About three months ago Michelle’s grandmother had passed away after a sudden illness and she now made a point of spending a lot of time with her grandfather and especially at this time of the year since their emerald wedding anniversary was rapidly approaching. Michelle knew that her parents had planned a huge surprise party and had a booked them a cruise as a present. Now, unknowingly to Arthur, all this had been cancelled and instead Michelle concentrated on making him as happy as possible during their time together. Arthur acknowledged the well wishers with kind words from himself and soon the people stopped approaching the table and they were left to order their food.
They quickly ate their respective meals, hungry after the refreshing walk, both of them occasionally dropping titbits for Jack. After their meal they had drinks and soon Michelle suggested that they move over to the pool table. Their games went as they usually did, Michelle playing her usual game and suspecting that Arthur was not really trying. She had tried a few weekends after the pool incident to bring up his play that night but she did not get anywhere.
He dodged her questions with answers such as, ‘Oh, I just got lucky,’ or ‘Well look at me now, I can’t pot anything!’ Michelle quickly gave up; however, she did ask her father.
*
‘Old Sharky put in an appearance did he?! Not very often he comes out of whatever closet dad keeps him hidden in!’
‘Sharky?’
‘Yeah, Sharky. You ask old Bill Rogers about him. You know him from the Rose right?’
‘Yeah dad, I do. But he is hardly ever there anymore. Can you tell me?’
‘I suppose. Why didn’t grandfather tell you?’
‘I don’t know. He wouldn’t answer the questions. He kept on saying it was luck.’
‘Luck my..!’ Her dad did not finish the curse and instead took a deep breath and told Michelle a story. ‘You know where your grandfather spent nineteen fifty to nineteen fifty three don’t you?’
‘Yes, of course. He was a Sergeant in the British Army. He was in Korea during that time.’
‘Exactly. Well, he was already good at pool, but as his story goes he met an American woman who took a bit of a fancy to Arthur.’
‘But he would have been married to grandmother by then?’
‘He insists no hanky-panky went on but apparently they did spend a lot of time together. Even when they were based at different parts of the Korean peninsula they still communicated a lot. He doesn’t know it, but I saw letters in the attic one time when I was young. I don’t know if he kept them hidden from my mum for all those years or whether she knew. Either way, some of them are quite, well, luvvy-duvvy shall we say.’
‘Right, okay, I can understand him wanting company. He was away for three years; I hope he didn’t hurt grandmother though.’
‘Who knows? Only he and she know the answer to that.’
‘What does all this have to do with pool though?’
‘Well, it turns out that this lady was the daughter of a famous American pool champion and she taught grandfather to become even better. In the time they spent together all they seemed to have done is play pool! When he was convalescing after his injury, according to the letters written after he returned to duty, the old fox managed to get himself put into a hospital where a certain young woman was stationed very nearby. It seems that once he was back on his feet they spent every passing moment during his six month convalescent period playing pool!’
‘Wow! Okay. That explains why he is so good!’
‘No, he is better than good. He made a fortune out of it in the sixties and seventies. You know he and mum were stationed all round the world and that I was actually born in Hong Kong of course?’ He did not wait for an answer to the rhetorical question. ‘All through those decades he used to hustle the Americans who were stationed with or near him. You know what Americans are like; big, boastful, and loud, think they’re untouchable and unbeatable at everything they touch? Well grandfather did touch them and did beat them! He hustled his way around the world, from army base to army base, bar to bar in city to city getting him and mum a nice little nest egg!’
‘Wow! Great story!’
‘Yeah, it is. Bill would be able to tell you better than me. He spent a lot of time with grandfather during those years in the Army. There was a rumour that old Sharky was not beaten, when he was playing seriously that is, and not pretending he was rubbish for the hustle, for something ridiculous like twenty years until he met a certain woman at an army base on Guam.’
‘Even bigger wow! He met her again after all those years?!’
‘Yep. Apparently they played non-stop for about ten hours and let’s just say she put a big hole in his nest egg.’
‘Oh dear!’
‘Yeah, and ever since that day as far as I know he has never betted on a game until that night with you!’
‘Excellent! I love listening to tales like that about our family! That is amazing. What a life he must have led!’
‘One thing that can be said about my dad, he has lived life to the full, definitely. One thing though, don’t mention this to him. I do believe that there were indiscretions carried out with the American woman and I still think to this day that he feels terrible about it.’
‘Okay, I definitely won’t.’ And Michelle never did.
*
After an hour of playing pool Arthur declared like he usually did that Michelle was now the world champion of pool and that he was giving up for the night. Usually they would sit back down at a table and have another drink before leaving but her grandfather stated that he was tired after spending so long in the garden earlier that day and asked to leave straight away. Michelle of course agreed but not without showing concern. In all the time they had been having these nights together their routine was very rarely broken and only if circumstances were totally beyond their control, for example, a fire once broke out in one of the toilets. Never before had they ever left early because he was tired.
On the walk home through the streets this time avoiding the dark fields, the conversation was sparse. Her grandfather had been a Sergeant in the army for many years and he had always stood ramrod straight. Michelle could not help noticing as they walked that he now seemed to be stooping a little. With the early departure from the Rose and now this stooping it started to concern her a lot.
Then a little alarm went off in her head and a piece of information forced itself from her subconscious to the conscious part of her mind. She remembered that he is nearly eighty and he had been on the go non-stop today and she thought that she would be stooping a little bit too if she was him.
These thoughts eased her concern a little and Michelle was certain that tomorrow he would be back to usual. The stoop slowly started to straighten as they reached the end of his street and was totally gone by the time they reached his garden gate. Michelle looked down at Jack and even the tireless spaniel’s head was drooping with fatigue. She took in a big breath of the crisp cool night air and said, ‘One of the reasons I love coming out here into the country, the air is so, so fresh.’
‘One of the reasons I am still so fit and healthy the air out here. Better than living in the town definitely.’
‘Yeah, it is grandfather. Do you feel okay now? You seemed tired before?’
Arthur was getting his keys out of his pocket as he answered, ‘Yes, of course I do. Don’t worry about me young lady. Still plenty of time for me to work out how on earth you are managing to beat me at pool so easily!’
The door was unlocked by Arthur and he swung it open and they both stepped into the hall. ‘I think we both know that that isn’t strictly true. That night with those men. You didn’t have to move when you were taking your shots. How did you do that?’
Arthur let out a chuckle as he was removing her outer garments, ‘Told you: luck!’
‘Rubbish grandfather and you know it!’
‘I honestly don’t know Michelle.’
‘I want you to teach me.’
Arthur
led her down the hall into the kitchen where he switched on the kettle and started to prepare some hot-chocolate for them both. ‘I’ve got nothing to teach.’
‘Ohhh grandfather!’ Michelle stamped her foot. ‘Pllleeeaaassseee!’
‘Who do you think you are? Sally?’
‘Sorry.’
‘Hmmmm. You are the daughter of my son and my granddaughter, not the daughter of a billionaire who has more skeletons in his closet than a Russian oil baron who lives in a haunted house!’
‘He doesn’t have skeletons in his closet! He has just worked hard and sometimes had good luck on his side!’
‘Good luck?! Nineteen seventy-eight, he was applying for a military contract. His main rival fell from a ten storey high balcony. Verdict: suicide, but the rival had never shown any signs of depression or suicidal tendencies. Nineteen eighty-four. Sally’s father had just lost a court battle over the copyright and patent of a now common household product. You know which I mean?’
‘Yes, of course. That is what made him most of his money.’
‘He should be a pauper after that court battle. He lost fair and square. Three days after the judgment his rival went missing from his own yacht in perfectly calm seas off the Monaco coast. Verdict: an unfortunate accident resulting in drowning. Utter drivel. Everyone with half a brain knows that, although Mr. Gallagher may not have pushed him off that yacht with his own hand, it was a hand connected to an arm belonging to Mr. Gallagher. Proof of this theory: none.’
‘Therefore he is innocent until…’
‘Rubbish. He is as guilty as a man holding a smoking gun!’
‘Grandfather that is why we have courts, to present evidence to find out if a person is innocent or guilty. You can’t say he is guilty just because you think he is! You need proof.’
‘My proof is the coincidence that two of his main rivals both died under extremely mysterious circumstances.’
‘Only two though. I’m sure to get to a position such as his he would have to push a lot more than two people!’
‘Nineteen eighty eight. Aircraft contract with Boeing to make numerous electrical components and the software to run a plane, a contract that would make his company the largest electrical and computer software company in the U.K. and up there with the world’s biggest.’
‘And?’
‘The government stopped him claiming that this contract would give him a monopoly on the industry. The two main people who blocked the signing of this contract were found dead two days after this announcement, one from drowning in his own swimming pool and another was knocked down by a black cab in London.’
‘And Mr. Gallagher was the perpetrator?’
‘I have no proof and I don’t think anybody does unless he bought them off or killed them, but don’t you think it is all a little bit too coincidental?’
The kettle had long since boiled but it went unnoticed by both of them.
‘I can see what you mean grandfather, yet you can’t accuse people without proof. That can’t be done in this country.’
‘I know we are talking about your best friend’s father so try to be neutral about this and ask one simple question. Does everything I have said to you sound a little suspicious?’
‘Okay, as a neutral, yes, it does. However, I know Mr. Gallagher better than anybody apart from Sally and he is not capable of ordering these things!’
‘I have to disagree with you. You know his fatherly side. You only know how nice he is to you and Sally. Have you ever been to the office with him?’
‘No.’
‘Have you ever sat in with him during one of his business meetings?’
‘No.’
‘I have.’
Michelle could not keep the surprise out of her voice. ‘You have? When?’
‘Just before I retired from the Army, before you and Sally were born so before I had met him informally. They wanted an experienced soldier’s opinion about an electronic component Gallagher and the Army were working on. At that time I was only pushing pens and paper waiting for my pension and some random officer walked into my office and invited me into the meeting. I think he was told to go and find anyone who was experienced in the field and I was the first person he saw.’
‘Okay. Then what happened?’
‘I was taken to a meeting room and sat down and listened to all they said. I’ve seen him socially since then, since you got to know Sally we have been together to many of the functions he has thrown for you both, parties etcetera, right?’
‘Yeah, we have.’
‘Right. Well the difference between him on that day and him on his own grounds hosting a big party was astonishing. He was evil Michelle, pure evil. The electrical component has since been banned by the Geneva Convention as being too, well, evil to be used on any battlefield. But all he saw, Gallagher, were the pound signs flashing before his eyes. He has no idea it was me, and probably does not even remember the insignificant old soldier who so strongly opposed him during that meeting. He had answers for every objection I had. All the military could see was certain success on the battlefield and all he could see was the large contract that was just about to land on his desk followed by an even larger cheque!’ Her grandfather took a breather and then continued in a quieter voice. ‘Don’t say that you know him, you don’t. Only when you have looked him in the eye across a table where you are discussing the future of his company and the future of his bank balance and you have seen the evil, determination and pure greed in his eyes can you truly say that you know him.’
There was silence for a moment while they contemplated everything that had been said. Eventually Michelle asked the only question that could be asked, ‘What was the component?’ For a moment she thought that he was not going to tell her but he did.
‘It fitted onto the top of a man’s rifle, gun, whatever. It was a small box with some kind of powerful laser in it. I, of course, do not know the exact technical specifications, but I am led to believe that the soldier pressed a button on the gun and the box emitted some kind of powerful laser. How it works is not important. What is important is the result of pressing the button. It blinded, blinded Michelle, the enemy soldiers.’
‘Oh my God! That’s horrible!’
‘Exactly. The laser had a wide field of fire too so it is not as if the soldier had to point it straight into the enemy’s eyes, just in the general direction would suffice. Now imagine a whole battalion…’
‘How many men is that?’
‘It would vary from around 500 to 1000 men. So imagine a whole battalion armed with one of those boxes. If all they have to do is point them in the general direction of the enemy troops they would have been able to blind and therefore kill probably a brigade of enemy troops without even trying.’
‘And a brigade is how many men?’
‘Around one thousand five hundred to three thousand depending on their roles etcetera.’
‘Bloody hell! Three times the number?’
‘Yes, easily. Of course, these men would not stare at each other across a battlefield and therefore it is not as if a whole brigade could be wiped out in one engagement, but imagine the power during any engagements that this component would give!’
‘I can imagine the effect on the morale of the enemy soldiers too.’
‘Exactly. And this is the weapon that your kind and caring father-figure desperately wanted to sell to our military!’
‘That is truly horrible.’
‘I know. Now what do you think of Mr. Gallagher? Still think he is incapable of ordering murders of anyone standing in his way?’
‘It is different, I mean creating a weapon to kill our country’s enemies and personally ordering the murder of another man are greatly different things, but from what you have said about his actions during that meeting, well, you never know do you?’
‘Indeed. You never know what a man is capable of when his success is being threatened. If you had seen him in action Michelle then you would think he is capabl
e of ordering another man’s murder. Trust me, you would.’
For a moment or two they did not say anything then Arthur turned and switched on the kettle again to bring it up to the boil again. He made them both a large mug of hot chocolate and then reached into a cupboard and procured a handful of marshmallows which he dropped into the mugs. He led them both into the living room and Arthur lit the fire. He sat in a rocking chair and draped a blanket over his knees and engaged Michelle in small talk while they drank their steaming chocolate. After fifteen minutes Arthur announced he was going to bed and he came over to where Michelle was stretched out on a sofa and gave her a kiss on her forehead and wished her pleasant dreams.
She listened to him go upstairs and carry out his toilet and then she heard the pitter patter of Jack’s feet as he ran upstairs to assume his position at the foot of Arthur’s bed. He heard some mumbling as her grandfather said his prayers and then the creaking of the bed as he lay down to sleep. For quite some time Michelle lay there staring into the fire thinking of what her grandfather had said, her best friend’s father could be a murderer; he was evil, pure evil.
She wondered if Sally had any indication of what Michelle now knew and she wondered even harder whether it was true. She guessed that there would be witnesses and that somebody somewhere would know the exact truth and not just her grandfather’s speculation, yet she also knew that Mr. Gallagher would probably have paid off these people or perhaps had them murdered. The thoughts flew round Michelle’s head until they rested on two people: Sally and Simon.
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