“According to one of the other guests we interviewed, an antiques dealer who knew the victim, he’s confirmed the painting could be worth a fortune. Apparently, it's not the first time the victim found a valuable painting while staying here. From what we understand, two years ago he discovered a genuine Picasso, possibly in a local junk shop and later sold it in New York for over five million dollars.
“We've got one figure in the frame at this time: Norman Gentle. He was booked into the hotel under a false name. He was the victim’s live-in lover and says he was here to spy on his partner, whom he believes was having an affair. He says he confronted the victim about this on Thursday morning and they argued.
“We know the victim was staying at the hotel with a young man believed to be in his mid-twenties called Oliver Varney. We’ll be interviewing him tomorrow morning.
“We've got three antiques dealers who all knew Peter Winston-Moore. All of them admit they came here to try to discover where he finds his stock. Apparently, since he found the Picasso he's found lots of other valuable items. They wanted to know how he was doing it. We’re still waiting on anything helpful from forensics at this time. That's about the size of it. Anyone got any questions?”
No one said a word.
The DCI stepped forward to address the team.
“Okay. I know tomorrow is Saturday but I need you all in at eight. The superintendent has obtained two search warrants from the magistrate. Tracy and Will, I will need you to go down and check out the apartment in Pimlico in south London that Norman shared with the victim. See what you can find. One of the main things we'll be looking for is a will or details of his solicitor.” Eden and Carla, I want you to go down to London to Winston-Moore’s art gallery. Then go and interview Oliver Varney. He could have some vital information, especially if he was there when the argument took place between Winston-Moore and Norman. Let’s see what he has to say. One lucky break that’s all we need.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
It was 8 am. on Saturday and the incident room at Trentbridge Police Station was already busy, with people sifting through all the paperwork an operation of this type generates.
By 8.05 am., four of the team had left to travel down to London. In one car, heading for the apartment in Pimlico in south London were DS Tracy Archer and DS Will Redgrave. In the other unmarked police vehicle were DI Eden Gold and DS Carla Parsons who were heading for Winston-Moore’s art gallery.
The satnav in the police Vauxhall Insignia led DI Gold and his colleague to number 22 Phillips Street in the London area of Shoreditch. What greeted them was a modern looking glass fronted antiques and art gallery with the name 'Shoreditch Gallery' which appeared to be etched into a grey stone panel above the entrance and stretching across the length of the building with tilted spotlights above to make the name stand out.
The four paintings in the window were all bathed in bright lights blazing down from the white ceiling that made up the window display.
DI Gold opened the envelope he had been given that marked the address and opened the twin locks of the door. Using the information supplied by Norman Gentle, he located the alarm system pad and entered the digits 47829. The alarm stopped buzzing and the wording on the alarm pad changed from 'Armed' to 'Ready'.
Once both officers were inside, DI Gold locked the door and checked the notice facing outwards read 'Closed'.
The two detectives walked round studying the paintings on the walls and the antiques tastefully displayed on either white plinths or in the two locked glass fronted display cabinets. Carla switched on the camera she had brought and took photos of each part of the gallery.
As they looked round, they counted six cameras located in various locations and all pointing down onto the displays.
Set half way back on the right was a shop counter about eight feet in length. It had a telephone, a small till and a credit card machine next to a TV monitor that showed all six of the camera views at once, with a control pad so that any one of the images could be made full screen at the touch of a button.
Located behind the counter was a door marked 'Private'. Norman had drawn them a rough layout that showed this was the office. The drawing also showed a small kitchenette area with a tiny storage cupboard where it appeared the hoover and cleaning materials were kept and at the rear was a door leading to the customer toilets.
The office door was locked but the second key the DI tried turned the lock.
The office was small, about ten feet square with a single desk which had nothing on it except a red landline phone. There was no computer they could see. Against the back wall in the left corner was a three-drawer filing cabinet with a photocopy machine on the top. Right in the centre of the back wall at eye height was a picture of a landscape. They had been informed it covered the company safe. Eden looked at the details on the envelope. It read 'Safe combination 61095002'.
He pressed the combination into the pad and the safe opened. Eden pulled out the contents and laid them on the bare desk, moving the phone onto the floor under the desk.
As Eden laid out the contents Carla photographed and then documented them one by one. The first item was a cheque book in the business name of ‘Shoreditch Gallery’, issued from Coutts & Co. The next item was a photocopy of the agreement for the freehold purchase of the property at 22 Philips Street. Finally, there was a photocopy showing
