Simon leaned his head against the back of the chair and appeared to give that idea some serious thought. After a moment he straightened and shook his head.
“Not yet,” he said.
“Why not?”
“It will be interesting to see how things play out after the body is discovered later this morning.”
Lyra circled the table in the center of the suite. “Do you think Guppy is the killer? She would certainly know how to operate the paraffin equipment. But so would any of the treatment ladies.”
“Why would Guppy take the risk of staging such an elaborate scene in her own spa? Encasing the body in wax is more than a bit extreme. A murder staged as an accident would have made more sense. Whoever tried to kill you certainly wanted your death to appear accidental.”
“Good point,” Lyra said. “Maybe the killer is simply insane. Frampton’s death might have nothing to do with the gang of kidnappers.”
“Trust me, it’s connected. There are no coincidences in a murder investigation.”
“But the paraffin bath is so bizarre. Not to mention time-consuming. The killer had to go to a lot of work to heat the paraffin and pour it over the body. Kevin Draper emphasized that the gang is running a business. The last thing they would want to do is draw the attention of the police with a killing that looks like the act of a madman.”
Simon set his empty glass aside. “I’m not so sure about that. When you think about it, there is a certain logic to making Frampton’s death appear to be the work of a crazed fiend. It will point the authorities inthe wrong direction. They certainly won’t be looking for an organized ring of kidnappers.”
Lyra sighed. “I see what you mean.”
“It’s also possible someone is sending a message.”
Lyra glanced at him. “To other members of the ring?”
“Maybe. There are too many questions, Lyra. We need more information. We can’t just flail around. Not now. We have to assume we are being watched. I doubt we are in danger here in the hotel, because two more deaths would be very difficult to explain to the police. In addition, if Guppy and her gang are onto us, it’s almost certain they know that our client is Luther Pell.”
“And no criminal in his right mind wants to draw the attention of Luther Pell.”
“Right. The kidnappers must know that we are closing in on them. They’ll panic. If I were in their shoes I would be looking for a way out. That starts with getting rid of Raina, but it will have to be done in a manner that won’t point to Guppy and her spa.”
Lyra looked at him, curiosity overriding her worries. “If you were the leader of the kidnapping ring, what would you do?”
Simon hesitated. “Do you really want to know?”
“Yes. Don’t worry, I do realize we are speaking hypothetically.”
Simon propped his elbows on the padded arms of the chair and put his fingertips together. “Hypothetically speaking, if I thought Pell was closing in, I would shut down the business and disappear.”
“You’re talking about the kidnapping business?”
“Right. I would eliminate all of the other members of the ring—I’m sure it’s a small group—and then I’d frame one person to make certain Pell was satisfied, because I’d know he wouldn’t stop looking until he was certain the ringleader was dead.”
Lyra caught her breath, stopped for a couple of seconds, and then continued pacing. “And Raina?”
“The safest option is to make certain that Miss Kirk does not survive. She’s a huge risk. Even if she has been blindfolded or drugged this whole time, there’s no getting around the fact that she knows too much. She’s a professional investigator, after all. She will have paid attention to even the smallest clue.”
Lyra came to a halt and shuddered. “That sounds so... so—”
“Ruthless?”
“Yes.”
“We’re dealing with a ring of kidnappers that is willing to commit murder,” Simon reminded her. “Given the identity of the victim and the fact that there has not been a ransom demand, we have to assume that whoever did this never intended for Miss Kirk to survive.”
“Yes, I know,” Lyra said. “But we were also speaking hypothetically. Your theory assumes that the killers are functioning like a small but well-organized mob. For them the kidnappings are business as usual. If things go bad in business, you do, indeed, close down the shop and let the employees go. But there are some unusual factors in this situation.”
“Believe me, I’m aware of that. The biggest question is, why did they take the risk of grabbing Luther Pell’s lover in the first place? The answers may be in Miss Kirk’s past, but we don’t have time to search for them.”
