Free Love Lies Bleeding by Geraldine Evans Page A

useful leverage later in the case. Though given the fact that Felicity
hadn't
been in a rush to consult or confide in Mike, he found himself pondering the reason why.
    Before they left, they got Mike to show them Raymond's office. It was a corner office, twice the size of Mike's and very plush. Modern art lined the walls. It shared the space with photographs of models strutting their stuff on the catwalk wearing what Rafferty presumed were Raine designs, and others of glittering celebrity parties. He spotted Raymond in one of them, glass in hand, head back, laughing and looking supremely confident of his place in the world.
    ‘I'll need to take Mr Raine's contacts book and diary,’ he told Mike.
    ‘You can't, I'm afraid. Ray always kept such details on the computer. But I can get his secretary to print them out for you.’ He opened the adjoining door and went through.
    Rafferty followed him,just in case Mike tried to tell Ray's secretary to delete some telling detail, and was surprised to discover that Raymond Raine's secretary was not some short-skirted dolly bird but a middle-aged woman with neat grey hair and an awe-inspiring typing speed.
    But, in spite of the still-efficient typing, it was clear the woman had been crying. Her tears, for Rafferty, only served to point up the lack of tears from Raymond's cousin. As Raymond's secretary printed out the diary and contacts list, Rafferty questioned her about her boss.
    ‘What was the late Mr Raine like to work for?’
    ‘I always found him a good boss. He believed in rewarding loyalty and hard work. And although he could be demanding — expecting you to do overtime at a moment's notice and get work completed yesterday that you didn't receive till today — I didn't mind. I know — knew — how hard he worked himself. No one worked harder than he did. He was a dynamic man. I'll miss him.’
    On an impulse, Rafferty turned to Mike and asked, ‘And you, Mr Raine? Will you miss your cousin?’
    For a few seconds Mike Raine's face took on as many hues as his office walls, then he gathered his dignity about him and quietly confirmed, ‘Of course I'll miss him. Raymond's always been there. It'll be strange to go on without him.’
    Was that a trace of sheer delight he caught in Mike's voice? Rafferty asked himself. Or was he imagining it?
    As Rafferty returned to the car with Llewellyn, he asked, ‘Well, what did you make of the cousin? Not exactly grief-stricken, was he? For all his claim that he would miss Raymond.’
    Llewellyn, never one to rush in with an unconsidered comment, pondered for several seconds before he observed, ‘Grief-stricken or not, he didn't seem overly concerned that we might consider him a suspect — strange when one considers that, not only will he now be able to step into Raymond's shoes, but also his alibi might well be more a belated concoction of Jane the receptionist than the unvarnished truth.’
    ‘Perhaps it's just that the thought of all that power and the corner office — supposing he
does
take over from Raymond — has knocked every other consideration out of his head? But I suppose once his brain starts working again and he discovers what Felicity has clearly not told him — that she's retracted her confession — he'll realise we'll consider him a serious suspect. I suppose we can shortly expect him to start screaming for his brief.
    ‘And talking about that retraction, Daff, I don't know about you, but I thought it odd that Felicity Raine clearly chose not to confide in him about either her confession or its retraction. Seeing as she doesn't appear to have any family of her own, you'd think turning to the cousin by marriage who claims to be fond of her would be the natural thing to do.
    ‘And then there's that receptionist of Mike's and her suspect alibi. Does she really think we'll believe she's telling the truth about that when it's clear she'd as soon kill anyone who threatened his inheritance? The second she discovered who