Unravel a Crime - Tangle With Women (35 page)

“
What Lisa means is that we
have been working together on the case, as you know. We’re a good team. Lisa is
going to resume her studies for the Bar; I’m not sure what happens to me now
that Gordon is no longer with us..”

“
And especially as you have
christened Breezie.” added Newberry.

“
But if you wish, we’re
prepared to see your case through, whatever it takes.”

Newberry thought. “And if
Bill, how shall we say, feels it inappropriate, that you should stay with the
firm.”

“
He has no choice. He needs
you to be acquitted as much as anyone. No-one could take this case over in the
middle. He has to keep us on.”

“
You’ve got it all worked out,
haven’t you. Look I know I’m an ungrateful sod, but..”

“
There’s no need to go into
that again.”

“
I really am grateful to you
both.” He looked earnestly at them. “Just a moment.”

He got up and went to out into
the hallway to the foot of the stairs. “Kate”. he called up. “Can you come
down?”

He came back into the room
with a small slim blonde woman behind him. Brakespeare immediately branded her
as attractive but on closer inspection saw that her eyes were dull and
surrounded with tired lines which continued round her mouth and which made her
look older than she probably was. Life had been hard on her. So this was the
mother of Newberry’s youngest son.

“
Kate, this is Jonny
Brakespeare, and his partner.”

“
Assistant.” corrected
Brakespeare.

“
His assistant, sorry, Lisa
Barnes.”

Kate came forward nervously
and shook their hands. She smiled a nice smile and her eyes lit up. Brakespeare
could see that she was trying to work out their relationship, and to anticipate
the reason why she had been called down to meet them. Her handshake was limp;
her eye contact was fleeting, and she contented herself with a simple “Hello.”

She looked to Newberry timidly
as to what to do next. “Sit down.” he commanded, and reiterated all that
Brakespeare had told him.

A simple “Oh” was the only
comment that she made.

“
Well where do we go from
here?” asked Newberry. “I need a new barrister”

“’
I’ve been thinking about
that. I know one; a woman, Rosemary Lappin.”

“
A woman. Is she any good?”

“
I don’t think that Jonny
would have selected her if she were not.” said Lisa fiercely, even though the
announcement was as much news to her as it was for Newberry.

“
Sorry I didn’t mean to imply
that she might be no good.”

“
You mean, ‘how good is
she.’”. said Brakespeare, coming to the rescue.

Newberry nodded.

“
Well I’ve briefed her before,
on both the prosecution and defence side. She’s tough, and highly competent.
She gets to the core issues very quickly, and isn’t afraid of anyone.”

“
Sounds like the woman for
me.” said Newberry, with a sidelong glance at Kate who was sitting next to him,
holding his hand. She merely gazed at him like a puppy.

“
When do we see her.”

“
Well I think we ought also to
update you on what we’ve found.” Brakespeare turned to Lisa.

“
Lisa?” he invited.

For the next ten minutes Lisa
carefully went through the import of the documents that they had found at Old
Hill. Newberry seemed spellbound. Kate squeezed his hand whenever a key point
was made.

“
And that’s as far as we have
got at the moment.” concluded Lisa.

Newberry was animated. The
presence of Kate brought out a sparkle in him that Brakespeare had never seen
before. Whatever she did to him, and that seemed fairly obvious, it had a
humanising effect on him.

“
The bastards. I told you that
there was nothing wrong with our valuations. This guy Black is only in it for
the money. Let’s crack on. I want to see him in Court.”

“
We’ll crack on as soon as we
can; depending of course what if any problems arise out of my treatment of Mr.
Breezie.”

“
Don’t you worry about that.”
said Newberry, darkly. “I shall be on the telephone to Bill Mortimer tonight..”

“
Well that’s a matter for
you.”

Newberry rose to his feet and
Kate followed suit. He held his hand out to Brakespeare, and then embarrassed
him by hugging him. He then turned his attention to Lisa, and smacked a kiss
onto her firmly closed lips.

“
Bless you, bless you both.
Kate and I won’t forget this.”

Kate, merely held a limp hand
out and smiled.

“
Just one thing,” Newberry added
anxiously, glancing at his watch. “Kate has to catch the London train at
Malvern Link station. I was going to walk her down, but we’re running out of
time.”

“
Want a lift? Of course.” Said
Brakespeare.

“
I’ll just get my things” said
Kate.

“
This has been a good day,
Jonny.” said Newberry. “I’m glad you’ve met Kate.”

“
Well it is another piece in
your complicated jigsaw puzzle.”

“
And I’m glad she’s met you
and Lisa. It’s been difficult for her, stuck in London, and not totally
understanding what’s been going on. Now that she’s met you she’ll be able to
put faces to names. In fact, when she comes up again, perhaps we can all go out
for a meal. Perhaps you would both come to London and stay overnight at
Kate’s.”

Brakespeare did not dare look
at Lisa. This was all going a bit faster than he wanted. People were making
assumptions. He noticed that Lisa had not said anything.

“
I think we need to get this
case out the way first,” he said. “Thank you for the invitation, but let’s
concentrate on the business side of things first, shall we?”

He sounded a bit abrupt, even
to himself, and Newberry looked a little put out.

“
I know what Jonny means” said
Lisa. “Business lunches are not really the part of …work like this.” She
searched for a suitable phrase.

“
Oh. I didn’t mean it as a
business lunch.”

“
We did.” said Brakespeare,
winking, although he was not sure what the wink was supposed to convey.

“
Oh, I see.” said Newberry,
even though he didn’t.

Kate rescued the situation by
re-appearing.

“
I’ll just go and unlock the
car.” said Brakespeare.

“
I’ll come.” said Lisa, and
they left Newberry and his lover to say their fond farewells.

“
This is weird.” said Lisa as
they sat in the car.

“
What have we got ourselves
into?” Brakespeare contributed. “I didn’t mind knowing about her, but I didn’t
want to be part of their relationship. She must have sneaked up while his wife
was at the funeral.”

“
Bit risky.”

“
Will be, if she doesn’t come
soon!”

Kate hurried down the path
leaving Newberry at the door. She turned to quickly blow him a final kiss, and
then got into the back seat of the car.

“
God I hate all this cloak and
dagger stuff, don’t you?” she asked. ”How did you manage it Lisa?”

Lisa sat upright in her seat.
“I coped.” she said slowly, turning round in her seat. ”But it was really all
over months ago.”

“
Well it’s certainly over now,
innit” laughed Kate.

“
For sure,” said Lisa, looking
at Brakespeare as she turned back. “It’s all over now.”

“
God, what a woman.” said
Brakespeare as they pulled away from Malvern Link Station.

“
What on earth does David see
in her. I mean he’s an intelligent man.” responded Lisa.

“
He may be intelligent but
he’s also a stupid one. It’s pretty obvious what he sees in her. She must be
good in the sack.”

“
Is that where they were when
we arrived?”

“
What do you think.”

“
I think that if he preferred
to shag his mistress rather than go to Gordon’s funeral, that doesn’t make him
a very nice man.” Lisa opined.

“
But he was asked not to go.”

“
Sure, but he doesn’t seem to
have put up much protest. That’s men for you.” She looked out of the window.

“
Right it’s a quarter to six.
What do you want to do. I did think of going back to the office and doing some
more work on the case, but I really can’t be bothered now. I haven’t had a
drink all day.”

“
Fancy a meal?” Lisa asked
eagerly.

“
An Early Bird at the Old
Rectifying House. Nice and cheap.?” He looked at her enquiringly.

“
Park the car and we can share
a bottle of wine.”

“
Good idea. I can walk home.
Will College Yard be open?”

“
I don’t think so. Hitler
closes and locks the gate at six o’clock. He even makes the partners take their
cars out if they’re working late.”

“
I’ll use the Deansway car
park then, if you don’t mind walking to the Pub.”

“
Of course not,, it’s only a
hundred yards or so, and I’m getting stiff, sitting about all day.”

They arrived at the Car Park,
got out of the car and looked at each other.

“
You look dressed for a
funeral” said Brakespeare.

“
Funny that, so do you.”

It was a warm evening.

“
I’ll take my jacket off”.
said Lisa.

“
Me likewise and this tie.”

“
Still a bit formal” said
Lisa; she in white blouse, dark skirt, tights and black shoes. He in white
shirt and dark trousers.

“
We look like assistants in a
department store.”

“
That’s it.” said Lisa. “Not
the John Lewis Partnership, but the Minge Lane Partnership.”

Without any further thought
they took each other’s hand, and laughing and joking walked down to the Old
Rectifying House.

The waitress recognised them.

“
Hello again.” she said and
took them to a table overlooking the Bridge and the River Severn. They were the
only ones in the restaurant.

“
What would you like to
drink?” she asked.

“
I’m parched, “ said
Brakespeare. “Can I have a pint of whatever you have on draft”

“
And I’ll have a half lager
and lime please?” asked Lisa.

The Menus were on the table.
Both chose the steak again.

The waitress promptly bought
the drinks.

“
Gosh, you were thirsty.” said
Lisa as Brakespeare downed the contents of the pint glass in one go.

“
Need re-hydrating” he
replied. “I think I need another.”

“
Are you ready to order?”
asked the waitress.

They ordered their streaks.

“
Do you want anything to drink
with the meal?”

“
I’ll have another one of
these while we’re waiting” Brakespeare indicated his glass. “What about you?”
he looked at Lisa.

She shook her head. “I’d like
some wine with the meal.”

Brakespeare looked at the
menu.”

“
They’ve got some Crianza as a
House Wine.”

“
Suits me.

“
A bottle of Crianza” repeated
the waitress.

“
Phew. At last we can relax.”
said Brakespeare.

“”
It’s been quite a day. I
still can’t get over Kate though. She’s just not David’s type, She’s so …” He
struggled for an adjective.

“
Gauche” suggested
Brakespeare.

That’s it, but …” again she
struggled.

“
A bit common with it?”

Lisa nodded. “Essex Girl.”

“
Except that she’s from
Worcester.”

“
Lived in London too long.”

“
Is that it?” Brakespeare
hesitated. “You know when she mentioned to you about that ‘cloak and dagger
stuff.’”

Lisa looked up. She knew what
was coming.

“
You said that it had been
over ‘months ago.’”

“
It was.” she replied evenly.

“
But you were seeing Gordon
right up to the end.”

Lisa looked down to think, and
then up again. She put her elbows on the table, cupped her face in her hands
and looked at him.

“
Jonny Brakespeare, you want
to know a lot.”

Brakespeare fidgeted slightly
in his seat but said nothing.

“
OK. Well I told you that
Gordon and I had a brief fling. It was brief. It was my fault. He was a
gorgeous man; he gave me a job and I looked up to him. In a way I suppose it
was a crush; but I fell for him.

It hurt when he told me that
it couldn’t go on, but I understood., I hadn’t sole rights over him, and I
don’t even think it was the first time that he strayed from Annette. But we
remained good friends; perhaps more than that because I could talk to him, like
I can talk to you.”