Death by Beauty (18 page)

Gemma cut him off, putting Rafi back on the rug and handing the mobile back to Hugo. ‘Take this,’ she said, in a blaze of
frustration, racing into the kitchen as the smoke alarm started its deafening scream.

‘
Not convenient!
’ she yelled as she fanned the alarm with a tea towel to make it stop and grasped the burning toast. ‘Ouch! Not convenient!
Screaming baby, delinquent adolescent, burning toast, smoke alarms and sudden head injury! These aren’t convenient either,
Mr Goddam Sherry!’ She was about to swear violently, but remembered herself in time, and yelled ‘For heaven’s sake!’ as loudly
as she could.

Hugo appeared in the kitchen doorway. ‘You okay, Gemma? I’m real sorry I’m—’

‘Hugo! Just come here and look after these beans. Make yourself some more toast. I’ve got to feed Rafi. Where’s the phone?’

‘Don’t worry about it. He’s gone.’

Gemma sighed and silently set about preparing Rafi’s bottle and then settled him with it on the couch.

‘Can I stay here tonight?’ Hugo asked in a cautious tone, as he came out of the kitchen carrying his bowl of beans and toast.
‘Please?’

She was about to say yes, when he tripped on Rafi’s train, crashing down swearing. Baked beans splattered all over the rug
and the floorboards, a hot orange streak burning Gemma’s eye.

Rafi wailed as her body stiffened in shock.

Gemma swore and burst into tears.

An hour later, with Rafi sleeping blissfully in his cot, Gemma and Hugo sat together at the dining table – Gemma with half
a glass of white wine, and Hugo eating Mike’s tart.

‘I’m really really sorry, Gemma. I didn’t mean to muck everything up.’

‘I know you didn’t, Hugo. It’s just been a hell of a day. You know, things piling up, and then your dad just said something
– injudicious.’

‘What’s that?’

‘Something that really got to me.’

Solemnly, he nodded. ‘Right. He does that injudicious thing heaps.’

After a pause he asked, ‘Um. Please can I stay here with you for a while? I’m real sorry about everything, like causing trouble
for you. I’ll wash up and stuff.’

She patted his arm.

His voice brightened. ‘You know, I could help out with the little guy. I’ve always wanted a baby brother.’

Before she could answer, Gemma heard Mike walk in. He stopped in the doorway when he saw Hugo. ‘Well, this is a surprise!
We haven’t seen you here for a while. What’s been happening?’

‘Hugo narrowly avoided being arrested for assault and car stealing today,’ said Gemma, turning to face Mike. ‘He’s on school
holidays and he’s asked if he can stay here for a little while. The situation at his father’s place is a bit messy at the
moment.’

‘Car stealing? You’re not even old enough to have a licence!’

‘It was only a joke. We weren’t going to steal it.’

‘Your father still hasn’t got that extra room built on to his place yet?’ asked Mike from the kitchen. ‘Where’s the tart I
made?’

‘Here,’ said Hugo, proffering the mangled remnants on his plate.

Mike came out, glanced at it. ‘Right. How was it?’

‘Not bad. Would have been better with ice-cream.’

‘So, what do you say, Mike? Do you think we could accommodate Hugo for a few days until we work something out with his father?’

Mike came over and kissed the back of her neck. ‘It’s up to you, Gems. I’m out most of the day and some of the night at the
moment.’

Hugo’s eyes were pleading with both of them as he looked from one to the other.

‘Okay then,’ said Gemma. ‘You’ll have to fight Taxi for the sofa.’

‘He used to like me sleeping there. We used to snore together. Kinda like purring.’

Gemma’s mobile rang. ‘Yes?’

‘Me here, honey bun,’ said Angie. ‘Is this a good time? I can call you back.’

‘No,’ said Gemma. ‘Go on.

‘Ted Ackland has done the autopsy on Janet Chancy. Cause of death – blunt force trauma to the head. According to his estimation,
she was killed very soon after leaving Sapphire Springs last Monday. The MO isn’t the same as in the cases of Starr and Palier.
No tissue or bone removed. No sign of acid. Just thought I’d pass this on as it came to hand.’

‘If it was someone from Sapphire Springs,’ said Gemma, thinking aloud, ‘they might have thought it was a good idea to let
her get some distance from the premises before silencing her.’

‘You okay? You sound kind of stressed.’

‘I’ve just had a total meltdown and now I have a house guest, Mr Hugo Sherry.’

There was a silence until Angie recalled the person belonging to that name.

‘The homing pigeon? Who eats like a horse? And must be driven everywhere because he can’t walk more than a few inches without
facing death from exhaustion?’

‘That’s him.’

‘Gemster! As if you haven’t got enough on your plate! Kick him out!’

‘It’s just for a little while.’

‘But you were only grizzling the other day about how you’re already so squashed with the three of you there now. Your place
wasn’t designed for three people, much less four.’

As Gemma rang off, Hugo walked back into the room, his
mobile in his hand. ‘Dad says it’s okay that I stay with you for a little while. No problems.’

No problems for Mr Sherry, she thought.

The next morning Mike took Rafi to daycare on his way to a meeting so Gemma had time to trawl through government departments,
pulling in favours, trying to get information on Adel Milani. Finally, she got a hit. A helpful clerk in Immigration said
yes, they did have records concerning someone of that name, but they were confidential. Adel Milani was a student on an Iranian
government scholarship, attending an Australian university.

She immediately called Mike. ‘If she’s on an Iranian government scholarship,’ he suggested, ‘the chances are she’s keeping
an eye on her compatriots’ behaviour out here, but it’s unlikely they’d send a single female alone – there’s bound to be a
husband here to chaperone her. And if she’s having an affair with Tolmacheff, that could make things very awkward for her,
dangerous in fact, unless she’s able to keep it very quiet. ASIO’s been keeping an eye on some of the Iranians living here
because of their connections with the Lebanese Hezbollah.’

‘ASIO’s not going to talk to me,’ said Gemma, sighing, ‘and I just don’t have time to go through every university in Australia,
and then every faculty and department trying to find this person. Chances are she’s no longer attending university, especially
if she’s carrying on with a married man.’

In the evening, with Mike at home minding Rafi, and Hugo watching reruns of American sitcoms, Gemma drove into the city
for her dinner date with Angelo Tolmacheff. She wore tailored trousers and a low-cut blue-and-white jersey top under a dark
blue blazer. A quick check in the rear-vision mirror showed that she was having a good-hair day and the copper-coloured lipstick
enhanced the grey-green of her eyes. Remembering that she was supposed to be a wealthy woman, she’d worn some of her mother’s
antique jewels – a cabuchon ruby bracelet set in gold and a diamond cluster ring, as well as her mother’s cabochon ruby-and-diamond
earrings.

Here we go, she thought, rehearsing her script as she got out of the car and locked it, throwing her dainty shoulder bag on
its gold chain over her left arm. I’m Gerri Westlake, heiress, dilettante and sculptor.

Inside the restaurant, Tolmacheff rose to greet her and instead of shaking her hand, he kissed it. ‘Gerri! You look just wonderful!
And on time, too.’

The food was pleasant enough, and Gemma practised the art of charming seduction. Listening intently to everything Tolmacheff
said, a slight smile on her face, she scanned every word and phrase he uttered for clues about his character and his enterprises,
knowing that rapt attention was just about the highest form of flattery any man could experience. She also noticed how quickly
he appeared to become interested in her, gazing into her eyes, his hand reaching out to touch her fingers, pumping out every
positive signal from the manual. He appeared absorbed in everything she had to say, even if it was only to discuss the menu.

‘It’s wonderful to be with such a discerning woman,’ he said, when Gemma selected an average Hunter Valley wine. ‘And, your
French accent is impeccable,’ he complimented when she ordered the
Lapin Provençale avec trois legumes
.

It was hard to conceal a smile on occasions when she realised they were doing exactly the same thing – applying charming seduction
in spades. Gemma hoped the smile didn’t give this away, but rather indicated the docile and biddable nature she was trying
to project.

Her mobile rang and she took the call, turning away so that Tolmacheff couldn’t see her face.

It was Mike. ‘In case you can’t talk freely, just say “yes” if you’re okay.’

‘Yes,’ she said, ‘but I’m having dinner with a friend right now. Call you later.’

‘Better I call you later?’

‘No, no. That’s fine,’ she said brightly, shrugging apologetically as she put the mobile away. ‘Family, Angelo. You know what
it’s like.’

‘Who was it?’

‘My sister,’ she lied quickly.

‘Is your sister as attractive as you?’

‘What a question!’ Gemma giggled.

‘Well, is she?’

‘You don’t seriously expect me to answer that!’ Gemma smiled sweetly.

Over the main course and in answer to his discreet probing, Gemma said, ‘I’m fortunate enough to be financially independent,
and I noticed you have the same happy situation. I’d love to know more about your business, if that’s not being too personal?’

‘Well, as I metioned when we first met, I deal in property. I guess you could also call me a stockbroker, Gerri. I buy and
trade shares. And I have a small business organising corporate promotions. I seem to have a good head for business, so I’m
told.’

After coffee, Tolmacheff insisted on paying for dinner, then escorted Gemma to her car. Before she could stop him, he’d taken
her in his arms. ‘I don’t mean to frighten you,’ he said, ‘but you are deliciously tempting.’

Gemma laughed and disengaged herself. ‘Thank you, Angelo. I really enjoyed myself.’

‘I believe in being direct. It’s a European quality. What are you looking for in a man, Gerri?’ Tolmacheff asked.

Gemma opened her car door, cocked her head to indicate deep thoughtfulness and after a pause said, ‘Someone who is kind, honest.
A man who understands what a woman wants and needs. Someone I can admire and look up to. Someone I can trust.’ Penny Watson’s
words ran through Gemma’s mind. She tried to smile at him to cover her growing disgust, noting how Tolmacheff had nodded in
agreement with every quality she mentioned.

‘Angelo, now may I ask you the same question?’

He took Gemma’s hands in his. ‘Of course. I am all for equality.’

She gazed into his eyes intently. ‘What are you looking for in a woman?’

He leaned towards her, the bulk of his body coming closer. He whispered, his breath in her ear, ‘You.’