The Reckless Engineer (32 page)

CHAPTER 42

Wednesday, November 3 — Nineteen Days Later

Jeremy was twelve minutes late for Sally’s Section 2 Appeal hearing. He should not have worried because Alan had made it there himself and had held back the hearing waiting for Jeremy’s arrival. Alan was not a man who liked to do things alone. He was always at the top of a group of people he trusted, such as Jack, Sally, and Jeremy, and he worked the team together.

Dr. Phil Harding opposed Sally’s discharge. He agreed that Sally’s mental state had improved somewhat since the visits from Alan and Jeremy, but he was not yet certain that she was not a threat to herself or to others. Despite their delivering her personal possessions to her, she was still hoarding pillows and bed sheets and there were signs of great inner disturbance of mind from a series of stresses in her life aggravated by sustained bullying.

Alan made a persuasive case for her release. It was not the hospital but the company of her friends and her work that had improved her mental state and lifted her from the depression, he argued.

In the end, the hearing managers ruled to grant a conditional discharge, “with great reservations” and despite protests from Doctor Harding, on the basis that Sally would voluntarily check herself in every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday until further review of her condition.

Back in her room, Alan and Jeremy helped Sally pack her things.

‘Jeremy, I can take it from here if you need to be back to Jack and Harry. I heard on the news that the police were heading out to charge the real murderers,’ Alan offered.

Sally dropped her clothes and sat down on the bed.

‘Yes, they are charging Caitlin McAllen and Gavin Hunter, Caitlin’s lover and the father of her child, for the murder. Harry is with Jack getting his charges dropped. Harry’s got it all in hand. I can stay with you guys.’

On their way out Alan insisted that Sally stay with him for a few nights.

‘I’m worried about your staying alone right now. The kids are with their mother and I have a big empty house. I will set up the guest bedroom for you.’

‘Thanks, Alan, but it would be good to be in my own bed again. I need to clean out the house, the car, and the garage. There’s no one who can do it for me. I can come over next week and we can get started on the Marine work.’

In the end, Alan reluctantly agreed to return to work while Jeremy drove Sally home in her car and stayed with her for the afternoon.

Alan and Jeremy took Sally’s cases and walked with her to her car.

Suddenly about seven or eight plain-clothed policemen sprang out from the unmarked vehicles parked around Sally’s Golf.

‘Sally Trotter. We are arresting you on suspicion for the murder of Michelle Williams and for the child destruction of her unborn baby. You do not have to say anything when questioned . . .’

Sally fainted into Jeremy’s arms.

CHAPTER 43

Wednesday, November 3 — Nineteen Days Later

Despite his state of shock, Alan, as Sally’s appointed legal guardian, had the presence of mind to call back Matt Jennings, the mental health solicitor, and send him to the police station after Sally.

Matt listened carefully to Alan’s disjointed briefing in the hospital car park and to Jeremy’s clarification of the situation. After calling his office, Jennings reassured Alan that he would do his best.

‘I’ve just talked to our criminal department. We think the chances are good, with some assistance from Dr. Harding, that we can successfully argue temporary insanity and have Sally taken to a secure psychiatric unit in hospital rather than to a prison. The police have already searched her house and her car before arresting her. It should have been done on a warrant, er, one minute please.’

Jennings answered his ringing mobile and spoke briefly into it.

‘That was my associate from Criminal Defence. He’s at the police station. I need to meet him there first and then come back here to see Dr. Harding. Rest assured Mr. Walters that we shall handle everything in the best possible interest of the patient. I shall call to update you as soon as possible.’

Jennings hurried off to his car.

After touching base with Harry, who was on his way to Jack’s house, the charges against him dropped and the case dismissed, they agreed that Jeremy would stay with a shocked Alan. Harry forewarned that the police had just broken the news of Sally’s arrest and her being charged to the press for political reasons—to calm the public unrest over a bungling investigation and to minimize any lawsuits for damages arising from a bevy of false arrests. Magnus Laird had called Harry also and updated him that his associate Tim Brown and he were at the police station to pick up Douglas McAllen, Caitlin and, apparently, Gavin Hunter. Caitlin and Douglas McAllen were bringing Gavin home! This was going to be an interesting afternoon at the McAllen-Connor mansion. Correction, the McAllen mansion.

Alan asked if he could stop by his room at the Marriott, which was just a block down the road from the AirWater Marine building, for a break before he had to face his panicking engineers again.

‘I don’t understand. This has to be a mistake. Sally was stuck in that hospital all this time. There is no way she could have done it. Did you know about the arrest in advance?’

Alan sank into the couch in Jeremy’s hotel room and gratefully accepted a scotch whiskey.

‘She did it, Alan. She might have been not quite right in her mind when she did it, but she did it. I did know about the impending arrest, but I was told by the police to play it that way on my way to the hospital, to let the appeal and the review of her mental health conclude without any knowledge of the impending charges biasing it so that the lawyers could not manufacture an insanity defence. The police had the building surrounded all the while we were in that hearing. If I had gone against the police instructions in any way, I could have been facing charges myself—attempting to pervert the course of justice or something, they said. It could go well for her that Dr. Harding declared her unfit for release while having no knowledge of the impending arrest.’

‘When did you know? How could she have done it? She was in a secure hospital all the time.’

‘I knew when I was in the courtroom today, and I could kick myself for not seeing it sooner. The first clue was Sally’s shoes. She was arrested wearing her normal high-heeled ankle boots, you see. She dug one three-inch heel into Jack’s side and broke two ribs. I was reminded of it this morning, but it has been right in front of my eyes all this time. Yet when we came to see her, her first ever visitors, she only had her rock-climbing boots with her. The only way she could have got them was either from her house or from her car. So she had been out of that hospital.’

‘Yes, of course. I should have seen it, too. She always wore those high-heeled black boots to work with her jeans, and yet she was wearing the rock climbing shoes when I first saw her too. And the hospital told me I was her first ever visitor.’

‘The second clue was in what I picked up from her flat. The list that the nurse wrote down and had me sign was in my inside jacket pocket all this time. It fell on my lap this morning while I was in the court. I was asked to pick up only the post in through the door on the hallway carpet, and there were magazines only from the Thursday that Michelle’s body was found. She has these sporting magazines and the Sunday papers delivered every day of the week, you see, and the numbers of magazines was wrong for Friday, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday—one less than there should have been. She was taken to hospital straight after work on Friday, October 8, and I went to her house late Monday, October 25, to pick up her things. There should have been fifteen magazines and three Sunday papers, but there were only ten magazines and two Sunday papers. She made it clear that she had no one else who could enter her house or do her cleaning. So Sally had been in her house that Wednesday, the day before Michelle’s death. She had picked up her post from the carpet sometime after about 12 noon, the latest time for the post, and left it elsewhere. I just picked up what was left on the carpet from Thursday the 14
th
of October, and the very thorough nurse went through them to list everything when I brought them to the hospital.’

‘So Sally must have been in her house Wednesday afternoon or Wednesday night.’

‘I then thought about why she would choose her climbing boots. I have noticed, by personal experience that it is very easy to abseil down a wall, but it is very difficult to climb back up without proper grip on your feet. Where would Sally have anything to climb? Only the hospital wall under the window of her room. Then everything clicked into place—the bed sheets, the Swiss Army Knife, the damaged window, everything. She must have tied up the bed sheets and made a rope to get out.’

Alan nodded, speechless.

Jeremy continued: ‘I came in early for the appeal meeting today and met a detective from the CID, one of Edwards’ men, outside the hospital building, and sure enough there were muddy shoeprints leading up the wall to the window, and bare footprints on the ground running away from the window. It rained that day and it hasn’t rained since; we think Sally must have come back very late for it stopped raining about midnight. Hence, some of the prints have been preserved very well. It was her boot print. The police had enough for a search warrant and Harry said that Judge Morgan issued it right in front of him.’

‘Is it the timing of her excursion that ties her to the murder?’

‘That, and the fact that the vial of poison was found exactly where her car had stopped at Jack’s house. The motive was also strong given her recent turbulent relationship with both the murder victim and Jack. It gave them enough for a search warrant, and they have found everything she has used to make the poison in her garage. The extra chocolate boxes injected with cyanide were in her fridge, the extra vials in her car, and the typed message from Jack to Michelle on her computer: “Congratulations on our little baby boy” everything.’

‘That witch put Sally through hell, Jeremy. Michelle had lied to her that I was having an affair with her (Michelle) and that I had issued the orders to remove her from her project, to fire Sally, and to refuse her a reference. She had all of us convinced that the notes to Jack’s family that Michelle had sent herself were from Sally, as you know. Sally came to me early on with her problem, Jeremy, and so did Douglas McAllen, the wise old man. And I did not have the foresight to fire Michelle. What kind of manager am I? It was all my fault.’ Alan’s shoulders slumped. He hid his face in his hands.

‘Please don’t beat yourself up about it, Alan. Harry thinks that Sally will succeed with a temporary insanity defence. She won’t be treated harshly.’

Jeremy decided to leave it at that. He knew Alan was talking out of friendship and possibly love. Alan was to Sally what Jeremy was to Jack, and likely more. Alan had forgiven Sally. Alan would forgive her anything.

CHAPTER 44

Monday, November 15 — One Month Later

Jeremy took a sip of coffee and watched the rising steam reveal hidden rays in the sunlight. A mid-morning sun was beaming down at Harry and him through the wall wide window, lighting a long stripe at the edge of the table and the carpet and touching Harry’s shoulders from behind on its slow exit out of the Barrett Stavers boardroom on the 4
th
floor offices of 127 Fleet Street. Harry was seated at the head of the table on the sunlit end and Jeremy was seated to his left with steaming mugs of coffee on the table before them.

Jeremy twisted his ball pen round and round in circles with his two forefingers without dropping it. His world was sunny indeed. Brilliantly, outrageously sunny.

‘So Jack’s moved out of the McAllen house, ha?’ Harry asked, fishing for gossip.

‘Yup. He has moved back in with Marianne. Caitlin has kicked him out as soon as you left the house that day.’

‘I left for London shortly after Douglas McAllen, Caitlin, and Gavin Hunter got back with Magnus Laird and Tim Brown,’ Harry said. ‘McAllen and Caitlin made it very clear that they had a big family discussion in mind and that they wanted the lawyers out of the way, but not before thanking both you and me profusely for saving everybody’s lives. Magnus took Tim Brown to the station to put him on the fast train to Birmingham and I headed back to London.’

‘The “family discussion” was more like an explosion, Jack told me,’ Jeremy added. ‘Jack had actually tried to punch Gavin in the face, but had had his face punched with a left hook instead. Caitlin had kicked him out of the house sporting a black eye and with bandages still around his chest from the injured ribs. She had actually taken him upstairs, cleaned up his wounds, given him painkillers, and bandaged his ribs herself before kicking him out. There was no chance of Caitlin forgiving Jack after the revelations of a second affair, lasting nearly two years, with Sally after what Jack’s “recklessness” has put “the Family” through.’

‘Nevertheless, Jeremy, the divorce is going to be an amicable one,’ Harry smiled.

‘So I hear, and you are handling Jack Connor’s end of the divorce, Harry?’

Harry and Jeremy both looked up as Stephen Barrett entered the room with the question. He poured himself a cup of coffee, took the seat across the table from Jeremy, and flipped his straight floppy blonde hair off his face with a shake of his head. Jeremy tossed the blue stress ball with the Barratt & Stavers logo on it at Steve, who put his right hand straight up, caught it, and threw it back.
Ha, ha. Good reflexes
.

‘Jake Freemen’s going to front Jack’s end of the divorce, Steve, but I shall be right behind him breathing down his neck. In essence Jack’s giving up all rights to his share of the McAllen-Connor mansion in Guildford and any on-going “alimony” in exchange for the full business premises and buildings of BlackGold, the part of the BlackGold business he had built since his appointment, and two very generous trust funds for the young Connor boys’ education. That’s Caitlin’s and McAllen’s offer and Jack is accepting it. Jack’s moved back in with Marianne.’

‘Peter’s going to rebel and go to medical school,’ Jeremy said, wondering if they saw the irony of it.

‘However, McAllen is separating out and taking the part of the BlackGold business that he originally bought up north to the McAllen Industries factories. So, all the machinery and the devices that McAllen bought with the original BlackGold company before Jack’s appointment go up north with him. Doing the separation without spooking the client base is the difficult task ahead. That’s the brief I have had from Jack, Caitlin, and Douglas McAllen.’

Steve flipped through a page of his notebook.

‘Well that’s where you come in, Steve. The corporate division as you outlined is agreed in principal and you have to hammer out the details. I expect you will be spending quite a few hours with Jack sitting across the table from McAllen, Caitlin, McKinley, and Laird.’

‘With Jack and me,’ Jeremy corrected. ‘Steve will have me on his side of the table to balance out the weight. Once BlackGold is separated from McAllen Industries, Steve’s going to merge BlackGold with Radio Silicon to form BlackGold Silicon for Jack and me, with the headquarters right here and the engineering branch in the current BlackGold offices in Portsmouth.’

Jeremy could not believe his luck. He had only hoped that Jack might be able to join Radio Silicon as his business partner. For him to be coming on board with the already thriving business of BlackGold and signed contracts with Shell and British Petroleum as well as a partnership with McAllen Industries was beyond his wildest dreams.

‘The other difficulty is that McAllen Industries is going to continue to be one of BlackGold Silicon’s primary clients and partners in manufacturing the device range. Douglas McAllen loves you, Jeremy, and as much as he hates Jack’s guts, he still thinks Jack is one of the most brilliant engineers he has ever known. He badly wants a stake in Jack’s undersea robotics project for oil and gas exploration that Jack is working on for Shell and BP, which is part of the business coming to Jack. McAllen wants a joint venture or a financial stake in that. So we have to tread carefully and look at what we can come up with,’ Steve explained.

Jeremy nodded.

‘The other tight rope we shall have to walk is on separating BlackGold’s finances from McAllen Industries’ finances. Caitlin has maintained BlackGold as a separate entity with a separate account, and a very healthy account it is. However, McAllen Industries has made some cash injections, particularly immediately after the takeover. They could ask for return of those cash injections with interest. Also Caitlin has a claim to her contribution to the success of BlackGold through her work. I think I can persuade McAllen Industries to give up claims to both of those financial interests so that they will come to Blackgold Silicon.’

Steve smiled at Jack and raised his eyebrows up and down twice.

‘Sounds better and better.’ Jeremy laughed. Wow!

‘Caitlin’s moved up north,’ Jeremy informed them. ‘Gillian and Caitlin have now moved in with Gavin into Gavin’s old family home.’

That was what he had heard from Jack.

‘I am also looking to buy a property with a sea view in Portsmouth. It makes sense with part of my company based in Portsmouth now and the Marine work we have taken on. I have been spending too much on hotels lately,’ Jeremy added, omitting to mention that he had promised Annie he would let her borrow a room with a sea view from him to inspire her writing while she completed her degree in Fine Arts and English.

‘I shall be sure to come over to spend a weekend by the sea every now and then, Jeremy.’ Harry winked.

‘Douglas McAllen loves the new Gavin Hunter, by the way. McAllen Industries has so far been a product company and McAllen loves the pure services company making big profits that Gavin has built. They expect the businesses will merge when Caitlin and Gavin get married,’ Steve said.

‘The divorce papers have already landed on my table for Jack to sign,’ Harry held up the papers in his right hand and waved them in the air. ‘Caitlin has made it very clear that she wants the divorce done yesterday although the financial separation can go at its own pace.’

The discussion on the corporate separations, mergers, and the finances went on for a little while longer.

‘There’s news in the papers that Sally Trotter has received a sizable “donation” from an anonymous source to fight her successful temporary insanity defence and her deportation.’ Steve looked at them with a slightly puzzled expression and pointed to the story in the
Daily Telegraph
.

‘She can’t be deported. It turns out she is British. The lawyers found out that she was born in England while going through her paperwork with her parents. Matt Jennings’ firm is handling her defence,’ Harry informed.

‘Really?’ Steve acknowledged the information from his managing partner.

What a tragedy of errors! Everything Sally wanted was hers in reality. Why did she have to ruin her life so needlessly?

‘I wonder who the donation is from,’ Jeremy mused. ‘I know that Alan has had a few meeting with McAllen about Sally. I mentioned it to Douglas McAllen and he said, rather cryptically, “I’m always in need of a good engineer son. Alan Walters is a fine young fella with a good head on his shoulders.” The old man avoided answering my question.’