Читать книгу The Fund - Jeff Edwards - Страница 14

Sam stretched his tall frame to loosen his cramped muscles and went to open his balcony door. He needed to let some fresh air into his apartment.

The three of them had been going over the files all evening and the atmosphere in the cramped flat smelt stale with the lingering aroma of too many cups of coffee.

They each took a turn in Sam’s shower before changing into fresh clothes. Finally they left the files where they lay and walked across the road to Sam’s favourite café where he led them to his regular table.

Sloane took Sam’s advice and had the ploughman’s special, a meal guaranteed to send his cholesterol level into orbit, while Bree wisely selected fresh fruit and toast.

The agents used the opportunity to find out more about their new partner and Sloane was more than willing to regale them with tales from his rounds at the courts. There was hardly a criminal in London that Sloane did not know, from the highest mob leader to the lowest scam artist. They also noted the pride in his voice when he spoke about his daughter Pamela and her university plans.

Finally, Sloane realised that he had spent far too long talking about himself and deftly changed the line of questioning. He had seen Sam’s MG sports car and used that as means of escape.

Sam was delighted to tell all about his little pride and joy, but Bree had heard it all before and concentrated instead on her cup of green tea.

It was during their conversation about the relative merits of various models of cars that Sloane commented offhandedly, ‘That Roller of Jade Green’s must be something! It’s bulletproof, judging by the reports. I can’t find a single instance of her even laying eyes on the thing, so why do you think she bought it?’

It was a question neither of the agents had previously considered and brought Bree out of her daydream. She looked over at Sam to see if he had any bright ideas on the topic.

‘I hadn’t really thought much about that before,’ offered Sam. ‘We had been taken off the case by then and never saw it for ourselves.’

‘Who has it now?’ asked Sloane.

Once again the agents were at a loss. They looked at one another and shrugged their shoulders. The car was not something that either of them had considered as relevant. Now their curiosity was piqued. ‘It must be in the reports somewhere,’ said Bree.

‘I can’t recall seeing it,’ replied Sam uncertainly.

‘Neither can I,’ agreed Bree, ‘but it must be there somewhere.’

Following breakfast, the trio set back to work.

Hours of scouring the records proved fruitless. There was no record of the current whereabouts of Green’s car and there had been no reports of its sighting.

The last notation on the records had been when it was seen parked in front of The Fund, two days prior to the charity ball that Sam and Bree had attended.

‘So, it’s fair to assume that someone at The Fund has it,’ said Bree.

‘Only there’s no mention of it being present when each of their premises were searched,’ replied Sloane, putting down the report. ‘Your people made a thorough search of all their homes as well as those of their friends and associates. They haven’t reported the Roller being present anywhere.’

Sam contacted Inland Security headquarters. He obtained the names and phone numbers of all those agents who had been involved in the searches. He divided the list in two and while Sloane made some inquiries of his own, they began to work their way through the names.

Two hours later they were still unable to find anyone who had set eyes upon the Rolls Royce since the time of the last sighting.

‘I don’t like mysteries,’ said Bree. ‘Why would it disappear?’

‘Perhaps they sold it,’ offered Sam.

‘Not according to vehicle records,’ replied Sloane. ‘I’ve just spoken to a friend down there. Apparently Jade Green used a shelf company to purchase it in the first place and when probate had been granted on her estate, the solicitors transferred it into the name of The Fund. It’s still officially owned by them.’

Sam considered the information. ‘Well, we didn’t know why she bought the car in the first place. It could have been the simple whim of an old lady. But now that it has disappeared the car takes on a whole new significance. I think we should go back to the start. Why would she buy it?’

Bree nodded. ‘I think the fact that it wasn’t just any sort of car is important.’

‘There can’t be too many bulletproof Rollers out there. She had to have taken that into account when she selected this car to buy. Why would she need it? Did she think someone would try to shoot her?’ asked Sam.

‘No,’ nodded Sloane. ‘As you said before. She never laid eyes on it. She had to have had something else in mind for it.’

‘So, if it wasn’t to protect her then it had to be to protect someone or something else,’ offered Sam.

‘She had it parked in the same storage complex as her infamous videos. It had to be the videos,’ said Bree.

‘Those videos in the lockup were dummies. Where were the real ones? In the Roller of course!’ said Sam.

‘And the partners escaped the gunfight between our agents and the terrorists in the Roller, taking the real videos with them,’ added Bree.

Sloane concluded, ‘If your agents searched everywhere for the videos and couldn’t find them and they couldn’t find the Roller either, then it’s a fair chance that the Roller and the videos are still together.’

Sam and Bree looked at one another. They had been all through the files so many times and missed this completely. Now it was as clear as the noses on their faces. The Roller and the videos were together. Find one and you’d find the other.

‘So where do we start looking?’ asked Bree excitedly.

‘First we confirm our suspicions,’ replied Sloane, ‘just in case we’ve made the wrong assumption.’

‘How?’ asked Sam.

‘We have a missing Rolls Royce. Let’s see if our friends at The Fund have realised that its gone,’ said Sloane.

* * *

Bree and Sam entered the office of The Fund and presented their credentials to the receptionist.

‘We’d like to speak to Brian Reynolds or Toby Brown,’ said Sam officiously. ‘If they’re not available we’ll talk to Lana Reynolds or Suzie Brown and if we can’t speak to them we’ll talk to Ali or Nori Akuba. In fact, we’ll even talk to Justine Small or Eliza Strang.’

‘Are you sure you wouldn’t like to talk to Ron Tomkins? He’s the cleaner around here and about the only person’s name that you haven’t dropped so far,’ replied the girl with a cheeky grin.

‘Just get someone on the blower and tell them we’re here.’

Stifling a further caustic comment the girl rang through to Brian’s office and announced their presence.

Brian looked around at the files spread all over his desk. ‘Give me five minutes and I’ll be down.’

‘Mr Reynolds will be right with you,’ announced the receptionist. ‘Would you care to check out our eco-shop while you wait?’

Bree gave the girl an innocent smile. ‘I don’t think so. Perhaps on the way out?’

Brian appeared a few minutes later and welcomed them both with a hearty handshake before conducting the pair to his office.

He settled them in seats across from his desk and regained his usual spot on the other side of a desk that now contained nothing more than a blank pad and pen.

‘Now then,’ he said with a hearty smile, ‘what can I do for you?’

Bree began. ‘Sam has an interest in cars. He’d like to have a look at Jade Green’s famous bulletproof Rolls Royce.’

‘Would you now!’ said Brian as he tried to think of a way to fob them off. After this space of time he had hoped that the question of Jade’s car would have disappeared. ‘I’m afraid I don’t have it.’

‘Who does have it?’ asked Sam.

‘I’m not sure. I’d really have to ask.’

‘You mean you don’t know if someone around here is driving around in a bulletproof Rolls Royce?’ asked Bree.

‘Is it all that important that you see it?’ asked Brian as he sought to not answer Bree’s question.

‘Are you trying to avoid the question, Brian?’ asked Bree. ‘I thought all it needed was a straightforward answer, especially for a very sharp lawyer like you.’

Brian decided that the best way forward was to continue on the offensive. ‘So, this is not just some idle whim on Sam’s part? This is official.’

Bree regarded Brian. He was very good at this sort of thing. By avoiding having to answer their questions he was keeping himself from lying. ‘You still haven’t answered my original question, Brian. Do you know where to find Jade Green’s Roller?’

‘And I haven’t received a reply as to the exact nature of your questions,’ countered Brian.

Sam joined in. ‘Will you answer our question, or do we assume that you have something to hide? It was only a simple question after all.’

‘Perhaps I don’t know the answer to your question.’

Bree doubted that very much. He was trying just altogether too hard to avoid answering. Sloane had been right. There was something very significant about the Roller. ‘So, we can assume that your avoidance of our question means that you know where the car is and that its location is significant.’

‘I don’t know what you mean,’ replied Brian, hoping that they weren’t thinking what he was thinking.

‘We’ve decided that our search of these premises was exhaustive and that our agents didn’t miss anything. Therefore, Jade Green’s infamous videos are not here. We believe that you and your friends removed them from this building and have them hidden somewhere.

We have also concluded from our conversation that Jade Green’s Rolls Royce has been hidden and that you also know where it is hidden. We have now formed the opinion that the Rolls Royce was the vehicle used to transport the videos to their new location, and that the missing videos and the now missing Rolls Royce are, in fact, to be found at the same mysterious location.’

Brian smiled at them. ‘I applaud your deductive reasoning. In fact, I would love to get you both to express your opinions in court. I believe that my cross-examination of your theory would show you just how faulty your reasoning is. I’m afraid you’ve been clutching at straws to make your theories work. Every part of your line of reasoning is faulty. Each and every assumption can readily be explained away.’

‘So, you’re going to give us a rational explanation as to why we can’t have a look at Jade Green’s car?’ asked Bree.

Brian smiled. ‘Not at this time.’

‘And you won’t answer our simple question?’ asked Sam.

‘Would you believe me if I gave you a simple explanation?’

‘Would that simple explanation enable us to locate the car?’

‘No, I’m afraid not.’

‘Then you’re right. We would find any explanation given by you at this time to be questionable at best.’

‘Well, then, I think our little chat is concluded. Unless of course you wish to make a contribution to one of our projects?’

Sam stood. ‘Not on my wages.’

As Brian was accompanying the agents to the door, Bree noticed Sloane leaning against the reception desk, deep in conversation with the cheeky receptionist. At their approach he said goodbye to the girl and exited the building ahead of Bree and Sam.

Eliza had been observing the conversation from the mezzanine balcony and approached the receptionist as Brian was returning from saying his goodbyes.

‘Who was that man you were talking to?’ Eliza was asking the receptionist.

‘Well, I don’t know his name, but he was talking to me about all the old things around here. I also saw him talking to Blanche in the eco-shop before he came out here.’

‘What sort of old things was he asking about?’ asked Eliza.

‘Well, we were talking about the bank and its old decor with the marble walls and all and then he asked about your old Rolls Royce.’

Brian heard part of the conversation as he walked past and his ears pricked up at the words ‘Rolls Royce’. He moved over to the two girls.

‘Was someone asking about the Rolls Royce?’

‘Yes,’ replied Eliza, ‘and he was in here the other day as well. Snooping?’

‘What did he want to know?’ asked Brian.

‘Well, he didn’t really ask questions. He already seemed to know about the car. He said he hadn’t seen it around for a while and I said that I hadn’t seen it either. I told him how the others around here were wondering where it was as well. I think he might have asked Blanche as well.’

Eliza and Brian called into the eco-store where Blanche informed them that she had had a similar conversation with the man.

‘He’s up to no good,’ said Eliza. ‘I wonder who he is.’

‘Come with me,’ said Brian, leading her into his office.

Brian consulted his private phone book and rang Dr Rani Smith. ‘Dr Smith, it’s Brian Reynolds. Could you describe the reporter that came to visit you?’

Brian listened to her reply and nodded. ‘Our visitor was Mr Mick Sloane, a reporter, and I’ve just had a nasty little conversation with Sam Tait and Bree Lake on exactly the same topic.’

‘A coincidence?’

‘What do you think?’

‘Not likely. But why would they be working together? He’s a reporter and they’re Inland Security. One wants to scream the news all over the place and the others want to keep everything under wraps.’

‘That’s a question I like to answer. It may be very important to us. If they’re not working together we may be able to play them off against one another, but if they are co-operating we might have to take different measures.’

Eliza nodded. ‘Leave it with me. Justine and I will check them out.’

* * *

Not one month before, Justine had passed all her tests and was now the proud holder of a brand new driver’s licence.

She demonstrated her newfound skills to Eliza while swerving dangerously between cars on their way to Bree Tait’s flat. Eliza hung on with grim determination and hoped against hope that they would escape the short journey alive.

Attempting a reverse park outside Bree’s block of flats Justine eventually gave up the effort and abandoned the car, leaving it at a sharp angle to the gutter and extremely close to the car in front.

Making their way upstairs, they knocked several times at Bree’s door without success. A kindly old lady in the flat next door told her that Bree had not been home for several days. She thought her young neighbour was on one of her usual overseas jaunts.

‘We know that’s not right because I saw her this morning,’ Eliza said to Justine as they made their way back to the car.

‘Well, it looks as though Sam is getting lucky. Let’s try his place.’

Justine managed to make her way back into the traffic without removing the rear bumper of the car in front and Eliza almost relaxed until Justine tried to take a short cut under a semitrailer.

If it were any more possible Eliza’s face was even whiter than normal when they eventually parked up the street from Sam’s building.

‘What now?’ asked Eliza. ‘We could just walk in and talk to Sam if he was on his own, but that won’t be possible if both of them are present.’

‘We’ll have to wait and see. Perhaps Bree’ll go home tonight. Do we know which one of those is Sam’s?’ Justine said as she pointed to Sam’s building.

‘I know the flat number but not where it’s located in the building. I’ll go in and see if I can find out,’ offered Eliza who wanted any excuse to escape Justine’s car.

It took her only minutes to find that it was located on the second floor at the front of the building and Eliza was about to return when she heard voices inside.

Checking to make sure there was no one watching, Eliza placed her ear to the door. Unfortunately, she was unable to make out more than a few words. I don’t know how they do it in the movies, she thought. However, one thing was clear and that was that there weren’t just two voices inside. At least two distinctly male and one female voice were coming from Sam’s flat. So there had to be Bree, Sam and at least one other person. She was sure it wasn’t a radio or TV announcer as the voice fitted neatly into the spaces of the conversation between the two agents.

Making her way back to the car, she let Justine know what she had found out. They could now pick out Sam’s flat from the street below and were occasionally able to see the shadow of the occupants moving around whenever they came close to the window.

‘I think we should wait a while,’ said Eliza. ‘We need to know who the third person is, although I think I can guess.’

‘Well, give them an hour. I don’t fancy being out here all night.’

The girls were getting stiff and sore from sitting in the one place for so long when Sam emerged from his front door accompanied by Bree and a third person who Eliza immediately identified as Mick Sloane, the reporter. The trio made their way across the road and entered a café.

Eliza made her way past the large picture window and peered in before returning to the car. ‘Let’s go,’ she said.

‘Where to?’ asked Justine.

‘Upstairs. They’re at a table with menus in their hands. They’ll be gone for ages.’

Eliza walked off and Justine locked the car up before following as fast as she could. She caught up to Eliza at the door to Sam’s flat where Eliza’s skills had already half opened Sam’s lock. In less than thirty seconds they were standing inside.

The kitchen portion of the open plan living area drew their attention as well as the coffee table in the sitting room. Both spaces were covered in files.

Eliza and Justine spread them out, examining as many files as they could in the short time available.

‘I wish they had a photocopier here,’ said Justine.

Justine shook her head as she went over the information in the files. ‘We’ll have to come back. There’s just too much here.’

‘At least we’ve got the gist of the whole thing. We’ll be able to let the others know. Come on. Let’s get out of here.’

‘I’d love to take some of these files with us.’

‘Next time, Eliza. Let’s go!’

She reluctantly replaced the file and made sure they hadn’t left any trace of their presence before relocking the door on their way out.

Justine put the car into gear and screeched it into the road without indicating. ‘I’ll get you home and we’ll call a meeting of the board for the first thing in the morning.’

Eliza hung on and prayed that she would stay alive long enough to make that meeting.