Джеффри Арчер - This Was a Man

‘But that still doesn’t explain why Mellor needed ten thousand in cash so quickly,’ said Giles. ‘After all, he was a very rich man.’

‘In assets,’ said Hakim, ‘but not necessarily cash.’

‘I’ve spent the last couple of days trying to fathom that one out,’ said Seb, ‘but of course it was my father who came up with the most likely scenario. He thought that if Mellor needed that amount of cash urgently, you should look no further than the prison. He also wondered if the mysterious disappearance of Adrian Sloane had something to do with it.’

‘Maybe Mellor was being threatened,’ said Arnold. ‘That’s not uncommon when it’s thought a prisoner has money.’

‘Possibly,’ said Hakim, ‘but if he urgently needed a loan of ten thousand pounds, he would have had to come up with something as security.’

‘Like his flat in Bristol,’ suggested Arnold.

‘But it wasn’t sold in time to solve his cash-flow problem, so he must have found something else.’

‘His shares in Mellor Travel, perhaps?’ suggested Giles.

‘Seems unlikely,’ said Hakim. ‘They’re worth at least a million and a half, and he only needed ten thousand.’

‘It depends how desperate he was,’ said Giles.

‘Which is why I’m convinced he was being threatened by another inmate,’ said Arnold.

‘But why would he turn to Virginia for help,’ said Giles, ‘when it was her who relied on him for an income, not the other way round?’

‘She must have been the intermediary,’ said Seb, ‘and my father suggests that’s how Knowles became involved.’

‘And once he realized he could end up with fifty-one per cent of Mellor Travel if Mellor wasn’t around to pay the ten thousand back within thirty days...’

‘Which is why my father is convinced it wasn’t suicide, but murder,’ said Seb.

‘Jim Knowles may be a nasty piece of work,’ said Arnold, ‘but I can’t believe he’d involve himself in murder.’

‘I suspect that’s where Sorkin comes in,’ said Seb.

‘And there’s something else I can tell you from past experience,’ said Arnold. ‘Contract killers usually charge around ten thousand, and there are sure to be one or two of them in Belmarsh.’

A long silence followed, until Hakim said, ‘So once Sorkin got his hands on the shares, if Mellor was no longer around, the company would fall into his lap. And there’s certainly no chance of us getting anything out of Knowles or Sloane.’

‘That’s another mystery,’ said Seb. ‘There’s been no sign of Sloane for over a month. I can’t believe he’d have done a runner only days before he had the chance of hitting the jackpot.’

‘I agree,’ said Hakim. ‘However, I suspect there is one other person who could probably answer all our questions.’

‘The Lady Virginia Fenwick,’ said Sebastian. ‘All we have to decide is who will approach her?’

‘We could always draw straws to see who should bell the cat?’

‘No need,’ said Hakim. ‘There’s only one person who can pull this off.’ He turned and smiled at Giles.

‘But I haven’t spoken to Virginia for almost thirty years,’ protested Giles, ‘and there’s no reason to believe she’d even be willing to see me.’

‘Unless you were able to offer her something she couldn’t resist,’ said Seb. ‘After all, we know Mellor was willing to pay ten thousand pounds to get that document back, so all you have to do is find out how much Virginia wants to supply you with a copy.’

‘How do we even know she’s got a copy?’ asked Arnold.

‘Another piece of information kindly supplied by Mr Carter,’ said Seb.

‘Which raises the question,’ said Hakim, ‘who’s got the original?’

‘Knowles,’ said Seb without hesitation. ‘Don’t forget, it was he who collected the ten thousand from Carter.’

‘But on whose behalf?’ asked Arnold.

‘We’re going round in circles,’ said Hakim, ‘which I’m sure Lady Virginia can square.’ Once again he turned and smiled at Giles.

Giles spent some considerable time trying to work out how he should approach Virginia. A letter suggesting a meeting would be a waste of time, as he knew from past experience that it was often days before she opened her mail, and even when she did, it was most unlikely she would bother to reply to anything that came from him. The last time he’d rung her, she had slammed the phone down before he’d had a chance to deliver the second sentence. And if he turned up on her doorstop unannounced, he could end up with a slapped face or a slammed door, and possibly both. It was Karin who came up with the solution. ‘That woman is only interested in one thing,’ she said, ‘so you’ll have to bribe her.’

A DHL messenger delivered an envelope marked ‘Urgent & Personal’ to Virginia’s home in Chelsea the following morning, and didn’t leave until she’d signed for it. She phoned Giles within an hour.

‘Is this some kind of joke?’ she demanded.

‘Not at all. I just wanted to be sure I caught your attention.’

‘Well, you’ve succeeded. So what do I have to do to get you to sign the cheque?’

‘Supply me with a copy of the document Mr Carter wanted to see before he was willing to hand over ten thousand pounds.’

There was a long pause before Virginia spoke again. ‘Ten thousand won’t be enough for that, because I know exactly why you’re so desperate to get your hands on it.’

‘How much?’

‘Twenty thousand.’

‘I’ve been authorized to go up to fifteen,’ said Giles, hoping he sounded convincing.

Another long pause. ‘Once I’m in possession of a cheque for fifteen thousand pounds, I’ll send you a copy of the document.’

‘I don’t think so, Virginia. I’ll hand over the cheque when you give me a copy of the document.’

Virginia fell silent once again, before she said, ‘When and where?’

Giles pushed his way through the revolving doors into the Ritz Hotel just after 2.45 the following afternoon. He made his way straight to the Palm Court and selected a table from which he would be able to see Virginia the moment she appeared.

He flicked through the pages of the Evening Standard to pass the time, but still found himself looking up every few moments and repeatedly checking his watch. He knew Virginia wouldn’t be on time, especially after he’d provoked her, but he was equally confident that she wouldn’t be too late, because Coutts closed their doors at five o’clock, and she would want to bank the cheque before going home.

When Virginia entered the tea room at eleven minutes past three, Giles gasped. No one would have thought it possible that this elegant woman was over sixty. In fact, several men stole a second glance as ‘the most classy broad in the joint’, to quote Bogart, walked slowly across to join her ex-husband.

Giles stood up to greet her. As he bent down to kiss her on both cheeks, the slight fragrance of gardenia brought back many memories.

‘It’s been too long, my darling,’ purred Virginia as she sat down opposite him. After the slightest of pauses, she added, ‘And you’ve put on so much weight.’

The spell was broken, and Giles was quickly reminded why he didn’t miss her.

‘Shall we get the business out of the way,’ she continued, opening her handbag and extracting an envelope. ‘I’ll give you what you came for, but not before you hand over my cheque.’

‘I need to see the document before I’m willing to part with any money.’

‘You’re just going to have to trust me, my darling.’ Giles stifled a smile. ‘Because if I let you read it, you may feel you no longer need to pay me.’

Giles couldn’t fault her logic. ‘Perhaps we can agree on a compromise,’ he suggested. ‘You turn to the last page of the document and show me Mellor’s signature and the date, and I’ll show you the cheque.’