I went back to the lab with the fox fur and the box of letters. I swabbed the letters, opening each envelope until I found a small pile of unopened ones, tied with a single blue ribbon. Mae Hampshire had, at some time in the year before she died, stopped reading the letters Capelione sent, but yet still kept them. I scrutinised them all.

The first envelope in the pile contained minute traces of lead. Suddenly the whole thing came together.

Morgan was in his office when I turned up at his precinct. It was dark and gloomy in there, all mahogany and leather but worn and ugly, lacking imagination, flare and comfort. On his desk I saw a photograph of a woman with a baby.

‘Your wife?’ I asked and Morgan looked up surprised to find me so quietly standing before his desk. You see I can sneak up on him.

‘Yes. I’m surprised to see you here, but I guess that means you have something for me.’

I nodded, ‘May I?’ I said pointing to the seat opposite him.

‘Sure.’

I sat down and took a breath. I wasn’t really sure how to tell him what I’d learnt. I placed the evidence bag before him and the box containing the letters.

‘What do you know of a criminal called Sonny Capelione?’ I asked.

Morgan sat back in his chair, ‘Capelione? He died about 10 years ago.’

‘Yes,’ I said. ‘He died a few days before Mae Hampshire and her husband Gerard Hampshire Senior were accidentally killed in cross-fire when a thug tried to hold up a restaurant they were dining in.’

Morgan nodded. ‘I remember that too. Sad business. Hey, of course that’s Gerard Hampshire’s parents.’

‘Do you know what Capelione died of?’ I asked.

‘As a matter of fact I do. He had some kind of bone wasting disease.’

‘Before I came over here, I took the liberty of checking the medical records. Fortunately for me Capelione was treated in Hollywood.’

‘And?’

‘He died of Colica Pictonum.’ I smiled. I can’t resist showing off sometimes. ‘I suspect he was exposed while handling the stuff when he made his own, untraceable rounds. I’m sure your recall the expression used for mafia murders? They die of “lead poisoning”. Or are “shot full of lead”. It was ironic really that Capone’s arch henchman died of actual lead poisoning.’

‘Really? I didn’t know that. But what has this got to do with this case?’

‘Karolina De Vere was murdered by Sonny Capelione.’

‘What?’

‘The fox fur she was wearing contained dangerous traces of lead. It was buried in the foxes claws and coating the fur. The eyes weren’t the traditional glass; they were lead bullets painted to look like eyes. Very artistically painted I might add. I didn’t notice it at all at first.’

Then I explained to Morgan how Sonny had given Mae the fur, years before. At the time the lead wasn’t dangerous; the claws and eyes were coated in a glossy resin that made them shine and gleam, and the fur had been treated with a moth repellent which similarly acted as a barrier. But as the years passed, this valuable fox fur had worn. The protective barriers had decayed, and the lead became exposed while it was left hanging in Mae’s wardrobe.

‘Hampshire gave Karolina the fur in good faith. He wanted her to have something that his mother loved. He never knew the history.’ I explained.

‘Technically her death was an accident,’ Morgan said.

‘Well no. Not really. That’s where these letters come in. But you need to wear some surgical gloves before you touch them; they’re covered with lead deposits. I don’t know if you realise it, but lead is extremely dangerous, even in small doses and some people are more susceptible than others.’ I handed over a pair I’d specifically brought for Morgan to use.

Sonny was obsessed with Mae. There was an element of ‘owning’ her and he felt his possession had been stolen. After serving years in prison for crimes linked with Al Capone, Sonny hadn’t let it go. And it was clear, even on his death-bed, that he resented Mae’s abandonment.

I’m dying. He told her in his last letter, never knowing that it would remain unopened until ten years later. The doctors say there’s nothing they can do for me. But I curse you and that goddamn fur, which you love so much. Something bad will happen if ever you wear it again. I’m taking this to my grave. I swear to God I’ll never forgive you.

Sonny died that night, leaving behind his curse in an envelope that Mae received, but never opened. It went into the box with the others; she’d stopped listening to his feeble threats. Capelione was nothing without Capone to back him up. On her death Gerard Junior had glanced through a few of the letters, but hadn’t read on as he wanted to remember his mother as the happy person he’d known. He, also, never knew of the curse.

‘I gave Karolina the fur on the night of the awards,’ Hampshire told me. ‘She knew how much it meant to me and I wanted to show her, in my own stupid, stumbling way, by giving her my mother’s favourite fur, that I loved her.’

‘So, why wasn’t Hampshire poisoned?’ Morgan asked.

‘He was wearing gloves. He has an obsessive compulsive disorder that makes him constantly wash his hands. The way he avoids drawing attention to that his phobia is by wearing gloves. Hampshire took the fur from Karolina’s body on the night she died, automatically hanging it back up in the wardrobe. Then, he immediately washed his hands. He can’t help himself. That’s way he had no traces and why the lead didn’t have time to poison him.’

‘Good. Because I don’t believe in curses,’ Morgan said.

‘Fortunately you don’t have to because what happened is actually explainable.’

But deep down I wondered. Mae Hampshire technically died of ‘lead poisoning’ when she was gunned down in the restaurant on the last time she ever wore the fox fur wrap. And, Karolina De Vere, beautiful, talented and innocent, died the very first night she wore it.

After the inquest Gerard Hampshire asked for Karolina’s possessions to be returned. He particularly wanted his mother’s fox fur wrap, but strangely it had disappeared from the evidence vault.

It was never to be seen again.