Reaching out to Jaden would dash her career in journalism, sever her job at the newspaper, but she was determined.
‘Should we, Miss Otway?’ Jaden said. ‘After all, you’re bad news around the station. Somewhat of a tart, whoring for a good story.’
‘You’ve had someone following me? Bugging my phone? Or hacking my computer?’
‘Nothing so dramatic. We had someone at the hotel, the first time you shacked up with McAlister, but after that, nothing more.’
‘You sent Taylor to charm me.’
‘You think I would do better?’
‘Not with me. You, Mr Jaden, are a shrivelled old prune.’
‘We’ll meet tonight, at 8 p.m. Is that fine?’ Jaden found Ashley Otway’s retort humorous. He had to admit to liking her tenacity, a sneaking admiration for a strong-willed person, but he had no intention of letting her know.
‘Fine by me,’ Ashley said. ‘Where?’
‘Savoy Hotel, my treat.’
‘Downstairs?’
‘Savoy Grill, nothing untoward, not with you. You’re a smart woman, Ashley. If you weren’t such an annoyance, I’m sure I could find a job for you.’
‘I’ve got one, finding out who killed Simmons,’ Ashley said.
‘McAlister not to your taste?’
***
Justin Skinner stayed in Wales, spent more time with Rachel. His trips down to London curtailed due to Kate Hampton’s unwillingness to meet.
As Deb Hampton had said when Wendy phoned her, ‘The woman’s trying her best, and Mike’s not such a pain now, not after some of the mountaineering community came around, starting to believe his story. Although some are giving her the brush off, the Jezebel who caused it in the first place.’
‘Remorse on her part, making amends?’
‘Kate? Unlikely. That day she was down at the farm, I almost liked her, I never thought I would.’
‘When you were the main course for the bikers…’
‘When I was putting it about, is that what you’re saying?’
‘Succinctly,’ Wendy said. ‘You weren’t too particular back then, or were you?’
‘I wasn’t, but that was my time to rebel. I couldn’t see anything wrong with it at the time, still can’t, and as for Jock, he doesn’t care one way or the other.’
‘Have you told him?’
‘None of his business. We all make mistakes, do things we shouldn’t. I made mine when I was younger; Kate’s still making hers. Even when Mike was whole, she was with Skinner. Not often, and who knows what Mike got up to when he was overseas.’
‘Good for one, good for the other?’
‘Something like that, not that I’d accept it with Jock, but then, he’s not the type, not the type for much other than making me happy.’
‘He’ll not be much of a provider if what you say about him is true.’
‘Money’s not an issue, never has been. I’ve got enough for the two of us. It’s the same with Mike, able to afford the best medical treatment there is. It’s not as if he’s totally incapacitated.’
‘Isn’t he? Wendy said. ‘It’s the first we’ve heard of it.’
‘There’s still some movement in his legs, not that he exercises, and it would take a lot to get him out of the chair. I’m not saying he’ll climb again, but he might be able to get around with a frame, maybe a couple of walking sticks. But that takes determination and a positive attitude, something he’s sadly lacking. Maybe with Kate, but then, she’s unreliable.’
‘Even before Mike had his accident?’
‘It wasn’t as bad, only when he was away, which was a lot of the time. He’s not cut out for marriage, not really. An obsessive man, capable of great things, not a great conversationalist, tends to get focussed on something, and then that’s all he can talk about. I can understand Kate being bored, seeing that she’s an extrovert, full of life. A lot of men in her life, more than me, I daresay.’
Wendy looked around Homicide, waved for Bridget to come over.
Her phone on mute, Wendy spoke. ‘Check out Mike Hampton, his medical records, any treatment he had – physiotherapy, traction, medicine – and his prognosis. Find an expert to advise us if you can.’
‘Sorry about that,’ Wendy said when she resumed the call. ‘Another phone ringing. I needed to answer it.’
‘That’s fine,’ Deb said.
Chapter 20
It wasn’t Ashley Otway’s first visit to the Savoy Hotel. Built by D’Oyly Carte in 1889 with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan opera productions, it was the first luxury hotel in Britain, replete with electric lights, electric lifts, and bathrooms in most of the lavishly-furnished rooms, and constant hot and cold running water.
To her, that first time, a birthday treat from a boyfriend, it was a magical place, frequented by movie stars, musicians and royalty. The second time, in the company of Jerome Jaden, the lustre had tarnished. She was more world-weary, her idealism tainted by her trade and the people she had met, and now, those who checked in to the hotel.
Chas Longley had stayed there, as the newspaper’s new entertainments reporter had attested to. It was on the third floor that he had seduced Chloe, given her a scoop that he was coming back in six months, a brand-new show, more dancers, guest artists, the works.
As Ashley sat down, a waiter pulled the chair back for her, telling her that Winston Churchill had sat in the chair. It seemed that he had sat in many chairs as she distinctly remembered that first time that another waiter had mentioned the same thing.
Jaden had chosen the D’Oyly Carte room with its 1920 features; her first visit had been to the other end of the Savoy Grill, more modern, more accommodating to those walking in off the street.
‘Tom Taylor treated me to a pub meal and a bottle of wine,’ Ashley said. ‘You’re spoiling me.’
‘He had youth on his side; all I’ve got is money,’ Jaden said.
The mood was upbeat, the restaurant’s ambience sublime, the sort of place where a person could succumb to drinking more than they should. Ashley was aware, determined not to lose control. This man was not Taylor, nor was he a McAlister; he was altogether more dangerous.
‘Lobster Thermidor, or do you prefer something else?’ Jaden said.
It was the first time she had been close to the man, and she realised that the shrivelled old prune comment had been extreme. In his sixties and shorter than most men, shorter than her, he was wrinkled but not shrivelled and certainly not a prune. Jerome Jaden had the look of money. His nails manicured, his greying hair, balding on the top. He was dressed in a suit and, on his wrist, a Breitling watch. She had to admit that the man was someone she could respect, but someone she would take down if he was behind Simmons’s climb, behind his fall.
‘Lobster would be fine.’
‘A Chardonnay, or would you prefer champagne?’
‘I didn’t know we were here to celebrate.’
‘A truce before the battle.’
‘A Chardonnay. I don’t think we’ll be celebrating, not today,’ Ashley said.
Jaden waved over to the waiter. ‘My usual for the two of us, and your best Chardonnay.’
‘Aren’t you going to check the price?’
‘Why? We are not here to worry about money, only what you intend to do.’
‘To expose Simmons’s murderer.’
‘Yes, I understand, but McAlister is hardly the most credible source.’
‘He has been so far.’
‘Ashley, I don’t want to sound patronising, but at what cost to you?’
‘I’m not sure what you mean.’
‘We’ve not met before, not like this, but let me be frank. You’re still young, ambitious, all credit to you for that, but McAlister’s not your type.’
‘Are you suggesting?’
‘You know enough of me to know I’m a tough bastard, but that’s business. I have little sympathy for my competitors or for those who don’t pull their weight. But you, Ashley, don’t do this,
not with McAlister.’
‘Do what?’
‘Don’t cheapen yourself. He’s not worth it, and if he does give you something, will it be reliable?’
‘It could discredit you,’ Ashley said. She felt uncomfortable, unsure if she should stay, although the ambience and the man were soothing but not seductive, as he was old enough to be her father.
‘Jerome, I’ve run in the fast lane before. I know what I’m doing.’
A bottle of wine appeared. Jaden sniffed the cork, tasted a sample, proclaimed it fit for consumption.
‘Cheers,’ he said, clinking his glass with Ashley’s.
‘The first of many,’ she responded.
‘I’m not the first older man you’ve dined with, am I?’
‘They didn’t succeed, either.’
‘Please, that is not my intention, and besides, the Savoy Grill is hardly discreet.’
‘You could have a room upstairs. I doubt if many in here would raise an eyebrow if you whisked me up there.’
‘An interesting thought, but no, you’re wrong on the first count. There is no room, but on the second, you’re right. Look over to your left. Can you see a man, older than me, open-necked shirt, a blue jacket?’
‘I can.’
‘A banker from Berlin; comes to London every month.’
‘That sounds feasible.’
‘The woman he’s with, a lot younger, beautiful, a lot of class?’
‘His daughter?’ Ashley said before laughing.
‘High-class escort. A wife back home, socialising with her friends, doing charity work, and he’s here sampling the local wares.’
‘He could be seen.’
‘What does it matter? Middle-class morality doesn’t concern him, and his wife knows.’
‘How do you know this?’
‘The same way I know that McAlister’s not reliable, and you shouldn’t be sleeping with him.’
‘If you know so much, then you must know who shot at Angus Simmons, what the reason is.’
‘I know enough to be cautious. Ashley, let me be blunt. You’re playing with fire, sleeping with a rough man, making a bit of a fool of yourself.’
‘Isn’t that up to me?’
‘Your lobster, madam; yours, sir.’ The waiter, silent as a breeze, appeared alongside them and put the plates on the table.
‘Not one of yours?’ Ashley said.
‘He should be, glides in and out. He could have been standing there for thirty seconds, and we wouldn’t have known.’
Ashley, seduced by the meal and the wine, not by the man, could feel she was losing control of the situation. ‘Before I get too drunk, what is the point of us here?’ she asked.
‘I’ll level with you, Ashley,’ Jaden said, clinking his glass with hers again. ‘Whatever happens, the television station is going under.’
‘You’ll be forced to take it off the air?’
‘Unlikely, but it’ll need restructuring, and for that, I need money. Bad publicity, the sort you could bring me, would make banks nervous.’
‘How much do you need?’
‘Twenty-five million pounds, give or take a few million. Not chicken feed.’
‘You’ve got that sort of money?’
‘On paper, but yes, if I cashed in everything, mortgaged the house, sold the boat, then I could get the money.’
‘You sound almost bourgeois. And as for your house, an eighteenth-century stately home in the Palladian style, and the boat, hardly a dinghy.’
‘Very well, seeing you’ve been checking on me. Fifty metres, state of the art, parked in the South of France, worth upwards of twenty million, but it’s not mine, belongs to a credit company. Regardless, my wealth is separate from my business interests.’
‘A long way separate: overseas bank accounts, companies in every offshore jurisdiction, all of it untouchable by inland revenue in the UK.’
‘You’re well informed,’ Jaden said as he put a piece of lobster into his mouth.
‘Not about you, but I know how it works. You’re not going broke, although the station might. What about Babbage, Karen Majors, Tom Taylor?’
‘And the others. I’ll not cheat them, and besides, it’s academic. With you helping, I’ll survive, and you’ll end up well rewarded.’
‘Is that a bribe?’
‘How’s the meal?’ Jaden asked.
‘You’re changing the subject.’
‘Am I? You’ve not heard me out yet.’
The waiter appeared, topped up the glasses. ‘Another bottle, sir?’
‘Of course.’
‘Are you sure you haven’t got a room upstairs?’ Ashley said. ‘Getting me drunk.’
‘Please purge that from your mind. I want to put a proposal to you. Will you hear me out?’
‘Go on.’
‘Someone took a shot at Simmons; we both know that.’
‘So do the police,’ Ashley said, placing a hand over her glass when the waiter tried to top it up again.
‘Let’s not forget them, but they’re floundering, annoying his girlfriend, although she’s into someone new, up until she tried to top herself. The Hamptons must be sick of the police now, and he’s a misery, and the sister is a reprobate biker’s moll, tattooed from head to toe. And as for Simmons’s parents, he’s a lecher, and she’s reclusive. No wonder Angus felt the need to prove himself to them.’
‘I believe you’re maligning his parents.’
‘Maybe I am, but that’s not important. Simmons died, that’s all I know, and McAlister might know the truth. He’ll string it out, milk as much money for as long as he can, and as long as you’re there for sweeteners, why wouldn’t he?’
‘Is that a roundabout way of giving me a compliment?’
‘If you like. You’re in a different league to him. It cheapens you. She doesn't have a conscience over there with the banker, just a cocaine habit and a taste for the good life. You, Ashley Otway, are not obsessed about money, would like more, everyone does, but it’s not an all-consuming passion.’
‘What are you getting at?’
‘You want a story; I want to restructure the station, or if it can’t be, then to get out with as much money as I can. For that, I need us to work together. You scratch my back; I’ll scratch yours.’
‘Platonic?’
‘Don’t go down that road,’ Jaden said. ‘You whored once, not enjoyed the experience, leave it at that. What if McAlister put his iPhone somewhere in the room, pointing at the two of you going hell for leather? Those videos last forever, and you’ll be the butt of jokes, not to mention ridicule. Whatever you do, don’t sleep with him again.’
‘I’ve no intention.’
‘Does he know?’
‘I told him he was a piece of slime.’
‘Which he thought hilarious, believing that you’d be back.’
‘He did. What’s the deal?’
‘We mutually agree to release McAlister’s information at times that suit us.’
‘Which is never.’
‘Is it? Think about it. I can’t be connected to his death, although Breslaw might have known about Simmons and his stunt.’
‘You’d damn him?’
‘Breslaw’s bourgeois, to use your cute term. He can go back to his garden and his vegetables or whatever else he does in his spare time. He’ll not be that concerned, not if I make a deal with him to take the blame for allowing the climb.’
‘Did you agree to the climb?’
‘My conscience is clear.’
‘That’s not an answer.’
‘Hear me out,’ Jaden said. ‘Those photos you published of Simmons and Hampton, not very good, but good enough for the public. Whatever’s next could be more damning.’
‘It will not reflect badly on the station.’
‘Very well, but what I need is a copy of all that McAlister has.’
‘He wants two hundred thousand pounds.’
‘It’s not worth that,’ Jaden said. ‘He’ll
not get it.’
‘He’ll trade.’
‘A discount if you put out?’
‘That’s what he has in mind.’
‘Would you?’
‘Not with him, no.’
‘Your editor? Have you put a proposal to him?’
‘I have. He’ll pay for a recording of Simmons and Hampton’s conversation, but he won’t pay the full amount.’
‘I’ll pay.’
‘Why? What possible use could it be to you?’
‘We, and I mean the two of us, will go through what we’ve got, decide on when to release it, making sure you get the credit from the newspaper, and I get to release it soon after on the television. That way, both of us get what we want.’
‘If it’s damning to the station or one of your people?’
‘As I said, we agree on what we say, on how we report it.’
‘Concealing the truth? Ashley said. ‘I’m not sure I’m comfortable with this.’
‘Not concealing, choosing the time of release. Do you agree?’
‘I’ll consider it,’ Ashley said. ‘You were willing to have Tom Taylor seduce me. Why?’
‘I needed you on my side.’
‘You hadn’t thought this through.’
‘Not in total. No plan is set in concrete, and certainly not this one. All I know is that we both need McAlister to hand over the goods.’
‘And Tom Taylor?’
‘McAlister’s not the first one you’ve slept with for a story.’
‘Maybe we’re both a couple of old whores,’ Ashley said.
Jaden laughed, then caught the eye of the waiter. ‘Your best champagne,’ he said.
***
McAlister brooded on why Ashley wasn’t returning his phone calls. Justin Skinner consoled himself with Rachel in North Wales. Kate Hampton attempted to stay in the same house as her husband.
Homicide met at Challis Street Police Station, unaware of the scheme being hatched by Jaden and Ashley Otway, only knowing that the motive for a man’s death was as unclear as on the day Simmons had died.
The Hero's Fall (DCI Cook Thriller Series Book 14) Page 18
