. "Orion paid Hammond, via Lucky Draw, a hundred grand to arrange for a large chunk of the local police to be at the casino on the night Rachel was sprung from prison, ostensibly to stop a heist and capture the perpetrators. However, this plan was somewhat hampered by Hammond's untimely murder. With me so far?"

Ndidi nodded.

"This left Orion in a bind. He needed to replace Hammond with an officer who could achieve the same results and fast. None of Lucky Draw's corrupt officers was high ranking enough to achieve his aims, and he couldn't risk speculatively offering cash to another DCI in case that detective was incorruptible and put an end to Orion's plan. So, Orion needed another option."

"Yes," said Ndidi, with some false patience. "He kidnapped Isabella and made me work for him."

"Eventually," said Abbie. "But I believe this was plan B."

Ndidi stared at Abbie. His face was blank, but his arms seemed stiff on his mug.

"Christine believed Davesh and Hammond might have been best friends," said Abbie. "Therefore, it's possible Hammond told Davesh everything he was doing, including organising the police response to the fake heist and murdering the woman who was trying to uncover his criminal activities. Namely, Leilani."

At the mention of his wife, Ndidi closed his eyes. Leaning forward, he placed his half-empty mug on the coaster before it could drop from his trembling hands and stain his carpet.

"Leilani was investigating Hammond specifically, rather than Lucky Draw generally, so it makes sense Hammond would murder her," said Abbie. "He may well have believed she was acting alone, but you knew what she was doing, didn't you, Ndidi? That much we've already established."

As though he'd forgotten why he'd put the mug down, Ndidi leaned forward to grab his coffee. Halfway to the cup, he remembered his trembling hands and pulled back.

"Davesh was the only other person who knew what happened to Leilani," said Abbie. "When Hammond died, he would have been immediately suspicious of the home invasion story. The home invasion with no suspects and no leads. He would probably know no one covers their tracks following a crime better than a police officer. Especially one as experienced as you, Inspector."

Abbie let this comment settle before going on.

"Davesh would also know Orion was looking for a Hammond replacement and, being a reprehensible individual, he might have decided to phone the elder Becker and offer information that could be used to blackmail a DI. For a fee."

Ndidi made as though to stand but stopped himself halfway through the motion. There were tears in his eyes, and he wasn't sure what to do with himself. Making the most of his indecision, Abbie continued.

"Before I came here, I visited Gary. By this point I knew Orion had told him to lie about you working for Lucky Draw, but you did attack him. There had to be reason. Today, Gary told me you caught him breaking into your house and made him tell you who had paid him to commit the crime. That person being Davesh."

Ndidi put a hand to his mouth.

"Don't worry, none of this was in Gary's official police statement. Still, it suggests a theory that finally ties up any loose ends."

Abbie paused to see if Ndidi would say anything, but the detective never took his hand from his mouth, which left Abbie to continue unabated.

"You suspected Hammond of murdering your wife, so you went to confront him at his home. There was an argument during which you murdered the corrupt DCI. As an experienced detective, you were able to remove any evidence of your involvement and make it seem as though the crime had been committed during a home invasion. You thought that would be the end of it, but Davesh suspected the truth and wanted to prove it so he could sell the information to Orion, who could then blackmail you. However, you learned of Davesh's knowledge from Gary, and this time confronted the dealership owner. I told Christine when we found Davesh that killers were unimaginative.” Abbie touched her neck. “Both Hammond and Davesh had their throat cut.”

Ndidi looked as though he was drowning. He touched his own throat and took deep breaths.

Abbie wasn’t done.

“You fled the dealership and found Gary. Only he knew you had a motive to kill Davesh and you wanted to ensure he wouldn’t blab.” Abbie paused. “Maybe I shouldn’t, but I’m about to give you the benefit of the doubt for the first time. I’ll assume you planned to attack Gary, to frighten him into keeping his mouth shut, but not to kill him. You probably would have targeted him again, but