or reduce his defences, they must have been taken orally, opening up the possibility that he swallowed them willingly, and the existence of a previous relationship with the killer.’
‘That would fit with the lack of forced entry.’
‘And the killer being a woman.’
‘You’re still convinced we’re looking for a female?’
‘Yes, I am.’
‘Well, Kate, Rick Shevlin may have been married, but he certainly wasn’t monogamous. We have enough ex-girlfriends to keep us busy for a while.’
‘Anything else come out of this morning’s meeting?’
‘It looks like the non-functioning of the CCTV cameras wasn’t the only laidback thing about the hotel’s security arrangements.’
‘How so?’
‘They operated on a key rather than a card system, keys attached to chunky gold rings with the room numbers engraved on them.’
‘I guess it fits with the hotel’s step-back-in-time image. Anything more on Rick Shevlin?’
‘He moved in pretty elite circles, dealing in paintings, modern art for the most part, abstract.’
‘Makes sense. Art dealers usually choose a specific form or period that works best for them.’
‘That may be true, but Rick wasn’t averse to the odd dabble in other types of deals.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Apart from his small, profitable art gallery, rumour has it that it wasn’t his main money spinner. Although the margins he took on the sale prices were high, compared to other galleries, every now and then he would make a big hit at auction.’
‘I’m guessing it wasn’t because he had a knack for spotting a bargain.’
‘No. He liked to call in the help of a few stooges to rig things.’
‘He put plants at the auction rooms to inflate prices?’
‘Yeah, but it didn’t end there. He had a long list of regular clients, but one of his ex-girlfriends told me he also sourced paintings for people on the lookout for something irregular.’
‘Stolen?’ Kate didn’t attempt to hide her shock.
‘Not stolen but, according to the ex-girlfriend, he gave the nod to fake work being original.’
‘Wouldn’t that have been noticed at the auction, or later?’
‘He had his private sales too.’
‘Can you prove any of this?’
‘Not yet, but allegiances will start crumbling now that he’s a dead Rick Shevlin.’
‘That tells us a lot about him. It takes a certain type of person to extort large sums of money from people. His reputation would have given him credibility, but if he was prepared to commit serious fraud, it denotes a particular moral base.’
‘Maybe the killer wanted to teach him a lesson for his greed.’
‘I don’t think money is a likely motive here, or if it is, it’s only part of it.’
‘Hold on a second, Kate. I have another call coming in.’
Kate’s attention went back to the images on the laptop. She noted the various pieces of art work in the hotel room, most likely mass-produced copies. Was there anything of importance to the killer? She knew she was clutching at straws with a copy of a Monet. She recognised it as
Women in the Garden
, a scaled-down version of the original. When Monet had painted it, thecanvas was so large he had had to work on the upper half with the lower section positioned in a dug-out trench, maintaining a single point of view. It was as she was thinking about the painting that her eye was drawn to another image, which showed the victim reflected in a side mirror of the dressing table. It framed him perfectly, the scale reduced because of the distance, but the image was set within the parameters of the frame, almost as if it was picture perfect.
‘Kate, are you still there?’
‘The dressing table in the hotel room, Mark. Was it moved?’
‘How did you know? It was pulled out slightly from the wall on one side. I thought it might have been shifted as part of a struggle. One of the techies noticed the indents on the carpet from the more permanent position.’
‘It wasn’t moved because of a struggle, Mark.
‘That would fit with the lack of forced entry.’
‘And the killer being a woman.’
‘You’re still convinced we’re looking for a female?’
‘Yes, I am.’
‘Well, Kate, Rick Shevlin may have been married, but he certainly wasn’t monogamous. We have enough ex-girlfriends to keep us busy for a while.’
‘Anything else come out of this morning’s meeting?’
‘It looks like the non-functioning of the CCTV cameras wasn’t the only laidback thing about the hotel’s security arrangements.’
‘How so?’
‘They operated on a key rather than a card system, keys attached to chunky gold rings with the room numbers engraved on them.’
‘I guess it fits with the hotel’s step-back-in-time image. Anything more on Rick Shevlin?’
‘He moved in pretty elite circles, dealing in paintings, modern art for the most part, abstract.’
‘Makes sense. Art dealers usually choose a specific form or period that works best for them.’
‘That may be true, but Rick wasn’t averse to the odd dabble in other types of deals.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Apart from his small, profitable art gallery, rumour has it that it wasn’t his main money spinner. Although the margins he took on the sale prices were high, compared to other galleries, every now and then he would make a big hit at auction.’
‘I’m guessing it wasn’t because he had a knack for spotting a bargain.’
‘No. He liked to call in the help of a few stooges to rig things.’
‘He put plants at the auction rooms to inflate prices?’
‘Yeah, but it didn’t end there. He had a long list of regular clients, but one of his ex-girlfriends told me he also sourced paintings for people on the lookout for something irregular.’
‘Stolen?’ Kate didn’t attempt to hide her shock.
‘Not stolen but, according to the ex-girlfriend, he gave the nod to fake work being original.’
‘Wouldn’t that have been noticed at the auction, or later?’
‘He had his private sales too.’
‘Can you prove any of this?’
‘Not yet, but allegiances will start crumbling now that he’s a dead Rick Shevlin.’
‘That tells us a lot about him. It takes a certain type of person to extort large sums of money from people. His reputation would have given him credibility, but if he was prepared to commit serious fraud, it denotes a particular moral base.’
‘Maybe the killer wanted to teach him a lesson for his greed.’
‘I don’t think money is a likely motive here, or if it is, it’s only part of it.’
‘Hold on a second, Kate. I have another call coming in.’
Kate’s attention went back to the images on the laptop. She noted the various pieces of art work in the hotel room, most likely mass-produced copies. Was there anything of importance to the killer? She knew she was clutching at straws with a copy of a Monet. She recognised it as
Women in the Garden
, a scaled-down version of the original. When Monet had painted it, thecanvas was so large he had had to work on the upper half with the lower section positioned in a dug-out trench, maintaining a single point of view. It was as she was thinking about the painting that her eye was drawn to another image, which showed the victim reflected in a side mirror of the dressing table. It framed him perfectly, the scale reduced because of the distance, but the image was set within the parameters of the frame, almost as if it was picture perfect.
‘Kate, are you still there?’
‘The dressing table in the hotel room, Mark. Was it moved?’
‘How did you know? It was pulled out slightly from the wall on one side. I thought it might have been shifted as part of a struggle. One of the techies noticed the indents on the carpet from the more permanent position.’
‘It wasn’t moved because of a struggle, Mark.
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