He swiftly picked an open novel off an armchair and placed it face down on a small table. I just caught a glimpse of the cover: it was one of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books. He saw I saw and reddened slightly.
‘Now, explain what you want, and go.’
He looked tired. It wasn’t just the hour: he looked worn down. Seeing his company fall apart around him must have taken its toll.
‘Do you know Isabel?’ I asked.
Kerton nodded. ‘Yes, vaguely. She’s quite, ah, noticeable.’
I wasn’t surprised that Kerton appreciated Isabel’s charms, most men would, but it was a good sign.
‘Well, as you know, she was kidnapped last month. It looked like she’d been killed, but it turns out that her kidnappers were just hiding her. Yesterday her father received a threat that unless the Bloomfield Weiss takeover of Dekker Ward was called off, she would die. Luís Pereira and the kidnap specialist who advises him take this threat very seriously. So do I.’
Kerton was listening. ‘What do these kidnappers care about the takeover?’
‘I think it highly likely that Eduardo Ross was behind Isabel’s kidnapping.’
‘No! Do you have proof?’
‘No firm evidence, no. But, as you say, why the interest in Dekker’s future?’
‘I don’t believe Eduardo Ross would do something like that,’ Kerton said, with a primness that sounded ridiculous.
Kerton knew Eduardo. Anyone who knew Eduardo knew he just might be capable of kidnapping.
I raised my eyebrows.
‘OK,’ said Kerton. ‘But how did Eduardo find out about the takeover? I thought we’d kept Ricardo out of it.’
I shrugged. ‘Leaks.’
‘Hum. What do you expect me to do?’
‘Call the deal off.’
Kerton frowned. ‘I can’t. You know that. Dekker Ward is insolvent. If I sell to Bloomfield Weiss, the firm might survive in some form, and I just might get some value out of it. If that deal goes away, I’ll have to call in the receiver.’
‘Well, can’t you delay it? Manufacture some problem. Something to give us more time.’
‘I don’t have much time. If the market moves down any further the deal will fall through. I can’t afford to wait and risk that happening. Anyway, what would you do with a few more days?’
I had been thinking this through in the car on the way to Kerton’s house.
‘Find out who kidnapped Isabel, and get her released.’
‘But if the Brazilian police haven’t been able to find her kidnappers over the last couple of months, why should you be able to find her now?’
‘Because now we know her kidnapping is linked to Dekker Ward. It’s likely that Ricardo or Eduardo Ross is involved. It will make it easier to track her down.’
Kerton sighed. ‘Look, I’m sorry about Isabel, but there’s really nothing I can do. I have no choice.’
‘Yes, you do!’ said Kate. The forcefulness of her tone grabbed Kerton’s attention. ‘If you don’t call the deal off and Isabel is murdered, you’ll have her death on your conscience for the rest of your life. You’ll never be able to forget it. Sure, when you look at your bank statement and see a few million more on it, you’ll remember why you let her die. But that won’t give you satisfaction. You’ll feel as guilty as hell.’
That rattled him. ‘Look. I’m not the one who’s killing her,’ he protested. ‘It has nothing to do with me.’
Kate shook her head. ‘It has everything to do with you.’
Kerton glared at me. ‘Why should I do this for you? You were the one who got Bloomfield Weiss involved in the first place.’
‘It isn’t for him, it’s for Isabel,’ Kate said. ‘Look, I know you don’t know anything about all of this, but you are chairman of Dekker Ward. This is your responsibility.’
Kerton stood up. He strode across to the large window overlooking the garden in the middle of the square. Kate and I watched him. We could see the tension in his back and shoulders.
He turned round, and ran his hands through his hair. ‘I can’t call the whole deal off. Bloomfield Weiss are giving me their offer tomorrow. But, if you like, I’ll put off responding until Monday.’
‘Wednesday.’
Kerton glanced at me in irritation. ‘All right, Wednesday. But next Wednesday morning I will accept Bloomfield Weiss’s offer, provided it’s a reasonable one. And I hope you will have found Isabel by then.’
‘Thank you,’ I said. Kate smiled at him. She was right, he wasn’t all bad. ‘Can you give us your number here? In case we need to contact you.’
Kerton went over to the table by the phone, scribbled a number on a piece of paper and gave it to me.
‘Oh, one other thing,’ I said. Kerton frowned. It was clear he wanted to get rid of me. ‘Can I use your phone?’
The frown deepened.
I checked my watch. One o’clock, or nine o’clock in the evening in Brazil. ‘I need to let Isabel’s father know so that he can tell the kidnappers there’s been a delay.’
Kerton shrugged and nodded.
I moved over to the phone, and dialled Luís’s number. I got through first time, and Luís picked up the phone straight away.
‘Alô.’
‘Luís, it’s Nick. I’ve spoken to Lord Kerton, chairman of Dekker Ward. He says he will delay accepting Bloomfield Weiss’s offer until next Wednesday.’
‘Thank God,’ he said, with relief. And then the worry returned. ‘What do we do then?’
‘I said we’d find Isabel.’
‘And how do we do that, Nick?’
Kerton was watching me. ‘Let’s think about that tomorrow, shall we? But call me after the kidnappers have been in contact.’
‘I will.’
I put the phone down.
‘You don’t have a clue where she is, do you?’ said Kerton.
I smiled and shrugged.
For the first time, he smiled back. ‘Well, good luck.’
Kate drove us straight back to Bodenham. ‘Thank you,’ I said. ‘If it hadn’t been for you, I don’t think he would have gone along with it.’
‘But he did.’
‘Right.’
‘So what are you going to do now?’
‘Wait for Luís to call back. Go to bed. Sleep. Then think.’
It was after two by the time we arrived home. Jamie was still up waiting for us. The television was on, and a whisky glass and tumbler were by his chair.
He stood up, agitated. ‘What’s going on?’
‘We needed to see Lord Kerton about something.’
‘What? See him about what?’
I shrugged.
‘Look, he’s the chairman of my employer. You can’t just go and “see him about something” without telling me what it is, Kate!’
Kate stood in anguish in the middle of the sitting-room floor. She glanced at me. I nodded. I couldn’t expect her to hide it from Jamie any more.
She walked over to the sofa, and flopped into it. Jamie sat down again next to his whisky glass. I remained standing.
‘We were asking Andrew Kerton to delay selling Dekker Ward to Bloomfield Weiss until next Wednesday,’ she said, in a quiet voice.
‘Sell to Bloomfield Weiss! What are you on about? Bloomfield Weiss aren’t about to buy Dekker.’
Kate nodded. ‘Yes, they are. They’ve been in secret negotiations with Andrew for the last couple of weeks.’
‘God.’ Jamie slumped back into his chair. ‘And what have you two got to do with it?’
I swallowed. ‘It was my idea,’ I said.
‘Your idea?’
‘Yes.’
‘Why?’
‘Ricardo deserved it.’
Jamie still looked shocked. ‘I can’t believe you did this!’ He looked at Kate. ‘And you knew all about it?’
‘I only found out a couple of days ago.’