by Neil Wild
"But you were part of his Company."
Newberry flared up. "Haven't you been listening to a word I've been saying. I had nothing to do with the company by the time we went to Gibraltar!"
Brakespeare decided to let this one ride. He didn't want to Newberry have a heart attack halfway up the Malvern Hills..
"Paris?"
"Same again, only this time Levy and his wife were going for a long weekend and invited my wife and I along. "
"He paid for the fares?"
"And we went "Dutch" on everything else."
"And then I think you went to Paris again, a year later."
"Yes, same again. "
The pace of the conversation had slowed considerably as both men slowly climbed the hill, pausing regularly for breath. By now, they were near the top of North Hill, and Newberry turned, pointing variously North and East.
"Isn't that wonderful. You can see for miles. Worcester over there; you can just about see the Cathedral if you squint. Over there Bredon Hill. Let's get to the top and sit down."
They climbed for a few more minutes, and then Newberry sat down on the grass and gazed across the Vale of Evesham. Brakespeare joined him.
Newberry turned towards him. "You know, I'm not worried about death. I don't believe in an afterlife or anything of that sort, but I shall miss the sheer beauty of this place. Listen. Silence."
He paused and Brakespeare could see that he was thinking about something. Then he spoke.
"If my heart were to simply stop beating,
And if I should pass away.
I would be so perfectly happy
To have left on this beautiful day."
Brakespeare felt not a little moved.
"That's nice. Who wrote it?"
"I did. Just now! Verses often come into my head. I keep meaning to write them down."
Brakespeare was happy just to sit and share the serenity of the Hills. Minutes passed without either of them saying a word.
Newberry stood up again. "I feel better now. Better go back I suppose."
They started to go down the way that they had come up. Brakespeare found that the descent was harder than the ascent, and soon his knee joints began to hurt.
"That was beautiful, I can see why you would not want to move to London, but back to business; the second trip to Paris. It wasn't the same was it?"
"What do you mean? "
"Who are Mrs Potter and Master Potter. "
"Friends." The aggressiveness came back.
"Good friends?"
"Yes."
Brakespeare felt his temper rise. The prick was pissing him about again. He stopped in his tracks with a jolt.
"For fuck's sake."
Newberry who by now was slightly ahead of him stopped also and swung round.
"What did you just say?" Brakespeare ignored him.
“You're a married man. Have children?"
Newberry nodded.
"Married men with children don't go on holiday with other married women and presumably her son unless they're rather more than friends - or was this business entertaining also? What business were you putting her way that she was happy to go on a dirty weekend with you.?!"
They stared at each other for several seconds, then Newberry visibly sagged. By now they had descended to St Ann’s Well, and he gestured to an iron bench. They both sat down and Newberry bent forward; his head in his hands.
"Christ how did I get into this mess. Do you know what it feels like to have every aspect of your life dug over when you've done nothing wrong. This isn't fucking justice."
Brakespeare feeling that he had gained the upper hand, and now had this difficult client under control, needed to take advantage of the moment.
"This is preparation for ‘fucking justice’. Who is Mrs Potter?"
Newberry paused to collect his thoughts.
"Kate and I go back a long way. She was my girlfriend when I worked at the Council; she was a secretary in my department. Then we had a bust up and she found someone else and married him. They moved away to London. I didn't see her for years. I got married and had kids ... "
"How many?"
"Two, a boy and a girl. The girl's married and the boy’s in his first year at University. Then when I started to go down to London, I met her again. She was working for one of the large estate agents. Her marriage hadn't worked, and she'd been on her own for quite a while. Waiting for me to come back she said." He laughed. "She said she knew that I would. Well, what can you do when a woman says that?" He looked up and across at Brakespeare.
"Say no?"
"There speaks the lawyer. Well my marriage had dried up by then and so the inevitable happened."
"Dried up?"
"I haven't had sex with my wife for eighteen years. Not since my son was born."
One thing a solicitor learns to do is to control himself. Day in, day out clients will matter of factly, drop a bombshell. A solicitor just has to nod appreciatively and stifle all desire to laugh, cry or express surprise, shock, amusement, or indignation. Brakespeare had often wondered why it was that people will say things to a complete stranger that they would not say to their nearest and dearest.
"So you started an affair with Mrs. Potter again. Did she have any children?"
"No."
"So Master Potter?"
"Mine."
"How old is he?"
"Seven now. Nice lad."
"Do you see him much?"
"Not lately; not since I was banned from driving. Can't get anywhere. When we opened the London office I used to spend the weeks with Kate, and as I told you, come home at weekends. "
The penny now dropped. Brakespeare paused, not quite sure how to put things. "So you had a sort of double life."
Brakespeare pulled a face. "Well I suppose that's one way of looking at it."
“Did your wife know?"
Newberry breathed in deeply though his nose and out again.
"Don't know. We never talked about it. She never asked any questions. As I said she has her life; I have mine. "
"But why, if as you say you haven't er. ... "
"Shagged her?"
"….For eighteen years, why not separate?" Newberry looked at him.
"Do you have any children?"
"Two"
"With your wife?"
"We're divorced."
"How old?"
"Six and four".
"When did you separate?"
"Just after the youngest was born. "
Newberry looked in front again."
"That's sad. You won't have fully bonded, but my kids grew up with me. I suppose I feel guilty because I married their mother, and so I decided that I had to stay with them. "
"Will you separate".
"I hope so, when this is all over."
"Right."
There was another silence.
"So Master Potter is really Master Newberry. Levy obviously knew?"
"Well, it was impossible to hide it. He looks like me." He tugged at his ginger hair.
"And Levy accepted your double life. "
"That’s the second time you’ve used that expression I'm not sure that I like it. “
"Sorry, but really it seems to me that until all this trouble blew up you lived your life to an extent in separate compartments; Mr Newberry the first, the respectable family man living in respectable Malvern, and Mr Newberry the second, the ‘in a relationship’ man living in swinging London. "
“Save that we didn't swing, I won't disagree with you."
"Well it's very sad; I don't know how you managed to do it."
"Perhaps, as you say, I compartmentalised things. "
"Is that what you did with Clearfield?"
"What do you mean."
"When you were a surveyor, you forgot that you were or had been involved in the Company."
"Well yes, you must compartmentalise yourself like that. Are you always Mr. Solicitor?"
“No.”
“Why not?”
"Well if you tell anyone at a party what your job is, they either spend their time telling you of their or their relatives bad experience with solicitors, or else want free legal advice over a glass of red wine. I take your point. When I am acting professionally I behave totally differently from the way I behave when I can relax. For a start, professionally, I wear a business suit. It's my working clothes."
"Well that's how I operated .. "
"Do your children know that they have a half brother?"
"No."
"They thought that Dad was away, working in London?"
"Yes."
Brakespeare paused. He gazed at Newberry who was looking ahead at the view.
"Is there anything else, any other complication I need to know?" He dreaded what the answer might be, but smiled what he hoped might be an amused smile. Fortunately he had caught the right mood in Newberry.
"I'll work on it. Come on, we'd better get back. Wouldn't fancy a spot of lunch in a pub would you. "
"Thanks, but no thanks. I need to get back to the office and sort out in my mind all out that you've told me. I'll let you have a copy of the prosecution papers, well at least the witness statements. The rest are mainly copy documents but we may need to go through those together at some time."
"Suits me, but," and he clutched Brakespeare's arm "Remember, I cannot have this go to trial. Try and stop it somehow, or it will kill me.
"I think I've got that particular message," Brakespeare said quietly.
“How are you going to stop it?”
“I'll work on it.” said Brakespeare.
chapter nine
"So how did it go" asked Mortimer, coming into Brakespeare's office with Ridley at his heels.
"It was very interesting - real eye opener in fact. "
"Did David tell you much?"
Brakespeare savoured the moment. "Everything".
Mortimer glanced at Ridley, and then sat down at the opposite side of the desk. Ridley did likewise. Mortimer stretched himself out and made an effort to appear relaxed.
"Are we going to win?" he asked.
"Well it seems that we can't afford not to. In fact my specific instructions are not to let this matter go to trial. "
"That's good" said Ridley smiling and nodding.
"Well it's good if I can succeed, but not otherwise." Brakespeare became emboldened. "Gentlemen, if I may say so, you seem unusually interested in the outcome of this particular client's problem, and it seems to me that there's a little more in it than that he’s a good client. I told you that David told me everything - well I assume everything - certainly a great deal. Is there anything that you want to tell me? Anything that you omitted to tell me in our first conversation, Mr. Mortimer?"
The two other solicitors looked at each other. "Such as," enquired Mortimer, still trying to look utterly relaxed about the whole situation.
Brakespeare deliberately paused before speaking.
"You know that these charges relate to alleged fraudulent valuations by David. "
"Yes", they chorused.
"Did you know that all the valuations related to mortgage applications by a company called Clearfield Ltd. "
Mortimer twitched a little, and Ridley looked at Mortimer. "I think that we did. "
"According to David, Mr. Mortimer, you have a financial involvement in that company."
"Had,.” replied Mortimer a little too quickly, “I haven't now; but is there any relevance to this case."
"I don't know, but to a prosecution lawyer it might seem possibly relevant that the senior partner of the firm of defence solicitors had some involvement in the subject matter of the conspiracy charge. In fact if he hadn’t set up the company in the first place, the events which form the subject matter of the charge, would never have occurred. I honestly don't know the answer. What do you think?"
Mortimer remained composed – at least visibly.
"Well I must confess that the thought had crossed my mind, but as I said, my involvement ended some time ago. "
"When, may I ask. "
"About three or four years ago. I seem to recall. "
"You had a financial stake in Clearfield. "
"Yes, as David has obviously told you, I put money into Clearfield when Jonathan Levy wanted it started up."
"On your suggestion. Were you a shareholder?"
"No, I took a debenture – a secured loan on the company’s assets. That way I was not directly involved. I had no vote. I was simply paid a dividend on my investment."
"At a good rate of interest. "
"Yes, 10% fixed."
“So it wasn’t a simple loan, as David told me?”
“No”
"Did you act for Clearfield when they bought and sold."
"Originally, yes."
"And for the National in respect of the mortgage lending. "
"Yes."
Brakespeare could feel his left eyebrow raising itself. This was a clear conflict between the solicitor’ s personal interests and those of the National.
"When did you stop? "
“Again three or four years ago."
"Was this because you felt that you were in a similar position to David; you had a conflict of interest. "
Mortimer sighed and swayed uncomfortably in his chair. Ridley mimicked him. Mortimer then took a deep breath, pulled himself together and smiled in an oily way at Brakespeare.
"You're a good man, isn't he Dick?" Dick nodded on cue.
"I felt when I met you that you were the sort of chap who could quickly come to grasp this case, and by jove you have; well done. It seems that our lives may be in your hands to a certain extent, and so let me explain. Yes, as Clearfield started borrowing more money from the National, and with David involved in the Society it did look to me as if we were perhaps too close for comfort. You will appreciate that when the Clearfield project started we had absolutely no idea that the National would become involved – certainly to the extent that it did.
It may well have been that the National would not have been happy with the fact that the solicitors who signed the report on title on properties to them had an interest in the borrower, and so I thought it best to avoid that situation. We passed Clearfield on to Simon Simmons - well Levy went to him.
"I doubt if the National would have been happy, and I suspect that you know that. Simmons has been caught in the net for the work he did after you had ceased to act for Clearfield. David is in the net. I think that you are worried that the net might extend retrospectively to cover you."
There was no direct response to the statement. Mortimer continued. "The money that was returned to me from Clearfield, I used in the property company we have with David."
"So the company is really son of Clearfield? What's it called?"
"Clearmeadow Limited. "
"Oh shit."
"Precisely. "
"He who touches pitch becomes defiled." said Ridley.
"Thank you for that, Dick." said Mortimer turning to glare at him for the unwelcome comment.
"Guilt by association is I think what Dick means," said Brakespeare. "Well from what I recall, all the valuations that are being challenged are about three years old."
"1 think that's right. "
"So you're in the clear – at the moment. They've got Simmons anyway."
"Well, I agree that it looks like that, but this is a conspiracy charge, and if it is defended you never know how far back they might start probing, and what will come out. I personally have no desire to stand in the dock next to Simmons!" said Mortimer.
Brakespeare said nothing. He was thinking. Mortimer and Ridley watched him closely. "The only thing that worries me is another conflict of interest. Can I defend Newberry, knowing that those who are paying me have a vested interest in the outcome of the case?"
"Yes, but is there anything in the evidence that compromises us.?" Mortimer asked quickly.
"Well I haven't looked at the evidence i
n detail, so I can't answer that.”
Brakespeare paused for thought while the two partners waited on him nervously.
“OK, look, at the moment I'm prepared to go on with the case, I might not if you had been open me beforehand, but I suspect that is precisely why you did not tell me anything. "
There was no reply, but a visible sense of relief.
"If however there is any evidence - conveyancing files and the like that link Clearfield to this firm then David is going to have to be told to take his representation elsewhere. Do you agree."
The two partners looked at each other, and mutually shrugged shoulders. "We have no option," said Mortimer.
"Absolutely none," Ridley added by way of reinforcement.
Brakespeare felt totally in control.
“We may have to review my fees.”
Both men twitched.
“Well, after all I thought I was coming to a routine job. The level of responsibility that’s just been dumped on me – well, we’ll have to discuss that later, when I’ve had time to read the files thoroughly and see exactly what I am up against – or rather, what you’re up against.!
There was a silence. Both men just stared at him.
"Well gentleman unless there's anything else, I think I need to get on and meet the tall order. Just bear in mind though, as you quite rightly say, as soon as the Prosecution know we're going to defend the charges, they may well look for ways to strengthen their case, added to which, and I've only just thought of this, if we make an application to strike this case out at the committal proceedings, then we are going to reveal our hand. If we lose, then we will be unlikely to win at trial."
He paused again, then stood up suddenly, and stared out of the window down Deansway, lost in thought.
Ridley looked at Mortimer, and together they stood up.
"We'll leave you to it", said Mortimer, and they left.
"I need a wee." said Brakespeare to no-one in particular, and followed them out of the room.
When he returned to his office, he found Lisa sitting waiting for him. "So how did it go?"
