Page 58 of The Scene of the Crime (Jessica Russell #1)

Wood could tell she was wary and realised that getting information from her wouldn’t be easy.

She seemed very sharp, and he knew he needed to be careful not to say anything that would reveal his involvement in the De Klerk investigation and then lead back to Stubbings.

He sipped his champagne to give him time to think.

‘The informant gave me your surname and said you lived in Coombe Park. I checked the voters’ register, and the only Bramstons living in the area were Patrick and Chandice. ’

She nodded. ‘Patrick’s my husband.’

‘I also looked for your name on our crime report system but couldn’t find it, so I thought it best to speak to you personally in case you were a victim, knowingly or otherwise.’

‘Theoretically I was a victim, but I chose not to report the matter for personal reasons, which I’m not prepared to divulge.’

‘I respect that, of course, but it would be helpful if you could tell me what happened.’

‘How do you think I can help your investigation?’ He wondered if Chandice was fishing for information, possibly to pass on to Michelle De Klerk. He knew Stubbings had never interviewed Chandice, but Michelle might have told her about him.

‘I suspect Cole may have used different methods to scam several people, and they may not even realise they were victims. I could arrest him right now on reasonable suspicion, but if I don’t know all his methods, an interview could prove worthless.

I want to build a watertight case before an arrest.’

Her eyes narrowed. ‘I despise Cole for what he did, but I’m not prepared to give evidence against him.

Doing so could implicate a dear friend, who, like me, was an innocent victim.

She’s suffering enough as it is right now, and I don’t want to add to her distress.

I want to build bridges, not destroy them. ’

Wood was pretty sure the dear friend was Michelle De Klerk. ‘My informant was once close to Mr Cole, but no longer. And like you, they can’t stand the man. I was told you were introduced to Cole by a woman called Michelle, as you needed a ring resizing.’

‘It sounds like you know rather a lot,’ she said curtly.

He shrugged. ‘Bits and pieces, but not the full details. That’s why I need to speak to you and other victims personally.’

‘Michelle wasn’t a victim of Cole. Well, not directly. But I need to know that you won’t speak to her. As I said, she’s in a bad way emotionally.’

‘What you tell me will be in the strictest confidence, and I won’t approach her unless I have to for the sake of the investigation.’

Chandice paused for thought. ‘Her name is Michelle De Klerk. You might know her as Michelle Belsham, KC.’

He feigned surprise. ‘Yes, I’ve come across her in court. She’s well known to the CID as a highly-respected defence barrister.’

Chandice laughed. ‘She told me the police refer to her as “that bitch Belsham”. She considered it a compliment.’

‘I have heard her called that,’ Wood conceded. ‘I didn’t know her married name was De Klerk.’

‘She’s a tough lady, Michelle, but she’s a totally different person outside of her work. Her husband, Johan, was stabbed during a burglary the other night and is critically ill in hospital.’

Wood tried to look shocked. ‘That’s awful. Now I see what you meant when you said she’s under a lot of stress. It must be very distressing for you as well.’

She sighed. ‘It is. But she didn’t tell me about it. I saw it on the news. Under the circumstances, I didn’t want to call her, so I sent her a text just saying I’m always here for her if she needs me. Sadly, I haven’t received a reply.’

‘She’s obviously focusing completely on her husband, but I’m sure she’ll contact you soon,’ he said.

‘I hope so, but somehow I doubt it. I think she’s embarrassed about what happened with Cole and now it’s awkward for her to talk to me. Which is so sad – we’ve been friends since university when we studied law together, and we were each other’s chief bridesmaids.’

‘Are you also a barrister then?’

‘I wanted to be at one time, but then I decided to become a solicitor and specialise in human rights issues.’

‘Are you still practising?’

‘No. I haven’t done any legal work since I had my son eight years ago, and I also have a daughter aged six. I do sometimes wish I was still practising.’

‘What does your husband do?’

‘He’s a banker.’

Wood didn’t want to push her, but he was aware time was getting on. ‘What happened between you and Michelle that caused the falling out?’

‘Cole, to put it bluntly. Just give me a minute.’ Chandice walked out and he remained sitting on the high stool looking around at the state-of-the-art kitchen.

He reckoned the massive glass-fronted fridge-freezer must have cost more than his entire one-bedroom flat.

He turned as Chandice walked back in and perched herself on the stool beside him. She opened a small velvet case.

‘This is my engagement ring.’ She slipped it onto her finger. ‘The blue Ceylon sapphire is twelve carats, and the halo of diamonds around it are eighteen. The sapphire was originally in a necklace belonging to my husband’s deceased grandmother. My husband had the ring specially made for me.’

‘By Nathan Cole?’

‘Good lord, no. Garrard’s, the former Crown Jewellers, designed it. It’s quite similar to Princess Diana’s engagement ring.’

‘Can I ask how much it cost.’

‘Seventy thousand,’ she said coolly.

Wood whistled. ‘I’m definitely in the wrong business. So what happened?’

Chandice topped up their glasses with champagne.

‘You might not believe it, but I wasn’t always as slim as I am now.

In fact, I was always a bit chubby, so I started dieting and going to the gym.

As a result, my fingers got more slender and my wedding and engagement rings were no longer a snug fit.

I told Michelle I was worried about them falling off.

She recommended a jeweller her husband knew in Hatton Garden and took me to meet Nathan Cole.

His shop was very impressive, with some very expensive and elegant jewellery, though I do also distinctly remember how it stank of cigar smoke. ’

He was eager to get her back on track. ‘And he resized your rings?’

‘Yes, and I asked him to polish them as well. I left them with him for a few days, then I discovered a few months later that Cole had swapped the sapphire for an inferior stone.’

‘How did you find out?’

‘I attended the London Jewellery Show at Kensington Olympia last December. They had stalls with experts who were doing free jewellery evaluations. I thought, for insurance purposes, I would see what the ring was currently worth. I was knocked for six when two experts looked at it and said the sapphire was almost worthless. It had been made in a lab apparently. My husband had photos, valuations and letters proving the provenance of the original sapphire, so we knew for certain it had been swapped.’

‘What did Michelle say when you told her?’

‘She was with me at the show and was as shocked and upset as I was. I wanted to report it to the police, but she asked me to wait until she’d spoken to Johan.

I was very angry and told her Cole was a thief and she should know better than anyone that he ought to be punished.

I told her she’d got a week to sort it out, or I would inform the police. ’

Wood pointed at the ring. ‘I take it that’s the real sapphire?’

She nodded. ‘Michelle came round and collected the ring from me. A couple of days later, she called to say it was all sorted and I went to her house to collect it. Johan was there but didn’t say much, other than apologising.

Anyway, maybe I shouldn’t have said it, but I said to her that maybe she should get her engagement ring checked out too, a big solitaire diamond.

Michelle got upset, we had a blazing row, I think she thought I was inferring her husband had something to do with what had happened.

It ended up with me storming out of the house, and we haven’t spoken since. ’

‘Did you get the ring double-checked?’

‘You’re telling me I did! The expert at Olympia had given me his card. He re-examined it and confirmed it was a 12-carat Ceylon sapphire, and the diamonds were genuine too.’

‘You were lucky to get it back.’

‘I know, and if I hadn’t done, I would have reported it to the police. Having heard what you’ve said about Cole, maybe I should have done.’

‘I understand why you didn’t,’ Wood said reassuringly.

‘You weren’t to know other people had been victims.’ He chuckled.

‘I’ll bet Michelle put the fear of God in Cole when she confronted him!

’ Chandice smiled ruefully. ‘She’s definitely not the sort of person you want to upset.

But actually she said it was Johan who spoke to Cole.

I don’t know if you’ve met him, he’s a giant of a man, built like an ox, though he’s really as soft as shit.

Michelle said he told Cole he’d call the police and ruin his business if he didn’t return it.

Cole said he’d taken the sapphire out to clean it and accidentally put the wrong one back in. ’

‘That’s pretty lame,’ Wood said, rolling his eyes.

‘I thought it was all a bit odd, but before we had the row, Michelle asked if it could be the end of the matter, and I agreed. We haven’t spoken or seen each other in about six months.

I called and left messages but never got a reply, so I gave up.

I also think there might have been another agenda, but maybe I shouldn’t mention it. ’

‘What was it?’ Wood asked, thankful for the champagne which seemed to have loosened Chandice’s tongue.