Quintin Jardine - Alarm Call

‘Ach, you mean Harvey? Yes, he is actually.’

‘Well, actually, it’s him I want to talk to.’

‘Hang on, then.’

I waited for a few seconds, then a few seconds more. Finally, the advocate announced himself. ‘Harvey January.’ Jonny couldn’t have told him who was on the line.

‘Hiya, it’s Oz here. You and I are having lunch next Tuesday, yes?’

‘It’s in my diary.’

‘Can we do it tomorrow? There’s something I want to pick your brain about.’

He paused for thought. ‘Yes, I suppose so, if it’s all right with Ellen.’

‘It will be. Where?’

‘Where’s good for you?’

‘How does Gleneagles sound? Bring Ellie and the boys, and their golf clubs, and yours too.’

There was a pause. ‘I don’t play, Oz.’ For a man with prospects of the Bench, that was a surprising admission.

I smiled. ‘Let me suggest something to you, then. If you have any plans for my sister that involve impressing our father, her sons, and me, you might give it a try.’

‘Wouldn’t they like sailing?’

‘My dad would drown you if you tried to get him into a boat.’

He sighed, but I could hear a quiet laugh there too. ‘Ah, well, if that’s what it takes. I’ll see you tomorrow.’

‘Meet me at midday, for lunch at twelve thirty; we’ll get the brain-picking over with first.’

As I put my mobile away the girls were watching me. ‘Who was that?’ Prim asked.

‘That was a man who wants to make a good impression on me. In the process he might do you some good too.’

‘But why Gleneagles?’

‘One, because it’s where this all started, so it’s as good a place as any. Two, because it’s handy for your parents. The lunch invite doesn’t include you. Once we’ve talked to Harvey, you’re going to see your mum and dad, and you’re going to do something you should have done a while ago: you’re going to tell them about their grandson.’

When Ellie came into the lobby of the Gleneagles Hotel and saw Prim waiting with Susie, the kids and me, her mouth dropped open. For a second I thought we were in for a scene: my sister is not the sort to stifle her true feelings. However, I managed to catch her eye and to shake my head very slightly, and succeeded in putting her off.

So instead of coming out with something on the lines of ‘What the * amp;!% is she doing here?’, she simply ignored her former sister-in-law altogether, instead rushing up to embrace Susie and make a fuss of Janet and the baby.

The older Jonathan, my nephew, was intrigued, though. I could see his mother’s question in his eyes, although without the indignation. He’s known Primavera since he was a kid, and wasn’t close to any of the aggro that happened between us. As for Colin, the subtleties of inter-personal relationships are lost on him and, I hope, always will be. He just beamed and said, ‘Hello, Auntie Prim!’

It all went over Harvey January’s head too. The beefy, dark-haired QC stood there, with a vague uncertain smile on his big square face, one of his eyebrows rising a little at Colin’s greeting. I guessed that Ellie had filled him in on the family history.

I took charge of events straight away. After I had kissed Ellie hello, whispering, ‘Susie’ll explain,’ in her ear at the same time, I took Harvey by the elbow and ushered him and Primavera through to a small meeting room, which I had reserved for our discussion.

I introduced the two of them. I was right about my sister: I didn’t have to explain who Prim was. ‘Harvey,’ I began, ‘I’m proposing to take serious advantage of our brief acquaintance, or of the fact that you’re sleeping with our Ellen, however you prefer to look at it. My ex here is in serious trouble, and she needs a guiding hand. I know you can’t represent her directly, but you might be able to point her in the right direction, and recommend appropriate people.’

The QC shifted in his chair, frowning. ‘Oz, under Faculty of Advocates rules I’m not supposed to do even that without a solicitor’s instruction.’

‘I know, but that’s covered by the phrase “take serious advantage”. You’re not going to be quoted to anyone, so will you hear us out?’

He gave a diffident smile. ‘You mean that this meeting isn’t taking place?’

‘What meeting? I’m just your girlfriend’s brother, filling you in on a wee bit of history, something that began in this very hotel, two years ago.’ I carried on and told him Prim’s story, as quickly and clearly as I could. A minute into my tale, he produced a hand-held computer from his pocket. . these days, high-flyers like Harvey and I don’t go anywhere without one of those. . and began making notes on it with a stylus.

When I was finished, he whistled. ‘You wouldn’t get away with that in court,’ I said.

‘I might, before some judges I know. In fact they’d probably be whistling themselves after a piece of evidence like that. A carefully planned, long-term, major fraud, with the child as a surprise twist; very little deception on this scale comes before the Scottish Bench, I assure you.’

He glanced at his palm-top, reviewing his notes. ‘If this was a consultation,’ he murmured, ‘I’d ask you a couple of questions, Primavera.’

She leaned forward. ‘Such as?’

‘The first would be whether Mr Wallinger ever proposed marriage to you, or you to him.’

She shrugged her shoulders. ‘Not in the get-down-on-your-knees sense. We discussed it, but we had both come from failure, so we weren’t in any rush. I just assumed it was something that would happen eventually.’

‘Who initiated these discussions?’

She looked up and over Harvey’s head for a few moments, then back at him. ‘Now that you ask me to recall it, whenever the subject came up, it was me who raised it.’

‘My next questions would be about the fraud, if I were to ask them. Clearly it could only have happened if Mr Wallinger was acting as your financial adviser. Is that the case?’

‘Yes. I was pregnant when Paul raised the subject of my financial affairs for the first time. He said that since I was having his child, he supposed that he had a duty as a parent to ensure that its interests were protected properly. He was laughing when he said it, but I saw the sense in it.’

‘You took him seriously?’

‘Yes.’

‘So what did you do?’

‘I reconsidered the arrangement I had at the time. My funds were managed in Edinburgh, by a company that Oz had found for me. I remember when I told Paul he gave me one of those kindly looks of his that implied I was an idiot. “It’s unusual,” he said, “to let your ex have as much continuing influence over your life.” I saw the sense in that too, so I asked him if he’d be happier if he was looking after me. He was hesitant, at first.’

‘But you persuaded him?’

‘Goddamnit, I suppose I did. I thought he was a bloody stockbroker, didn’t I?’

‘A slight flaw in your case,’ said Harvey, ‘but not crippling by any means, especially since he presented himself as such. How did you give him the authority to act for you?’

‘I wrote to my former manager firing him, and instructing him to send all my papers to me, by registered post, then I signed letters that Paul produced, one for each of the companies in which I was invested, naming him as my new financial adviser and giving him full authority to act on my behalf.’

‘How was he described in those letters?’

‘As my partner.’

‘Excellent. If I was your counsel I’d be able to argue that his appointment was based upon the trust flowing from an established relationship, in which a child was at that time expected.’

‘Will you be my counsel, Harvey?’ she asked.