A Secret Schemer (23 page)

‘Thanks Lucas, I so appreciate
your help.’

After Lucas had left the office
I began to wonder what the rest of the staff would think if they
knew what I was doing. However because Tim is such an enigma I have
to analyse the situation, he really hasn’t given me a choice. As
Lucas has had a bad experience and shared that with me on Christmas
day, I trust him.

Later during the evening in the
bar there was me, Lucas and Jena, so I knew at sometime he’d give
me an update on Tim’s firm. Out of the blue Jena shot out from
behind the bar heading towards Vie Butler, who was sitting on one
of our rather plush sofas. The next few minutes were hilarious with
me and Lucas seriously trying to stifle our giggles. Jena had Vie
Butler standing up and they were having a dispute over the scruffy
mutt who was at that moment still lying on the sofa. ‘Get him off
of that sofa now Mrs Butler.’ Jena ordered. ‘Or would you rather I
moved him.’

‘He aint hurting on there and
who do you think you are telling me what to do?’

‘These sofas are for humans,
not animals with bare backsides. If you don’t move him I’ll have to
bar you.’

By this time I was bursting at
the seams not to laugh.

‘You can’t bar me, it aint your
pub, your name aint over the door!’ Vie shouted.

By this time quite an audience
had gathered.

‘You best follow me then and
bring that scruffy mutt with you.’

Jena was now ushering Vie and
the mutt (who was trundling along on his length of tatty rope) out
of the front door of the pub. All you could see then was Jena
pointing up to the name above the door, which read Lucy Ross and
Jena Wright are licensed to sell intoxicating liquor for
consumption on or off the premises. Needless to say Jena bounded
back into the pub and disappeared into the kitchen, within minutes
she’d returned with the small upholstery vacuum. For several
minutes she cleaned the sofa, checking it carefully for traces
of??? By the time she returned me and Lucas were in stitches, Jena
rarely loses her rag, though this had been so amusing.

‘She won’t do that again in a
hurry, that mutt had a mass of matted crap dangling from his rear
end, not to mention any little hopping bloodsuckers that fancied a
different venue.’ Jena burst out laughing and slid down onto the
floor behind the bar so she was hidden from the customers.

‘The sad thing is it’s not the
mutts fault, I bet he’d love a good wash and brush up.’ I added
with a grin.

‘Maybe she could have one as
well, because she’s pretty ripe herself.’ Jena laughed. ‘It’s not
that she can’t afford the soap and water, she drinks enough ale to
sink a battleship.’

Lucas had been serving while me
and Jena regained our composure, with the events of the evening I
hadn’t had a chance to speak to Lucas about the research stuff.
I’ll try and catch him after we close.

Although I would tell Jena
about Tim’s firm I thought it was easier for Lucas to tell me on
his own. After we closed Jena said she was going to watch a movie
with Andy. So I poured me and Lucas a drink and after another laugh
over the scruffy mutt incident I got to hear the results.

‘It’s not good news Lucy; in
fact I’m not at all sure what you’ll make of it. The company
Randall and Hartley went into liquidation some five years ago,
there was no evidence of subsidiary companies either.’

‘Why am I not surprised at the
result Lucas? I declared. ‘So what does this guy do with himself
all day, where does he work?’

‘Or Lucy does he work?’

‘Well he must do something as
he’s earning money.’ I added. ‘Or is he an on line gambler?’

‘Gamblers rarely win
continuously, maybe he’s self employed.’ Lucas suggested.

‘Somehow I intend to find out,
thank you so much Lucas.’

‘Lucy I know this is none of my
business, however please be careful, as there seems to be something
underhand going on here. Genuinely I would hate to see you
suffer.’

‘Thanks again Lucas, I will get
to the bottom of this.’

‘Well if there’s anything else
I can do, just say the word.’ Lucas added as he made his way
upstairs.

For the life of me I can’t
understand why Tim has lied about his employment, undoubtedly there
has to be a reason. Come hell or high water I’m determined to find
out….

Chapter 29

The brewery meal on Thursday
evening went well; Charles and his guests came into the bar for a
nightcap after leaving the restaurant, while waiting for their
taxis to arrive. I was relieved that the ominous Mrs Butler didn’t
make an appearance, especially after the recent scenario with Jena.
During the evening I’d been running the bar with Archie and we’d
had the chance for a chat. I wasn’t at all surprised when he
informed me that he was once again receiving absurd text messages
from Jodie. He made it clear that he was finding this irritating,
and intended to change his mobile number and would only be giving
it to me and Jena. I really hope Archie won’t leave as he’s such an
asset in the bar, and the punters young and old love him. I realise
the time has come when I’m going to have to enlighten Kate, so with
this in mind Archie sent me copies of the messages he’d received.
My personal opinion is she’s getting wasted or she’s on dope,
possibly both and they don’t make for a good mix. I’ll chat to Jena
first to see what her opinion is, as she’s spent time with the
girl. I caught up with Jena on Friday morning in the office; we
were both going to the bank today so plenty of time to catch up.
After I’d explained about the state of affairs with Tim’s
employment, I then relayed the text messages Archie was once again
receiving. As we were walking along a busy road at the time Jena
glanced over at me. ‘OMG let’s wait until we’ve done the banking
and can go for a coffee, I’ll try and digest what you’ve just told
me in the mean time.’ She exclaimed.

Once settled in the café with
coffee and muffins Jena proclaimed. ‘Lucy Ross Tim Carter is a
slippery bastard; he is so up to no good, you have to get rid. How
did you find all this out?’

‘I asked Lucas to research the
company Tim said he worked for, they went into liquidation five
years ago.’

‘How much more proof do you
want Hun?’ Jena said angrily.

‘I need to get to the bottom of
it all, so with your help maybe we’ll suss it all out.’

‘What can I do? I mean I’ll
have a go at anything to sort this weirdo out.’

‘OK next time he goes
walkabouts I think one of us should follow him and then we search
his room.’ I suggest.

‘Sooner rather than later Lucy,
I’ve got an uneasy feeling about this guy.’

‘I still think it could be down
to a very insecure childhood Jena, he’s so different when I’m on my
own with him.’

‘Yeah and how often is that?’
Jena quizzed.

‘I take your point honey,
anyway it’s not long to his fortieth birthday now and he’s promised
me a special day.’

‘Whoopee I wonder what that
could be.’ Jena added with sarcasm.

‘Hopefully we’ll find out where
he’s spending his time before then.’

‘Why don’t you just tell him to
fuck off Lucy?’

‘That would be the answer if I
didn’t have feelings for him.’

‘Eek I need to scream, or
better still bang your head on the wall.’ Jena groaned.

I attempted a giggle that
sounded more like a squeak. ‘Shall we change the subject to Archie
and Jodie?’ I proposed.

‘To be honest I’m not at all
surprised about Jodie, she’s obviously weak willed and finds being
the victim an easy role to play, with school mates I mean. Kate
needs to be told and we’re both aware of her reaction.’

‘Archie’s sent me copies of the
text messages, so all I can do is show them to Kate. This time I
feel she’s going to have to deal with Jodie at home, as it’s no
longer a pub issue.’

‘Absolutely, I mean I’d talk to
her again, although that only assists when she’s with me. Once
she’s back in school the bullies have a field day with her.’ Jena
describes.

‘I wonder if Kate could change
her school.’

‘Doubtful at her age, suggest
it anyway.’ Jena added. ‘To be honest Lucy I’m far more concerned
about you than a turbulent teen. Now I understand clearly why I
have no desire to have kids.’

‘I’ll second that one.’

Back in the pub I bit the
bullet and showed Kate the dreaded text messages, her reaction
surprised me a tad. ‘To be honest Lucy I’ve been half expecting
this, I’m so sorry about it. Time I went to the school and had a
word, without Jodie knowing.’

‘I make you right Kate, or you
never know where this will lead, surely they can nip the bullying
in the bud so to speak.’

‘I’ll let you know Lucy, anyway
last night’s meal went like a dream.’

‘I forgot to mention Charles
Emerson was well impressed.’ I mentioned proudly.

‘I also forgot to mention that
they left a fifty pound tip, we’ve decided to keep it for a special
night.’

How good is it to see Kate in a
happier and more focused mood, I wonder if Tom the postman has
anything to do with this? If so I hope he keeps it up.

Lucas noticed Tim making a
hasty exit from the outside kitchen door on Monday morning, and as
he wasn’t due to start work until the evening he instinctively
grabbed his jacket and went after him. As it was daylight it was
easy to keep him in sight, especially as Tim had a distinctive gait
and he was fairly tall. He was heading along the main street
towards Victoria, turning right onto Victoria Street, and then he
stopped outside of the Nat West bank. He was looking around as
though he was waiting for someone; it was easy for Lucas to blend
in with the crowd. Before long a guy joined Tim and they entered
the bank together, as this bank is one of the bigger branches Lucas
found it easy to slip inside. Tim and the other guy were waiting in
the queue for a cashier and were deep in conversation. Lucas picked
up a paying in slip and began to fill it in, while keeping a close
eye on the two guys. While they were at the desk it was obvious
they were withdrawing cash, being too far away Lucas couldn’t see
or hear anything. As they left the bank Lucas trailed them back out
onto the street, where they proceeded to walk further along
Victoria street. Keeping a reasonable distance he was taken aback
to see them going into the Royal Bank of Scotland. Aware that there
are CCTV cameras everywhere in London these days he thought it
would be best to do some window shopping while keeping an eye on
the bank entrance. After about ten minutes the two men came out of
the bank and without hesitation flagged a taxi down, which drove
off to another unknown venue. Lucas headed back to the Frog and
Toad, uppermost in his mind was Tim’s reasons for lying about his
employment. He’s definitely a shifty character. When Lucas went
back into the kitchen he bumped into Jena. ‘Hi Jena.’ He said as he
hung his jacket up.

‘Hi Lucas have you been
somewhere nice?’

‘If you’ve got a few minutes
I’ll tell you.’ Lucas offered.

‘I’m intrigued I’ll make us a
coffee and we can go through to the restaurant.’

Sitting opposite each other
with a steaming mug of coffee, Lucas relayed his little unplanned
journey.

‘That guy is a fraud I wish
Lucy would dump him now.’ Jena added angrily.

‘I tend to agree, however I
wondered if he works with the guy he met this morning?’

‘Doing what Lucas? He’s a liar,
and he’s obviously hiding something.’

‘He doesn’t seem to be short of
cash, and he was withdrawing money from Nat West this morning. Of
course I don’t know what went on in the next bank, it’s all
baffling.’

‘The first opportunity I get
I’m going to follow him when he does one of his evening walkabouts,
I’m determined to uncover his sham. Lucy’s a great person and she
doesn’t deserve any of this.’ Jena said with fervour.

‘If I can help in any way Jena,
just say the word. I don’t want to see Lucy get hurt she’s far too
genuine for that.’

‘Thanks Lucas, me and Andy are
going to take a drive over to Orpington to suss his parents address
out. I believe all his secrets are stored on his laptop,
regrettably he carries it round like a new born baby.’

‘Even the most punctilious
people have been known to slip up Jena. I think I’ll seek Lucy out
and update her on this morning’s mission.’

Lucas found Lucy in the laundry
room busy ironing. ‘That’s my favourite pastime didn’t you know.’
Lucas grinned.

‘Mm it’s mine too, did you need
the iron?’

‘No I just came to relay my
morning jaunt to you.’ Lucas explained what had taken place. ‘I
hope you don’t feel I’m out of order.’

‘Not at all Lucas, I’m
grateful.’ After giving Lucas’s story some thought. ‘Do you think
he may be working with this other guy, something basic say, and
thought he’d invent a more swanky position to impress me?’

‘Anything’s possible Lucy,
nevertheless a tad far fetched don’t you think?’

‘I make you right, though he’s
good on computers.’

‘So are a lot of people but it
doesn’t make them IT consultants.’

‘I know, why do I keep making
pathetic excuses for him, I have to confront him.’

‘Haven’t you tried that
before?’ Lucas probed.

‘Yeah you’re right, time to man
up and put my plan into action.’

‘Well I’m always here if you
need me.’ Lucas assured.

‘I know and I really do
appreciate your help.’