‘Could be he was banking on Russell’s investment,’ Janey said. ‘Six months would tide him over until the restaurants were sold.’

‘Then Russell died,’ Clare said.

Janey nodded. ‘Exactly. But he knows Gaby will inherit. My guess is he planned to tell her about the loan and hoped she’d repay it for him.’

‘Then Gaby announces she’s giving half the money to David and some of her share to charity. That could mean the end for Luke’s company.’ Clare sat thinking for a minute then she said, ‘Janey, who’s the lender?’

A smile spread across Janey’s face. ‘The company’s called DG Investments.’

‘DG?’ Chris said. ‘You’re joking!’

Clare shook her head slowly. ‘Doug Gerrard.’ She smiled back at Janey. ‘It’s him, isn’t it?’

‘Yep.’

‘There’s your motive, then,’ Chris said.

‘There’s more,’ Janey went on.

‘Yeah?’

‘That boarding school – they’re six months behind with the fees.’

Clare gaped. ‘Seriously?’

‘Yep.’

Chris frowned. ‘I could be wrong, but I reckon Gaby doesn’t know that.’

‘I’m sure she doesn’t,’ Clare said. ‘She told us she didn’t need Russell’s money.’

‘So Luke’s been dipping into the joint account to keep his company afloat,’ Chris said.

Clare put a hand on Janey’s desk and pulled herself to her feet. ‘Come on,’ she nodded to Chris. ‘Let’s update Tony.’

‘Just give me the gist of it, then get off home,’ Tony said. ‘Before you infect the whole damn team.’

Clare sat down and pulled her jacket round her. ‘It’s freezing in here. Why is this station always so cold?’

‘Never mind that. Where are we?’

Clare sneezed and Tony passed a box of tissues across the desk.

‘I’ll explain,’ Chris said. ‘Basically we have two different versions of events. Luke Gasparini claims Gaby and David Fox conspired to kill Russell. But David denies this. Says he’s no idea who killed Russell.’

‘And Gaby?’ Tony asked.

Clare shook her head. ‘Gaby was still pretty sleepy but her story backs up David’s.’

Tony frowned. ‘Well it would – if the two of them are in it together.’

Chris looked at Clare. ‘But we don’t believe they are. We’re waiting on DNA results that might help, though.’

‘Okay, forget Russell for now,’ Tony said. ‘What about the overdose?’

Chris said, ‘We think the diazepam tablets were fed to Gaby, probably in a pot of coffee Luke made for her.’

Tony frowned. ‘Where’s your motive?’

‘Money.’

‘Explain, please.’

Chris looked down for a moment, as though ordering his thoughts. Then he said, ‘Russell Fox planned to sell his restaurants and invest the proceeds in two projects: one with Doug Gerrard and one with Luke.’

‘So both lose out by Russell’s death?’ Tony said.