Conflict of Interest

She collected up her handbag. ‘Let’s go round the corner. Will you need your coat?’

‘I’ll be fine.’

They made their way downstairs and out of the building. It was another grey afternoon, and above them the clouds were leaden.

‘I’ve been trying to get to see you,’ she began as soon as they were outside.

‘What did Mike say about the accounts?’

‘He was furious.’ She glanced across at his anxious expression. ‘They were the last straw for him. Don’t, for God’s sake, tell anyone, but he’s going to resign Starwear.’

Large drops of rain began spattering on the pavement around them.

‘I thought that’s what this morning was going to be about.’

She shook her head. ‘Not till after the annual results are posted. It’s only a week away. Starwear’s biggest profits ever. He wants to go out on an up.’

She retrieved a compact umbrella from her handbag, which opened out at the press of a button. The rain was pelting down now.

‘A week seems an awfully long time,’ he said, as she raised the umbrella over them both.

They walked briskly and close together, crammed under the small umbrella. He didn’t know what to say next. How could he begin to explain everything that was going on? Then, glancing up at him sharply, she said, ‘Tell me, what do you know about Merlin de Vere?’

He didn’t hide his surprise. ‘Only that it may not all be what it seemed.’ He decided this was no time to be coy. ‘There are some who think he was murdered because he knew too much.’

‘And would those some include Judith Laing?’

There was no need for him to reply. The alarm in his eyes said it all.

‘Elliott North knows the two of you are involved—’ she began to explain.

‘Were involved,’ he protested, ‘ten years ago. At university. I’ve seen her twice in the last year.’

‘Well, he’s convinced otherwise,’ Kate told him.

The rain was hammering down so hard now that she turned into a doorway where they stood under a protective arch.

‘Look,’ she said to him gravely, ‘there’s something you should know. Judith has been doing an investigative job on Starwear. When Nathan was in charge, that wouldn’t have been an issue, but I can’t say the same for Jacob. The guy’s obviously a crook. He’s got a lot to hide. And Elliott North’s job is to make sure it all stays hidden.’

He was following her every word intently.

‘I’ve been doing some asking around about Merlin for myself,’ she continued. ‘It may be that he also got hold of these accounts.’

‘Are you saying North gave the orders?’

‘I’m saying that, seeing how he’s acted over other things, it wouldn’t surprise me.’

It came as no relief to have his suspicions confirmed; no relief to know that he had on his tail the guy who’d arranged for Merlin de Vere to be found, ass-up in a garbage can.

‘That’s not the worst of it, I’m afraid.’ She glanced about them briefly, before looking back up at him. ‘You should also know you’re being watched.’

‘Who by?’ It was the question he’d been desperate to have answered.

‘North has d’Andrea tapping your phone conversations. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s got some private dick tracking you after office hours.’

‘But why?’

‘Because he thinks you’re intimate with Judith Laing. He sees her as a threat.’ Her face was filled with concern. ‘I assume you haven’t given Judith the same information you gave me.’