Never Mind The Botox: Rachel (25 page)

‘Yes, fine, thanks. We ate near the office,’ said Carl.

That’s a bit vague, thought Rachel, but she daren’t ask any more questions. Instead, she briefed him on her meeting with Clive and Tim, minus the university link with Clive obviously, and also told him about the lawyers coming to see her.

‘That doesn’t sound good. Tom could do without some messy legal issue to deal with as well. Still, that’s for the lawyers to sort out,’ said Carl. ‘Right, we’d better go. Now, calm and professional at all times, no matter what happens, okay?’ said Carl.

‘Got it,’ said Rachel.

What was he expecting might happen? Maybe he knew something she didn’t.

Carl and Rachel arrived at the meeting room before anyone else and sat down at one end of the table. Tom Duffy and Charles Sutton followed shortly afterwards.

Carl got up and went to greet Charles. ‘Charles, I’m so sorry to be the bearer of bad news,’ he said.

Charles shook his head. ‘Let’s hear what he has to say first.’ He was clearly hoping that Lloyd might have some miracle explanation.

‘Of course,’ said Carl.

‘Unfortunately, we’ve also heard from the lawyers about a possible negligence claim against Lloyd relating to one of the patients who booked in under a false name,’ said Tom, shaking his head. ‘Not sure how we’re going to handle that one. No proper medical records, patient consent forms in the wrong name − it’s a minefield. Anyway, one thing at a time. We’d better sit down; I think they’re on their way up.’

Carl nodded at Tom supportively. ‘Yes, I heard about that. Very difficult,’ he said and went to sit down.

Rachel held her breath as she heard more footsteps coming down the corridor. Lloyd Cassidy and Audrey arrived together. Lloyd was impeccably dressed as ever in a navy double-breasted suit and shiny purple shirt that seemed to show off his tanned looks even more than normal. Rachel noticed that his cufflinks were a pair of expensive looking gold dice. How apt. Audrey, on the other hand, looked slightly frazzled. Her normally neat blonde hair was rather out of place and her cheeks were flushed. She nervously smoothed down the front of her dress and sat down. Lloyd sat next to her.

Charles shut the meeting room door and then sat down directly opposite Lloyd. For a few moments, no one spoke.

‘Now, would someone mind telling me what this is all about?’ Lloyd asked, smiling broadly at the assembled room.

‘As you are aware, Lloyd, we’re in the middle of a possible sale process and as part of that we have commissioned a series of reports on our business for the potential buyers,’ said Charles, looking at Lloyd over the top of his black-rimmed glasses.

Lloyd nodded.

‘Well, Payne Stanley here has been looking at the financial side of things.’ Charles gestured towards Rachel and Carl. ‘And, well, they have drawn to my attention the fact that they’ve found some irregular transactions involving your clients.’

‘Really?’ said Lloyd, looking surprised, but not unduly concerned. ‘What sort of irregular transactions?’

‘The sort where you book clients in under false names and where some of the cash they pay goes in your pocket,’ said Charles. ‘Does that ring any bells?’

‘What? No, not at all. I have no idea what you’re talking about,’ said Lloyd, raising his voice slightly above normal as if to emphasise the point.

‘Perhaps we can jog your memory,’ said Charles. Rachel thought he sounded rather like a detective in an old movie.

Tom looked at Carl and Rachel. ‘Could we have your files, please?’

Rachel got up and walked round to where Tom was sitting. She opened the files and quietly showed him where the copied pages from the black book were. Tom took them out of the file and gave them to Charles. He pushed them across the table towards Lloyd.

‘Would you mind explaining what this is?’ Charles asked.

Lloyd looked at them and for the first time seemed very uncomfortable.

‘Where did you get these?’

‘From your office,’ said Tom. ‘Or rather, Rachel did.’

Rachel waited for the inevitable rebuke from Lloyd, but none came. He just stared at the pages in front of him and said nothing. Eventually he looked up.

‘This has nothing to do with Audrey,’ said Lloyd.

‘What doesn’t?’ asked Charles, surprised at his unexpected response.

‘All of this.’ Lloyd waved his hands over the papers. ‘She shouldn’t be here.’

Audrey sat impassively beside him as he spoke. Other than still looking slightly flushed, she didn’t show any reaction to Lloyd’s comments.

Rachel couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She looked at Carl but his face was emotionless too.

‘Perhaps if you explain to us what’s been going on, then we can decide who should or shouldn’t be here,’ said Tom.

Lloyd glared at him angrily. ‘I’m telling you that she knows nothing. I haven’t involved her. Please let her leave.’

‘Is this right, Audrey?’ asked Charles.

Audrey looked slightly pained, as if she thought the answer should be obvious. ‘I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re all talking about. I simply do Lloyd’s paperwork for him as he instructs me. No more.’

‘Do you recognise those records?’ asked Tom, pointing at the pages in front of Lloyd.

Audrey looked at them. ‘No, I’ve never seen them before.’

Rachel’s jaw dropped. What an outright lie! She had been in the room when Lloyd had taken the book out. But she probably couldn’t prove that Audrey knew what was in it, as it would be her word against Audrey’s.

Charles and Tom looked at each other.

‘We will discuss this matter with Lloyd in the first instance then,’ said Charles. ‘But if we find any evidence of your involvement…’

‘You won’t,’ said Audrey before he could finish his sentence.

How could she be so sure? Rachel was astounded. And why was Lloyd so intent on protecting her? Maybe they were having an affair as Tom had suspected.

Audrey got up and left. After she’d gone, Rachel noticed Carl seem to visibly relax. Had he warned her what was coming?

Charles leant forward across the table towards Lloyd. ‘So, let’s start again, shall we? Have you been taking money out the business or not?’ he asked.

Lloyd’s face started to go red and he suddenly leapt out of his seat, making everybody jump. ‘Only what was rightfully mine in the first place, you miserable old bastard!’

Even Carl looked shocked at his outburst.

‘I beg your pardon?’ said Charles.

‘I always wanted this business to take on more celebrities − you know, maximise our reputation, raise our profile. But you’ve always been dead against it.’ Lloyd paced up and down the room, only stopping now and then to point an accusing finger at Charles. ‘You and your old-fashioned views have left the business stumbling about in the dark ages. Thanks to me we’ve had far more clients than we ever would have done if we’d listened to you! You really don’t have any idea what you’re doing. Our strategy is pathetic.’

‘Our strategy has been agreed by all the doctors here,’ said Charles. ‘It is
our
plan, not mine.’

‘Rubbish!’ shouted Lloyd. A few drops of spit flew out of his mouth as he spoke and his grey hair flopped down onto his forehead where it stuck to the beads of sweat that had started to appear. ‘You’ve got them all in your back pocket! None of them are brave enough to stand up to you, that’s all.’

Rachel looked at Charles. His kindly, round face and slightly forgetful manner hardly made him the most frightening person she’d ever met.

‘Lloyd, please stop shouting and sit down,’ said Tom.

‘I bloody well will not,’ said Lloyd, glaring at Tom again. He clearly didn’t like him. ‘You people, you have no idea,’ ranted Lloyd to no one in particular. ‘It’s my reputation that keeps the clients coming in. Yes, I have charged them more than the list prices. But why? Because they wanted me. Not Beau Street, but me, Lloyd Cassidy.’

He looked at Charles. ‘You would never let us promote ourselves, never spend any money on advertising in the right places. So I built the business myself, never mind what you thought,’ said Lloyd. He tossed his head angrily.

Rachel sat very still in her chair. God, Lloyd was really losing it.

‘Our clients want a discrete service. They don’t want some practice that has been splashed over the tabloids and gossip magazines,’ said Charles. ‘You don’t understand the difference between reputation and fame, and that’s always been your problem.’

‘Well, you don’t understand how to make money and that’s always been your problem!’ Lloyd shouted back.

‘You were one of the first partners in this business with me, Lloyd. I have trusted you every step of the way and this is how you repay me. You’ve driven a coach and horses through our professional practices, put the business massively at risk and stolen from your fellow partners. You are a disgrace!’ Charles was livid.

‘
I
am the best doctor here,’ said Lloyd, jutting out his chin. ‘It’s the rest of the business that’s a disgrace.’

Charles stood up and banged the table hard. ‘Right, I’ve had enough.’

Rachel felt slightly panicked. It was getting nasty. Should she do something? Calm and professional at all times, that was what Carl had said. She looked at Carl and he shook his head slightly to indicate they should both stay quiet.

Charles picked up the phone. ‘Linda, can you ask Fred to come in, please.’

Fred? What did they want with Fred? It was hardly the time for a weather forecast.

A few seconds later the door opened and a very stern looking Fred came in followed by a much younger and burlier security guard that Rachel didn’t recognise. They must have been waiting outside.

‘Lloyd, you are suspended pending a full investigation into your actions. Fred, could you escort Dr Cassidy to his office so he can clear his desk and then off the premises. Please make sure he does not remove anything except personal items,’ said Charles.

‘Of course, Dr Sutton,’ said Fred. ‘This way, sir,’ he said to Lloyd.

Lloyd stepped backwards away from Fred, his eyes flashing with rage.

‘Don’t make me call the police,’ said Charles. ‘It’s bad enough for you as it is; please don’t make it worse.’

‘Let me tell you, Charles, you will be hearing from my lawyers,’ said Lloyd.

‘And you will be hearing from ours. This investigation is not over yet,’ said Charles resolutely. ‘Now please leave.’

‘Fine, if that’s the way you want to play it, then on your head be it,’ said Lloyd.

And with that he marched out of the room, quickly followed by the two security guards.

There was a stunned silence after he left.

Charles got up and stared out of the window, occasionally shaking his head. He sighed deeply and turned round. ‘I’m very sorry that you had to see that,’ he said to Rachel and Carl. ‘Lloyd has always wanted to push the boundaries in search of the glamour clients. But I never thought he would go this far.’

‘Neither did I,’ said Tom. ‘What a mess.’

‘I’m also very grateful to you that you found out,’ continued Charles. ‘Although I have no idea what it means for our sale process. Tom, will you let Equinox know? I guess you need to do that through Clinton Wahlberg?’

Tom nodded.

‘Well, can you ask them to let Lawson Green know that I’ll ring him over the weekend? Hopefully I can reassure him that the rest of our business is not made up of cheats and liars.’

Lawson Green was the CEO of the Equinox Practise. Rachel was meant to be presenting to him next week. If they were going to be able to show them the numbers for the business without Lloyd, they needed the black book.

‘Would it be possible for us to take Lloyd’s manual record book from his office now? Then we could try to work out how much money he’s been taking,’ said Rachel to Tom.

She also wanted to look for some link that would prove that Audrey was involved. There was no way that she should get off scot-free.

‘Yes, of course. Shall we look for it now?’ Tom asked.

Rachel looked at Carl, who nodded.

Tom and Rachel headed off towards Lloyd’s office. Rachel was pretty worried they might bump into him, but by the time they got there, the office was empty.

‘Where do you think this book is then?’ Tom asked.

‘In the left-hand desk drawer,’ said Rachel.

Tom tried the drawer; it was locked.

‘I wonder where he keeps the key,’ said Tom.

‘It was hidden under a vase,’ said Rachel.

Tom raised his eyebrows at her.

‘I saw them one evening when I was working late,’ said Rachel.

She looked at the mantelpiece. The small square vase was gone and there was no key to be seen. They both searched the office for a few minutes but found nothing.

‘We’ll have to break the lock,’ said Tom.

He rang down to Fred. ‘Fred, could you come up to Lloyd Cassidy’s office and bring some tools? We need to open a desk drawer that’s locked.’

After a few minutes Fred arrived.

‘Has Dr Cassidy left the building?’ Tom asked.