hide.’
‘Yes,’ Kathy said, ‘but…’ She stopped as Brock’s phone began to ring.
‘Excuse me,’ he said, and flicked it open and listened. When the call was over he looked across at Kathy and said, ‘They’ve pulled Hadden-Vane’s body from the river. Apparently he jumped from Westminster Bridge earlier this evening. Sharpe wants me at headquarters. Sorry, but I’m going to have to leave you.’
After Brock had gone they were silent for several long minutes. Finally John said, ‘Well, I sure blew that, didn’t I?’
‘I could see how difficult it was for you.’
He shook his head in frustration. ‘I just couldn’t find the words to tell him. All the time I felt like an idiot intruder, an amateur sleuth trying to impress real cops.’
‘It wasn’t like that, John. He was a bit distant, but it was the first time you two have met and he’s probably still feeling rough. He’s usually warmer than that. You’ll see.’
‘No. That bit about the frogman… Hell, he must think I’m a complete fool. And he’s right. I should never have come to London, never have got myself into this situation.’
‘It was a good idea about Crabb. He shouldn’t have dismissed it the way he did.’
‘He didn’t just dismiss the idea, Kathy. He dismissed me. There’s no way we’re going to repeat this evening.’
She reached across for his hand, which was clenched tight into a fist. ‘Come on, things will seem better in the morning. Let’s have another glass of wine.’
‘No. Look, I need to be alone for while, to get my head around this. I’m sorry, Kathy, this is really difficult for me. I think I’ll walk for a while, back to the hotel.’
She withdrew her hand. ‘All right, if you’re sure.’
‘I just didn’t realise this would be so difficult.’
He reached for his wallet and she said, ‘No, my turn. I owe you for that great meal in Boston.’
‘Seems a long time ago, doesn’t it?’
She watched sadly as he walked away, turning at the door to give her a look of resignation, then disappearing into the night. It felt like a final parting, and she had to resist the impulse to go after him.
Commander Sharpe was alone in his office on the sixth floor. He was watching something on a TV screen when Brock walked in, and clicked the remote in his hand to switch it off.
‘Come in, Brock.’ Sharpe passed him a plastic sleeve containing a handwritten note, which read, Dear Nigel, Take a look at this. westminsterwhistleblower. com has a copy. Freddie
‘This was in Hadden-Vale’s mail today, inside a padded pouch that’s currently with forensics. He opened it in his parliamentary office at around five this afternoon, and soon after walked out of the building to the middle of Westminster Bridge, where he jumped into the river. There were a number of witnesses.
‘Presumably there was something else in the envelope, our guess is a DVD or flash drive with a recording of an interview with Moszynski’s accountant, Freddie Clarke, which has since been released on the westminsterwhistleblower. com website.’ He nodded at the TV. ‘You’d better take a look.’
The screen came to life with a title-sir nigel featherstone hadden-vane, mp: the truth-then faded to the seated figure of a man, pale-faced and brightly lit against a dark, indistinct background.
‘My name is Freddie Clarke. I am an expert in tax law and I was financial adviser to Mikhail Moszynski, who was murdered on the thirtieth of May. I am intimately familiar with the financial affairs of Mr Moszynski and his family.
‘Sir Nigel Hadden-Vane is the Member of Parliament for the district of Chelsea, in which Mr Moszynski lived, and he became acquainted with Mr Moszynski soon after he arrived here from Russia. Sir Nigel became a trusted confidant of the Moszynski family, advising on such things as legal and political matters and arranging access to important social occasions and to senior figures in politics and society, including cabinet ministers and members of the royal family. He was in fact instrumental in introducing Mr Moszynski to his future wife, Shaka Gibbons.’
Clarke’s voice was mesmerising, Brock thought, without emphasis or inflection, but punctuated in odd places by the sound of his laboured breathing. He seemed to be holding himself together with great effort, as if under some kind of tremendous pressure, though it wasn’t apparent what that might be. From time to time his eyes would flick away from the viewer to points to left and right, either to gather his thoughts or to look at someone behind the camera.
‘In return for these services Mr Moszynski donated money to Sir Nigel’s political party and paid for several trips abroad. These were declared in accordance with parliamentary rules. He also made much larger payments to Sir Nigel that were not declared, either to Parliament or to the Inland Revenue. These included a monthly retainer, a car, and miscellaneous expenses, including regular payments for prostitutes. I was engaged to hide these transactions from the authorities, which I did. However I have a mental record of them all, as follows…’
Sharpe flicked the fast-forward button. ‘There are several minutes where he just recites bank details, dates and amounts. He seems to have memorised everything.’
The film resumed.
‘… Mr Moszynski also made a number of loans to Sir Nigel on favourable terms, which Sir Nigel used to buy property and shares. Again I was asked to create financial vehicles to disguise these activities. However I did not advise Sir Nigel on his investments, since he considered himself an expert in these matters. Unfortunately he invested in the stock market in the middle of 2007 when it was at its peak, and lost heavily in the following year. In order to recoup these losses and repay his loans, Sir Nigel begged Mr Moszynski to relax the terms of their agreements, which he generously did. However when Sir Nigel was still unable to meet his obligations he resorted to fraud. Mr Moszynski’s mother, Marta Moszynski, was particularly anxious that her son be awarded a knighthood, and Sir Nigel persuaded them that he could arrange this, if Mr Moszynski undertook a program of charitable donations which Sir Nigel devised. These included wildlife conservation and youth support organisations. Two of these, the Hammersmith Youth Employment Project and the Haringey Sport and Social Trust, were in fact used by Sir Nigel to siphon off a portion of Mr Moszynski’s donations to finance Sir Nigel’s debts. In March of this year I became suspicious and suggested to Mr Moszynski that I carry out an investigation of Sir Nigel’s financial affairs. It didn’t take me long to discover hidden bank accounts into which donations to the two foundations had been transferred. The details of these are as follows…’
There was another toneless list of numbers and transactions before Clarke continued.
‘When confronted by Mr Moszynski, Sir Nigel claimed that these arrangements had been contrived for the convenience of the charities concerned and not for his personal gain, but I had proof that this was a lie. At the same time Mrs Moszynski senior was putting increasing pressure on Sir Nigel about his promise to obtain the knighthood for her son, which he seemed unable to fulfil. These discussions were ongoing at the time that Nancy Haynes and Mr Moszynski were murdered. I have no direct evidence that Sir Nigel arranged their deaths-in the case of Nancy Haynes in a mistaken attempt to kill Marta Moszynski-but there is no doubt that Mr Moszynski was close to abandoning his support for him and could have made his life very difficult.’
The screen went blank and Sharpe switched off the TV. He stared at Brock for a moment, then said, ‘I have to ask you, Brock, for the record. Were you involved in this? Or have you any knowledge of who was?’
Brock stared back, uncertain for a moment whether to feel insulted or flattered. He decided on the former. ‘Certainly not.’
Sharpe gave a quick, embarrassed nod. ‘No, of course not. Had to ask. You may have seen the news reports of Dick Chivers’ press conference yesterday, in which he announced the suspension of the police investigation into the murders, and specifically cleared Hadden-Vane of suspicion. In the light of these new developments, he’s asked to be relieved of his involvement in the case. I have agreed. He’s waiting downstairs and will go on extended leave once he’s briefed you.’
‘Me?’
‘I want you running the show again, Brock. You’re up to it? Physically, I mean?’
‘Yes.’
‘Get your team back to Queen Anne’s Gate, quick as you can. I’m putting out a press release to give us some time. Obviously the fraud boys will be checking through all the banking information on the tape. Your job is to prove that Hadden-Vane arranged the murders.’
‘Do we know where Clarke is?’
‘He hasn’t been seen since yesterday lunchtime, apparently. We’ve no idea why he decided to go public on
