keys and signed Fry into the visitors’ book, stabbing the page with the point or the pen. ‘But sex isn’t so simple either, is it?’
‘For some of us it’s very simple, I can assure you. But not for the Vernons and Milners, apparently.’
Cooper paused to greet another dojo member passing through towards the changing rooms. He was a tall young man, a fellow brown-belt student. All the students and instructors here knew Ben Cooper — he often thought of them as a second familv, united by a common attitude and purpose. The chief instructor, the sensei, was the closest thing he had to a father now.
‘Why do you include the Milners?’ he asked.
‘Oh yes. Charlotte Vernon named Andrew Milner as one of her many lovers. He and his wife have denied it. But his daughter had some very interesting things to say. Did you know Simeon Holmes is her cousin?’
‘You’ve talked to Helen Milner today?’
‘That’s right. What’s the matter?’
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Cooper had his mobile phone in his bag, since it wasn’t safe to leave it in the car. And his memory was quite good enough to remember Helen’s phone number.
‘You go ahead, Diane,’ he said. T’ve told Sensei Hughes you’re coming. You go and get warmed up. I’ve got a phone call to make first. I may be a few minutes.’
Fry looked surprised. ‘Well, OK. Whatever.’
The atmosphere in the changing room was the familiar one of sweat and soap. At one side were three rows of metal lockers for members’ valuables. A thick makiwara practice punching board had been left against the wall by the door.
Cooper started to get undressed while he listened to the phone ringing. With one hand he unbuttoned his shirt and
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began to unroll his gi, the loose white suit that was obligatory in the training hall. It was tied up in his brown cloth belt, the mark of a successful fourth-grade student, just one level below the various tiers of clans, the black- belt masters. The ringing went on for so long that he nearly pressed the button to stop the call. ‘Hello?’
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‘Helen?’
‘Ben? What a surprise — twice in one day. You only just caught me, I was about to go out.’
‘Oh. Anywhere interesting?’
She laughed. ‘Parent-Teacher Association darts night, would you believe? We take a team round local pubs and clubs to raise money for the school.’
‘I never knew you could play darts.”
‘I can’t. I think I’m supposed to be the comic turn.’
‘I won’t keep you. There’s something else I wanted to ask you. About the Vernons.’
‘Yes?’
‘These parties you described at the Mount. You said your father knew about them?’
‘Oh yes, he’d been there himself. Vernon thought it was a huge joke, inviting him and Mum along. Dad was totally shocked. He really freaked out over it when he got home. He said it was the most embarrassing night of his life, the biggest insult he could imagine, all that sort of stuff. Yes, I thought you might ask about that. It was the cause of what happened afterwards, really.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, I’m sure that was the reason Graham Vernon invited me later. It was aimed at Dad, of course. To annoy him even more. I think that was the worst thing of all. He was taunting Dad through me.’
‘But your father let you go?’
‘He didn’t dare say anything. Vernon invited me in front of him, don’t forget. Poor Dad. He was always such a coward. It may have been the biggest insult he could imagine, but still he couldn’t make a stand over it.’
‘Did you tell your father what happened when you went to the Mount?’
‘Oh yes. I told them both. I was angry, you see. So it all came out.’
‘What did he do?’
‘Do? He protested to Graham Vernon.’
‘Protested? Is that all?’
‘A mild protest, no doubt. He’s never been allowed to forget
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that. Not by my mother, or by rny grandparents. Certainly not by Granddad, who despises him for it. He thinks Dad’s a complete wimp. So the poor man has been taunted with it ever since. I feel very sorry for him.’
‘Are you saying that he simply didn’t want to jeopardize his job by falling out with Vernon — even over something like that?’
‘Of course. You obviously don’t realize, Ben, but it’s terrible what the fear of losing a job can do to a man of that age. Dad thinks if Vernon sacks him, he’ll never work again. And that’s
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all he lives for, his job. None of us would want him to become another suicide statistic. It happens to so many men now. When they lose their jobs, they lose their self-respect, and there’s nothing left.’
‘And your grandfather? What did he say?’ asked Cooper. ‘He doesn’t seem to me to be the sort of man who
