Dead Man’s Footsteps

And she had real come-to-bed eyes. Which he caught twice in fast succession and then did his best to ignore, opening his notebook, deciding to focus on Stephen Klinger’s eyes, which might be easier to read.

The maid came in with coffee and water.

‘Can I just recap, sir? How long had you and Ro

Klinger’s eyes moved to his left, a fraction. ‘We go – went – back to our late teens,’ he said. ‘Twenty-seven – no – thirty years. Roughly.’

As a double check, Gle

Again the eyes moved to the left a fraction before he spoke.

This was a neurolinguistic experiment Gle

So now he knew that when Stephen Klinger’s eyes moved to the left in response to a question they were moving to his memory side, which meant he was likely to be telling the truth. So if his eyes moved right, then that meant he was likely to be lying. It wasn’t a failsafe technique but it could be a good indicator.

Leaning forward, as the maid put down his cup and saucer, and a china jug of milk, Branson said, ‘In your opinion, sir, do you think Ro

The look of shock on Klinger’s face was genuine. As was the double-take on his wife’s. His eyes stayed dead centre as he replied. ‘Not Ro

‘He had a kind heart,’ Sue added. ‘He liked to look after his friends. I don’t think – no, definitely, I don’t think so.’

‘We have some information we’d like to share with you, in confidence at this stage, although we will be making a statement to the press in the next few days.’

Branson glanced at Bella, as if offering her the opportunity to speak, but she signalled back she was happy for him to continue.

He poured some milk into his coffee, then said, ‘It doesn’t seem that Joa

Now both of them looked genuinely shocked.

‘Shit!’ Sue said.

‘Is that the one that was in the Argus on Monday?’ Stephen wondered.

Bella nodded at him.

‘Are you saying that – that – Ro

‘If I may continue for a moment, sir,’ Branson pressed, ‘we learned yesterday that Lorraine Wilson’s body has also been found.’

Sue Klinger blanched. ‘In the Cha

‘No, in a river outside Melbourne, in Australia.’

Both Klingers sat looking at him in stu

‘Melbourne?’ Sue Klinger said eventually. ‘Australia?’

‘How on earth did she get there from the English Cha

The ringing stopped. ‘The post-mortem has shown that she has only been dead for two years, sir – so it doesn’t look as if she did commit suicide by jumping into the Cha

‘So she did it by jumping into a river in Australia instead?’ Stephen said.

‘I don’t think so,’ Gle

Both the Klingers sat very still, absorbing the impact of what they had just heard. Finally Stephen broke the silence. ‘By whom? Why? Are you saying the same person killed Joa

‘We can’t tell at this stage. But there are some similarities in the way they both appear to have been killed.’

‘Who – who would have killed Joa

‘Were either of you aware that Joa

‘Probably went to pay off Ro

‘That’s a bit harsh, Steve,’ Sue commented, turning to face her husband. ‘Ro

‘Yeah, but the Vacu Vin was plastic,’ Stephen said. ‘Ro

‘You said yourself at the time you thought it was smart, didn’t you?’

‘Yeah, but I wouldn’t invest in any business Ro

‘Mr and Mrs Klinger,’ Bella said, ‘did you have any idea that Lorraine had come into a substantial amount of money in the months before she – seemingly – ended her life?’

Sue shook her head vigorously. ‘No way. I’d have been the first to know. Ro

‘Well, this may come as a surprise to you both,’ Gle

Their shock was palpable. Then he added to it.

‘Further, in July 2002, Mrs Wilson received a payment of nearly two and a half million dollars from the 9/11 compensation fund. About one and three-quarter million pounds at the exchange rate at that time.’

There was a long silence.

‘I don’t believe it. I just don’t believe-’ Sue shook her head. ‘I know at the time she disappeared the police officers we spoke to didn’t seem entirely convinced that she had committed suicide by jumping off the boat. They didn’t say why. Perhaps they knew something then that we didn’t. But Stephen and I, and all her friends, were convinced she was dead, and none of us has heard a single word from her since.’

‘If what you are saying is true, that’s-’ Stephen Klinger broke off in mid-sentence.

‘She withdrew all of it, in cash, in different amounts, between the time she received the money and her disappearance in November 2002,’ Bella said.

‘Cash?’ Stephen Klinger echoed.

‘Would either of you have any idea if the Wilsons – or more likely Ro

‘Lorraine and I were very close,’ Sue said. ‘I think she’d have told me – you know – confided in me.’

The way she confided in you about the three and a quarter million quid! Gle