Nowhere man, p.23
Nowhere Man, page 23
‘It appears so.’ He coughed. ‘Do you know who this Mr Thomas Maloney is? As you can see, he’s named as sole executor and beneficiary of her property and jewellery.’
‘He’s the man from the council.’
‘I beg your pardon?’
‘Well, my mother said he was from the council, but the council knew nothing about him and then before I could ask Mum about him again, she had the stroke and now it seems that he managed to make her change her will somehow. It’s obviously a scam. We must be able to stop him.’
Mr Singh took a deep breath. ‘I’m afraid I can’t do anything. Your mother has made this will and it appears to be extremely clear as to her wishes. I suggest that if you are concerned, you should report it to the police, but I’m guessing they won’t be much help. We can try to contest it through the courts, but it won’t be easy.’
‘But don’t you have to make a will through a solicitor?’
‘It’s the best way to do it, obviously, but it is by no means an obligation. Anyone can write a will, sign, and witness it and it is generally completely binding. This one has been drafted using one of those forms you can download online. Unless you can find a way to stop this via the courts, Mr Maloney will be able to proceed with probate.’
‘What gives him the right to take over my mother’s affairs? It’s ridiculous.’
‘I’m afraid you have to follow the law in this matter.’
Diana slammed her glass onto the desk. ‘I can’t believe it’s that easy to con a frail old woman into signing everything over to a perfect stranger without even checking!’
Mr Singh shuffled his papers. ‘’You’d be surprised. There’s very little protection for the elderly in so many matters.’
She stood up, knocking her chair backwards in her haste.
‘Thank you for your time, Mr Singh.’
He shook her hand. ‘I’m so sorry that I couldn’t be of more help, and I really do wish you all the best. If I can be of any further help with contesting the will, if that’s what you decide to do, please do make another appointment and we can progress from there.’
When Diana reached her car, she was shaking, barely able to press the key to open the door. Once inside, she rested her head on the steering wheel to steady herself. How she wished that Patrick was still here to help her through all of this, but he had chosen to leave her in the cruellest manner possible. It seemed that everyone she had ever loved had left her in the lurch.
Suddenly, her mobile rang. She rubbed her eyes and fumbled for her bag, which she had lobbed onto the passenger seat. It was an unknown caller.
‘Hello, is that Patrick Whitlock?’ a woman asked.
‘No, it’s his wife. I mean, his widow. Who’s calling?’
‘Look, I don’t want to say too much on the phone, and I know you don’t know me, and you probably think this is a scam, but I assure you that it’s not. If you would be willing to meet me for a chat, I’ve found some information out about your husband which you might find useful.’ The caller paused. ‘Did you say widow?’
‘Yes, my husband passed away a few months ago.’
‘I’m so sorry to hear that. But I think in that case, you might want to hear what I’ve got to say even more.’
Chapter Fifty
Daniel had enjoyed an extremely successful career in Harley Street over the last few years, earning a decent amount of money in what he felt was a fairly honest way, if you discounted the recordings he made of his patients’ confessions and innermost secrets. He kept all of them and used them for a lucrative bit of blackmail as and when required. In his own mind, compared to his previous employment choices, he was effectively going straight. His practice was huge success with his multiple referrals and ever-increasing fees, and at least seventy-five percent was cash in hand.
The previous week he had welcomed a new client: a woman of indeterminate age, tall, reasonably attractive, with her hair tied back in a tight bun and wearing a neat, tweed trouser suit. His initial analysis, which he had noted down as they began to chat the week before, was career woman, single, sexually repressed. His perfect client.
She presented herself at his practice for a second appointment on the following Tuesday afternoon. He collected her from reception himself. He liked to begin every session on a personal note, and he did not want to employ a secretary. They were far too expensive and intrusive.
‘Mrs Bowen? How lovely to see you again.’
She nodded, uncrossing her long legs and rising from the uncomfortable chair she had perched herself on.
‘Dr Blair.’
‘I hope you’re well.’
She made no reply.
‘This way please.’ He led her from the reception up the narrow flight of stairs into his consulting room, shutting the door behind her. ‘Mrs Bowen, please take a seat.’ He gestured to one of the two low armchairs, which were separated by a low, glass coffee table. ‘Water?’
‘No, I’m fine, thank you.’ She sat back and crossed those lengthy legs over again.
‘Do you mind if I recap on a few details from our last chat. It was fairly brief as I remember for a first visit.’
‘Yes, I am sorry I had to cut it short.’
‘So, Madeleine, or may I call you Maddy now that we know each other a little better?’
She looked at him, her eyes steely. ‘No, Madeleine will do fine, thank you.’
He raised his eyebrows. ‘Alright, Madeleine.’
He continued with the routine questions about how she was feeling, before laying his pen down on his notepad for a moment.
‘So, let’s start from where we left off, shall we?’
‘Do you mind if I ask you a few questions first?’
‘Of course not. I mean, it’s not usual. We are here to talk about you not me, after all. But fire away.’
‘Can you tell me about your qualifications?’
‘Well, as you can see from my certificates,’ he gestured to the numerous frames nailed to the walls, ‘I studied Medicine at Cambridge and then I specialised in mental health disorders after I qualified at Guy’s Hospital.’
‘That’s what I thought. But Dr Blair,’ she paused, having placed particular stress on the title of doctor, ‘the thing is, when I checked with both Cambridge and Guy’s, they had no record of you whatsoever. Strange, don’t you think?’
He shifted slightly in his seat and his pen dropped onto the carpet. Bending down to retrieve it, he replied, ‘That’s very strange indeed. There must be a mix-up with their records. But can I ask, why were you checking up on me anyway?’
‘Well, it always helps to know who you’re talking to and how well-equipped they are to help patients before entrusting yourself to them, don’t you think? Particularly when you discuss such personal matters.’
‘I couldn’t agree more. So, shall we turn our attention to you now?’ His palm was sweaty, and he wiped it on his trouser leg.
She leant forward and stared straight at him. ‘No, let’s stick with you for a moment longer, Doctor, if you don’t mind.’ She smiled. ‘Now, I have had a number of complaints about your unorthodox practices: some of which are unethical to say the least and others of which are extremely concerning. It’s the real reason I came to see you in the first place - to see for myself what they were talking about. I must admit that even from our first session, I thought your methods were more than somewhat unconventional to say the least.’
Daniel slammed his pad on to the table and stood up. ‘Who are you exactly?’
‘I’m a private investigator. I’ve been approached by a number of your clients who allege that you have blackmailed them, or threatened to do so.’ Her lips curled very slightly at the edges as she finished speaking.
‘I deny any impropriety whatsoever. Who are these people who have complained? No one has ever complained to me.’
‘I’m not at liberty to say. And that’s not strictly true, is it? The fact is that if they do say anything, you threaten them with your video recordings. All I can tell you, Doctor or Mr Blair, is that I’ve been following you for some time and I’ve been compiling quite an impressive dossier. You’ve got away with this scam operation you’ve been running for some time, but it’s all over now.’
‘Get out of my office,’ he hissed. ‘You don’t have a shred of evidence for these absurd allegations and if you pursue this any further, I will have my lawyer on you.’
She got up from the armchair, smoothing the creases in her trousers. ‘I’m pleased to hear that you’ve got a lawyer. You’ll be needing one. All my evidence is already with the police, including the recording I made of our meeting last week and today.’ She hooked her bag over her arm and moved to the door. ‘Nice meeting you, Dr Blair. I look forward to seeing you in court.’
As she closed the door, Daniel hurled the glass paperweight that sat on his desk. It shattered into a million pieces.
Chapter Fifty-One
There was a kerfuffle outside the door.
‘Hang on, Ange. We are trying to get the door open. It might take a few minutes.’
‘OK,’ she called back.
There was a great deal of banging and drilling until eventually the flat door swung open. Ben raced through it and clung to his mother.
‘Darling, oh it’s so good to see you. Have you been alright? I’ve been so worried about you.’ They hugged for far longer than he would normally allow.
‘I’ve been fine.’ He paused and looked around. ‘Got anything to eat?’
‘There’s some stuff in the fridge.’ She gestured over to the corner of the room.
‘Hi Ange. How are you holding up?’ Julia walked over to her friend and gave her another big hug.
‘I’m fine, Julia. Just a bit on edge. I’m really not sure how this is all going to go.’
Julia picked up Angie’s wine from the table and drank it down in one. ‘It’s all going to go exactly according to plan. Don’t worry.’ She glanced over to the flat door. ‘Oh, Phillip, thank you so much for helping us out.’
‘Not a problem. This friend of yours sounds like a right wrong’un. I’m more than happy to help you out, my love. Do you want me to put the new lock on now?’
‘Yes please, but can you make sure that it looks exactly the same as it did before. And can we have three keys please. I’ll make you a cup of tea. Sugar?’
‘Right you are. Three please.’
‘But Ray’ll know the lock has been changed as he won’t be able to get in,’ Angie whispered.
‘Don’t worry,’ Ben whispered back. ‘You’ll hear him coming up the stairs and you can let him in, so he won’t notice. Then, when he’s distracted, you can swop the key over. He keeps it in his coat pocket with a red ribbon on it. Mine is on a blue one. We’ve brought you an identical ribbon to put on the new key now. I did the same when we changed the locks at mine.’
‘Where are you living, Ben?’ Angie asked, looking up at her son with concern.
‘About ten minutes away in another Airbnb he’s rented. He thinks I’ve been holed up there all this time and that I’m more than happy about it. There’s a PS5 there and he’s bought me a copy of the latest FIFA game, so I tell him I’m cool with it. He brings in pizza and burgers and crisps every day.’
‘Super healthy diet!’ Angie commented.
‘I quite like it,’ Ben laughed.
‘I’ll bet you do!’
They all had a cup of tea, except for Ben, who had located a can of Coca Cola in the fridge, which he guzzled down followed by some impressive belching. They wittered about anything and nothing until Phillip had fitted the new lock and departed.
‘Well, mission one accomplished,’ Julia sighed as she closed the door behind him. ‘He’s a jack of all trades, old Phillip. I’ve known him for years and he owed me a favour.’
‘He won’t tell anyone?’
‘I’ve never known anyone so discreet, and it’s not as if he’s doing anything other than helping us out of a dangerous situation, is he? I haven’t told him the full details, but enough to know that we needed help,’ Julia insisted.
‘OK, as long as you’re sure. But look, Julia, I have to tell you again that I’m still absolutely fucking furious with you for concocting this whole thing without telling me. I was out of my mind with worry about Ben. Why didn’t you discuss it with me from the very beginning?’
‘Because, Mum, we thought you wouldn’t be a very good actress,’ Ben sputtered, having opened a packet of chocolate digestives, and stuffed two whole biscuits into his mouth a once.
‘Ben’s right. We needed you to be convincing in front of the police. You couldn’t have done it if you’d known the truth.’
‘But why bring the police into it at all?’
‘Because I was hoping that we might cut out all this part of the plan if the police took the bait and arrested Ray for kidnapping Ben in the first place. We could also have got them to examine all the papers. But they decided not to look into it, so we had to progress with Plan B. I’m very sorry that I, well that we, tricked you. I know you went through hell, but hopefully you understand why.’
‘Well, I’m still very upset. It made me ill.’
‘Look, it’s my fault. I was very concerned when we found all those statements and especially once we’d visited that poor old guy in the care home.’ She patted Angie’s knee as they sat side by side on the sofa.
‘Yeah, and I was bloody angry at Dad. He had been away for weeks and weeks and was totally ignoring us. When I saw you with all that stuff in the bedroom, I began to wonder if he really was totally full of shit. I had begun to think it for a while if I’m honest, even though I didn’t want to. He never seemed to give a fuck about either of us and came and went as he liked. And if you think about it, he’s always too cheerful unless you ask him the wrong questions. Then he ignores you or changes the subject. Have you never noticed how Dad never answers any questions? Anyway, when you were in bed, I took all the papers down again and spent days going through them. That’s why I locked my door that week because I didn’t want you knowing.’
‘Honestly, Ange, you should be so proud of your son. He went through all of it and made comprehensive notes of names, addresses, payments, and dates. You’ll make a great forensic accountant one of these days, Ben.’
‘I don’t want to be a fucking boring accountant.’
‘Language!’ Angie warned.
‘A forensic is not like a normal accountant,’ Julia explained. ‘It’s more like being an investigator of fraud and so on. Anyway, that’s not the point. Ben discussed the stuff in the paperwork with Tim, who told me.’ She looked down at her hands. ‘Look, it’s no secret that I’ve never warmed to Ray exactly. I’ve always thought there was something fishy about him to say the least. But I also realised that if he had been up to all this stuff for decades, it wasn’t going to be easy to confront him. So, we had be clever.’ She paused. ‘Pass me a biscuit, Ben, before you scoff the entire lot.’
He passed her one, but kept hold of the packet.
In between chewing, he continued, ‘So, what happened was, Tim asked me over and Julia suggested that I call Dad and tell him that you’d been snooping through his papers, just to see how he’d react.’
‘And?’
‘Well, he went bloody ballistic. He rang me straight away, which was a total miracle given he’d ignored both of us for so long. I was beginning to think he was dead.’
‘Me too,’ Angie agreed.
‘Shame he wasn’t,’ Julia interjected.
‘He told me that he’d collect me from school the next day. He said to pack a bag and that we’d spend a few days in London together. I told him I’d love that because you were being a complete cow and asking me where I was all the time and that I couldn’t wait to get away, which wasn’t true obviously, but that’s what I had to tell him. Although, you were being a bit of a nag and it was a bit true.’
‘Ben, stick to the point,’ Julia warned him, her eyes boring into him.
‘So, obviously I couldn’t tell you what I was going to do, because you would have stopped me, but Julia thought it was the best idea and we agreed we’d tell you as soon as we could.’
‘That was good of you,’ said Angie, standing up from the sofa and walking over to the window.
‘Look, Ange, it was the only way we could find out where he was and what he was currently getting up to. Ben was the only person he would trust because he thought he was an innocent child.’
‘And he didn’t think that I suspected him, because I told on you, Mum. I laid it on thick about how much I’d missed him and how appalling I thought you were going through his stuff.’
‘But I’ve given him all the papers now, so we’ve got no evidence, have we!’
‘Duh, we took copies of everything, didn’t we, Julia. It took absolutely hours. I photo’d them and then saved them on the cloud before deleting them off my phone and Julia photocopied them all as well just to be on the safe side. We’ve got everything.’
‘And then finally you brought me in on the plot. And for your information, I thought I acted the whole distraught mother thing brilliantly yesterday, so maybe you should have had more faith in my dramatic abilities. I could get an Oscar one day.’ She laughed. ‘So now do we go to the police?’ Angie slumped back down onto the sofa next to Julia.
‘No, not yet. There’s a very specific reason he’s in St Albans.’
‘He’s in the middle of another scam, Mum. And together, we’re going to catch him in the act.’
Chapter Fifty-Two
Diana had arranged to meet the anonymous caller at The Grove outside Watford. It was an elegant, sophisticated hotel, the haunt of footballers and their WAGs, helpfully hidden away along a vast sweeping drive with lush golf courses on either side. They offered a staggeringly good afternoon tea at an equally staggeringly, exorbitant price to match. But Diana had been asked to suggest somewhere away from St Albans where they could eat great scones and cake discreetly. Apparently, the mystery caller did not know the area well, so would go wherever Diana suggested. As Diana was currently feeling so bruised and battered by life and had lost two stone in the process, she felt that an over-indulgent afternoon tea might be just what she needed, especially given that she had a terrible sense of foreboding as to what this woman might be about to tell her.
