Part 7 (1/2)

'I saw them when I left.'

'Zee didn't knock on your door?'

'If she did, I didn't hear her, but I could have been on the telephone or in the bathroom.'

'Would you describe your relations.h.i.+p with Zee as close?'

'She's more than twenty years younger than me. We have different interests.'

'How would you describe your sister-in-law?' Amy pressed.

'In a word: devious. She wormed her way into Jack's affections when he was grieving for his first wife.'

'Your brother's first wife died?' Amy sat forward.

'In a fire in a castle that Jack was renovating in Wales. Jack was devastated. Jodie his first wife was pregnant at the time. It was heartbreaking. Michael and I thought that was why Zee got herself pregnant so soon after meeting Jack. She knew he'd marry her if there was a child on the way. I only wish I could have been as sure as Jack that the child was his.'

'What made you think Jack wasn't the father?' Ben asked.

'Jack never said a word to me or Michael about planning to have a child with Zee. But Jack was besotted. He wouldn't listen to reason once Zee announced her pregnancy. It worried Michael and me.'

'Why?' Amy probed.

'Zee was fifteen years younger than Jack. Pretty enough, in a common way, but she'd barely been educated. She was neither a social nor an intellectual match for Jack.'

'What caused the fire that killed Jodie?' Ben was interested.

'Faulty electrical wiring. The electrician was fined for negligence. Not enough, in my opinion.'

'You said Jack was devastated,' Amy reminded her.

'I thought he'd have a breakdown.'

'But he made a recovery?' Amy prompted.

'Once he started dating Zee, four months after Jodie's death. He married her a week after she told him she was pregnant.'

'You thought that was too quick?' Ben suggested.

'Yes, but Jack's always been a womaniser. For all his insistence he loved Jodie, he couldn't stop playing around with other women.'

'Your brother's first marriage wasn't happy?' Amy asked.

'In my opinion, that was only because each ignored what the other was doing. As for Zee ... well,' Leila pursed her lips. 'It's not for me to speak ill of the dead.'

'In what way?' Ben enquired.

'Ted Levett,' Leila spat out his name. 'I couldn't believe it when Zee brought him here. Old school friend indeed-'

'Yet Jack employed him,' Ben interrupted.

'Because Zee asked him to and he couldn't refuse her anything. It was obvious what Zee and Ted were up to,' Leila declared. 'I saw them giggling and touching one another at all hours of the day and night. Every time they saw me watching, they'd stop and pretend Zee was just pa.s.sing through the foyer.'

'Did Jack say anything to you about Zee's relations.h.i.+p with Ted?' Amy set her notebook on the desk.

'No. I think he ignored it because in his eyes Zee could do no wrong.'

'Are you saying he was faithful to Zee but not to Jodie?' Amy checked.

'Jack was besotted with Zee but I doubt he was faithful to her. It's not in his nature. He doesn't only have an office above his restaurant. There's an apartment with a hot tub and luxury bedroom and bathroom. Possibly he takes his women there.'

'You've seen it?' Ben was surprised.

'Mamie and I stayed there for a few nights when the heating failed in our apartment last winter. But, as I said, Jack's always been the same. He'll chase after any woman who flashes a smile and a thigh. I think that's why he encouraged Jodie to buy a place she could retreat to in Wales when he was working or so he claimed.'

'Why Wales?' Amy was curious.

'Jodie had family there. Jack thought it would be a good idea for her to have her own place close to her mother.'

'Was Jodie happy about it?' Ben queried.

'She didn't complain, but Jodie was a saint compared to Zee. Pretty, educated, she'd lectured in ancient history before marrying Jack. Zee was a waitress; a n.o.body when she flung herself at Jack.'

'Your brother must have thought something of Zee to marry her,' Ben commented.

'As I said, he married her only after she told him she was pregnant. He showered her with presents. Gave her a credit card and paid the bills every month. Money was no object after Zee moved in with Jack.'

'Did Jack complain about Zee's spending?'

'I keep telling you, Inspector, he was blind to her faults, but I saw through her. She tried to take over my charity work. Asked if she could help, then claimed credit for my efforts. Well, I wasn't having that. That's why I wouldn't answer the door to her this morning ...' Leila faltered.

'You knew Zee knocked on your door this morning, yet you didn't answer it?' Amy recalled the roses and cards that Zee had delivered to everyone.

'I knew it was Zee. Anyone coming in from outside would have been announced on the intercom by the doorman. I looked through the spyhole, saw her standing there and walked away. I have better things to do with my time than waste it on Zee.'

Amy looked up at a knock on the door. 'Come in.'

'Sergeant Reece is asking if you can come upstairs immediately, ma'am. It's urgent.'

Chapter Seventeen.

Amy and Ben heard the shouting before the lift doors opened on to the studio floor.

'd.a.m.n, I forgot about the sculptures.' Amy ran into the studio. Sergeant Reece was speaking slowly, calmly in contrast to Anni Jones, who was hysterical.