Читать книгу Legacy - Jeff Edwards - Страница 10

Bree and Sam were more than pleased with their efforts. They had successfully been able to scrutinise their target from very close quarters and had met two of her closest friends. Plus all the photos – not only inside and outside the gallery but also Toby Brown’s private workshop and living quarters. It couldn’t have gone better.

In his bedroom back at the pub, Sam downloaded the photos on to his laptop, storing a further copy on disc for safe keeping.

While he worked on the photos, Bree was at work on her own computer, recording the conversations and any observations that might be of relevance to the investigation. She also read further into the backgrounds of the people who were close to Jade Green.

After tea, they returned to Sam’s room where Bree studied Sam’s photos while he reviewed her notes, amending and adding from his own observances.

‘We’re going to have to be extremely careful who we talk to in this village,’ said Bree.

‘Lots of gossiping,’ commented Sam.

‘Even worse than that, I’ve reviewed some of the files. Although it looks like Toby Brown spends a lot of his time at the gallery, his latest address on official documents is Jade Green’s home address. So he lives with her and works with her. On top of that, Lana Reynolds, who we just met and who displays her paintings at Toby Brown’s gallery, lives next door to Jade Green.’

‘So they’re all one big happy family.’

‘You haven’t heard the best bit yet. Lana’s husband, Brian Reynolds, is a new junior partner at Grant and Associates and his office is above the gallery.’

Bree brought up the relevant photo on his laptop and turned the screen towards him.

‘Ye gods,’ exclaimed Sam, ‘they’re never out of one another’s sight. At work or home. I just hope they like one another.’

‘It seems they do.’

‘What about Brown’s fiancée? What does she think about their relationship?’

‘From what the barman told me, she’s as thick as thieves with them. She’s taken over the running of the local real estate agency on behalf of the owner, who’s incapacitated at the moment, and it was she who sold the factory to Brown in the first place. Her name is Susan Ryan and she now spends much of her spare time down there with him. The barman says she sleeps over.’

‘It looks like trying to get Jade Green by herself will be a very difficult thing. It would have to be planned well in advance.’

‘We’d need some sort of pretext to separate her from the rest.’

‘Well that’s not on the cards for the present.’

‘What’s our next move?’ asked Bree.

‘Tomorrow I’d like to get a look at the house she lives in. It’s out of town, in an isolated spot, so it might mean crawling around in the dirt to try to get a good shot of the place. Do you want to join me?’

‘Crawling is a last resort for me. I think I’ll stay close to the village and try to pick up some background information on the Jade Green gang,’

Next morning Sam rose before dawn so that he could be in position before the sun came up.

Bree slept in and had a leisurely shower and a full breakfast before wandering out of the pub and along the main street.

Several shops along she saw Lana emerge from a supermarket on the opposite side of the road with a grocery bag in each hand.

Sensing an opportunity, Bree crossed the road and wandered slowly towards Lana while pretending to look in the shop windows. Moving quickly, she ‘accidentally’ collided with Lana, nearly sending her bags flying.

‘Oh shit! I’m sorry,’ Bree exclaimed, as she grabbed Lana to save her from dropping her groceries.

‘Here. Let me give you a hand with that.’

‘That’s OK. I’m fine,’ said Lana.

Bree almost grabbed the bag out of Lana’s hand.

‘No. Let me give you a hand. It’s the least I can do, especially after your help yesterday.’

‘Oh. All right. I’m parked just over there.’

Lana pointed to a small Japanese sedan.

‘Ah, a luxury limousine.’

‘Yes,’ laughed Lana. ‘But it’s all I need to get me around the

village,’ She opened the boot and placed the bags inside.

‘Can I buy you a cup of coffee?’ asked Bree. ‘The distance I carried the bag hardly repays the artistic debt my partner and I owe you.’

‘Well, I was about to have coffee with friends. I suppose they won’t mind a fourth at the table. It might be interesting to get another viewpoint on things.’

‘There’s nothing I like more than to give my opinion.’

‘We won’t have you engaging in environmental brainwashing,’ warned Lana.

‘You have my word on it,’ Bree replied with a cheeky grin.

Lana led Bree to a small coffee shop on the high street. Several tables and chairs were set up beneath umbrellas on the path outside. Lana made her way to one where a woman was already seated, tending to a baby in a pram.

‘Hi Jane,’ called Lana as she approached. The woman turned and gave Lana a welcoming grin.

‘I think he just smiled at me,’ she said excitedly.

‘Probably just wind,’ Lana smiled back at her.

The two women sat and Lana performed the introductions. ‘Jane, this is Bree, she’s from the Save the Country Fund. Toby is creating a logo for them. Bree, this is Jane Taylor. Jane’s hus band Rodney is in charge of our local police station.’

‘Shit,’ thought Bree. ‘I’ve walked right into it this time.’

Lana made the final introduction. ‘And this is the new Master Tobias Taylor. Just six weeks and a couple of days old. The light of Jane’s life.’

Jane beamed as Bree did the obligatory cooing and aahing that meeting a new-born required. Bree was not the mothering type, which was why she still lived alone.

‘Shall we order now or wait for Suzie?’ asked Lana.

‘We’ll order now,’ said Jane. ‘I never know just when his master here will demand to be fed. I do whatever I can, whenever I can, these days. By the way, which country are you saving Bree?’

The coffees arrived just as Lana raised her hand and waved.

Bree looked in the direction of the wave and saw a pair of long legs, wrapped in a short skirt, tight, and lifted on a pair of stiletto heels, come towards them. The dynamic Suzie Ryan dropped into the last remaining chair. ‘Bloody men,’ she exclaimed.

‘Suzie, this is Bree. Bree is from the Save the Country Fund.’

‘Which country?’ asked Suzie.

‘Forget it,’ smiled Bree, ‘I’ll explain later. Now what about men?’ she asked to change the subject.

‘It’s that bloody Derek and Jimmy at the council.’

‘Jimmy and Derek are old friends of Suzie’s. They work for the local council,’ explained Lana. ‘Now what have they done?’

‘With all the work going on around here the council is being inundated with new development applications. So Derek and Jimmy requested help behind the counter. Council granted their request and then made the big mistake of putting Jimmy and Derek in charge of the selection process.’

Jane sipped at her coffee.

‘So what happened?’

‘Those two sex crazed madmen selected two women, two young women, two young women with even bigger boobs than mine.’

The three listeners burst out laughing while Suzie continued her tale of woe.

‘It was all right before. I just flashed a bit of cleavage and got the jobs passed without any problems. Now I have to wait like everyone else. And the worst of it is that I can’t complain. The bitches actually know what they’re doing. They’ve been taught too well.’

The other three would have felt very sorry for Suzie but were too busy laughing.

After calming down, the talk moved to more mundane things; the baby and Suzie’s impending marriage.

Lana turned to Bree. ‘Suzie is Toby Brown’s fiancée. They’re due to be married soon. It has to have been the quickest love affair on record. I’ve never seen two people make up their minds so quickly.’

‘Really?’

‘I couldn’t believe it,’ said Lana. ‘We were at the opening of the gallery. Suzie took one look at Toby and said that she was going to marry him. She hadn’t even said hello to him.’

‘I just knew, and every day I’m more and more sure I was right.’

Just then Master Tobias scrunched up his red face and burst into tears.

‘His master’s voice,’ smiled Jane. ‘Looks like it’s time for me to go. I’ll ring you both later,’ she said to Lana and Suzie. ‘It’s been nice to meet you Bree.’

‘I’ll come with you Jane,’ said Suzie. ‘I have to go and join the queue at the council.’

Bree and Suzie finished their coffee while watching the retreating backs of Suzie and Jane.

‘What are your plans?’ asked Bree.

‘I have about three works that are waiting to be completed.’

‘My partner is off taking photos of the woods around here. Hoping to catch a blue ringed kestrel or something like that. I’ve been window shopping but it only took ten minutes to see everything in town. What I’d like to do is look at typical country yards around the village to gauge their ecological content.’

‘Well I’m heading home. I have plenty of yard if you want to study it.’ ‘You wouldn’t mind? I don’t want to seem to be throwing myself on you.’

‘Not at all,’ laughed Lana. ‘I’ll work on my paintings while you meander through our hedges.’

‘Wonderful. I can ring Sam to come and pick me up when I’m through.’

It was still dark when Sam parked his car a considerable distance from the laneway. He surveyed the countryside through night vision glasses and selected the best location from which to take his photos.

Crossing the fields in the minutes before dawn, he made his way towards a small hill that overlooked Jade Green’s house.

Clearing his line of sight and removing rocks and twigs from where he intended to lie, he settled in.

He adjusted the camera lens to bring the houses below into stark relief.

There were just two of them. Large and Victorian, they sat at the far end of the lane, completely surrounded by fields.

At this time of the year the fields contained only stubble. The crops had been taken in, and now awaited the farmers’ ploughs. That’s if the farmers were going to return. Development was the new catch-cry in the area. Fields were already being invaded by meandering tarred roads, each waiting for the allotments beside the roads to be sold and houses built.

Sam guessed that the authentic Victorian homes in his viewfinder would soon be surrounded by mass produced Victorian and Tudor copies.

‘Maybe the Save the Country Fund could do something to stop it all,’ thought Sam. ‘I can just see myself hugging trees and nobbling steamrollers. I’d love to be an eco-terrorist.’

After several hours and taking as many pictures as he thought necessary, he decided to move to another location. It would be best to get shots from as many different angles as possible.

Rising to his knees, he noticed a car coming up the lane. As he lowered himself down again, Sam recognised it as Lana’s. He had taken photos of her getting into it and driving off earlier.

It parked and Lana opened the driver’s door. Sam was surprised to see the passenger door open as well. He focused on that door and uttered an oath as he realised who was getting out.

Bree closed the door and stretched. As she surveyed the countryside, she picked out the most likely spot where Sam would have chosen to hide. She grinned as she noted a slight reflection from a piece of glass and, unseen by Lana, raised her middle finger in that direction.

Sam snapped her in mid-gesture. ‘We’ll see what the boss says when he sees that,’ he grinned.

Lana showed her guest around.

Bree loved the house. Being a very modern person, she loved her ultra-modern flat but could appreciate the beauty of the high molded ceilings and the large rooms. She was particularly impressed with Lana’s bedroom, with its enormous four poster bed and the matching wardrobe and dressing table. The glass conservatory Lana used as her studio was also wonderful. The views of the surrounding countryside took her breath away. Bree envied the handsome couple who lived here.

With the tour of the house completed, Lana took Bree on a walk through their yard.

Bree tried to impress Lana with her knowledge of the wildlife to be found there but suspected she was just making a fool of herself and shut up, letting Lana do the talking instead.

‘Would you believe Toby Brown does our gardening, and for Mrs Green next door?’

‘I would have thought it would be too much for him. With the gallery and his carvings and all.’

‘Toby has been doing Mrs Green’s lawn for years and wouldn’t think of letting her down, even when he came into all that money. He’s a very loyal friend and has absolutely no airs and graces about himself.’

‘I thought he was a farmer before he opened the gallery.’

‘He’s only just come into money. It was a compensation matter between himself and the Briscoe Corporation. They bought some land from him. Toby did very well out of it but he hasn’t learnt how to spend it yet.’

‘Since when has anybody had to learn how to spend money?’

‘Toby’s never had any. He still hasn’t gotten over the shock of being wealthy. I don’t think he’s even told Suzie how much he’s worth.’

‘Does he really live with Mrs Green?’

‘He’s lived there ever since his mother was murdered. He couldn’t move back to the farm after she was killed there. Friends of ours bought the farmhouse from him and he’s having the rest turned into a housing estate. When that’s done Toby’s wealth will more than triple.’

‘The tax man must love him.’

‘He’s got my husband Brian’s family of accountants looking after those tricky little matters for him. Toby hasn’t got too many troubles at the moment. He’s had a hard life till now and it’s good to see it all working out for him.’

‘So he looks after your lawn, and Mrs Green’s lawn, and you look after him.’

‘That’s how it works around here. You’d be surprised at the size of the works projects that get done around here as a favour, or in return for a previous favour done.’

‘What does Mrs Green do to get favours done for her?’

‘I don’t know. I think she’s too old to be doing favours. She just pays. Cash. It’s almost better than a favour.’

‘Who takes her up to the city when she wants to go?’

‘Mrs Green? The city? Other than when Toby went to court, I can’t recall Mrs Green ever going to the city. Before she started to work at the gallery, she only went to the village once a week. She virtually lived like a hermit out here.’

‘It must have been a very lonely existence for her. Does she have a lot of visitors?’

‘No. Only Toby. And postie George.’

‘Postie George?’

‘Our postman and local favour organiser.’

‘You’ve lost me.’

Lana laughed; ‘OK. I wanted a car. George talked to a few of the local boys who had cars to sell and they brought them out here for me to make my choice. I ended up with a very good deal.’

Bree nodded: ‘And now you owe George a favour in return.’

‘Right! Now you’ve got the idea.’ Lana smiled. Holding her arms out wide, she said: ‘And what is your humble opinion of our urban ecological space?’

‘I’m impressed. The natural world will be forever in your debt for maintaining your level of animal habitat. However, I would suggest the inclusion of more trees and possibly a water feature to encourage frogs and tadpoles. Very important to the ecosystem.’

‘I’ll discuss that with Brian,’ promised Lana.

‘Now I better ring Sam to come and pick me up, so you can get back to your work.’

Sam had just settled himself in his new position when the phone in his shirt pocket began to vibrate. ‘Shit!’ he said. Reading the screen he saw it was Bree.

‘What is it?’

‘Sam dear, where are you?’

‘You bloody know where I am. What are you doing down there? Trying to blow our cover?’

‘Do you think you’ll be long on your survey of wrens? I’m out at the Reynolds’ house. Could you possibly tear yourself away to pick me up?’

‘Why don’t you walk? It will do you the world of good.’

‘Ten minutes. That would be perfect. Do you know where to find the house?’

‘Walk you silly bitch.’

‘I’ll see you soon, Sam love.’

‘Piss off.’

Bree turned to Lana. ‘He’ll tear himself away from his wren survey and be here soon.’

When Sam did turn up about twenty minutes later, Lana could see he had been busy in the field. Bits of grass and leaves were stuck in his hair and there were grass stains on his shirt and trousers.

‘Sorry I took so long,’ he apologised. ‘I got distracted by a particularly attractive jenny wren.’

‘He’s so easily led astray,’ said Bree as she hopped in beside him. ‘Thanks for a lovely time and I hope you like my suggestions for making your yard nature friendly.’

‘I will,’ replied Lana. ‘Maybe I’ll see you both around the village.’

‘We’ll be leaving early tomorrow,’ said Sam.

‘But we might be back to check on the progress of the logo,’ offered Bree, as Sam put the car into gear and headed down the lane towards the main road.

Bree became businesslike: ‘I need to check on something. Take me to the gallery.’

‘What did you find out?’ asked Sam.

‘Lana Reynolds says Green hasn’t been out of the village in years. I need to confirm that.’

‘If she hasn’t been out of the village for years, and if the videos do exist, then they have to be around here somewhere.’

‘My thinking exactly,’ confirmed Bree.

They pulled up in front of the gallery and walked in to find Jade Green tending to yet another customer. The agents walked slowly around the room until she had finished. ‘What can I do for you today?’ she asked as her latest customers left, bag in hand.

‘I was wondering if you know the area of the city that our office is in. When you and Toby bring it down I don’t want you to get lost,’ said Lana.

‘Oh I won’t be bringing it down. I never go to the city. It’s not my cup of tea at all. Toby does all the deliveries. Why don’t you ask him?’

Sam feigned surprise.

‘You never get to visit the city?’

‘I’ve got no reason to. I’m much too old for all that rushing around. Here’s Toby now.’

Toby walked in, accompanied by another tall male in a suit.

Mrs Green said to Toby: ‘Our friends from the Save the Country Fund are worried that you might get lost taking the logo up to London.’

‘I usually do. But I find my way eventually. That’s why I leave early.’

‘Maybe you can take Mrs Green with you,’ offered Bree. ‘She can read the map and direct you.’

‘Not me. Not only can’t I read maps, but I have no interest in going with Toby.’

‘You’re not interested in having a good looking escort like Toby take you to the city?’ asked Bree.

‘She didn’t want me with her the one time she did go up by train. I did offer, didn’t I,’ said Toby.

‘Yes Toby you did,’ conceded Mrs Green.

‘When was that?’ asked the man in the suit.

‘Just before Toby’s trial. I needed to buy something to wear to court.’

The man turned towards Bree and Sam: ‘I’ll make sure Toby is suitably furnished with directions. I’ve worked there for years and go down there to attend court at least once a week. I’ll make sure he doesn’t get too lost.’

Sam and Bree left, satisfied with their efforts.

‘That must have been Brian Reynolds,’ said Bree. ‘Now we’ve met all of them.’

‘And we know that Green went to the city, alone, just before Brown’s case went to court. I wonder if that visit had anything to do with the result of the hearing,’ added Sam.

‘That looks possible. Toby Brown made a great deal of money out of a case he wasn’t expected to win. If she did use her videos to effect the outcome of that case we have an approximate date when she did so. Now we need to pin down where she went when she was in the city.’

They called into the railway station and spoke to one of the station workers. He was a local and remembered helping Mrs Green to get on the train. He thought it was unusual as she had not caught the train for as long as he could remember. The date, he remembered well, as he won money on the dogs that same night. He rarely won, and the two unusual events, taking place on the same day, were etched in his memory.

Entering all the relevant information in their computers that night, the pair felt pleased with their progress. They had achieved far more than they would have if they had remained in the city to clean the shop. Now they could justify their spending of the government’s money.

That night, Lana mentioned to Brian about Bree’s visit to the house and her suggestions for the back yard. Brian was not so much interested in her visit but the fact that she had gone straight from his house to Toby’s gallery and the amount and direction of the questions that the pair had been asking. He was not convinced that the two supposed ecologists were what they were purporting to be.

Mrs Green was also disturbed. She hadn’t believed the pair when she first met them and their second meeting had done nothing to relieve her worries. ‘Insurance. I need more insurance,’ she thought.