Fifth Victim

‘You know what this is all about, Manda,’ I said quietly, snapping her attention back to me. ‘Tell us about Hunt.’

‘Hunt?’ She made a show of surprise at the question, stalling furiously. ‘I hardly know—’

‘You want us to dig out the tape Torquil made of the pair of you screwing on the yacht?’ I demanded. ‘Orlando’s already admitted that you introduced them. So – who is he, where did he come from, and why have you lied about him?’

She gave a mirthless laugh. ‘I might have known that little bitch would try and stir things. Why on earth should you believe anything she has to say?’

I sighed, half turned away, and whipped back to punch her in the mouth.

I led from my shoulders rather than my hips, so it was little more than a tap, but Manda let out a shriek and fell backwards across one of the armchairs in a tangle of arms and legs. Parker shot me a disapproving glance. I shrugged and waited until Manda had gathered herself, dabbing at her split lip with experimental fingers.

‘You bitch,’ she muttered, in a dazed voice.

‘I’ve been called worse – by you, as I recall,’ I said blandly. ‘And I don’t have time to play nice, Manda. I tried that last time, and you sat there and smiled at me as you lied your arse off. Stop LYING to me!’ I let my voice snap into loudness, watched her jerk of automated response. ‘Dina’s got less than a day. They already sliced off her ear. These are the same people who beat Torquil to death. We believe Hunt’s involved. Where do we find him?’

‘How the hell would I know?’ she demanded, pushing back to her feet, defiant. ‘And even if I did, you think I’d tell you?’

Parker sighed. He reached into the pocket of his immaculate overcoat and brought out a folding lock knife, which he opened up carefully. As it reached full extension it made a sharp click that made Manda flinch. I think it was the contrast between his totally urbane appearance and the threat implicit in the blade. He glanced at me, nothing in his face.

‘Left ear, wasn’t it?’

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

Manda, I realised quickly, had no doubts that Parker might be bluffing.

The combination of that and the shock of a smack in the mouth brought the words tumbling out of her. I wasn’t especially proud of what we’d just done, but it was certainly effective in the time we had available.

She told us how she’d met Hunt the previous spring and been both frustrated and intrigued by the fact that he seemed so unimpressed by her wealth.

Listening to her, it was painfully obvious that Hunt had played her like a cheap violin. He was a charmer, as all good conmen are, and he’d used Manda to carefully insinuate himself into the social circle in which she moved.

The fact that he’d specifically asked her to introduce him to Orlando, rather than presenting himself as being involved with Manda, had been a masterly touch. It allowed him to influence the other girl, while Manda got her claws into Benedict. And the hands-off approach had kept Manda well and truly hooked in a way he couldn’t have done if they’d been having an open relationship.

‘After Benedict’s kidnapping didn’t go according to plan – when his parents nearly refused to pay – Hunt said it would be better if he was the one who made contact with Lennon and Ross,’ she explained, her voice a mumble, staring at her clenched hands. ‘He said it would keep us one step removed from any of it.’

‘But?’ I said, hearing the hesitation in her voice.

‘He wanted to take things a lot further. Actively look for other people – people with money – who wanted to be kidnapped for the thrill of it, too. Make a business out of it, almost.’

‘And you went along with that?’ Parker left me to ask the questions, while he hovered in the background, projecting just the right level of intimidation.

‘He made it sound like … fun,’ she admitted. ‘Like a game, where everybody wins and nobody gets hurt.’

‘And where did Torquil fit into that theory?’

She coloured at that. It was nice to see even someone as amoral as Manda was not immune to shame.

‘That was … different,’ she said, stumbling over the words. ‘Tor found out what we were doing and was threatening to expose us – all of us – unless we let him join in. But he wanted it all to be perfect, like a movie or something. He was so furious when the snatch on Dina went all wrong. He said it was pathetic, that he’d give us all away.’

I remembered Torquil’s expression as he’d watched the two men I now knew to be Lennon and Ross escaping from the botched attempt at the riding club. His anger and disappointment now seemed understandable. At the time I’d worried it was because he might be behind the kidnaps, not that he was waiting impatiently for his turn.

‘So he was killed to keep him quiet.’

‘Yes. No!’ Manda said, head hanging. ‘Look, they don’t tell me the details. As far as I know, all that was supposed to happen was Tor was to be kidnapped and held for a couple days for a decent ransom – he talked about making his parents pay with something that would hurt them. I guess now he was talking about the Eisenberg Rainbow.’

‘So, where is it?’

She looked disbelieving. ‘Why the hell would you want it? It’s a fake.’

‘Ah, so you haven’t quite severed all ties with the kidnappers, have you, Manda?’ I said. ‘How else could you know about that?’

She flushed. ‘Hunt told me,’ she said in a low voice. ‘He said that Lennon was furious, and who knew what he might do to get even.’

‘And you believed that?’ I demanded. ‘Did Hunt also tell you that Torquil was dead before I ever left the Eisenbergs’ place with the necklace? That they’d no intention of letting him go, regardless of whether the jewels were real or not?’

‘No,’ she murmured, shaking her head. ‘No, that can’t be right. Hunt said that if we went ahead and kidnapped Tor, like he wanted, he wouldn’t be able to do anything against us, because then he’d be a part of it. But I never thought for a second that they’d kill him. You have to believe me …’

‘Would you have done it?’ I asked twenty minutes later, as Parker pulled the Navigator out from the kerb. His eyes switched from the rear-view mirror across to mine, with a flicker that could have signified just about anything.

‘Would you?’ he countered dryly.

I smiled. ‘It might have been a difficult one to explain away in court as justifiable force.’

He nodded, as if that was his answer, also. ‘The trick is not what you’re prepared to do, Charlie. It’s what they believe you’re prepared to do.’

‘I know.’

But Sean would have done it, I realised, for real, without hesitation. Maybe that was the difference between them.

Stop making comparisons!

‘The important thing is, did you believe her?’ Parker asked now, as if reading my thoughts.

I twisted slightly in my seat, watching him drive through the lightening streets, heading east for the Queensboro Bridge.

There had always been an easy competence about Parker, but where previously he’d seemed relaxed and confident, now he showed an uncertainty around me that I didn’t like. That kiss had changed things, not necessarily for the better, but there was no calling it back, I realised. Sooner or later, we’d have to deal with it and move on.

‘Some of it,’ I replied. ‘I think the bit about her becoming a little obsessed with Hunt is true. It made her angry to be under his thrall like that. From what I know of Manda, she hates having to admit to any kind of weakness.’

‘Particularly to you,’ Parker judged. ‘You must have left quite a lasting impression on her.’

‘Well, I stopped her from killing her father,’ I said. ‘That would tend to stick in anyone’s mind.’ I shook my