‘Enough!’ Susie shouted. ‘We are not casting up. .’ She grinned. ‘. . or the pasta will either get cold or be thrown all around the room, and it’s too good for that.’
That was one thing we were all agreed on: it was so good that not only did Prim wolf hers down, by the time she’d had seconds there was hardly any left for me.
Dessert was easy; it was Haagen-Dazs time, vanilla chocolate fudge, with some white-chocolate sauce poured over it. Susie made a disapproving face, but she ate hers all the same; we don’t do it often. When she and Prim were finished, they went off to the kitchen with the empties. I moved back to the leisure wing. Being midsummer in Scotland there was still plenty of daylight. I was enjoying it when they returned with two coffees, and what was left in the cafetiere. I don’t drink much of the stuff these days; my way of keeping consumption under control is not to have it at all at home.
‘So,’ said Susie, heavily, after she had she folded herself into an armchair, ‘what are you going to do, Oz? This bastard Wallinger has got to be brought to book, and Prim has to get Tom back, and her money.’
‘I’ve already done something.’ I told them about my call and my instructions to Mark Kravitz.
‘I’ve met him, haven’t I?’ Prim ventured, tentatively.
I nodded. ‘A few years back.’
She gave a quick uncertain look. ‘I remember him. He’s sort of … sinister? No, that’s not the word. He’s a bit dangerous, isn’t he?’
‘He can be, but I’ve told him just to find out whatever he can about the guy and not to have anything nasty done to him.’
‘Are you sure he understood you?’ Susie asked.
‘Certain, love.’
‘Could you change that?’ Prim muttered, grimly. ‘I think I’d like him good and dead.’
I looked at her. ‘Let me tell you something: you don’t ever say that to me, or anyone else, especially anyone else, ever again. If you come out with something like that in front of the wrong person, and he thinks you mean it. . you could find yourself in so deep you won’t even see the surface.’
‘What makes you think I don’t mean it?’
‘Unless you tell me you don’t, I won’t lift another finger to help you.’
‘You never used to be quite so scrupulous.’
‘I’m not playing games, Prim.’
‘Okay, I promise, when I find out where Paul is I won’t hire a hit man. Is that okay?’
‘That’ll do.’
‘Good, because I want to rip his balls off personally.’
I remembered what Dawn had said about her. ‘When we get to that stage, there may be a queue. This man didn’t happen upon you by accident, and make it all up as he was going along. There’s a fair chance you’re not the first rich widow or divorcee he’s fleeced. Let me ask you something: when you met him up at Gleneagles, when he was on that golfing holiday, did you ever see his clubs?’
‘He told me he hired them from the pro shop.’
‘But you never thought to check?’
‘Why should I? He was my escape route.’
‘Mug. One quick question and you might have saved yourself a lot of grief: a real golfer doesn’t hire.’
‘Maybe not, but if I had asked that question, I might never have had Tom.’ She had me there; I didn’t take it any further.
‘Oz,’ my wife butted in, ‘I’ve been thinking.’
‘When are you not, my angel?’
She ignored my idle sally. ‘Everett’s movie,’ she continued. ‘If you agreed to do it, you’d be in the US, and maybe you’d have time to ask a few questions.’
‘It may have escaped your notice, Sooz, but America is one hell of a big place.’
‘I know, but still. If you didn’t ask them yourself, you could hire people over there.’
‘I’ll think about it.’ Best to let it be her idea, I reasoned. ‘But I’ve got something else in mind before that. You need some top-class legal advice, Prim, and I know just where you can get it.’
I took my mobile from its hiding place in the breast pocket of my shirt and called my sister. My nephew Jonny’s voice sounded in my ear. ‘This is the Sinclair residence.’
‘And this is your uncle, kid.’
‘Hello, Uncle Kid,’ he said cheerfully. ‘What can I do for you?’ I was pleased at his flippancy. Jonny had been through a bad time a few months before; I’d been very worried about him for a while, but he was coming through it okay.
‘You can stop being bloody cheeky and put me on to your mother.’
‘I’ll see if she’s available.’
‘Why wouldn’t she be? Is Perry Mason there?’
‘Who?’
‘A fictional lawyer; before your time.’
‘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.’
Chapter 10
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.