But as Mr Singleton readily explained to them when Rafferty asked him about it, he intended to co-operate. He wasn't the old-style family solicitor, he was quick to assure them. The power of old money was being increasingly supplanted by new money as the ambitious younger generation, male and female, with their university study behind them and the need to service large debts in front of them, determinedly set about commanding high incomes.
It wasn't unusual nowadays for the twenty somethings to work longer and longer hours in high-profile careers, with precious little time to arrange their affairs, which, as Jonas Singleton explained, was ‘where solicitors like me, who are youthful enough to be considered part of their generation, come in. Most of the firm's younger clients won't tolerate the time-consuming way of doing business favoured by the senior partners. Life's too short, they think, to have to deal with the more fuddy-duddy older elements of the firm, which was the reason I was taken on.’
Singleton held the door to the firm's reception area open and said, ‘But come through to my office so we can talk.’
Once installed back behind his desk in the bright and airy office with the latest, sleekest technolog, Jonas Singleton didn't waste time in further pleasantries. Time was money, his now brisk manner implied. And probably, to him and other high-earning professionals like him, it was, thought Rafferty, who was old enough to think about the past nostalgically and feel it a shame that in the modern world everything seemed to revolve around Mammon.
‘You said you wanted to discuss my late client, Mr Raymond Raine's, financial situation, inspector. To be frank, now he's deceased, apart from the money he has in his bank and savings accounts and so on, he doesn't have a financial situation, as such, certainly not where the family business is concerned — or at least, not one that should detain us above a few minutes.’
Rafferty frowned as he and Llewellyn sat down in the visitor chairs. Given that, since viewing Raymond Raine's beautiful home and expensively designed business premises, he had felt certain the man's wealth would feature strongly as the reason for his murder, he wondered if he was being particularly dense and said, ‘I'm sorry, I don't understand.’
‘There's no reason why you should, inspector. It's rather complicated. Perhaps it would be best if I began at the beginning?’
Rafferty nodded, relieved to be reassured that he wasn't being as dense as he had feared.
Jonas Singleton explained that the late Raymond Raine's dead father, Michael, along with Michael's brother, Anthony, also dead, had started the family fashion business from a shoestring and a market stall, from which they had quickly moved onward and upward.
Anthony had studied art and fashion design at college, whereas his brother, Raymond's father, had studied for a degree in Business Studies and Economics. It had been Michael Raine who was the business brains behind the swift success of the family firm. But equally, Mr Singleton told them, it was generally acknowledged that if Anthony Raine the father of Ray's cousin and business partner, Mike Raine, hadn't had such an innovative flair for fashion, the other's business brains wouldn't have been needed and part of the clothing revolution of the sixties would never have happened.
But it had happened, Rafferty reflected; nowadays, it was hard to imagine the high-street clothes shops without their cheaper versions of the latest line in the famous Raine family umbrella logo.
‘But now that you know some of the background, you'll find it easier to understand my previous statement. Raymond and his first cousin, Mike Raine, don't own the family business. They don't even own their own homes, as they were actually purchased by the trust set up by the cousins’ fathers once the early days of the family business were behind them and the profits escalated.’
‘This trust — perhaps you can explain what it entails.’
‘Yes, of course. I was coming to that. Raymond Raine's father, Michael, and Mike's father, Anthony, set up a joint trust for their heirs. Both of the late former partners seem to have been singularly obsessive about the importance of the family, the continuing family line and inheritance; not so surprising, I suppose, when one knows that the Raine family, in each of the past six generations, had produced a paucity of children, especially boys. I think the trust was set up to encourage Raymond and Mike to do their duty and provide heirs.’
They hadn't been noticeably successful in Raymond's case, Rafferty thought. He had seen no evidence that children formed part of the Raine household. He asked Jonas Singleton, who confirmed it.
Rafferty, still not totally grasping the significance of what Singleton was saying, must have looked puzzled, for the solicitor said:‘In effect, inspector, Mike, Raymond and Stephanie Raine, the late Anthony Raine's widow, lived on the interest from the trust. They couldn't touch the capital, or at least Raymond and Michael Junior could, but only once they had met certain laid-down conditions.
‘Which were?’
‘Namely, that each of the cousins would only come into their share of the capital when they became fathers; if either Raymond or Mike died having failed to produce a child, then the position of the surviving cousin improved, in so far as his share of the interest increased substantially. In the event that they both died without issue, then the bulk of the inheritance would go to the nearest male relative, which in both their cases would currently be Andrew Armstrong, the son of Michael and Anthony's sister. He lives in Australia,’ Singleton added.
Rafferty, still hopeful of a swift conclusion to the investigation, could only hope this third of the triumvirate of cousins didn't complicate matters and was able to prove he hadn't left the Antipodean shores during the last few days.
‘With Raymond's death without issue, Mrs Stephanie Raine is also due for a sizeable increase in her income.’
Rafferty supposed the trust had been an attempt by Michael and Anthony Raine to control their offspring from beyond the grave, which was far from unusual, in his experience.
‘So Mike and the late Raymond Raine ran the family business,’ Rafferty said. Recalling Llewellyn's earlier comment about who out of the cousins seemed to be boss, he asked, ‘Were they equal partners?’
‘Actually, no,’ said Singleton. ‘Raymond had ten per cent more and, basically, had the upper hand. And given Raymond's murder, I feel I ought to explain how that came about.
‘As I said, the two brothers who founded the firm each had only the one son and when the cousins took over the running of the firm from their respective deceased fathers, as none of the female members on either side of the family showed any interest in the day-to-day running of it, they had a free rein. Certainly, Stephanie, Mrs Raine Senior, has always made clear that all she is interested in is that the money keeps coming.
‘And as for Mike Raine, unfortunately for him, he discovered on the close-together deaths of his father and uncle that instead of the partnership being a fifty-fifty split, in fact, Raymond had not only the larger share, but also the upper hand in the business. He left Mike in no doubt that he was going to run things his way.
‘Raymond was in the fortunate position of being able to throw his weight about in this manner because, unbeknown to Mike, although Mike's father had originally been an equal partner with his brother, shortly before his death he had sold ten per cent of his half-share to Michael Senior, Raymond's father. Then, two months later, Michael Senior died suddenly in a car accident.
‘Mike's father had been worried about the business because he was very ill and at the time Mike had been more interested in sowing his wild oats than taking his full share of responsibility for the family firm. So, sick and facing death, Anthony Raine, who had always had more understanding of design than finance, had felt he could not let the irresponsible and wild youth who was his only son loose with half the family business as a plaything. And with his nephew Raymond older by five years, responsible and already working in the business, he felt that the owner of such a strong pair of hands who had already shown considerable business grasp should not have those hands tied by an inex
perienced youth, even if this youth was his own son.
‘His father's decision in the face of imminent death was hard on Mike. Unfair too, as it turned out. Because Mike Raine, after sowing his wild oats for a few years like most young men, calmed down. The timing of his father's death was unfortunate for him to say the least. And that of his uncle even more so, because Raymond's father had told the disgruntled younger Michael that he would restore his lost percentage as soon as he proved he deserved it. But, of course, when he was ready to take his share of responsibility it was too late because Michael Senior had died in an accident shortly before. And Raymond Raine, firmly in the driving seat and with his extra percentage of the shares in the firm, wasn't about to move over for his younger cousin.’
‘So how long had the cousins been running the business?’ Llewellyn asked.
‘Just over two years.’
‘And how did Mike feel about losing out to his cousin?’ Rafferty asked.
Singleton shrugged. ‘About how you would expect. Understandably, Mike felt he had been cheated. I suppose it's fair to say he was somewhat embittered. He let slip the odd complaint to me about it.’
Strangely, Mike Raine hadn't felt it necessary to explain any of this to them. And now Raymond Raine was dead …
‘And what about Mrs Felicity Raine, Raymond's widow? Would she receive an equivalent sum?’ Rafferty asked.
‘Alas no. But as your sergeant told me earlier when he rang to make this appointment, given that Mr Raine's young widow has already confessed to killing her husband, she would not in any event be permitted by the law to profit from her crime.’
Rafferty updated the solicitor on the status of this confession and suggested, ‘Can we suppose for a minute that Felicity Raine didn't kill her husband and is proved not to have done so? What would her position be then?’
Jonas Singleton laced his fingers together and rested his long, rather horsey face upon them. ‘Her position would be just the same. When Michael and Anthony Raine set up their joint trust it was shortly after they had both married for the second time. And although they were both reasonably happy in their second marriages, neither of them had more children despite the fact they had married women much younger than themselves. But—’
Rafferty frowned. ‘Sorry to interrupt, but I want to get one thing clear in my mind. You're saying that Mrs Stephanie Raine isn't Raymond's mother? His natural mother, that is?’
‘Good Lord, no. Whatever gave you that idea?’
Rafferty was thankful that Jonas Singleton didn't wait for an answer. He wasn't eager to reveal that he had failed to check his ‘facts'.
‘There's only around twelve years between them. And although I know young girls seem nowadays to become pregnant at an early age with a depressing regularity, I can assure you without hesitation that Stephanie Raine is not Raymond's natural mother.’
Jonas Singleton paused to collect his thoughts after Rafferty's interruption. ‘Anyway, although both Michael and Anthony Raine would have liked to have more children, in the trust they set up they stated that they felt it would be unfair to penalise their second wives financially for their failure to reproduce. In effect, Michael's second wife, Stephanie, and Anthony's wife, Juliet, were forgiven for their failure. But that forgiveness for failure to breed didn't extend to the wives of the next generation. Felicity, as the only younger wife, had responsibility for reproducing the family line.’
‘So neither Raymond nor Mike had children?’
‘No. And Juliet, Anthony's second wife, died of cancer a year after her husband.’
‘I see.’ All these deaths, and now Raymond's murder, had certainly been convenient for the remaining heirs, he thought.
‘As far as the late brothers’ trust was concerned Felicity was expected to do her duty and provide heirs; even the birth of a child within nine months of the father's death — subject to proof of paternity — would earn her, as the mother of the next generation's beneficiary and Raymond's widow, a share in the family wealth through her child. As the beneficiary's mother, she would be able to draw substantial sums to support the child.’
‘Clearly she's failed to meet the requirement that she and Raymond reproduce — so what's the drill now?’
‘Not a very kind one, I'm afraid,’ Singleton told them. ‘Felicity Raine failed in her duty to the family line, so she gets nothing at all. Not even the house she shared with Mr Raine and presumably thought of, still thinks of, as home.’
Rafferty was shocked, not least by the solicitor's matter-of-fact manner. ‘You mean, supposing she is found not guilty, she'll just be chucked out on the street on her release?
‘0h, I doubt it would come to that. I think Stephanie Raine, even though on the few occasions I've met her she didn't strike me as being a particularly sensitive person, would be prepared to behave generously to the woman whose failure ensured her own increased inheritance — as long as, that is, she isn't proved to have killed Raymond. If the case against her is proven, Mrs Raine Junior will be residing at Her Majesty's pleasure, so Mrs Raine Senior is unlikely to have the opportunity to throw the younger woman on to the streets, even should she wish to. And given that, should she be convicted, Felicity Raine would be housed for the foreseeable future at the taxpayers’ expense, I don't see that losing her home is likely to greatly inconvenience her.’
Lawyers, thought Rafferty, they really were all heart. This control-from-beyond-the-grave trust document struck him as being more than unfair; it had, he thought, more than a touch of the Princess Diana to it in its requirement that Felicity, like the late Princess, should turn herself into a breeding machine. He said as much.
Jonas Singleton smiled and revealed long teeth that were as horsey as the rest of him. ‘I suppose you could put it that way, yes. The same will apply to his cousin Mike's wife, if and when he acquires one.’
‘It seems an unnecessarily complicated business,’ Rafferty commented. ‘Not to say unfair. Did Felicity Raine understand her husband's position?’
Singleton shrugged. ‘As to that, I have no idea. Felicity Raine has never been my client. Even if she had been, I wouldn't have divulged the details of her husband's financial affairs without his express permission. I presume Raymond explained the facts to her.’
Given that he had taken the trouble to conceal the identity of his solicitor by hiding the relevant paperwork in the secret drawer of his desk, Rafferty was willing to bet that Raymond hadn't thought such an explanation necessary. Either way, he wasn't sure whether this presumed failure on Raymond's part made Felicity more, or less, likely to be guilty of his murder.
‘But anyway,’ Jonas Singleton went on, ‘even if Raymond failed the fatherhood requirement and missed out on the bulk of the family inheritance, Stephanie Raine wouldn't have seen him go short. I understood she was very fond of him. I imagine if Felicity manages to prove she's innocent of killing her husband that Stephanie Raine — or rather myself and the other trustees — will see she's looked after financially. But even if that wasn't so, Mike Raine would certainly help her. It is my understanding that he has always been particularly fond of the younger Mrs Raine.’
‘Ah yes, Mike Raine. We spoke to him earlier.’
Foolishly, Mike had denied knowing the identity of Raymond's solicitor. But clearly he had known, as they were both beneficiaries of the same trust and would have shared the services of Jonas Singleton. Just to make sure he didn't assume any more ‘facts’ about the case, Rafferty asked Singleton to confirm it.
‘I presume, as Mike Raine is a beneficiary of this trust, that you also represent him and that he was aware you represented his late cousin?’
Jonas Singleton hesitated, as if uncertain whether to disclose this information, but then it must have struck him that his firm was about to be involved in a murder inquiry, for he clearly decided co-operation was wiser than obstruction and nodded.
His confirmation that Raymond's cousin was also his client and that Mike was, because of the trust, cert
ainly aware that he and Raymond shared the services of the same solicitor, posed several questions. Not least why Mike Raine had chosen to lie to Llewellyn when he had spoken to him on the phone and deny he knew anything about his cousin's affairs. Why would he lie? Rafferty wondered, before Jonas Singleton interrupted his silent musing.
‘Raymond's shocking death brings another complication, and not just from my point of view as one of the trustees.’
‘Go on.’
‘I've already told you that both Michael Raine Senior and his brother, Anthony, the founders of the family business and the fortune that sprang from it, were obsessed with starting “dynasties”. So it's not altogether surprising that the family business and family fortunes were put in trust until such time as the sons of the founders should produce issue. Now, with Raymond dead, part of the family fortune — a percentage of the business nominally held in trust for Raymond Raine -will come to Mrs Stephanie Raine as Michael's widow.’
‘I see.’ At least he was beginning to see that a whole host of new possibilities had been opened up. And while he might still be getting his head round the trust's stipulations, he was also forming the suspicion that Stephanie Raine's grief-stricken reaction to the news of Raymond's death must surely be far from genuine. Given the terms of the trust, it struck him as unlikely that any of the potential beneficiaries would be overly concerned about the continued good health of the others, particularly as in Stephanie Raine's case she and Raymond were merely step-relatives and not the loving mother and son he had assumed them to be. With Raymond dead, both his stepmother and his cousin stood to benefit financially, while Felicity, the self-confessed and supposed guilty party in his death, stood to lose everything. The best she could hope for was that the trustees decided to take her on as a charity case.
Love Lies Bleeding Page 7
