‘Not a problem,’ assured Beckwith. ‘There’s no North Carolina rule against our co-operating, is there?’
Reid considered the question. ‘None, as far as I’m aware. I need to check.’
‘You’ve got a day and a half to do that: and for us to work out a way around it if what I want to do is barred. A day and a half as well to chase up all the other outstanding queries to be answered by your enquiry people,’ said Beckwith, pointedly not looking at Jordan. ‘I want to hit Appleton as hard as I can, first time. It could determine the outcome of everything, your case as well as mine. We’d all of us be home free.’
Reid did look towards Jordan, but still without any animosity. ‘Thank you. You’ve put in a lot of work: more than any client should do; be required to do.’
‘I want to keep my hands on my money,’ said Jordan, meaning it.
‘And I want to say I appreciate it,’ said Reid. ‘Alyce should, too.’
‘You got a side office here that I could use?’ Beckwith cut across the apologies, talking to the other lawyer. ‘I need to call a lot of people. And go through a lot of law books I don’t have down here with me.’
‘You can take your pick of whatever you want,’ offered Reid.
‘Who’s going to talk to Alyce, tell her she’s no longer facing an inquisition?’ asked Jordan.
‘I am,’ said Reid. ‘I was pretty tough on her yesterday.’
‘Let’s not get too confident,’ cautioned Beckwith. ‘I still need to call her as my witness on Wednesday. And I won’t have her holding back on me.’
‘I’m not going to tell her that all her problems are over,’ assured Reid.
‘That’s good, because they’re not, for any of us. Not yet.’ said Beckwith.
Beckwith seemed passingly bemused by Jordan’s announcment that he was returning to New York during the intervening thirty-six hours but didn’t ask why, instead warning Jordan to be back in Raleigh in more than good enough time to be in court for the opening of the submission application. Jordan caught the first flight that morning, which got him into Manhattan before ten. He didn’t go directly to the Carlyle but detoured instead to West 72nd Street, where the three expected loan applications were waiting, as well as another from the Chase Manhattan, also with an initial $10,000 maximum. Finally at the hotel Jordan completed all four and hand delivered each along Wall Street, at each stop completing forms for the monthly repayments to be directly debited against the account. At each he also withdrew money from every account to spread between his various safe-deposit boxes. At all five banks he was greeted effusively but without any curiosity or suspicion by the managers with whom he’d opened the accounts. Back once more at the hotel Jordan spent a long time painstakingly going through every outlet at Appleton and Drake – concentrating upon the accountancy and financial control divisions – for any indication of his embezzlement having been discovered. And found nothing. He completed the visit by distributing a further $15,000, for the first time moving from the company’s currency division section to metals.
His most essential tasks completed, Jordan settled down to bring himself up to date from each of his other illegal entries, going first to his own lawyer, still in Raleigh, and found no additional material. He did better with Reid. There was contact, timed three hours earlier, with an enquiry agency named DDK Investigations. In it Reid complained at the lack of progress to a man identified as Jack Doyle in any of the enquiries they had previously discussed by telephone. In the email Reid repeated everything to which he wanted an urgent response. The reason for Appleton’s withdrawal from the America’s Cup selection and the three-year gap after Appleton’s graduation from Harvard topped the list.
Beckwith was not at the Raleigh hotel when Jordan first telephoned, but picked up the phone on Jordan’s second attempt, just before nine. It had been a hell of a day, apologized the lawyer. He wouldn’t know until tomorrow if George Abrahams could get to Raleigh for the Wednesday hearing to appear as an expert witness; if the venerealogist couldn’t re-arrange his diary Beckwith might ask for a postponement. He’d warned the court he didn’t expect to conclude his dismissal submission in one day and that there was a possibility of it even extending to three. He’d advised the lawyers appearing for Alfred Appleton and Leanne Jefferies that sections of their depositions were likely to be questioned, suggesting that Drs Chapman and Lewell be put on standby to be called as witnesses. Beckwith had then been cautioned by Pullinger’s court clerk that the judge was extremely intolerant of his sittings being disrupted by what he considered time-wasting and inappropriate presentations.
‘Which there’s every likelihood of Pullinger deciding from my calling so many witnesses,’ concluded Beckwith.
‘What about Alyce?’ questioned Jordan, intentionally switching the discussion.
‘Bob told me she can hardly wait to confront Appleton in court.’
‘Let’s hope she’s not disappointed.’
‘Let’s hope none of us is disappointed,’ said the lawyer, heavily. ‘When are you getting back?’
‘The plane’s scheduled for three tomorrow afternoon.’
‘Let’s meet in the bar at six.’
The plane was on time, which gave Jordan more than an hour to move that day’s tranche of money into his banks, as well as again checking through the financial control and monitoring division to ensure he remained undetected.
Jordan was in the bar, waiting, when Beckwith arrived, in jeans, workshirt and cowboy boots. The lawyer ordered a martini – ‘because I think we’ve got cause for a celebration’ – and led Jordan to a table out of the hearing of anyone else in the room.
George Abrahams had re-arranged his diary and was arriving on the first Wednesday morning flight, the lawyer reported; a room had been reserved for Abrahams at their hotel for the Wednesday night as a precaution against the submission not being completed in one day. There had also been further telephone calls from the lawyers representing Appleton and Leanne confirming their attendance but without any indication whether their venerealogists would accompany them. If they didn’t, Beckwith said, he might apply for an adjournment, depending upon how his application went, primarily – although it was essential he cross-examine both specialists – to irritate Judge Pullinger at the other side’s prevarication. He’d arranged with court officials – as Reid had for Alyce – for them both to enter the court precincts through back access points, hopefully to prevent them being pictured by the expected TV cameramen and media photographers: there’d been several telephone approaches during the day from New York and local journalists, even though, as Beckwith’s application was pre-trial, it was automatically to be heard in camera. That would give him the opportunity to pressure the other side with unspecified challenges and potential revelations into applying for the eventual full hearing to be private. Reid was attending, as was his legal right, as an observing attorney because Alyce was listed as a witness, and in any case intended applying for a closed court if the submission wasn’t made on behalf of either Appleton or Leanne.
‘I think we’ve got them running scared,’ said Beckwith. ‘I can’t remember a lot of times when I could have dropped everything to confront an unspecified, out-of-town court challenge like the other side’s lawyers have done here. Neither can Bob.’
‘You’re talking lawyers appearing,’ said Jordan. ‘What about Appleton and Leanne being here personally?’
‘We won’t know that until tomorrow, when the court convenes. If either were my clients I’d keep them away.’
‘Could you call them, as witnesses, if they do turn up?’
‘I haven’t officially listed them. If they do show I could apply for Pullinger’s discretion. Which I might well do, even on a minor point. There’d obviously and very definitely be a legal argument which I’m sure I could use to move Pullinger into our favour.’
‘What are our chances of a complete dismissal?’ demanded Jordan, bluntly.
‘I’ve been through this with Bob,’ said Beckwith.
‘I want you to go through it with me!’
‘Slightly less than fifty percent. Which, as a gambler, you’ve got to accept as pretty good odds.’
For the briefest of seconds Jordan was disorientated by the reminder of how he was supposed to make his living. ‘I try for better.’
‘I can’t offer you anything better.’
It was a desultory dinner between two people brought together beneath the same roof who had already talked out all there was to discuss, each striving for conversation until the very end, when Beckwith suddenly said, ‘To use an expression that you’re more familiar with than me, we could be on the home straight here. I don’t want any surprises, OK?’
‘What’s that mean?’ demanded Jordan, genuinely bewildered.
