The next morning Michael arrived. He, too, was shocked at the state of the house, but said nothing. He offered his condolences and began to sift through the papers and outstanding bills littering Katherine’s bureau.
‘I’ll have to get Charlie back, and he’ll have only just arrived,’ said William. ‘Damn her timing. And Sabrina. I’ll go round this afternoon, when I’m through here.’
‘You’d better have a look at this, sir,’ Michael said, passing over a thick file of accounts. ‘They were in the locked drawer at the bottom of the bureau.’
William looked down at the files. ‘Jesus! I don’t believe it!’ he said, under his breath, turning over page after page. Then he tossed the papers aside. ‘We’re leaving now.’
He went outside and leaped into the car.
‘What’s going down?’ asked Justin, as William switched on the engine and drove away.
‘Katherine has robbed the kids’ trust funds, and most of the money I ploughed into them went into her fucking cousin Cedric’s stables. I mean, it’s one thing that she got herself into debt to the tune of two million, but she’s been keeping that bastard going with my children’s money!’ He was shouting.
‘William,’ Justin said calmly, ‘you have the island. Everything is in place. We’ll get the son-of-a-bitch,’ he said firmly. ‘Remember, you have only to say the word and we start the Paradise Trap.’
‘For Chrissake, shut up about it!’
Justin knew he had to keep his mouth shut. Often old Willy surprised him: he had quite a temper on him.
The funeral arrangements were taken over by Katherine’s depleted family. The service was conducted in the private chapel of what had once been the Hangerford ancestral home, long since sold to the National Trust to cover debts. The coffin was bedecked with floral tributes and the chapel almost full. Even Lord Bellingham and his wife were there. Just before Katherine was carried up the aisle, Sabrina made her entrance. She was wearing a floppy straw hat with a large poppy attached, clogs and a long print dress with a big black overcoat on top. She clutched Jacob’s hand, who, William was sure, was wearing exactly the same clothes as when he had seen him. The pair walked down the aisle with their heads held high.
The luncheon afterwards was tedious and rather embarrassing. The old hall, opened for the occasion, was freezing. The food was appalling and the wine no more than plonk.
‘Great nosh,’ said Cedric, piling his plate high. At one time he had been handsome; now he looked seedy, overweight and nervous. William watched as he smothered butter over his roll, crunched into it and spat breadcrumbs as he spoke. ‘Shame about Katherine, what?’
‘Poor woman was driven into a corner, wouldn’t you say, Cedric?’
Cedric looked up, a smear of mayonnaise on his chin. ‘So you admit it?’ he said. William was taken aback. ‘Oh, yes, you and your shady life,’ spluttered Cedric. ‘It was always clear to us she’d made a mistake marrying you. Marrying money’s all very well, but...’ He dived down to the table and spooned more potato salad on to his paper plate. ‘Mind you, funny that with all your millions you couldn’t keep her in the manner to which she was accustomed. Pity you couldn’t have been more like me. I’m very protective of my wife and young Clarissa.’
William looked him in the eye. ‘It’s just other people’s families you steal from? Is that it, Cedric?’ The other man returned his stare, wide-eyed. ‘Maybe you haven’t actually calculated just how much you sponged off Katherine, but in case you are not aware of it, I have it all in black and white.’
‘You feeling all right?’ Cedric enquired. ‘Maybe all those high jinks addled your brain.’
‘I could take it to the police, of course. To fund your bloody stables and to support her gambling, Katherine embezzled her own kids’ trust funds.’
‘Not a police matter, you’ll find. She was family.’
‘Family? You piece of shit. I’ve seen the letters she wrote, begging you to repay her because she was scared she’d get into trouble. She was stealing money I’d provided for my children’s future.’
Cedric shrugged. ‘Well, you’ve plenty more.’ He pointed his white plastic fork at William. ‘Matter of fact, I was going to ask you whether you’d like to invest in a little filly I’ve got my eye on.’
William threw back his head and laughed. The man’s gall was beyond belief. ‘You ever heard the expression “payback time”? I instructed my lawyers to contact you about returning loans dating back to—’
‘Payback? I don’t know what you’re getting at, old boy.’ Cedric was concentrating on recharging his fork with a dollop of Coronation Chicken.
‘You are in financial shit, Cedric. By payback I mean cough up what you owe. And another meaning of that expression is to do with getting you back for being a thieving two-faced bastard!’ William strode across the hall and, nodding at his children and Jacob, indicated that he was leaving. He waited at the door while they all made their excuses.
Cedric’s daughter, Clarissa, sidled up to William. ‘Uncle William,’ she simpered, ‘I’m coming up to my last term at school, and I was wondering whether you could find me a place in your office or whatever it is...’ She gave him a winsome smile.
‘What are your qualifications?’ he said.
‘Oh, I haven’t any. I just need something to tide me over for a while.’
‘Or somewhere to sit and file your nails while you get paid for it?’ said William.
Clarissa giggled. ‘Well... Daddy said you wouldn’t mind.’
‘Did he indeed? Well, dear, get some qualifications. If a job comes up and you’re better than the other applicants, I’ll think about it.’
Clarissa stared and reddened. ‘Daddy and Mummy were right. You are a pig.’
William strode out to the car and climbed in, breathing deeply to regain calm.
He was exhausted that night but, yet again, couldn’t sleep. It had been one hell of a day. Cedric and his wretched daughter’s remarks at the funeral had put the tin lid on it. What had he got to lose? Justin had gone back to Paris, but the more William tossed and turned, the more he thought about him and about all the vicious backstabbing. His mind drifted back to the day he had discovered Maynard’s body, and all that had happened since then. He would like to put them all through the same torment they had inflicted on him. Then it dawned on him that that was exactly what Justin had described. My God! He’d like to see that bastard Cedric caught on camera with more than his pants down. Only now did William see the funny side of it. He reached for the phone, but then realized the time. He lay back on his pillows and laughed.
As though by divine intuition, Justin phoned the following morning. His timing was perfect, as always. ‘I’m on the four o’clock train,’ he yelled down the Gare du Nord pay-phone. ‘I’ll be with you in a few hours.’
‘I’ll pick you up at Waterloo.’
‘Let’s get the invitations out today,’ William said as they drove away from the station.
Justin laughed. ‘Sure, why not?’
William leaned forward and opened the glove compartment. ‘I’ve made out a new list, short and sweet.’