Depth of Deception (A Titanic Murder Mystery) (40 page)

. . .

Edward could hear the chorus of sirens swarming around the jet as it was taxiing along the runway. He craned his neck to look out the window but the commotion was out of his field of vision.

Once the plane had come to a complete stop, Edward took his briefcase and coat and assisted Myra with her personal belongings as they made their way to the front. Roger struggled once again with his luggage, while the co-pilot opened the aircraft’s door.

Edward had been in England
a
few months earlier, supervising the last stages of the
Titan
. It was a record cold winter for England but compared to the Great Blizzard that was dumping copious amounts of snow on the American east coast, he was glad that England was now practically balmy in comparison.

He held his arm out for Myra as they started to descend down the steps. Suddenly, two black cars sped across the tarmac to meet up with the cacophony of cars with flashing lights assembled ten feet from the tail fin. Men in suits and uniforms were moving towards him, dragging along a disheveled man being escorted between them.

The pilot had come out of the cabin and pushed his way in front of Edward
to yell
at the men below,
"
What the hell is going on here? Do you have any idea how dangerous that stunt…
"

The nearest man in a suit interrupted by holding up his identification for them to see, as he hollered,
"
Mr. Edward Hoffman, I am Inspector Rait with Interpol. We have a warrant to arrest this woman, who calls herself ‘Myra Hoffman.’
"

Edward blinked, bewi
ldered. Then he descended
the stairs to look at the identification with the Interpol insignia. He cleared his throat and demanded,
"
On what charges?
"

"
For fraud, grand larceny and murder,
"
replied Inspector Rait, holding out the warrant for Edward to see.
"
She is a con artist and has outstanding warrants all over the world: from Europe to Argentina.
"

Edward ignored the piece of paper flapping in the Inspector’s hand. He could not believe what he was hearing.
"
That’s not possible. Roger, do something.
"

"
Sorry, Edward, I have no jurisdiction here,
"
Roger replied as he took the warrant from the Inspector to inspect it anyway.

"
I’m afraid it is possible sir. We have connected her to accomplices involved with several murders here in the United Kingdom, including a police officer and a DNA scientist, Dr. Jeff Alec, as well as the attempted murder of Dr. Natalie Lindsay in New York.
"

"
That was a random mugging,
"
said Edward cautiously.

"
One of our agents from our New York Office got a statement from her as she was recovering from her surgery. She identified ‘Myra’ as her attacker.
"

"
No!
"
cried Myra,
"
I would never hurt her. I was with Edward all this time. Tell them.
"

"
It’s true, Inspector, she was with me,
"
Edward said. Then he thought of the brief time she was away and the helicopter that flew overhead. He chose not to mention that as he continued,
"
And in fact, her life was in danger – she was almost killed herself.
"

"
By Agent Kybartis? He was one of ours sent to extradite her back to England.
"

An Interpol Agent?
Edward’s mind was reeling.
This wasn’t possible.

"
No, he was going to kill me!
"
Myra exclaimed.
"
I heard him talking to someone on the telephone. He wanted to murder me!
"

Another man in a dark suit handed Inspector Rait a file folder. Rait opened it and produced several pages.
"
Here is the original warrant for her arrest. Here is a document pertaining to her recent plastic surgery to pass herself off as Myra Hoffman.
"

"
Plastic what?
"
cried Myra.

Roger took the entire file folder from Inspect
or Rait, and flipped through it
as the agent spoke.

"
As you can see there,
"
Rait continued,
"
s
he’s been casing you for the past two years. You are not the only one. Five years ago she conned a British couple that she was their long-lost daughter abducted from childhood.
"

This was a low blow to Edward. It wasn’t possible! He needed to see it with his own eyes. He took the file folder from Roger and began to sift through its
contents. Two
Polaroid photo
s
fel
l to the ground. Edward picked them
up.

"
We recovered th
ose
from one of her accomplices here in England,
"
Rait said.
"
As you can see she had been studying you for some time.
"

Edward looked at the photos. One was of his
Titanic
model and the bookcase behind it; and the other was a close up photo of his video collection of time travel movies. Edward recognized the titles of his own collection:
World Without End, Final Countdown, Somewhere in Time, The Time Machine, Time After Time, Berkley Square, Brigadoon, Planet of the Apes,
and
...
Time Bandits
? Edward raised an eyebrow... then glanced back down to the date scribbled on the white border, beneath the image: 10 May 1981, almost a year ago. He looked at the photo again. He was beginning to understand what was happening.

He continued to browse through the thick file folder that contained details of his life, his daily activities, and his education. Edward paused as he looked at the page detailing his Military record. He now knew the full extent of his betrayal and deception as he read the official document detailing his training in wireless decoding in World War II.

"
I’m sorry Mr. Hoffman. She preys on lonely old men… she has no limits to how low she will stoop,
"
said Rait who then turned to Myra,
"
May I have that locket?
"

Her hand flew to touch it,
"
Whatever for?
"

"
Evidence, my dear,
"
Rait said,
"
I have a warrant to seize a locket, an Edwardian dress, a deck chair and a replica of a 1910 Bing-Bear Teddy Bear.
"

Edward could feel ‘Myra’ looking to him for support. But he needed to distance himself emotionally. He purposely turned away. He couldn’t look at her.

"
Very well,
"
replied Myra with a trembling, tearful voice.
"
I'
ll go with you, if for no other reason but to prove my innocence. My dress is in my bag, but I don’t have any deck chair or teddy bear.
"

"
Put her luggage in the boot,
"
Rait called out. Another agent complied and took her bags and put them into the back of the stretch Mercedes-Benz Sedan.

Suddenly the disheveled man stumbled forward to Edward,
"
Mr. Hoffman. I’m Callum Toughill. We met once before…
"

Edward looked at him. He remembered Mr. Toughill as always being impeccably groomed. He could hardly recognize him looking unkempt, unshaven and in rumpled clothing. He remembered they recently exchanged phone messages. With his mind still whirling, Edward muttered,
"
Dolanna?
"

"
My wife… er… ex-wife is looking after her,
"
Callum Toughill said as he suddenly grasped Edward’s hand, shaking it firmly.
"
I had hoped to discuss things with you.
"

Edward felt Toughill press a small rigid piece of paper into the palm of his hand. He nodded in understanding and said,
"
Thank you
,
Mr. Toughill.
"

He then pulled his hand back, fingers curling shut, hiding the exchange.

"
We have to get going now,
"
Inspector Rait said, interrupting as the other agent pulled Callum away from Edward.
"
Mr. Toughill, you’ll be coming with us. The information you have will be invaluable against this woman.
"

"
The information
I
have?
"
Toughill blinked as he was hauled towards one of the black cars. Another agent was carrying a black metal box from the nearby battered car.

"
Eddie,
"
Myra
implored
,
"
i
t’s not true! You know in your heart that it isn’t true!
"

One of the other men grabbed her by the upper arm and escorted her to the same car. Edward could not watch. With his mind whirling, he turned and walked toward his car.

Edward didn’t look back as he sank into the back seat of the Bentley, allowing the chauffe
u
r to close the door, shutting Myra from his view. He looked down as both cars drove off. Then
,
while Roger went back to the jet to retrieve the overcoat he had left in his seat, Edward looked at his palm to see what Callum Toughill had given him. It was a small white business card with the logo of the British Military of Defense Police. Printed in black ink was the name:
Commander Pamela Toughill

He needed to speak with her, but first he had to make one other urgent call. Edward picked up the heavy car phone and began to dial.

Chapter
LIII

Interpol does not conduct investigations, nor do they have the power to arrest anyone,
Callum thought to himself as he sat in the Mercedes-Benz stretch sedan.

Interpol has been portrayed in the cinema as some international police force solving crimes and arresting spies and terrorists, but Callum knew that was just a myth. At best, Interpol could be described as glorified paper pushers who are good at cutting through international red tape but don’t have their own officers. Instead, police forces from around the world loan their officers to Interpol.

So who are these blokes?
Callum wondered. He knew he was out gunned by them, and they could have easily just shot him by now. And no one would think twice about it. There was obviously some careful planning and great expense to fool Edward with those documents and these cars. They wanted this woman, and an ‘arrest’ was easier than kidnapping. Callum decided to play along. He hoped Edward would call Pamela and tell her what happened. She would know what to do.

He looked at the beautiful young lady sitting across from him and asked,
"
Have we met before?
"

She glared at him with her icy blue eyes and replied,
"
No, not likely.
"

Callum nodded. He looked over at the two ‘agents’ sitting next to them. Callum liked that this sedan was spacious and they were able to sit across from each other like on a train car. However, he hated having to sit backwards while the car was in motion, it made him slightly carsick. He decided to distract himself from it. He glanced up at Rait, sitting beside him, who was curiously eyeing the iron box between Callum’s feet.
He’s practically drooling,
Callum thought. The other agent, sitting next to the woman who called herself ‘Myra’ had his gun trained on her. Callum gestured to him,
"
Is that necessary?
"

The agent said nothing, but just glared at Callum.
OK, fine.

Callum fixed his thoughts back to the striking woman sitting in front of him. He recognized her raven black hair and piercing blue eyes from the tabloid magazine in the Mitchell Library with the story of her ‘miraculous’ recovery from the
Titanic
. But even when he saw her face on that magazine cover, he had sworn he had seen her before, but couldn’t place where. It was driving him crazy now. He struggled for a moment to remember what name was used when they arrested her on the tarmac.

"
So, let me get this straight,
"
Callum said to her.
"
They say you think you’re Myra Hoffman.
"