Page 12 of Next in Line

‘That sounds excessive,’ growled Faulkner.

‘Not if you read the sub-clauses attached to the contract that should ensure your present sentence isn’t doubled.’

‘How can you possibly prevent that?’

‘Neither the police nor the CPS will want Warwick or Hogan to appear in the witness box and have to admit the extremes they went to to bring you back to England. It’s far too much of a risk for them.’

‘I’m all ears,’ said Miles.

‘Firstly, Warwick would have to explain, under oath, whyhe abducted you from your home in Spain without the Spanish government’s authority, then flew you back to London against your express wishes.’

‘How can I prove I didn’t come back to London of my own free will? After all, Warwick will point out it was my own plane.’

‘Your pilot will confirm that when you arrived in London, Warwick and Hogan literally dragged you off the plane and threw you into the back of a waiting police car, despite his attempts to prevent them. It will become even more embarrassing for the police when I point out that no effort was made to have you held in Spain while they progressed through the official channels to obtain an extradition order, which ironically your Spanish lawyer, Señora Martinez, believes the authorities would have readily granted.’

A nod and a smile greeted this statement.

‘Secondly, and equally damning, I shall ask Warwick to explain how a valuable self-portrait by a Dutch master disappeared from your home in Spain, only to turn up a few days later on the walls of the Fitzmolean Museum in London. I suspect it was also travelling on the same plane.’

‘Christina will claim that the Hals belongs to her, and she’s loaned it to the museum for their exhibition.’

‘No, she won’t,’ said Booth Watson. ‘Because that’s one of the sub-clauses in her five-million-pound contract.’ He produced another legal document, this one bearing a signature on the last page that Miles immediately recognized. His smile broadened after he’d read that particular clause.

‘What about the rest of my collection? Is it still safely at my home in Spain?’

‘Being looked after by Collins,’ confirmed Booth Watson.

‘A good man, Collins,’ declared Faulkner. ‘See that he gets a bonus. He’s earned it.’

‘Couldn’t agree more,’ said Booth Watson, writing a note with an identical gold pen.

‘So, what happens next?’

‘I will request a sub judice meeting with Sir Julian Warwick, who continues to represent the Crown in your case. I will make it clear to him that it would be unfortunate if the press were to get hold of the real story, which would be embarrassing for the police both here and in Spain, and that given the circumstances it might be wise for him to advise the CPS to drop the latest charges in exchange for you remaining silent.’

‘How do you think the CPS will react to that suggestion?’

‘I don’t think they’ll have a lot of choice, unless they want the story to end up on the front page of every paper with the headline, “Chief Inspector involved in kidnap and burglary”.’

‘And the odds?’ said Miles, cutting to the quick.

‘Better than fifty-fifty, in my opinion. Sir Julian may want to see your sentence doubled, but not at the expense of his only son being locked up in the cell next to you, rather than being promoted, which I hear—’

There was a sharp knock on the door, and a guard poked his head inside the room. ‘Five minutes, sir.’ Booth Watson couldn’t be sure which one of them was being addressed as ‘sir’.

‘Anything else I need to think about before I see you again?’ asked Miles.

‘Yes – I’ve had an offer for your fifty-one per cent shareholding in the Malaysian tea company you purchased from another of my clients.’

‘A drug dealer who’s no longer with us. How much?’

‘Sixteen million.’

‘That must be an opening bid. An export and import company with Marcel and Neffe’s turnover must be worth almost double that.’

‘The shares have dipped since you changed address.’

‘Ask for twenty-four million, and settle for twenty-two,’ said Miles as there was a second rap on the door.