Pinpoint

by Sheila Mary Taylor

  She gave her the numbers and rang off. It was five past nine. Smith had said he wanted the cash at eleven. Even if Cartwright phoned back in time there was only the slimmest chance he would lend her the money and getting it by eleven would be well-nigh impossible. Smith had not phoned with instructions for the pay-off. He wouldn’t risk phoning the office. He’d guess she’d be in court by ten, so how on earth would he arrange the rendezvous? And would she have to hand over the money to a man with a red carnation in his lapel at the top of the Town Hall steps or leave it in a litter bin behind the Bridgewater?

  She tipped the entire contents of her personal file onto her desk and dug out the papers relating to the funds held in trust for Nicky.

  Trusts were not Julia’s line of business. Never had been. But one thing she did know was that trusts were watertight: the money could not be paid out to Nicky before her eighteenth birthday. Unless . . .

  Unless what? Perhaps I could ask Ben, she thought. If I can ever bring myself to speak to him again. He might think of a legitimate loophole to release the money. But only as a last resort, because then she’d have to tell him why she needed it so desperately and she couldn’t take that risk. He ─ even more than Paul ─ was capable of prising from her the monstrous event in her childhood that Smith accused her of, that even now, after twenty-six years, she still could not remember, and most of the time doubted it could ever have happened.

  Her phone rang. She grabbed the receiver, willing it to be John Cartwright. It was her personal assistant.

  ‘Yes, Linda?’

  ‘There was a call for you, Julia. I didn’t get his name but he said he couldn’t hold on and would you phone him back. Said it was important and you’d know what it was about. Shall I get the number for you now?’

  ‘Give me the number, please Linda, and I’ll get it myself.’

  Surely it couldn’t be Smith, boldly giving a number to ring him back. But who else would not have given his name? She took a large swallow of her tea, then dialled.

  ‘You thought I’d forgotten, didn’t you, Julia?’

  The lean bearded face with the piercing blue eyes that were so alien yet so familiar swam into her vision. ‘Look,’ she said, closing her eyes tightly. ‘It’ll be difficult to get my hands on the kind of money you’re demanding. If you still want to proceed with this madness you’ll have to give me a little more time.’

  It wouldn’t do to try to talk him out of it, she told herself. I must keep him thinking he will get what he wants, that he has me in his power. If he thinks he’s losing control there’s no knowing what he’ll do. Even if he is who I think he might be, as far as he’s concerned it’s obvious there is no love lost between us.

  She heard a long sigh followed by short rasping breaths. ‘Don’t fuck me around, Julia. Where’s the loot from Grant Estate Agents? I don’t want it all. Just a measly fucking two-fifty grand. Don’t you think I deserve it?’

  She had no idea how to answer that. And what would Paul say if he knew what she was doing? Even she knew it was madness but what else could she do?

  A noise like a tidal wave roared through her ears. I must cool it or he’ll sense how powerless I am, and use this to add to his strength.

  ‘You’re crazy,’ she said. She no longer cared about the decorum she normally maintained between solicitor and client. ‘I told you, it’s tied up in trust for my daughter.’

  ‘You’re a lawyer for fuck's sake. Do something about it.’

  Perhaps I can appeal to the other side of his unhinged personality, she thought.

  ‘I need time,’ she said, toning down her anger. ‘Certain procedures have to be followed. You must be patient. It might even be impossible to obtain the money from this particular source. I don’t know yet.’

  ‘Then it’s fucking time you did.’

  ‘Look, Sam ─ ’

  ‘I’m not taking any bloody excuses.’

  ‘It’s only just gone nine o’clock. Most banks don’t get going until around ten. I’ve phoned once but ─ ’

  ‘Don’t give me that crap. No excuses. Just the money. I must get out of the country. I didn’t have your luck, Julia. And to refresh your memory ─ ’

  ‘It does not need refreshing,’ she said. ‘Listen. If you give yourself up now you’d have a far better chance of leniency. I’ll help you. I promise.’

  Is this me speaking? Help him? When I don’t even know for sure who he is.

  ‘Don’t make me laugh, rich bitch. Don’t insult my intelligence. With a quarter million smackers I can go anywhere. Be anyone. Do anything. Why would I choose to rot in Strangeways?’

  ‘In the end you won’t have a choice,’ she said evenly. His burst of laughter told her she was wasting her time. If only John Cartwright would phone back . . .

  She had a sudden thought. ‘Will you hold on a few moments.’ It was taking a chance but she had no option. She had to try everything.

  ‘Don’t try anything funny, Julia. You know what’ll happen, don’t you?’

  She pressed the mute button. ‘Linda,’ she yelled down the passage. ‘If Mr Cartwright phones please tell me at once. Don’t let him ring off, whatever you do.’

  As she got back to Smith she heard a distinct running-out-of-patience sigh. ‘I’m doing everything I can to get the money,’ she said, glad that he couldn’t see the look of despair on her face.

  ‘Okay,’ he said. Then silence. ‘One week today, Julia. Not one sodding minute longer. And that’s more than you deserve. ’

  She breathed out slowly. One whole week. But I must not become complacent. A week could flash by in no time at all.

  ‘I’ll phone you every day to remind you. And remember, Mrs Smartarse Solicitor, if you breathe a word to anyone I’ll know about it and you won’t like the consequences. And I forgot to tell you. Just in case I run out of money to phone the police about what you did, I’ve written it all out, put it in an envelope with a stamp on it all ready to post if I have to, and oh, how thoughtless of me, I almost forgot to ask how Nicky is.’

  Julia dug her fingernails into her scalp. ‘She’s ─ ’

  ‘No. On second thoughts, don’t bother,’ he said. ‘When I saw her this morning she was just fine. I thought she was going to be late for school but the little yellow Mini arrived just in time. My mates were right. She looks real cute in that blue skirt and pink blouse. Lovely school, St Mary’s. Pity ‘bout the high fence and the barbed wire, though. Makes it look like a fucking prison, doesn’t it?’

  Julia opened her mouth to speak but he had gone. She replaced the receiver, and when a moment later it rang again, she almost leapt off her chair.

  ‘Another call, Julia,’ Linda said. ‘DS Moxon from Chester House.’

  ‘I’m due in court at ten and I haven’t even opened my mail yet. Tell him I’ll ring him this afternoon.’

  ‘He’s been holding on. Says it’s urgent.’

  ‘Okay. Put him on.’

  ‘And Ben’s free now,’ Linda added quickly. ‘He wants to see you before you go. About the Longdale case.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  She took a few deep breaths, inhaling slowly and letting out the air even slower, until she felt so light-headed she was ready to lie down on the carpet and go to sleep until this whole ghastly nightmare had ended. The thought of talking to Ben so soon after Friday night made her shudder, but she’d have to break the ice some time in order to ask him about the trust. She rubbed her neck and shoulders with her fingers, pressing the small painful balls of muscle until they felt like steel nails digging into her. She still had to sort out the urgent mail and give Linda instructions about what to do with it. Everything else could await her return, whenever the hell that was going to be. It’s time Mark, or even Caroline Ross took over some of my workload, she thought. She’s been with the firm three years now. Can never be faulted on a point of law but shuns a relatively simple bail application in a magistrate’s court. Damn her.

  She picked up the receiver.
/>   ‘Hello, Paul. Sorry I didn’t get back to you last night.’

  There was a slight pause while she listened to him breathing. She knew that Paul only did that when he wanted to impress on her that he would not be inclined to take any of her excuses. ‘I understand,’ he said. ‘But we have a lot to talk about.’ His voice was cool and businesslike. And then it softened. ‘How are you?’ he asked.

  ‘Fine,’ she said, with equal restraint, ‘apart from missing Duke.’ She was far from fine and didn’t think she ever would be again. Never before had she been so confused. On the one hand, she told herself, I know Smith should be apprehended as soon as possible, but on the other . . .

  ‘I know you’re in a hurry, but I wanted to remind you that BT have re-programmed your home phone with the Malicious Call intercept mechanism. If Smith phones just press digit number one and the call will show up on BT’s computer.’

  ‘And by the time you get there Sam Smith is five miles away.’ She hadn’t meant to sound sarcastic, but Smith was far too clever to fall into such a simple trap.

  ‘We can set up hidden cameras in the booths he uses. If he phoned often enough a pattern could emerge. We’d then have the booths watched. Of course he might have a mobile.’

  ‘No, he hasn’t. I could tell it was a public phone he was calling from. Anyway, all this is academic,’ Julia said. ‘He might use different call boxes every time. We don’t even know if he’ll phone.’ She crossed her fingers. Am I obstructing the law?

  ‘We have to try everything, Julia. He has killed a policewoman.’

  She heard the tone of exasperation in his voice. ‘I know and I’m really sorry, Paul.’ She paused and glanced at her watch. ‘I must go now.’

  ‘Julia, I need to see you. What about tonight?’

  ‘Oh, I’m afraid I’m tied up tonight.’ Her date with Charlie Kuma was only at eleven, but she couldn’t take a chance on Paul leaving in time for her to make a ten-thirty start for Sweet Cherry.

  ‘I’ll call you tomorrow,’ she said.

  ‘We need your help, Julia.’

  ‘Paul, I ─ ’

  ‘Please. This won’t take a moment. If you know of anything that might lead us to Smith, I want you to tell me. And the names of any people who might have information. You will tell me, won’t you?’

  Julia’s thoughts ricocheted from one corner of her brain to the other. The less I say the better, she thought. I’ve already told him enough to make Smith carry out his threats if he finds out. If I could just get the money quickly and pay Smith off, all this would be over. He could leave the country. And disappear from my life forever.

  ‘I’m sure you already have all the names,’ she said.

  ‘And Julia, I don’t have to spell it out. But you’re a prime target.’

  But she refused to let him finish. ‘It’s only the money he wants, Paul.’

  ‘For Chrissake don’t give him any money. Don’t think you know this man, Julia. I’ve been dealing with people like this all my life.’

  ‘Paul, I must go. I could meet you at lunchtime tomorrow. If not, then maybe at six-thirty or seven . . .’

  ‘Six-thirty at the Addy,’ he said firmly. ‘Better than the five minutes you call lunch-time, sitting on those dreadful plastic chairs in the court coffee-room.’

  ‘Okay. I’ll ring you if I can’t make it.’

  She put down the receiver. It was almost nine-thirty. There was still nothing from John Cartwright, so as much as she hated the idea, she would have to talk to Ben. And not just about the Longdale case either.

  - 35 -

  Julia knocked and walked in before she could change her mind. In one hand she held the trust papers, in the other her briefcase.

  Ben glanced up without meeting her eyes, then looked down at his desk.

  ‘You wanted to talk about the Longdale Trial,’ she said. ‘It begins tomorrow.’

  ‘Refresh my memory.’

  There was clearly to be no apology. He sat unsmiling behind his desk. There were none of the usual Monday morning pleasantries, no offer of coffee and clearly no intention of even mentioning Friday night. Julia wished he would. It would clear the air.

  She put down her brief case. ‘Very briefly then. Jane Longdale sexually abused by her grandfather since she was nine. She’s seventeen now. When he goes for her again she picks up a knife from the kitchen table and . . . ’

  Julia steadied herself on the corner of Ben’s desk, grasping the wood as if it was a lifeline and she was drowning.

  In the absence of any comment from Ben, she carried on. ‘If the jury isn’t satisfied that she had the necessary mens rea, they must acquit. But even if they decide she did have mens rea, provocation may still be a defence to the charge of murder.’

  She stopped for a moment, took a deep breath and then carried on. ‘His continued sexual abuse caused the girl to have a sudden and temporary loss of self-control.’

  She kept her eyes riveted to Ben’s face. His lips were tightly pursed. He was looking at the floor.

  ‘It’s simply a question of whether Jane was sufficiently provoked,’ she went on, pushing aside the images that were intruding with increasing lucidity. ‘In my opinion she was. Counsel agrees. The old man’s continual advances were unwanted, disgusting and degrading. She’s a sensitive, intelligent girl. There was no period of contemplation between the grandfather’s final act of abuse and Jane’s blind act of desperation. The facts of the case speak for themselves. Any reasonable person in like circumstances would have done the same thing.’

  ‘That’s for the jury to decide,’ Ben said, still not looking at Julia. ‘And there’s no need to get so bloody worked up about it.’

  She took a long, slow, deep breath. She’d expected his attitude to be cool after Friday night’s fiasco, but not outright hostile.

  She waited a few moments but there was no change in his attitude. Clearly this would not be a good time to ask him about altering the terms of the trust, but time was not on her side, she knew he was seeing a client in London tomorrow and might be away several days. John Cartwright’s decision could take days rather than hours. Her seven days grace could vanish before she could blink an eye. No. I must have my back-up ready, she thought. I must ask Ben now.

  ‘Can I speak to you about a personal matter?’

  She saw the lines around his mouth tighten. He must think she was going to bring up Friday night. Slowly he slid the cap on to his gold Parker pen and looked up but not at her.

  ‘Sit down,’ he said.

  ‘I know we’ve never discussed this before . . . ’ She cleared her throat, angry with herself for behaving like a suspect who has just been picked up for questioning. ‘But as co-trustee of Nicky’s trust fund, I would like you to co-operate with me over the question of varying the terms of the trust.’

  ‘Co-operate with you?’

  His laugh was bitter, though relief was written all over his face.

  ‘As I recall, Julia, those funds are to be released to Nicky when she’s eighteen.’

  ‘We could change the original terms of the trust if ─ ’

  ‘If Nicky were eighteen? Yes, at her discretion of course. But Nicky is not eighteen.’

  Julia wanted to scream. ‘I know. But something urgent has cropped up.’

  ‘Oh, really?’

  ‘I need two hundred and fifty thousand now.’

  ‘There’s no need to shout.’

  ‘Well, don’t look at me like that. I have twelve years to reimburse the fund before Nicky turns eighteen.’

  She thrust the sheaf of parchment in front of Ben. ‘Read it,’ she said. ‘It states clearly that Nicky’s grandparents hereby hand over to the three trustees two million five hundred thousand pounds, the net proceeds from the sale of their estate agency business. Charles and Natalie never intended all the money to go to Nicky. You know it has provision to be extended to any other grandchildren.’

  ‘And I don’t need to remind you,’ Ben said icily, ‘that
there were not any other Grant grandchildren. Nor will there ever be.’

  Julia bit her lip. She and Simon had dreamt of two more.

  Ben handed the papers back to her. ‘Well, that’s the nuts and bolts of it,’ he said. ‘Apart from the twenty pages of admin rubbish about how we were to invest the money.’

  ‘Could there be a loophole?’

  ‘Because you want the money?’

  Her instinct was to walk out now and never come back. But in one way she couldn’t really blame him. Her request must seem bizarre. ‘I will forget you ever said that. I want to borrow some of it for a very good reason,’ she said, fighting to stay calm. ‘And I want to pay it back before she’s eighteen.’

  ‘Of course. Defaulting trustees always do.’ He leaned back in his leather armchair and half closed his eyes. ‘Am I hearing you right? A quarter of a million! What on earth for?’

  She had thought hard about an excuse that Ben would buy. ‘I’m afraid it’s . . . personal,’ she said at last, knowing how lame that sounded.

  ‘Why can’t you tell me?’

  ‘It’s a very private matter.’

  ‘And you expect me to break Simon’s trust in me to appease some personal whim of yours?’

  ‘It’s very important.’

  ‘Okay,’ he said, with the same look of petulance Julia had seen on Friday night. ‘I think I know.’

  For a moment she had a sinking feeling that the game was up. That somehow he had found out about Smith’s phone call. But there was no way he could possibly know. She had told no one but Paul. And even he didn’t know it all.

  ‘Please, Ben. Please. One day I’ll be able to tell you why. But not now.’

  ‘You amaze me. I never thought I’d see the day when you’d let a man like Moxon make you do things you know are wrong. And if you think I’m going to go along with this ludicrous unethical plan so that you and your fancy policeman can ─ ’

  She didn’t wait for him to finish. Blocking her ears, she fled blindly to the door, necessity making a new plan of action burst crystal clear into her mind.

  - 36 -