Chapter 21
I phoned Lisa at her father’s house on the other side of town.
‘How bad is it?’
‘Bad. What was worse was Jane was there. Every time I see her it all gets so difficult again.’
‘What are you going to do now?’
‘I don’t really know; I can’t stay in the house because it’s a crime scene apparently. What are your plans?’
‘Actually I don’t have one. I forgot that Dad and my Step-Mum had gone off on a cruise. There’s no-one here except for Dan.’ Dan was her younger brother. I remembered him from school, a Jack-the-lad character, for whom school work was anathema, but who was very popular with the girls. Lisa and her little brother had a love hate relationship. They were actually quite close, but neither would ever admit it.
‘Are you staying there tonight?’
‘There’s no reason to. Dan’s off out clubbing with his mates, so I’d be here alone. You could stay over here, Dad wouldn’t mind in the circumstances.’
‘No, I wouldn’t feel comfortable and it would give Dan a heart attack to meet his old Head of Year over breakfast.’
‘Fat chance of him making it to breakfast after he’s got hammered tonight! Let’s head back to London, if you’re alright to drive.’
‘I’m fine, when do you want me to pick you up?’
‘As soon as you can?’
‘I’m on my way.’
I picked Lisa up from outside her father’s rather large home in a nice area of town. She threw her bag on to the back seat and climbed into the Saab.
‘Was it too bad at your place?’
‘There’s a bit that’s salvageable, but not very much. Furniture damaged and mess everywhere, I don’t have to worry about losing my home now, it’s effectively gone, all that’s left is the house and that’ll soon be up for sale. I’ve said it before, but now it’s truer than ever, I’ve nothing left to lose.’
‘I’m sorry Ian; do you think it’s related to our work?’
‘I bloody know it is. The bastard that did it left me a message on my answer phone, telling me I had made a mistake in turning down Cummings’ offer and continuing with our project. If I could get my hands on the shit I’d…’
‘Probably get yourself hurt. These are not nice people and they seem to resort to violence and vandalism quite easily. You might be my hero after you defended me so nobly in Spitalfields, but I think you’re in a different league here.’
‘Yeah, you’re probably right.’ I said ruefully. ‘I’m pretty well outclassed here. All the same, I’m really pissed off now; I’ll see this through just to spite the bastard.’
‘Ian, I’m really sorry I got you into this. I feel responsible for what’s happened.’
‘Forget it Kid, you weren’t to know and once it started to get iffy, I was as guilty as you, I went into this with my eyes open. It’s you I’m worried about, this is getting physical, I’d hate to see you get hurt, I don’t really care about what happens to me, but I want you to be safe. Why don’t you fly out and see James now?’
‘Don’t you dare treat me like that,’ she flared up at me, her eyes flashing with anger. ‘I’ve been in this from the beginning and I’m not going to be excluded, just because I’m a girl! You sexist…’
She stopped short, cut off by my laughter. She looked at me in angry confusion.
‘What’s so bloody funny?’
‘You are; that’s the firebrand I remember from school. There was no way you’d let anyone put you down or upset your friends. You were a real little terrier. I’m glad to see you haven’t lost it. Or have you just been keeping it in check because I’m so delicate?’
She began to laugh too.
‘Naah, I’ve learned to keep it in check, it upsets too many people at work, so I save it for when I’m really pissed off. James says I’m scary when I go off on one.’
‘Well, all I can say is that I’m glad you’re on my side. You’re worth a small army of yobs. To paraphrase Wellington, I don’t know what you do to the enemy, but by God you terrify me!’
She smiled somewhat abashed.
‘I called in at the office while I was at Dad’s and told the MD that I’d prefer the Madrid job. He wasn’t pleased, especially as I hadn’t phoned yesterday, I think he’s being heavily leant on. I told him I had to go home, a family emergency. He accepted my decision though, so that’s sorted.
We continued down the M11, I reached forward to turn on the radio to break the silence. Radio Four came on and Lisa groaned.
‘Hey it’s better than you having to listen to the music on my ipod!’
‘Okay, I give in, Radio Four it is.’
I turned up the sound; interviews with all four political leaders were being broadcast, starting with Richard Sinclair. I was tempted to turn it off or over, even Radio One would be better than listening to him. I reached out to turn it over but Lisa restrained me.
‘Wait. It’s about time we started to take this guy seriously. Ignoring him doesn’t seem to make him go away. People need to listen to what he says, that’s the only way the voters will stop him. Most people just listen to the sound bite and don’t follow the rest of the poison that he spews out.’
‘Know thine enemy eh?’
Sinclair’s educated tones came through the speakers:
‘My father fought for this country, I’m just glad he did not live to see the way that our national way of life has been watered down by unbritish values and governments that have pandered to minorities at the expense of the true British people.’
‘Your father fought in the Second World War?’ Kenneth Randall, the interviewer, asked.
‘Not only did he fight, he spent four years as a prisoner of war, in a German stalag. And for what? To see our cities become wastelands of crime and decay? To see our way of life and our values constantly undermined? To see British people disadvantaged to the advantage of illegal immigrants and economic migrants?’
‘What is this guy like?’ I asked. ‘He doesn’t talk in sentences, he talks in sound bites.’
‘Shhhh!’
‘Yes, that’s all well and good Mr Sinclair, but our listeners want to know about the man, not simply the politics.’
‘My life’s an open book Kenneth. I was born in Marlow, where I still live. I attended Eton and Brasenose College, Oxford, where I read Philosophy, Politics and Economics. I met my wife at Oxford and we have a son, William, who is a student at Cambridge. That should show you how broadminded I am, despite the allegations of my political opponents.’ He laughed. ‘I took over managing the family business, when my father died, and I’ve worked there ever since.’
‘That’s rather a privileged background. Doesn’t it mean that you have little in common with ordinary people?’
‘Far from it Kenneth; I have a thousand years of shared heritage, ancestors who have forged this country and most of all I share true British values with them.’
‘Like tolerance?’
‘That was a low blow Kenneth and quite unworthy of you.’ Sinclair answered unperturbed. ‘I’m talking about values like fair play, justice and service before self.’
‘How does that fit with some of your beliefs?’
‘That’s an easy question to answer. I mean justice for British people, fair play for Britons and I’m willing to serve the state to make these things happen.’
‘It’s been said that you foster race hatred, by encouraging a policy of affirmative action to discriminate in favour of white Britons.’
‘Yes, I’ve heard that too, but I have no concerns about a man’s colour, I care only that he subscribes to British values and beliefs. If his family has been paying taxes to this country for generations and he considers himself British, then I have no problem with that. I do have a problem with tidal wave of economic migrants who swamp this country, whist continuing to hold to the values of their home countries, many of them never even learn to speak English, for heaven’s sake! They want to benefit from ou
r welfare state, whilst remaining isolated from, and in many cases hostile to, the society that created it and funds it. Is that fair play or justice? Yet over the past thirty years these people have been encouraged by multiculturalism to remain apart from the indigenous culture of these islands and remain outposts of alien cultures within OUR society. When I see demonstrations wanting Sharia law in this country, it makes my blood boil, as it should any true Briton, if these people want to live under Sharia law rather than British law, they should relocate to places that have Sharia law! I want to create a Britain, where Britons come first and only people who want to share our values have full citizenship. ’
‘There are people who say your recent setting of conditions for joining a coalition amount to a demand for the Home Office as your price. Do you have any comment to make?’
‘No, Kenneth. My words are a matter of public record. All I did was to state that we would expect the right to fulfil our promises to the electorate, if we were to become part of the Government of the United Kingdom.’
‘Well, I’m afraid that’s all we have time for, thank you Mr Sinclair.’
‘Thank you Kenneth.’
‘Bloody hell, what he has just said amounts to a virtual declaration of war against every ethnic community in Britain.’ I snorted.
‘Yet, he has the knack of making it seem so reasonable.’
‘That’s what makes him so dangerous. People have been hostile to areas that are like a little Pakistan or Bangladesh. Especially since the advent of Muslim extremism and terrorist activity, they want to paint whole communities with the same brush, and that’s what Sinclair is encouraging them to do.’
‘It’s taken from the Hitler playbook again, tell your audience what they want to hear. It’s almost like Goebbels has been reborn.’
Our debate on the danger of Sinclair continued all the way back to London. I found a parking space and pulled in. Lisa led the way up to her flat and I followed behind.
‘I think I’ll carry on with the financial papers we got on Aylmer. I’ve got to get to the bottom of them sooner or later.’
As we approached the front door, it opened and a tall young man with sandy coloured hair sporting a huge purple bruise on his cheek rushed out to meet us.
‘Lisa, thank god you’re safe!’
‘What do you mean Ben? Ian this is Ben, he’s our neighbour from downstairs.’
‘Look Lisa I’m sorry, it’s all my fault.’
‘What is Ben? You’re making no sense. Start at the beginning.’
‘Well about six this morning the buzzer on the main door went. When I answered they said it was an urgent delivery for you, but they couldn’t seem to wake you, so could I buzz them in? Well, normally I wouldn’t dream of it, but it was early and I’d been working late last night and I didn’t think, I just let them in. The next thing I heard was a huge crash from upstairs. I looked out thinking they’d dropped something only to see five men in ski masks. They’d kicked your door in and gone into your flat. Before I could react they came barrelling down the stairs. One of them pinned me against the wall and demanded to know where you were. When I said I didn’t know he did this.’ He indicated the bruise on his cheek. ‘I thought he was going to hit me again, but one of the others called him off, telling him not to waste time they’d pick you up another time, you couldn’t be lucky forever. I called the police, they’ve secured your flat and want to speak to you to find out what’s going on. What is going on?’
‘I’m not really sure Ben. Did you get a good look at them?’
‘No, not really, it was all rather fast. The only thing I can recall is the guy who hit me had some sort of tat on the inside of his wrist.’
‘I’m really sorry you were caught up in this Ben. We’ll contact the police soon, but we need to get into the flat.’
‘That’s okay, they left a key for you and said to ring this number.’ He handed over a padlock key and a business card.’
‘Thanks Ben. I’m really sorry about this. I’ll sort it out.’
Ben returned to his flat and Lisa and I hurried up to her apartment. The door had been secured with a hasp and padlock above where the door frame had been splintered around the lock. Lisa unlocked the door. Nothing seemed to have been damaged except the two bedroom doors seemed to have been barged open.
‘This isn’t good.’ Lisa declared. ‘I’d bet everything I have that the tattoo Ben saw was a Storm 45 one.’
‘That’s an understatement. You know what this means? First I’ve turned down their blandishments, now you have and friend Aylmer has taken the game to a new level. We’re in serious danger here.’
‘What do we do?’
‘I don’t think this is something we can run away from now. We’ve no choice, we’ve got to get to the bottom of this story and find out who’s behind this and how they’re linked to Miller, then get the whole lot out into the public domain. We might have a chance then. But for now, it’s not safe here, we need to pack our stuff and get out as soon as possible. Check into some anonymous hotel and keep moving until it’s sorted.’
‘Okay, I’ll pack some stuff, but we don’t need a hotel, my friend Amy has a flat in Bow on the other side of Victoria Park. She left me the keys so I could water her plants. We could go there, it’d be ideal.’
‘I don’t know; if it’s just on the other side of the park, it’s a bit close. But we’ll check it out and see.’
We quickly packed the belongings we needed and gathered our research, relocking the door, we loaded the bags into the Saab and drove off.
‘Keep watching behind us Lisa, I want to make sure we’re not being followed. If they know where we live, they could well know my car.’
With Lisa swivelled in her seat we headed down the road. I had not asked the address we were going to yet and I was not going to until I was sure we were not being followed. I drove taking random turnings, sometimes doubling back on myself. Lisa could see no vehicle following us.
‘Okay, where are we going?’
‘I thought you’d never ask. Take Grove Road across the park then left as soon as you leave the park into Old Ford Road.’
She directed me through a maze of side streets until she told me to pull into a car park outside of an anonymous, but well-kept tower block.
‘The flat’s up there on the twelfth floor. Even if they found the building, they’d find it difficult to get the right flat.’
‘It’s ideal. Lead on.’
We unloaded our bags and took the lift up to the twelfth floor. The apartment overlooked the park; it was clean and furnished in a modern style. Lisa showed me round the flat. The kitchen was small but well laid out and there were two reasonable bedrooms.
‘Which room do you want?’ she asked.
‘You choose.’
‘Okay, I’ll take Amy’s room, you take the spare room. You probably don’t want to take Amy and John’s room when you don’t even know them.’
‘Amy’s married then?’
‘Didn’t I say? They’re both in the Met and they’re on a month’s secondment to the West Midlands Police.’
‘Pity they’re not here, we could do with a police bodyguard.’
The flat was stifling; it had been closed up and benefited from the heat rising from the floors below. I opened the windows as far as the safety latches allowed, which helped a little, but not a lot. We unpacked our research and set about linking Lisa’s laptop to the router we found in the lounge.
‘We’ve got no food or milk, there’s a shop at the corner of the road, I’ll pop down and get some supplies.’ Lisa said.
‘I’ll come with you, just in case.’
‘It’d be better if you didn’t. It’s the two of us together that are being looked for, I’ll be less noticeable on my own, if they’re about. Whoever they are.’
‘You’re right, but I don’t like it.’
Whilst Lisa was gone I idly began to google Richard Sinclair. Until now, I had treated him with the contempt I
thought he deserved, but perhaps that was everyone’s mistake and we all should be looking more closely at the man and his policies.
Half an hour on the internet and I was not much the wiser. Information on Sinclair was not hard to come by, but it was the same information wherever I looked, it was almost as if it had been sanitised, the official version of his life.
Richard Alfred Sinclair was born on 12th February 1963 at Marlow, Buckinghamshire. He was the son of Peter and Alice (Nee Morrison) Sinclair. Educated Eton and Brasenose College, Oxford, where he gained a First in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. He married Heather Stewart-Smith in 1986. When his father died in 1988, he gave up his playboy lifestyle to manage the family investment trust. He has one son William, born 1987. He became involved in right wing politics whist at University and was believed to have helped fund a number of conservative groups, particularly anti-European Union groups, becoming heavily involved in the campaign against the Maastricht Treaty in 1992. He founded the British National Regeneration Alliance in 2003, fighting the 2004 European Elections on an anti-federalist platform. He failed to win any seats, but still fought by-elections in Sussex and Wolverhampton. Benefiting from a surge in popularity after the revelations of MPs sleaze in 2009, he became famous for his charismatic and frequent television appearances and the slogan ‘Putting Britons first’.
Lisa had returned safely and had now finished scouring her documents.
‘Right, Chabot UK Investments seem to be Aylmer’s shell company, they seem to have helped to finance Aylmer Enterprises initially and remained major shareholders until 1982, when Aylmer became sole owner in his own name.’
‘Did he buy them out or something?’
‘That bit’s unclear, all I know is that Chabot UK are listed as shareholders in April 1982, but by the returns for April ’83 they’re gone and Aylmer is in sole control.’
‘Another mystery then.’
‘I’m afraid so. You’d have to get a complete set of Aylmer’s financial records to be able to tell. There’s no way we can do that.’
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