‘My father knew his time was up. He had completed what needed to be done, and we had spoken about his death. It is not a time for overt displays of sadness or joy, just time to reflect on his passing, and what he and Gilbert Lawrence had achieved.’
‘Gilbert and your father?’
‘Yes. What else did you think? Gilbert was another great man, but as with Alexander the Great and Hephaestion, or as with Lennon and McCartney if you want a more contemporary reference, he needed someone with whom he had an infinity to implement his ideas, to deal with the legalities, the financial controls.’
‘And now you have the most complete knowledge of what Gilbert and your father set up.’
‘I do, and if the Lawrence family thinks I’m an easy touch, then they are very wrong. I was schooled by two great men. They taught me well and believe me when I say that I was a great student.’
‘Which means you’ll be walking into the lion’s den the next time you meet with them.’
‘With them, I’m the lion.’
‘Why are you telling us this?’ Larry said.
‘I’m telling you because you will be talking to Caroline and Ralph Lawrence, and no doubt Michael. If the young anarchist thinks he’s going to get special treatment because he’s cleaned himself up and because he’s a charmer, he can think again.’
‘You seem to know a lot about Michael,’ Isaac said.
‘It pays to know who you’re dealing with, their foibles, their strengths, although with Michael, he’ll soon turn back to the easy road, even with Giles Helmsley in his ear.’
‘You know about Helmsley?’
‘I know everything. Even Caroline and Ralph meeting, planning on how to take control, but it’s not going to happen.’
‘It’s a big challenge for you. Aren’t you frightened that whoever killed Gilbert Lawrence could target you.’
‘Why? I have the key to the vault, no one else. Gilbert never did, but his death brings the murderer closer to me, I realise that.’
‘Are you convinced that Gilbert was murdered for his money?’
‘What else? And none of the Lawrence family knew of the man’s will.’
‘You did, so did your father.’
‘Why would we kill him? We had access to every facet of the man’s empire.’
‘The man was getting older, possibly senile, dementia setting in. At some stage there was a risk that he wouldn’t be able to pass the sanity checks, and even if he did, they don’t hold much weight in law,’ Isaac said.
‘They’ve kept the family at bay, and even though Gilbert had met with no one for many years, except for my father, he was well aware that the rats were ready to pick over the bones.’
‘Did you ever speak to him?’
‘Yes. My father always said it was only him, but sometimes we would receive instructions, and I would speak to him, but only on the phone, never in person.’
‘And what did he sound like?’
‘Lucid, although a little slow, but his mind was sharp. Sometimes he’d even share a joke with me. He may have been eccentric, but he and I got on well. He once said that he wished I had been his daughter.’
‘Derogatory about Caroline and Ralph?’
‘Don’t get the impression that we had long conversations. They were always formal, business-related, but sometimes… It was almost as if he regretted the life he led, and he would make a personal comment.’
‘Such as his respect for you?’
‘Yes. And one day you’ll be in my office, or down at your police station, trying to get me to admit to the murder.’
‘Why would we do that?’
‘I’m innocent, and you would be clutching at straws. No one had any immediate gain on Gilbert’s death, and there was no clear direction as to who would benefit. The only two people who knew the contents of the will were my father and me. My father wouldn’t have killed him, but I could have.’
‘Is this pre-emptive? Assuming that by giving us the scenario we would have come up with, it will somehow exclude you from our investigation.’
‘In part. I did not kill Gilbert, I’m just letting you know. If you take me in for questioning, you will need to be sure of your facts. And now, if you don’t mind, I would prefer to be on my own.’
‘She would be capable of murder,’ Larry said once he and Isaac had left.
‘I liked her,’ Isaac replied. ‘The woman may be hard, but there’s a vulnerability about her. She misses her father greatly, and regardless of what she says, she is a woman who has forgone a lot for her ambition. In her quiet moments she must be very sad.’
‘She could still be a murderer.’
‘It’s possible that she is. She is, as she said, the person with the strongest motive.’
Chapter 17
Gary Frost, a man who had lent money to Ralph Lawrence when he was high-risk, did not relish taking a back seat. But that was what had happened. So much so that the man had chosen not to answer his phone calls. Ted Samson, the short man who had been tailing Lawrence, had been replaced. Now there were two, sometimes three and they were varying their schedules. Now his tails were a housewife in her forties, a retired army officer, and a schoolboy in his teens, all appreciative of the extra cash in hand.
Frost phoned his men downstairs. ‘Bring Lawrence in but be careful. No witnesses, nothing suspicious, and no roughing up.’
Yolanda, the former Mrs Ralph Lawrence, sat in her hotel room; she was bored. She had been in London for two days: the first, jet-lagged, the
