‘And that’s when you decided you had to ruin me and that Vanessa would need a big strong shoulder to cry on.’ Even if I had tried I wouldn’t have been able to keep the bitterness from my voice. I could see in an instance that Gus liked that. It gave him back an element of dominance.
OK, so let him think that.
‘Family history is a hobby of mine,’ he said. ‘I started to delve into yours. Everyone has skeletons in their cupboard and I surmised that your family would be no exception.’
I recalled seeing the framed picture of Gus’s genealogy on the wall in his breakfast room. The same room that my sons had sat in and done their homework. For a moment I thought fury might invade my calm and erupt into physical violence.
I willed myself to be still. It wasn’t time yet.
‘What I did find out was quite remarkable,’ Gus said. ‘Your grandfather had drowned in August 1940, not long after the attack on the Ventnor radar station.’
I didn’t correct him, but let him continue.
‘That was my starting point. I found Percy who, as you know, always liked to talk about the war.
Soon I had the story of the three young men, Hugo, Max and Edward. Percy wouldn’t say what happened to the others. I could see he was uncomfortable about something so I made my own enquiries and learnt that Hugo had been arrested for treason, after being turned in by two teenagers. He had died in prison before he could be hanged. I tracked down his wife, Amelia, who had a daughter and a grandson: Miles Wolverton.
I didn’t approach him, not then. Later on I located Maximilian Weber. He was a professor at Frankfurt University. I was surprised you’d not followed it up before.’
‘What did Max tell you?’ I snapped.
‘Everything. He had no choice. I threatened to expose him. I told him I was from the British Government. He was old and he was ill. It didn’t take much and perhaps he wanted it off his conscience anyway. He told me about the money they had taken from the Jews in payment for helping them to escape Germany, and that Hugo had been a spy. I knew he was lying. After all why Hugo when Max was German. After that it was easy. I went to Miles and told him that your mother had betrayed his grandfather. She had helped to destroy Hugo’s reputation. I said that Hugo had suffered terribly in prison and the authorities had hushed up his death. Miles couldn’t get a pardon without raking up the past but he could get even with you. I told him about my idea of the fictitious charity and that we could make some money from it. I needed three wealthy businessmen to cough up. Miles could supply that easily. The connection with my firm was a coincidence and I hadn’t realised it until you crashed in on me in Guernsey. Miles really enjoyed watching you suffer the humiliations of the trial and imprisonment. He saw it as justice.’
I tensed. Was he goading me deliberately? No.
As I stared at him I saw how mad he was. What a lethal combination he and Miles had made. Miles eaten up with an inferiority complex and fuelled by revenge, and Gus suffused with a surfeit of unhealthy superiority. To them I had been merely an instrument to achieve what they wanted. Well fuck them! One of them was dead. Prison though would be better than death for Gus Newberry.
But I wasn’t finished yet.
‘How did you find out about the brooches?’ I asked almost casually, marvelling at my ability to disguise my real emotion. But then prison had taught me so much, and in that instance I knew with certainty I could never go back to being the Alex Albury I had once been.
‘What brooches?’ Gus said.
‘You didn’t know that each man had part of an account number engraved on the back of a brooch which gave the whereabouts of the Jewish money?’
‘No. Does Miles know?’
‘He did. He had all three brooches before he died. We had a little accident in my boat. They’re somewhere at the bottom of the Solent now.’ Or were they? Perhaps the police had discovered them on Miles’s body. Crowder hadn’t said.
Gus went on, ‘Now I can see why Miles got so fanatical about you. He killed Joe.’
‘I know and others. Did he kill Couldner?’
‘Someone had to. It was the only way to get the police to start the enquiry. I haven’t killed anyone, Alex.’
‘Only me and everything I valued,’ I said. My pulse was quickening and I was fighting to keep myself under control. There was silence for a moment. With every last fibre of my being I urged myself to remain calm.
I crossed to the patio doors. I thought of Vanessa. Gus had tricked and betrayed her as much as he had me. I knew that she would never forgive me for what I was about to do to Gus, but that couldn’t be helped. Besides I didn’t want her forgiveness now.
I turned back. ‘Why did you pay Rowde to say he would hurt my sons?’
‘After you showed up at the house I could see that Vanessa was eaten up with guilt. I couldn’t have that. It would poison our relationship. So Miles found Rowde for me. He told Rowde that you had confessed to him that you really had stolen the three million and that you knew exactly where it was. Rowde found Westnam. I told him, through Miles, where to look. I’d kept tabs on him. The one way to get to the money you had was through your family. So Rowde threatened you. Then he was paid to say he had kidnapped them. He was also to get a bonus when the three million was found which was to be shared three ways between him, Miles and me, only he didn’t know my identity. Everything was arranged through Miles. Instead I flew Vanessa and the boys here, the day after you and I returned from Guernsey. I thought you might kill Rowde for me, which would have been convenient.’
‘I might still do that,’ I said evenly.
Gus sat up surprised. ‘Why?’
‘For three million pounds. I’ll go ahead just as we planned. I’ll fly with him to Zurich on Monday. He calls Vanessa when we get there, I speak to her and then you call me to say that they’ve been released. Rowde will believe it. I’ll get the money and then I’ll kill Rowde.’
‘How?’
‘Do you really want to know?’ There was a silence. After a moment I continued. ‘Prison teaches you all sorts of tricks, including how to kill a man. I’ll do it on one condition. I get to keep the three million. I deserve some kind of compensation. I think I’ve more than earned it, don’t you?’
‘And you’ll go away and stay away.’
I nodded.
‘You won’t have any further claim on Vanessa or your sons?’
‘No. If my sons decide to come looking for me when they’re older then that’s up to them, though I doubt they’ll find me. Look, Gus, I’m tired. I’ve got nothing to keep me here. This way I can start a new life for myself, away from here and all my memories. You’ve got what you want, Vanessa and a family, and I’ve got some kind of compensation for what I’ve suffered, and a chance to start afresh without psychos like Rowde on my back.’
Gus scrutinised me for a moment thinking over my words. ‘OK, it’s a deal.’
‘Right, tell me how and where I can find the money.’ I saw him hesitate. ‘I’ve got to know, Gus, otherwise I’ll call the police and tell them everything. They’ll start an investigation…’
‘It’s in a Swiss numbered account in the Zurich International Bank. I’ll need to call them and tell them you’re coming. I’ll authorise them to hand the money over to you.’
‘I’ll be travelling on a false passport. I’ll call you and give you the details as soon as I get them from Rowde, OK?’
Gus nodded.
‘Let me have the number now, Gus.’
He hesitated, shrugged and then took a business card from his wallet and wrote twelve numbers on it. I recognised part of it (even though it was jumbled up) as Vanessa’s birth date.