If Zak thought Brierley would be shocked by what he was being asked to do, he was disappointed with the P.I.’s reaction.
‘Nothing could be simpler, Mr Storie. Just tell me where the telephones are and I’ll need about five minutes undisturbed access to each one. Is that all?’
‘No, I’d like you to bug another property, as well. This one’s the private home of the business colleague I just mentioned. Unfortunately I don’t know where he keeps his phone or phones and nor do I have a key to his house.’
Brierley pulled a face. ‘That might present more of a problem, Mr Storie. Bugging your own property is one thing; bugging the property of a third party without their permission is a criminal offence, as I’m sure you know. If it ever came to light that I was involved, I’d have my licence to act as a PI revoked.’
‘I guessed that might be the situation, Mr Brierley. It’s just that for completeness I thought it would be sensible to include my colleague’s home telephone as well,’ he tailed off lamely.
Brierley sat deep in thought for a few moments before he spoke again. ‘I tell what I’m prepared to do. I’ll place bugs in all three premises as you want but you must give me your guarantee that you’ll accept responsibility for placing the bug in the home of your colleague should it ever be discovered and reported to the police.’
Zak nodded eagerly. ‘Absolutely. I’ll give you a written note to that effect if you like.’
Brierley shook his head. ‘That won’t be necessary. I’m sure I can trust you.’ He smiled at Zak who nodded and warmly smiled his appreciation back. Brierley continued. ‘Now, where are these properties?’
When Zak told him, Brierley nodded. ‘At least they’re all in Edinburgh. I could do your colleague’s office out at Seafield tomorrow night. Then, as soon as you let me know when your property in Barton will be empty, I’ll do that one as well. The other property might be rather more difficult but I’ll check it out. I’m sure I’ll be able to come up with something, though.’
Zak began warming to the subject. ‘I’m pretty certain my business associate lives alone, so I could tell you when he’s at his desk in the office. Of course, that means you’d have to break in during the day. I suppose I could take him out for an evening meal but that might look a bit suspicious in the circumstances.’
‘I agree,’ Brierley said. ‘Don’t do anything out of the ordinary, at least not just yet.’ Then, fishing into his inside pocket, he extracted a small business card, which he pushed across to Zak. ‘This is my card and on it you’ll find my home telephone number as well as my mobile number. You can ring me at any time to let me know when your Barnton property will be empty. Now, if you wouldn’t mind giving me a contact number, I’ll let you know as soon as I’ve managed to gather together all the extra bits and pieces of kit I’ll need. I usually carry a couple of receivers and enough bugs for two properties but I’ll have to borrow some extra devices from one of my associates to cover the third property.’
Zak had another idea. ‘Why don’t I give my wife a ring right now to see if I can arrange to meet her sometime during the weekend,’ he said.
Brierley agreed that would be a good idea. ‘Who knows, with a bit of luck we might be able to make an immediate start.’
Jenny answered on the third ring. She sounded breathless as if she had just rushed to take what she expected might be an important call. She sounded disappointed when she realized it was Zak.
‘Oh, it’s you,’ she said, her voice momentarily going dead. Almost immediately, however, she recovered herself and injecting more warmth into her voice, said, ‘How are you managing, Zachary? I hope it’s not too awful where you’re staying.’
‘It’s not like home, Jenny, but I’m coping’
Then she surprised him. ‘I’m sorry I sent you away like I did, Zachary. I can only think it was the shock of seeing Naomi with you and I suppose I over-reacted. I should have believed what you told me. That girl was always going to cause trouble. I can’t think why I ever employed her.’
Zak was caught wrong-footed. The last thing he expected to hear from Jenny was an apology. ‘Don’t worry about it, luv’ he said, not knowing what else to say.
‘I’ve been thinking since you left, Zachary. We never gave ourselves much of a chance with that girl in the house all the time, did we? So I thought it would be nice if we could start all over again, like you said you wanted to do.’
Zak could hardly believe his ears. An immense feeling of relief washed over him. He had completely misjudged the situation. Everything was going to be all right.
‘You don’t know how pleased I am to hear you say that, Jenny, uh, Jen. I’ve been very depressed this last week. Quite frankly, I’ve hardly been able to think straight.’ Even as he spoke, he wondered that he could be so fickle. If he went back to Jenny, what would become of Naomi?’
Jenny was speaking again, her voice husky with emotion. ‘I’ve really missed you and I think you should come back home. What do you say?’
It was a difficult moment for Zak. Should he reject his wife and continue with Naomi or should he accept that Jenny’s action following her surprise discovery of seeing a naked Naomi in his arms was only to be expected. But, if she was as innocent, as she now seemed, why had she gone to see Phil Williamson? Perhaps, when he’d seen them kissing in the doorway, he, too, had over-reacted. He might have misinterpreted the greeting and it, genuinely, had been nothing more than a friend-meets-friend sort of kiss. It was just possible that Phil had had his best interests at heart all along and had been doing all he could to help patch up his boss’s failing marriage.
As was already apparent to Zak, he had been parachuted into an extremely complicated emotional situation and he had no way of knowing what was going on. It is doubtful if his brain had ever been called on to work as hard as it had during the past week or so and now, on the flimsiest of evidence, he was being asked to decide between his wife and Naomi. After rapidly weighing up the alternatives, he opted for what he decided was the safest and most just course of action. He would go back to his wife.
‘I’d like that, luv,’ he said simply. ‘When shall I move back in?’
‘How about sometime next week, dear? That will give you time to sort things out from your end, wouldn’t it?’
‘There’s not much to sort out, Jen. I could come back this weekend if you like.’
‘That would be lovely, Zachary dear, but the thing is, I promised I’d visit my sister this weekend and I don’t want to let her down. She hasn’t been keeping at all well lately. So, much as I’d love for you to move back in sooner, I think sometime next week would be better. I’m really missing you and I can’t wait for us to be together again. Why don’t you give me a ring on Monday evening and we can sort it all out then. But I must dash now. I have to make an early start in the morning and I can hear my oven timer going. If I don’t stop talking, I’m going to spoil the biscuits I’ve been cooking all evening. Ring me on Monday evening, Zachary dear. I love you. Bye.’ So saying, she hung up.
Zak was confused as he turned to Brierley, who had a quizzical expression on his face.
‘Do I gather that my services are no longer required?’ he said quietly.
Zak looked sheepish. ‘I think I might have over-reacted.’
‘Why don’t you tell me what your wife said,’ Brierley invited, and as best as he could remember, Zak repeated what Jenny had said to him.
‘Well, on the face of it, that certainly sounds very encouraging, Mr Storie,’ Brierley began carefully, ‘and if you want to call the whole thing off now, that will be fine by me and no hard feelings.’ There then followed a pregnant pause while Brierley looked hard at Zak.
Zak took the hint. ‘But…?’ he said, guessing the PI wanted to say more but was reluctant to continue without an invitation.
Taking a sip of his drink, Brierley sat back and gazed thoughtfully at Zak. ‘I reckon I’ve been in this business too long. Perhaps it’s made me cynical.’ He paused t
o take a breath before continuing. ‘I realize you and your wife have been through a difficult time and it’s only natural that you want everything to be right and proper again. I suppose I shouldn’t say this and I hope you won’t be offended, but are you sure it really is her sister your wife is going to see this weekend?’
Zak’s mind was already in turmoil and Brierley’s insinuation simply added to his confusion. Perhaps it was a measure of his own doubts about Jenny’s true motive that he was not offended by the suggestion even while he desperately wanted to believe everything she had said to him.
‘What do you suggest?’
‘Before you make a final decision, why don’t you let me make sure it is her sister Mrs Storie goes to see tomorrow.’
Misinterpreting Zak’s look, Brierley shrugged his shoulders. ‘I can assure you it’s got nothing to do with me losing a fee. As I said before, we can call the whole thing off now and no hard feelings. It’s entirely up to you.’ He started to get up.
‘Hang on a minute, Mr Brierley. It didn’t intend to offend you. It’s just that if I employ you now to spy on my wife after what she’s just said to me, I wouldn’t feel right about it.’
‘I quite understand that, Mr Storie, but wouldn’t it be better for you to have proof positive that your wife is all she says she is rather than forever suspecting the worst of her. Which reminds me and, again, I hope you won’t be offended but how will your wife benefit when you sign that takeover agreement?
‘Not in any way, as far as I can see,’ Zak said, suddenly and unaccountably concerned once again. Was Phil playing a much deeper game than he had yet fathomed? After all, the man had been most anxious for him to sign the agreement. Perhaps Brierley was right. Something much more sinister might be going on. Zak made up his mind.
‘All right, perhaps it would be for the best. Let’s do it. But I hope you’re an early riser.’
Brierley smiled. ‘I am, as it happens.’
‘If you could be outside my house tomorrow morning you should be able to follow her when she goes off to see her sister, or wherever it is she goes. But I warn you, she drives like a bat out of hell. I don’t hang around but even I had difficulty keeping up with her when I tried following her the other evening. If it hadn’t been for the help I got from traffic lights I’d have lost her. She drives a little red Diablo and she doesn’t spare the horses, believe me.’
‘I’m sure you’ve come to the right decision, Mr Storie and thanks for the warning about your wife’s driving,’ Brierley didn’t reveal that, at one time, he had been an enthusiastic and successful amateur racer of saloon cars. ‘Now, do you have a photograph of Mrs Storie so I’ll know who it is I’m supposed to be following?’
Ruefully, Zak shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t. But I can describe her to you and, as I said, she’ll be driving a red Diablo sports car; you can’t miss it.’
Though by no means a head-turner, Duncan Brierley’s car was definitely a wolf in sheep’s clothing and he easily kept Jenny in sight when she roared past him at seven o’clock the next morning. His employer was paying him very well for his services and since he had no idea when Jenny Storie would start her journey, he had made it his business to be on duty since five o’clock. He followed at a distance behind her that would not cause suspicion and she was still in sight when he saw her take the turn off at Ingleston that led to Edinburgh Airport. He followed her into the airport car park and eventually came to a smooth halt in a row, two behind her. Plenty of other people were using the car park and he had no difficulty being inconspicuous when he followed her into the terminal building. Nor was he surprised when he saw her exchange a few discrete words with a tall, good-looking man near the check-in desk for the early morning flight to Paris. She and the man never spoke to each other again while Brierley was watching them and to a less observant person, they appeared to be strangers to each other. However, to be on the safe side, Brierley made sure he grabbed a couple of photographs of the pair with his digital camera to take back to his office where he would be able to download them into his computer before printing them out. When the pair disappeared into the departure lounge, he continued waiting until their flight departed for Paris. Then he rang Zak.
It was just after eight-fifteen when the telephone rang out in Zak’s apartment. Expecting the call, he got up immediately to take it. Naomi rolled over with a groan. Picking up the handset, he listened for a few moments with a grim expression on his face and a hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach. ‘What did he look like?’ he asked
Brierley gave an excellent description of Phil Williamson who Zak had no difficulty in identifying.
‘That’s who I thought it might be,’ Zak said quietly into the mouthpiece. ‘It seems you were right, Mr Brierley. The man’s name is Philip Williamson.’
Zak’s mind was once more confused. It seemed Jenny and Phil were indeed making a fool of him. In which case, why had she asked him to move back into the family home? One would have thought that having him out of the way would be very much to her advantage. Once again, he wondered what game she was playing.
Guessing his news would have caused his client to do some hard thinking and that he might now wish to reassess the situation, Brierley maintained a discrete silence. Eventually he said, ‘I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Mr Storie, but it’s best if you know what’s going on.’
Zak nodded glumly and grunted agreement into the telephone. Could no one be trusted, he wondered.
Brierley again broke the silence that had developed. ‘How do you want to play it? Shall I just send you my bill for what I’ve done so far or do you want me to go ahead with the exercise we discussed last night?’
With an effort, Zak pulled himself together. ‘I think it would be best if you went ahead with what we discussed, Mr Brierley.’
Another heavy silence developed while Zak began to think of the implications.
‘This might also be a good opportunity to do Willianson’s house. He’s in the telephone directory; I’ve already checked. To be on the safe side you could give his number a couple of rings during the day to make sure he really does live alone, then, if everything checks out OK, you could plant your devices in his house as well as in mine tonight. Then, when you get those extra devices you said you’d need to do a third property, you could do my business premises. I can let you in there at any time.’
As it happened, before the weekend was out, Brierley had managed to borrow the extra devices he needed from a fellow P.I. and had wired up all three premises. As the weekend had progressed, Zak had demonstratedg just how resilient he was because he soon shook off his earlier feelings of depression. It was a very satisfied man who returned to his hotel suite later on Sunday evening. Events were at last beginning to work in his favour, or so he hoped.
Naomi was awake and waiting when he returned to his room. Already she had made her presence felt. His clothes, which had been thrown all over his bedroom floor, were now in wardrobes and drawers; the dirty dishes he had allowed to accumulate in the sink were washed and tidied away and there was now a different feel to the place. He liked it.
‘You look very pleased with yourself,’ she greeted him. ‘What have you been up to?’
Biting the bullet, he broke the news to Naomi that he was about to return to his wife and go back to live in his home in Barnton.
Tears immediately welled up in her eyes. ‘How could you? You know she doesn’t love you and she’s having an affair with someone else,’ she sobbed.
Zak put his arm comfortingly around her shoulder.
‘Don’t worry, Naomi. You’re right. I know she doesn’t love me but I’ve got to go back for a few days to try to sort things out with her. It won't be long, I promise. In the meantime, I want you to stay on here in the hotel and I’ll try to get back to see you every day. This is only temporary, believe me; we’ll soon be together again.’
He was being completely sincere with her but Naomi was in no way comforted by his stateme
nt; and nor was there any way he could explain what was going on.
‘I know it sounds odd, luv, and I can’t go into explanations, not yet, anyway, but if things turn out as I hope and expect, I’ll tell you all about it later.’
She was not happy with the new arrangement but she was sensible enough not to make a big fuss about it. She had a wise head on her young shoulders and instinctively seemed to realize that the best way to hold on to her man was to give him all the room he needed.
Brierley rang again late on Sunday evening to report that Jenny had returned home. After making one quick call to Williamson to report that she had reached home without incident, she had gone straight to bed. While the news gave Zak little additional information, at least it proved the bugs were working.
Duncan Brierley’s question about what Jenny expected to gain from the take-over triggered Zak’s need to find out how his company was structured. First thing on Monday morning, he walked into Companies House in George Street in the centre of Edinburgh and asked to see the shareholding and capitalisation structure of Galviston Ford. What he discovered reassured him.
When the company had first been set up, there were just three shareholders; someone called Marion Storie who, he assumed, was probably his first wife; someone called Frank Maddison, who he thought might have been Marion’s father; and himself. Frank and Marion had each owned ten percent of the business while he owned eighty percent. On Marion’s death, he had taken over her shares. Presumably, Frank Maddison had lent his son-in-law money to enable him to start the business, hence the share allocation. The important thing, as far as Zak was concerned, was that he was firmly in control of his business. Neither Jenny nor Phil had any power to affect what happened to the business other than through whatever influence they could bring to bear on him; which only emphasised just how strange their present behaviour was.
When Zak eventually arrived for work with his hand still heavily bandaged, thanks to Naomi’s ministrations, Phil anxiously asked for news of the injury.
SWITCHED: The man who lost his body but kept his mind. Page 23
