The Concrete Ceiling

by Peter Rowlands

  So there it was – confirmation of what I’d guessed. I said, “And presumably Nick’s put quite a bit of money into it?”

  “A frightening amount. He’s used an investment fund set up by his father.

  “No wonder he’s so desperate to push the project through.”

  “You said that before. What exactly did you mean?”

  “Well, the original scheme involved expansion into a site opposite the existing shopping centre. It’s derelict land that once had some kind of redbrick industrial buildings on it.”

  She nodded for me to continue. I said, “The trouble was, Nick came to the conclusion that the project wasn’t going to fly.” I stopped to think. “It was your friend Jess who put me on to this. She pointed out to me that the retail environment is changing, and schemes like this carry a high risk these days.”

  “So Nick was worried he would lose on his investment?”

  “Exactly. But rather than accept defeat, he hit on an idea for building the project up into something much more ambitious. If you look at that site, you’ll find there’s a big double warehouse unit on the far side of it. His plan was to demolish the warehouse and roll the extra land into the development. So instead of building Chilworth Shopping Centre Mk2, they would create a ‘retail and leisure experience’.”

  “Huh! That has Nick written all over it.” She paused to reflect. “What about planning permission?”

  “Apparently the site is being re-zoned to allow for retailing.”

  “You have been busy.”

  I said, “What I haven’t worked out yet is how Nick expected to take control of the site that has the warehouse units on it.”

  “Hang on, I saw something about warehousing when I was pulling out his paperwork this morning.” She jumped up and went over to the table, where she flicked through various sheaves of notes.

  “Casement Land Trust. Does that mean anything to you?”

  “Yes! That warehouse is called Casement Rise. It must be the same thing.”

  She pored over the document she’d found, then said, “Well, Nick has a stake in it.”

  “That must be it then. Somehow he must have swung the other investors round to his way of thinking – persuaded them that retail would bring them better returns than warehousing.”

  “That’s what he’s good at – persuading and cajoling. He gets a hold over people, and suddenly they realise they can’t say no to him.”

  “So I’ve noticed.”

  “But wasn’t that warehousing occupied? Could they really just demolish it at the drop of a hat?”

  “Ah, no. That’s where the whole thing starts to look altogether murky.”

  Chapter 67

  Sam said, “I’m going to have a glass of wine. Sure I can’t tempt you to a small one?”

  “Go on then, you’ve twisted my arm.”

  She poured two equal sized glasses of red, then went round switching on table lamps. “This is all a bit chintzy for me,” she commented, “but I can’t deny it’s cosy.” She settled down again. “So tell me about this warehousing.”

  “OK. Well, there are two warehouse units on that site. One was already empty, but a logistics company was about to sign a new lease on it for a consumer electronics contract. Nick had to stop that from happening.”

  “So he bullied his fellow-landlords into stopping it?”

  “Actually no. Maybe he hadn’t got into full cajoling mode by that point.”

  “What did he do then?”

  “It involves Dan Risby. Nick must have had some kind of hold over him. He persuaded Dan to sabotage the contract bid.”

  “You’re losing me now.”

  My mind was racing as I shuffled the pieces of the puzzle into order. I said, “Dan’s firm, Cavenham Risby, is the agent for that warehouse, and Dan had an inside track on the contract tender that was being put forward by the logistics company. I think he leaked the details to a rival logistics company so that they could undercut the bid. The upshot was that these other people won the contract, and they located the operation somewhere else.”

  “But surely that was just a short-term gain? Some other company could have come along and taken a lease on this warehouse, couldn’t they?”

  I nodded. “Presumably all Nick needed was breathing space – enough time to persuade the other Casement investors to go along with his scheme to bulldoze the site.”

  Sam said, “I had no idea that man was so devious. All this was going on while we were together, yet he never breathed a word of it to me.”

  “I told you this was murky – and I’m afraid it gets worse.”

  * * *

  Somehow my wine glass had been refilled without my noticing – and still I was working my way through Nick’s scheming. I said, “Remember I told you that warehouse was divided into two units? The other unit is occupied by a company called Backer Logistics. They’re using it on a long-term contract to store and distribute soft drinks.”

  She nodded.

  “The lease still had five years to run, so I reckon Nick and Dan decided they had to force the company to quit. Basically they hiked up the rental to an unsustainable level.”

  “Could they do that legally and get away with it?”

  “I don’t know, but apparently they convinced the company they could. In fact the company boss, Don Smithson, had a heart attack during the negotiation. He died.”

  Sam gave me a wide-eyed stare. “You’re joking!”

  “I’m afraid not. Nick never told you about it?”

  “He certainly didn’t.”

  I could see her mind whirring. She said, “You’d have thought it would be worth more to Nick to accept five years of guaranteed rental on that warehouse than to plunge the whole site into a speculative venture.”

  “Ah, but presumably he was only one among several shareholders in the warehouse site, whereas he had a much bigger stake in the retail scheme – and much more to lose if it failed.”

  Sam leaned back and stretched. “Aren’t you a clever boy, working all this out by yourself?”

  I smiled. “I had help from various other people. Credit where it’s due.”

  She went out to the kitchen and returned with an armful of savoury snacks. She sat down again and handed me a packet of peanuts to open. She said, “I can’t believe you’ve picked up all this stuff about property investment when it’s not your main subject, and you’re based miles away.”

  “Well, I had a vested interest.”

  “Hm.”

  Now I was hesitant. She seemed to have accepted all the bad things I’d told her about Nick so far, but my coup de grace might be a step too far. I said, “There’s one more aspect to this that you should probably know about, but I’m not sure you’ll want to hear it. I don’t even know if I believe it myself.”

  “Come on! You can’t tell me something like that and then leave it dangling. What is it?”

  “OK, but I don’t have any proof of this. It’s just something else that I picked up from Jess.”

  “Go on.”

  “Well, apparently her company was due to take a large retail unit in the revamped Chilworth Fields development. But she says they changed their minds and wanted to back out of it. They reckon this kind of development has had its day. According to her, they would never have made a profit there. But there were massive penalties for cancelling.”

  Sam was nodding. “I know she’s worried that her company is operating on a knife edge.”

  “Right. So she tried to persuade Dan Risby that the whole project was doomed.”

  She gave me a quizzical look. “I didn’t know Jess and Dan were that close.”

  “She said they met at your place earlier this year.”

  “That’s right, they did, but she never told me they’d stayed in touch.”

  “I got the impression that they were well on the way to becoming an item.”

  “Bloody hell.” She fell silent for a moment. “I thought she was being a bit cagey abou
t something.”

  “She was probably worried about how it might affect the situation with you and Nick.”

  “What a shock for her when he died. I can’t believe she kept this quiet.” She stared across the room with a bleak look on her face, then turned back to me. “I feel as if I’ve been wandering around with my eyes shut. I’ve been too self-absorbed – too worried about whether I’ve been making the right decisions in my life. I haven’t been looking out for my friends, yet that’s exactly what they’ve been doing for me.”

  “There’s no point in beating yourself up about it.”

  We sat in silence for a moment, then she said, “Sorry, I interrupted you. Carry on with what you were saying.”

  “It was about Nick’s retail scheme. Apparently Dan came to the conclusion that Jess was right about it – it was dead in the water. He told her he was going to veto it.”

  “But you said earlier that Nick had some sort of hold over him.”

  “Maybe he did, but if so Dan must have decided to defy him.”

  “Well good for Dan, I say.”

  I waited a moment. “But then Dan died.”

  She flashed me a questioning look. “You’re not suggesting … ?”

  “I’m not sure what I’m suggesting. I just think it seems a bit too convenient.”

  “But for god’s sake … ” She paused to think. “Dan died of a drug overdose, didn’t he?”

  “That’s what the coroner said.”

  She was still staring at me when a succession of sounds broke the silence: the rasping of a key in a lock, a door opening, a door closing again. There were footsteps in the hall, then the lounge door opened. It was Nick.

  “Well, well,” he said, glancing between the two of us. “Isn’t this cosy?”

  Chapter 68

  “Hi Nick,” Sam said. “How goes it?”

  I had to hand it to her – she’d managed to sound remarkably unruffled. However, Nick wasn’t buying it. He said, “I suppose I should have known I would find Mike here as soon as my back was turned.”

  Indignantly Sam said, “What? I don’t know what you think you mean by that. Mike just stopped off on his way back to London.” She turned to me. “Where did you say you’d just come from?”

  “Leicester.”

  “Bit of a deviation.” He glared at her.

  I said, “Not much of one.”

  I glanced surreptitiously over to the table, hoping she hadn’t left the documents about Casement Land Trust in view. No point in alerting Nick to our interest. It looked as though she’d eased them back into place.

  He turned to me. “I hear you finally put that murder charge behind you.”

  “Yeah, it looks as if that man’s own daughter killed him in a fit of rage.”

  He nodded. “So you didn’t need much input from Bernard Croft in the end.”

  “Well, he helped out here and there.”

  “And no doubt he’ll be invoicing you in due course.”

  I drew breath to point out that Nick had offered to pay the bill, then realised how hypocritical that would sound. I merely nodded.

  Sam said to Nick, “I found some paperwork of yours. It’s over there.”

  He went over to the table and glanced down at the documents arrayed on it. “I’ve been looking for this stuff. Pity you didn’t tell me it was here sooner.”

  “Sorry, I assumed you knew about it.”

  He gathered the papers into a single pile and picked them up, turning to Sam. “You realise you need to be out of here in a few days? I told the owners they could have the place back, so they could prepare to put it out for rental.”

  “Don’t worry – I won’t be overstaying my welcome.”

  He put the pile of papers back down on the table. “I’ll just fetch some of my other things from upstairs.”

  Sam and I exchanged glances without saying anything. We sat in silence for a couple of minutes, then heard Nick coming back downstairs. His anger seemed to have matured.

  “I should have known it would end up like this,” he said to Sam. “What has the past year been about? Was I just a stop-gap all along? Were you simply waiting until Mike was available? Is that it?”

  “Of course not! For god’s sake! I would never have treated you like that. You should know me better.”

  “I don’t know anything – except what I see in front of me.”

  “What happened between us was real. I would never have misled you.”

  “So you say.”

  “Yes I do say! It’s true.”

  I noticed Nick was breathing heavily. He glared at her, then said in a measured voice, “The truth? If you want the truth, you’re a dishonest bitch.” He turned to me. “She looks so cute, doesn’t she? All blonde and beguiling. Don’t be fooled.”

  I glanced at Sam, who was staring at him with disbelief. She said, “Nick! How could you say something like that?”

  I was rising to my feet. I had no idea if I could beat Nick in a fight, but I knew I had to intervene. I said, “Sam’s right, Nick. This is out of order.”

  “No one was asking you, Mike.” He spat my name out.

  “Well, too bad, because here I am.”

  He continued to glare at me, but said nothing and made no advance towards me. I said, “I think you were about to head off, weren’t you? I’ll need to be going soon too.” I glanced pointedly at my watch.

  Sam said, “Don’t go yet, Mike.”

  “No, don’t go yet,” Nick parroted. “Sammy wants you to stay.”

  She said, “For god’s sake, Nick! Can you drop this sarcasm please?”

  For a long moment all three of us stood there without speaking. Then Nick turned to me. “It’s always Mike, isn’t it? Even when you’re not there, you are. What the FUCK is so special about you? Can you explain it to me?”

  I couldn’t think of any suitable reply. I simply lifted my hands.

  He stared at me a second or two longer, then turned to gather up his paperwork from the table and strode out of the room without another word. He paused in the hall to pick up a case he’d brought down from upstairs, then marched out of the house, slamming the front door behind him.

  * * *

  Sam picked up her wine, swallowed the rest of it and gave a nervous laugh. “I think I need something stronger after that.” She put the glass down.

  I sat back down on one of the easy chairs and she followed suit. I said, “Has he ever spoken to you like that before?”

  “Never! I’ve always felt there might be a darker side to him, but he’s never showed it. He can be moody, but he’s always been respectful to me.” She laughed again bleakly. “It’s amazing what you find out about people when you break up with them.”

  “I’m sorry I’ve caused you this grief by turning up here.”

  “Don’t worry – it’s been an education. All this stuff you’ve been telling me about him – I’ve been struggling to square it with the Nick I know. Now suddenly I see this other side of him.”

  “Do you want me to stay tonight, in case he comes back? On the couch, I mean.”

  She chuckled, no doubt thinking about her visit to London. “Believe it or not, this house has more than one bedroom. But no, it’s fine. Better for you to get going. He won’t come back tonight – I know him well enough now.”

  “Well lock all the doors, and double-lock the front.”

  “He’s not actually violent … ” She fell silent and gave me a wide-eyed look. “But hang on, you were just telling me you thought he might have had something to do with Dan Risby’s death. That’s what you were getting at, isn’t it?”

  “I honestly don’t know. I don’t have any evidence for that.”

  “All the same.” She stared at me. “Bloody hell, Mike.”

  I stayed for another hour, then we agreed that I would go. I insisted that she call me if Nick were to do so much as pull up outside the house, and she readily agreed.

  We lingered at the front door. I wanted to put
my arms round her, but I held back. If the kiss in my flat counted for anything she would welcome it, but this scarcely seemed the time to put that thought to the test. In the end I simply said, “See you soon.”

  She said, “Definitely.”

  I phoned her twice from my car. Each time she assured me that all was well. I phoned again when I got back to the flat. She said she was about to go to bed.

  I phoned her yet again half an hour after that. “I’m still here,” she said with a low chuckle. Then very quietly: “I wish you were too.”

  Chapter 69

  “Is that Mike Stanhope?” The man’s voice was vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place it.

  “Speaking.”

  “It’s Neil here – Neil Wardell, of Landsholme Surveyors in Banbury.”

  “Neil, it’s good to hear from you.”

  It was the morning after my visit to Sam. I was sitting at my desk, lost in thought and staring mindlessly at the shafts of autumn light beaming in through the front windows. I hadn’t altogether assimilated yesterday’s events yet. Sam and I had both seen Nick at his worst, and I’d more or less confirmed my suspicions about how he’d manipulated the Chilworth Fields project. But I didn’t know what my next move should be; in fact I didn’t even know if there should be a next move. And I didn’t know where I now stood with Sam.

  Neil said, “I wasn’t sure what to do for the best, but in the end I thought I would talk to you.”

  I wrenched myself back to the present. “What about?”

  He gave an awkward laugh. “I seem to be inventing a new career for myself here. Whistle-blower.”

  “Sounds interesting. Go on.”

  “Can I trust you not to quote me? They’ll probably work out I was the one who spoke up, but they won’t be able to prove it.”

  “Well, if there’s a story here, I can certainly keep your name out of it. What I can’t do is stop people putting two and two together.”

  “Sure. I see that.” Another pause. “It probably doesn’t matter now anyway.”

  “So what’s this about?”