Page 62 of Artful Deceit
“I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I, but I need to ask you something…”
“What?”
He pressed his fingers into his temples. “I need to know if the forensic team is likely to find your fingerprints on that necklace.”
There, he’d said it.
She didn’t respond.
“I’m sorry,” he said, without sounding the least bit heartfelt. “But you’ve been acting really strange, and you won’t tell me what’s going on, so I just need you to tell me this. Will your fingerprints be on that necklace?”
“No,” she said quietly.
“Because you’ve never touched it, or because you were careful not to leave fingerprints on it?”
“I’ve never touched it.”
“Good.” He released a sigh.
“What exactly do you think I’ve been doing?”
His jaw tightened. “I’ve absolutely no idea. That’s the problem.”
She fell silent for a moment, then chose not to address his remark. “Gideon’s fingerprints will be on the necklace,” she said.
“I’ll actually be amazed if they are.”
“Why?”
“Because he didn’t hesitate about letting us search the place, and he seemed genuinely surprised when we found the necklace. He swears he’s never seen it before and doesn’t know how it got there.”
“Of course he’d say that.”
“It’s notwhat he said,” Flynn snapped. “It’s the way he saidit. He was very believable. And he was keen that we get the necklace to forensics to prove he’s never touched it.”
“That only means he was careful.”
“He also has an alibi for the night Hilary Phillips was burgled.”
“You said he wasn’t at the retreat.”
“I said I didn’t see him there. But the others say he was there all evening, sitting in the studio. He was on a video call with a couple of friends in London and came out to shout at the people on the retreat for being too loud when he was on the call. They say they had eyes on him through the window all evening. His friends in London also corroborate his story.”
“That can’t be right.”
“I think you’ve got the wrong person.”
“No,” Lily said. “There’s no one else. It has to be him.”
Flynn downed the dregs of his coffee. “I have to get to work.”
“How long will the forensic report take?”
“Who knows – probably a couple of days at least.”
He ended the call and set off for the station. As he wandered along Garrison Lane, he passed Len Marrack going the other way.
