‘And Bailey?’
‘Maybe you could tell us that,’ Mickey said.
‘I doubt that, Inspector Hitchens. But I can’t say I’m sorry about it.’
‘But you are now sitting here, where Josiah Bailey used to sit. No doubt you’ve moved in on every other account too.’
‘There was a vacancy,’ Clem said. ‘You know what happens when you leave space for someone else to move in. I thought it might be better all round if that someone was me, rather than one of the Sabini’s or the Elephant boys or the Yids. Any one of them move in on Bailey’s little kingdom and you’d have a war on your hands, you know that as well as I do.
‘But not to worry, gentlemen. I’m here now, business as usual and all will be well.’
EPILOGUE
There was not a great deal we could say, Henry recorded in his journal.
We took him in for questioning, of course, interrogated him at length. But it gained us nothing.
At length a lawyer arrived and demanded he see his client. One Mr Binks. I imagine we will become familiar with Mr Binks as we have further dealings with Clem Atkins. Our records show that he has been of use to the Sabinis in the past, so I suppose we don’t have to look far to discover who has tutored Atkins.
He closed his journal and slipped it into his pocket. Henry was ensconced in his sister’s private sitting room, waiting to be summoned to the grand tree decorating ceremony. His attention was drawn to a newspaper, open at the business pages, and the name of Clarence Hatry – helped by the fact that someone had circled it in pen. That was the man Albert had told him about on the night of the party, Henry recalled. Bankrupt on multiple occasions but somehow now persuading investors to throw their money at another of his projects.
He hoped that the circling of the name didn’t mean that Albert had succumbed to his blandishments after all.
‘Uncle Henry! Uncle Henry, come down, we’re going to decorate the tree.’ Melissa ran into her mother’s little sitting room and grabbed his hand. Henry picked up the newspaper and slipped it into his pocket and then allowed himself to be led downstairs.
Cynthia was unpacking boxes of tinsel and glass baubles. One by one precious memories were placed upon the tree. Georgie had made paper chains and Melissa threaded hawthorn berries on to long strands of cotton. Henry helped her twist them into the branches.
‘You should always remember where you came from,’ Cynthia said softly. ‘Branches scavenged after the market had closed, hawthorn berries and sugar mice.’
Malina had been tying evergreens to the banisters.
‘She’s staying, then?’ Henry asked.
‘I need a secretary,’ Cynthia said. ‘She and Nanny get along like a house on fire and she and Melissa spend hours reading together.’
‘And what does Albert say?’
‘Albert is a sensible man,’ Cynthia said.
‘Is he? I found this up in your sitting room.’ He took the newspaper from his pocket and showed it to her, pointing at the circled name.
‘Ah, that,’ Cynthia said. ‘Yes, we had words about that.’
‘And you won?’
‘And I compromised. You know, Henry, I’m lucky. Albert takes notice of my opinion and he takes all and any amount of censure from others who don’t believe that a woman’s place is anywhere near business. I won’t have my husband made a laughing stock, Henry.’
‘And so, he invested. Despite the fact that he’s sure to lose money. He told me about Hatry’s track record.’
‘And so, we compromised. Albert invested, but not so much that we can’t afford to lose it. Sometimes you have to pay a price to save face, Henry.’
He picked up a long strand of tinsel and ran it through his hands, admiring the sparkle as it caught the light. ‘And you can be certain that’s all he invested?’
‘He signed the papers in my presence, Henry, that was part of the compromise.’
‘Part of?’
‘And he made a portion of his estate over to my control. Whatever happens, Henry, there’s money no one else can touch.’
He looked thoughtfully at his sister, wondering what she wasn’t saying. ‘You expect trouble?’
‘I follow the markets and I read the papers. Trouble, it seems to me, will come from several sides. Europe, America, who knows? But I’ve always been prepared for it. You know that, Henry.’
She smiled at him and took the tinsel from his hands, looped it around the branches on the tree, and they stood back to admire the effect. It looked, Henry thought, more like a festive cobweb than a Christmas tree, so overladen was the tall spruce with baubles and strings and garlands.
‘Isn’t it beautiful!’ Melissa breathed.
And Henry nodded. Indeed it was.
Kith and Kin Page 23
