Page 51 of The Scene of the Crime (Jessica Russell #1)

About an hour later, Johan began to stir and then, suddenly, he was awake.

For a moment, he felt disoriented, taking steady, deep breaths.

As his eyes adjusted to the semi-darkness, he focused on Michelle’s sleeping figure beside him, but he couldn’t understand why she was there or where he was or why there was excruciating pain coursing through his entire body.

He slowly began to take in the darkened room and tried to remember what had happened and how he had got there, but nothing made sense.

His mouth was dry, and his tongue felt too big for his mouth.

He closed his eyes, feeling as though he was trapped in a nightmare.

Another hour passed; he felt less pain but was still unable to lift his head.

This time, however, he found that he could form words.

‘Michelle, Michelle . . . wake up,’ Johan croaked weakly. He closed his eyes then tried again.

She shot up, hardly believing he was awake, throwing the blanket aside and crossing to the bed. He was struggling to sit up. ‘Oh my God, my love, I’m here, I’m here, let me help you, don’t move.’ Michelle eased one of his pillows up, then perched beside him, taking hold of his hand and kissing it.

‘I’ve been trying to wake you for ages,’ he said, sounding groggy.

‘I was exhausted. I’ve been here for you all the time. How are you feeling?’

‘Really rough. My body aches like hell, and my throat is killing me. Can you give me some water?’ he rasped.

Michelle went to the bottle beside her chair. She held it gently to Johan’s mouth. He took a few sips and then licked his lips.

‘What day is it?’

‘It’s Thursday morning now. Someone broke into the house and assaulted you in the early hours of Monday morning. You were badly injured, and the doctor put you in an induced coma.’ She couldn’t tell whether he took in what she had just said.

‘What hospital am I in?’

‘Hackney. Can you remember what happened?’ He was about to say something when Michelle touched her mouth, indicating he should keep quiet.

She went to the door, opened it and looked down the corridor, but no one was there.

Johan started to ask her what she was doing, but she shook her head and put her finger to her mouth again.

‘I just wanted to be sure no one is eavesdropping.’

‘I don’t understand . . . I feel terrible,’ he said in a hoarse voice.

‘I need to talk to you, it’s very important, Johan, so for God’s sake just listen to me.’

‘Yes, yes . . . OK.’

‘The police have been asking questions, and I don’t know the answers. You need to tell me what happened.’

He closed his eyes and winced in concentration. ‘I remember hearing a noise downstairs . . . then when I went to look, someone attacked me.’

‘The doctor said you’re lucky to be alive,’ she told him.

He took a slow, deep breath. ‘The safe . . . did they . . . ?’

‘For Christ’s sake, it doesn’t matter, Johan.’

‘It does . . . to me, Michelle,’ he croaked, and she helped him to take another sip of water.

‘All right. The police asked if I knew what had been stolen. I said I didn’t. But they took your Rolex and the Range Rover, which they then set on fire.’

‘Foken bliksem!’ he muttered in Afrikaans, then closed his eyes, wincing in pain.

‘Who are you talking about, Johan? Do you know who broke into our house and assaulted you?’

He licked his lips. ‘Of course not. If I did . . . I’d tell you. I feel ill, Michelle, and my head is killing me. Maybe you . . . should call for a nurse?’

Although his heart rate didn’t change, Michelle suspected he was lying. ‘What was in the safe, Johan?’

He took another deep breath. ‘Cash . . . lots of it . . . I was going to take it to the bank . . .’

‘Are you involved in some sort of tax fraud?’ she asked.

‘No . . . course not. If a client wants to pay cash, I don’t object. I put it all through the books.’ He licked his lips again and asked for some more water.

‘How much cash?’ she asked, picking up the water bottle.

‘Not much.’

‘How much is not much?’ She helped him take a few more sips and asked him again. His voice was stronger now and his mind seemed to have cleared.

‘I don’t know . . . fifty grand . . . maybe a bit more.’

‘Did you get a look at the man who attacked you?’

‘No . . . he was wearing a balaclava.’

‘Do you know a man called Liam? He’s about twenty-five and bald.’

‘What? No . . . Michelle, I’m feeling really bad. I need the doctor.’

She leaned in closer, almost touching his face.

‘Listen to me, Johan. The police got a tip-off and searched this man’s flat.

They found your Rolex watch and a large sum of cash.

When I last spoke to the police, they hadn’t tracked him down yet.

They aren’t telling me much, and I didn’t want to ask too many questions until I spoke to you.

They only found two thousand pounds. If you’re telling me the truth, that still leaves forty-eight thousand. Are you sure . . .’

‘For fuck’s sake, Michelle . . . it’s you that’s making my heart rate go up . . . why are you asking me all these questions?’

‘I know when someone is lying to me . . . especially you!’

‘Jesus Christ, Michelle, I’m the one who was attacked. Why are you talking to me like I’m a piece of kak?’ he said, breathing heavily.

‘Because I know when you’re talking crap. The police will want to interview you and ask about the contents of the safe. I need to know what you’re going to say.’

‘The same as I just told you . . . for God’s sake just leave it alone.’

‘If you’ve been up to anything dishonest, the police will find out, and I’ll get dragged into it. Do you understand what I’m talking about? I can’t be involved, not with my career.’

‘I haven’t done anything wrong.’

‘I sincerely hope not because the police have your phone and computers. If they find anything suspicious . . .’

‘There’s nothing to worry about, so don’t keep going on about it. I really need some pain medication.’ He screwed up his face in agony.

Michelle stroked his face and whispered to him. ‘We are in this together, Johan. We will have a baby to raise in five months, so I’m prepared to do whatever’s necessary to protect you. But I can’t do it if you don’t tell me the truth, so let’s start again. What happened?’

Johan’s face puckered and it looked as if he was going to start crying. ‘Come on, Johan, I’ll call for help in a minute, just tell me what happened.’

He sighed and took a few breaths to compose himself.

‘I fought with him in the living room. I gave him a good beating and thought I’d knocked him out.

I went to the kitchen to get a knife, just to threaten him with so he’d get out .

. . but he hit me with something from behind.

I think I managed to call the police. The next thing I felt was a searing pain in my back from when he was stabbing me . . . then I must have passed out.’

‘Why didn’t you call the police when you first heard him downstairs?’

‘I don’t know. I’d just woken up . . . I was confused. I wasn’t sure if somebody was really in the house, so I went downstairs to check it out.’

‘Do you think Cole was involved in what happened?’

Johan grimaced. ‘Why do you ask that? I haven’t had anything to do with him since what happened with Chandice’s ring.’

‘You promise me that’s the truth?’

‘I’ve had nothing to do with him, I’m telling you.’

‘When the police searched this man Liam’s flat, they found jewellery stolen in another burglary. I know that Cole deals in stolen jewellery. He removes the stones, makes new rings and necklaces and sells them on.’

‘How do you know that?’ he asked, frowning.

‘For heaven’s sake, are you stupid? Why do you think I warned you never to see Cole again?

I deal with plenty of criminals in my job.

After what Cole did to Chandice, I started asking some of my clients a few questions about him and got answers that were worrying, to say the least.’ She didn’t mention that she had hired a private detective to investigate Cole.

‘I swear, I haven’t had anything to do with him since then.’ He started coughing, and his breathing got heavier.

Michelle could tell he was still lying. She got up, put on her coat and picked up her handbag. Johan looked worried. ‘Where are you going?’

‘Home. I’ve had enough of your lies, Johan. From now on, you can fend for yourself!’

‘No, please, Michelle, don’t go. I can’t do this without you,’ he pleaded.

‘My mind is made up, Johan,’ she said, hoping he would reveal more.

‘All right, all right . . .’ a sullen-looking Johan nodded. ‘I was seeing him, but I’m not now.’

‘I want to know what the pair of you were up to!’

He let out a long sigh. ‘Long before the incident with Chandice’s ring, I was at Cole’s shop. He knew I had a warehouse in Hackney and asked if any empty ones were for rent. I told him the one next to me was about to be vacated.’

‘What did Cole want with a warehouse?’

‘He said he was considering buying a CVD machine and would need somewhere to keep it.’

‘What’s that?’ she asked.

‘It’s short for chemical vapour deposition.

A CVD is used to make high-quality synthetic diamonds.

Cole said he was looking for a business partner .

. . I asked him about making diamonds, and he told me how everything worked.

He said they were cheap to produce and you could make a big profit when you sold them. ’

Michelle raised her eyes. ‘Don’t tell me you became his partner and started selling fake diamonds.’

‘They aren’t fake. They are real diamonds, man-made. Cole assured me it isn’t illegal to own a CVD machine and make lab diamonds to sell. I checked it out . . . he was telling the truth.’

‘Why didn’t you tell me about it?’ she said, trying to keep calm.

‘Because I didn’t want you to find out my debts were mounting, and I was struggling to keep the business going, that bloody mortgage. The money from the lab diamonds enabled me to turn things around.’