Chapter 7
I have to admit, looking at it that way, it's the most plausible explanation. I am falling for her; and it did cross my mind that I wished I'd found her first. Rich, beautiful and incredible in bed.
She's angry now. “You haven’t told me a single true thing since we met. That lovely boat trip. And waxing lyrical about the falls. And that romantic lookout. Then our carefree, ‘secret’, afternoon together."
"Now my nasty, murderer husband, who is secretly in league with you, is planning to divorce me. Or, even murder me! All lies!”
"OK I was lying about my motive and my identity. But I'm telling the truth now. Geraldo has already paid me a thousand US dollars spending money, to get incriminating pictures for a divorce. And he will pay me a further five thousand for the camera card."
“Your story is ridiculous," she sneers. "There's no way that he'll get a dime if he divorces me. Do you think I would marry a tango instructor without a watertight pre-nuptial agreement?"
"Then why did he tell me to get evidence for a divorce?"
"Because he didn't. You're lying! He flew to BA because he's judging the finals of a dance competition on TV. And probably, to spent a couple of nights with one or more of his 'dance' partners. It's not at all unexpected. He's young. I let him have his little flings. And while he's away it gives me the freedom to do this. So, there's no way he wants a divorce, even though I'll make him pay dearly for his infidelity later. He'll be back here on Monday full of remorse and cringing at my every movement, like a naughty puppy dog waiting to be punished for getting into yet another pantry."
"I'm not lying! He must have some other way of getting to your money. He must be planning to murder you somehow and pin it on me. He'll secretly return. Maybe a compliant dance partner will be his alibi."
"Geraldo is not my main beneficiary, and he would be a fool to kill me. I'm his golden goose. He knows he wouldn't be able to maintain his spendthrift lifestyle if I die. My trust controls everything, including his allowance. And I'm not about to change my will or take out insurance for that cheating gigoló. I don’t believe in providing incentives for wife-killing.”
***
She’s right! I’ve been barking up the wrong tree! My idea is obviously nonsense. But if he's not getting a divorce, he's definitely setting me up for something else. So, what's his angle?
She said it! Blackmail. That’s it! It's because she's running for public office. He's going to use the video of her debauchery with me to blackmail his own wife. He’s going to step into the shoes of our dreamt-up, fictional Diego, a blackmailing gigoló she met on holidays - Diego who secretly filmed her doing those scandalous things with him on the bed. He's obviously very familiar with her kinky preferences and knew what to expect 'above the covers'.
I can imagine it now. He'll be wonderfully forgiving and supportive. After all, she's apparently forgiven him many times, at least by her account. But he'll be terribly concerned for her political career and reputation: "Now that you're standing for office you must protect your reputation at all costs."
So, her bid for public office has provided his opportunity to get his hands on her money. He'll recommend paying the blackmailer. "Our detective has tried everything to find Diego. It seems impossible. He must be in Switzerland or somewhere, under an assumed identity. But he’s not asking more than your career is worth, so pay him. This video is a lot more scandalous than photos of Fergie having her toes sucked. You certainly don’t want this sort of X rated thing all over the Internet! These days it's so easy - the click of a button and your political career is ruined.”
So, everything points to me as her future blackmailer. Diana must be about to call the cops.
***
I’m in serious trouble. No one will believe me. I’m in a bugged room with my prints all over the place. Even inside the camera. She'll correctly say that I used it to video us making love, without her knowledge or consent. My story about a stopping a murder or collecting evidence for a divorce is nonsense. And there is absolutely nothing to link me with Geraldo, except that I knew him as a boy.
I might still have been OK if I didn't have a hot Olympus that's probably already been reported missing. It has a traceable serial number and on its xD memory card are the original owner’s pictures, ahead of the ones I took this morning of Diana being provocative on the paths around the falls, providing more potential blackmail material.
Ok, I need to re-think this. My suspicions about Geraldo's strange flight schedule led me to confess to Diana, instead of just leaving after sex with the card from the camera-clock as he instructed. So, I've inadvertently wrecked his blackmail plan.
Where does that get me? Now Diana will obviously want to wipe the camera's memory card. That doesn't help. The cops will understand that she did it to protect her modesty and my fingerprints alone tell the story. Geraldo will, naturally, proclaim his innocence. He might even acknowledge that he once knew me, saying I've always been a lying little cheat who once even conned a Nun, poor, trusting Sister Angelique. He'll say that my jealousy of his success is my motive for targeting his wife and him. Anyway, it's the word of a wealthy TV celebrity against mine, a petty criminal. I can't win that one.
My only hope now is to raise enough doubts about Geraldo's role in this, for Diana to let me go. If I agree to clean up the evidence, then walk away as if nothing happened, she might just let me go. I doubt she wants to have any of this leak out, so she won't want me arrested and sent to trial.
But if she calls the cops and shows them a video recording clock, with my fingerprints inside it. I’m gone! And if, on top of that, they find the stolen Olympus with more compromising photos I'll be gaoled for sure.