Eden looked up at the two members of staff. Both were staring back at him with intensity.
So here is what we know.
“Two years ago, Mr Winston-Moore came to Trentbridge after sending out leaflets door to door and promising to pay the highest prices for items. He managed to purchase a number of paintings from private individuals. One of the paintings he was offered had been given to a teenager, who at the time was staying in the south of France. This young man saved someone from drowning and as a way of saying thank you his father gave the teenager one of his paintings to take home, knowing in the future it would be worth a considerable amount of money. He even wrote a special note of thanks and attached it to the back of the painting.
“The man the teenager saved from drowning was called Claude and his father was the famous artist Pablo Picasso. And of course, nowadays an original Picasso is worth a fortune. The teenager came back to England, met a young lady, fell head over heels in love, and moved to Trentbridge to be with her. They got married and had a daughter whom he always referred to as Dee.
“Sadly, the man died unexpectedly in a car accident in 2003 so he wasn't able to tell anyone just how valuable the painting might be. I'm sure he meant to at some point but he simply forgot about it and the painting remained in the loft until years later his wife found the leaflet dropped through her letterbox at a time of need. She called the phone number on the leaflet and the art dealer came to see her.
“Mr Winston-Moore knew a lot about art and instantly recognised the painting and understood what the note on the back said. He could have been in little doubt when he bought the item it was an original and he certainly had some idea of its true worth.
“Even though the lady told him she was desperate to raise £50,000 for the medical treatment of her granddaughter, he still only paid her £4,000 for the painting when he could have paid the full amount and still have made millions. However, it seems he was a greedy man with no feelings for others. As they couldn't raise enough for the treatment the lady and her daughter used the money to give the little girl, whose name was Kim one last fabulous holiday at Euro Disney.”
Eden looked across the table at the two people; he noticed one of them looking at him rather uncomfortably.
He continued. “In the meantime, Mr Winston-Moore took the painting to Sotheby’s auction house and arranged for it to be sold in New York. We assume he thought selling it in the US would attract less attention and therefore no risk of his underhand deal being exposed. From the day he purchased the painting until the day it was sold was less than a year. In March last year, Peter Winston-Moore stood in Sotheby’s auction and watched the painting he had paid just £4,000 for, sell for $5.3 million.
“By coincidence on the same day, the twenty-seventh of March, a grandmother and mother said goodbye to a young child who might have been saved if they had been able to afford the £50,000 for her much-needed treatment.”
Eden stopped speaking and remained silent for a few seconds. He looked at the two ladies sitting at the table. One was looking directly at him with a look of surprise. The other was holding a tissue with tears streaming down her face.
"Before I go on, I'd just like to say to the mother of that child that I am so sorry for your tragic loss, but to murder Mr Winston-Moore has its consequences. I'm sure you probably thought it would simply remain unsolved. You didn't think we would arrest and charge someone with the murder. But these things have a habit of coming back to bite us, don't they, Dawn?”
Dawn Waterman looked up. "You don't have any proof it was me."
Diane turned her head towards her friend at same moment her mouth was on the verge of saying “What?”
"Oh, I think we do, Dawn. Let's go over things one step at a time, shall we.
Two weeks before he arrived, Peter Winston-Moore phoned and booked the Trinity Suite. He had stayed here the previous two years in a normal room when he was less affluent. You were on reception that afternoon and took his booking and for whatever reason, possibly from what you told us, you were bored or maybe simply curious, whichever it was, you decided to Google his name. You told us you don’t have a computer at home so this was your only chance to check up on him.
“You see we undertook a search of the front desk computer. The one you sit at when you work in reception and use to order your groceries and surf the internet when you’re bored. Every website or page you visit, even from months ago is stored in the computers history and can be found if you know what you’re doing.
“He had wanted to keep the surroundings of buying the painting a secret. He didn't want word getting back to your mum. But with his new art gallery in London’s Shoreditch he was
