‘He said food products from the Middle East.’
‘And?’
‘It wasn’t.’
‘Don’t tell me what it was.’
‘I didn’t realise at first the extent of the trade,’ Fortescue said calmly. He knew he was in trouble, and Cameron, the snotty little boy as he was at Eton, was his best chance.
‘Did he return your investment?’
‘Tenfold.’
‘A lot of food products,’ Cameron said as he sat back in his chair. The man was no fool; he knew what was going on. He just didn’t want to know from Fortescue’s mouth.
‘If this comes out, nobody will understand,’ Fortescue said.
You knew what he was up to, you bloody fool, Cameron thought.
‘What do you want me to do? What do you want to say?’ Cameron asked.
‘Codrington’s skipped the country.’
‘Has he?’
‘That’s what he said he was going to do.’
‘When?’
‘I met him with Griffiths a few days back.’
‘Where?’
‘In the centre of London.’
‘Were you seen?’
‘It’s unlikely.’
‘Hell, man. You know that Codrington’s involved in something dodgy, yet you still meet him. Have you no sense? And what about Griffiths? I thought he’d know better.’
‘Codrington told us he was leaving. Since then he’s not been answering his phone.’
‘Any ideas where he may be?’
‘None. He’ll never be seen again.’
***
Thirty minutes later the interview resumed.
‘My client wishes to make a statement,’ Cameron said.
‘I have known Keith Codrington since our teens, and I have always regarded him as a friend,’ Fortescue said. ‘Eighteen months ago, he approached me with a business proposal. He had just returned from the Middle East where he had lived for many years, successfully running a trading company. He wished to set up a similar business in England trading with the Middle East, primarily food products. After he had outlined the plan, I invested one million pounds in the venture.
‘Subsequently, with no further involvement from me, he started to pay me back with interest, and since then I’ve received regular amounts into my bank account. I became aware recently that Codrington had been trading in commodities other than food. I, along with others, confronted Codrington and asked for an explanation. He did not admit to any criminal activity. The meeting with him ended badly, with all those who wished to sever the relationship unsure of how to proceed. Needless to say, we were confused, knowing full well that if we reported the man we would be by default subject to suspicion.
‘These events have transpired in the last two weeks. I am innocent of all crimes and open to your questions. I will give you my full cooperation. I will also remove the official complaint against your two police officers.’
Isaac sat back in his chair, realising they had achieved a breakthrough. Len Donaldson maintained his focus on Fortescue. You lying bastard. You knew exactly what Codrington was up to, he thought.
The two police officers glanced at each other. Isaac knew what Donaldson was thinking; the same as him.
‘You mentioned that you continued to receive payments after the initial start-up loan had been repaid?’ Isaac asked.
‘Yes,’ Fortescue replied.
‘Are you able to tell us the total amount of those payments?’
‘In total, close to one million pounds.’
‘Verifiable?’
‘My bank records will be available.’
What about the offshore accounts in Panama, the Cayman Islands?’ Donaldson thought.
‘You mentioned there were others who financed Codrington,’ Isaac said. ‘Could I have their names?’
‘Timothy Allerton.’
‘Anyone else?’
‘There was one other.’
‘His name?’
‘Is it important?’
‘Mr Fortescue, you’ve just made a statement that you are innocent of all crimes.’
‘That’s correct.’
‘Then who else is involved? Was it Jacob Griffiths?’
‘Yes.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Let us come back to the payments. You receive a million pounds, but you don’t question how the business is progressing? You don’t ask to see financial records?’
‘That was the agreement. We’d supply the initial capital, and Codrington would run the business.’
‘But a million pounds. You must have been suspicious?’
‘Not really. He had a good track record.’
‘There was a meeting at your house on the day Allerton died. Are you willing to admit to that?’
‘Yes.’
‘And Allerton and Griffiths were present, along with Codrington.’
‘Yes,’ Fortescue replied. He knew that he had opened up a can of worms. He hoped that Archie Cameron could control the situation.
‘What was discussed? Donaldson asked.
‘Allerton was suspicious. He was always a nervous man.’
‘Were you?’
‘Not really. In government, you get used to large amounts of money.’
‘But not into your personal bank account. Also, we know that Lord Allerton received more than one million pounds.’
‘He may have had a different arrangement.’
‘We are aware of at least twenty million pounds in Allerton’s account that cannot be explained. Are you, Mr Fortescue, telling us that you only received a million? Where is the remainder? How much did you know about Codrington and his drug trafficking? Did you know about the deaths of Stewart, of Pinto, of Fuentes, of Alex Hughenden? I put it to you, Mr Fortescue, that you are complicit in the crimes of Keith Codrington and that you should be charged with murder. How do you plead?’
‘My client has nothing to say,’ Cameron replied.
Isaac knew he had overstepped the mark and that their proof was flimsy.
Fortescue, an experienced politician, took it in his stride. He was aware that if Allerton had been there, he would have been reduced to tears, but he was made of sterner material. The politician knew that he would deal with this black apology for a police officer another time.
‘We met at my house to confront Codrington. To tell him that we were aware of what he was doing and that we wanted out.’
‘Let’s break that
