‘How long would he get if he’s guilty?’ I asked.
‘Something between two and four years.’
‘Is that normal for fraud?’
‘The maximum sentence under the Fraud Act is ten years, but that would only be for a highly sophisticated fraud or repeated offences. But don’t forget, the money obtained by the fraud also has to be repaid. If my client is found guilty, the insurance company will demand back the half a million, and with six years of compound interest added.’
‘And if he’s not guilty?’
‘Then he’d be a free man. But the insurance company might still sue him through the civil courts for the return of their money. In criminal trials the standard of proof is “beyond a reasonable doubt,” whereas in civil cases it is only “on the balance of probabilities.” All they would have to do is prove that it is more likely than not that he sold the car for cash and defrauded the company.’
‘That doesn’t seem very fair.’
He laughed. ‘No one ever claims that the law is fair. It just is what it is.’
‘So will you come tonight?’ I asked.
‘I will if I can.’
I spent the rest of the morning working out in my head what I was going to say to my children and to my wife. I made some notes to act as an aide memoire.
Meanwhile, Georgina went for a day’s shopping at the Bicester Village designer shopping outlet, which suited me just fine.
‘I’m meeting Yvonne there,’ she said, coming into my office as I was finishing my calls.
Yvonne was a long-standing friend of hers from the years they had worked together in a recruitment office in Manchester, from the time before Georgina and I had even met. Yvonne now lived in Birmingham, so Bicester was about halfway between them.
‘When will you be back?’ I asked, slightly concerned that she wouldn’t be home until late.
‘About six. We’ll have had more than enough by then.’
‘That’ll be fine,’ I replied. ‘See you then.’
Should I tell her that I had instructed her children to be here by seven? Just to make sure she was back in time?
I decided not to. It would almost certainly involve telling her why they were coming, and I didn’t want to ruin her shopping day with Yvonne, even if I might then ruin the rest of her life.
As the day wore on, and seven o’clock came ever nearer, I became increasingly nervous.
What if I were wrong?
Would it be better to do nothing and carry on as before?
But things were no longer as they had been before.
Trust had been eroded.
It was time to grasp the nettle and sort things out, once and for all.
But I was about to open a can of worms that I hadn’t bargained for.
Chapter 33
Georgina arrived back at ten past six. I had been watching out for her through the hall window.
She came into the hall carrying a couple of designer-branded carrier bags.
‘Only two?’ I said.
She laughed. ‘Yvonne and I spent most of the time chatting or having lunch. The place was so full, mostly with Chinese. Even the menu was in Chinese. The waiter told us that Bicester Village is the number-two destination for Chinese tourists, only behind Buckingham Palace. And I can believe it.’
‘James and Amanda are coming,’ I said.
‘Coming where?’ Georgina asked, seemingly confused.
‘Here. This evening. Soon. To welcome you back from Yorkshire.’
‘Oh. That’s great.’ But she didn’t seem totally excited or pleased. ‘But I haven’t got any food for them.’
‘I’m sure that won’t matter.’
‘What time are they coming?’
‘Seven.’
At least, I hoped they were both coming. Neither of them had texted back to confirm. But that might have been because my text to them had given them strict instructions not to contact me or their mother — just to make sure they were at the house by seven o’clock.
‘So I’ve got less than an hour,’ Georgina said. ‘I’ll have to see what I can rustle up.’ She was not happy, and she was also getting quite agitated. ‘Why didn’t you call me? I could have stopped to buy something on the way home.’
She started to go towards the kitchen.
‘I thought it would be a nice surprise,’ I said. ‘And there might be more of them than just James and Amanda.’
She stopped and turned around. ‘More of them?’
‘I said they could each bring a friend.’
In fact, I had told both James and Amanda in my text that they should bring someone with them, to provide them with some support.
‘Why don’t we just order a takeaway?’ I said. ‘Then we can ask them all what they’d like when they get here.’
Georgina relaxed a little. ‘Sure. But I’m still going up to have a shower and to change into something smarter.’
‘There’s no need,’ I said. ‘You look fine as you are.’
She gave me a stare, which implied that I obviously didn’t know what I was talking about. She went upstairs.
James arrived at ten to seven and, as expected, brought Gary Shipman with him — or rather Gary Shipman brought James, as they arrived in Gary’s car.
I opened the door to them before they could ring the bell, James in shorts and tee shirt, while Gary sported jeans and a leather jacket.
‘What’s all this about, Dad?’ James asked immediately. ‘Are you and Mum getting divorced?’
‘You’ll find out everything soon enough,’ I said. ‘Go into the sitting room with Gary.’
He looked worried but did as I told him. I went back to staring out the window.
At five to seven, Amanda’s battered blue Ford Fiesta turned in through the gates, and I could see that she had brought Darren with her.
I went out to meet them.
‘What’s going on, Dad?’ Amanda asked, clearly quite distressed.
‘Come on in,’ I said in reply, standing aside to let them through the front door. ‘Hello, Darren.’
He grunted something at me in reply, which I didn’t comprehend, and I wondered if he was high.
I ushered them into the sitting room to join James and Gary, and into this rather glum-faced gathering walked Georgina, all smiles and happiness, with fresh makeup and wearing one of her smartest dresses.
‘How lovely,’ she said, walking over to give each of her children a kiss.
‘Lovely?’ James said in obvious surprise. ‘What’s lovely about it?’
‘Having you here, of course,’ Georgina replied.
‘Hasn’t Dad told you the real reason why we’re all here?’
‘No.’ She suddenly sounded concerned. ‘Why are you all here?’
There was a long pause as my wife looked in turn at the four young faces staring back at her.
‘Because Dad wants a divorce,’ Amanda said finally.
At that point, the front doorbell rang.
I went out into the hall to answer it while the others remained in the sitting room in a stunned silence.
When I went back in, with Patrick Hogg, KC, all five of the others were staring at me. I closed the sitting-room door, as if to close us all in privately together, both literally and symbolically.
‘This is Patrick,’ I said. ‘He’s a lawyer.’
‘So it is true,’ Georgina said almost in a whimper.
Patrick went and leaned against the wall at one side of the room, between the windows, taking his mobile phone out of his pocket. Meanwhile, I stood on the sheepskin rug in front of the fire place, facing all of them.
‘As a matter of fact,’ I said slowly, ‘it’s not true that I want a divorce. But I did give James and Amanda that impression strongly in the text I sent to them late last night.’
I looked down at Georgina who was now slumped on the sofa, with tears running down her cheeks, which were making an awful mess of her newly applied mascara.