Authors: George McCartney
‘I'm scared to add it up, but I know it's a lot.’
‘But I thought that gambling debts weren’t legally enforceable. I mean at the end of the day if you can’t pay, what can they do? They can’t get blood out of a stone, can they?
‘Yeah, but they can
try
,’ said Henry ominously.
‘Look, it’s just the two of us in here and you can speak to me in complete confidence, Henry. You know that, so if there’s something on your mind now’s the time to share.’
Silence.
Jack then switched to a different tack to try and get Henry to open up. ‘Look, I know it can’t be easy working with Guy, especially when he's trying to close this big deal. There must be a lot of pressure on everyone at the moment.’
‘That’s the big problem right there, Jack. I don’t work
with
him anymore. The two of us were a proper team when we first started out with Murieston Properties. Joined at the hip we were. But that’s all changed now he’s hit the big time. Doesn’t have much time for his old pal Henry these days. So I don’t work
with
Guy anymore … now I work
for
him. There’s a big difference, Jack. Big difference.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that, Henry. Believe me, I know what it feels like when a working relationship changes like that. Here, mate, have another skelp of his delicious brandy. It’ll put hairs in your urine.’
‘Thanks, Jack, this is really good stuff.’
‘Of course, you could always just sever ties with Guy and move on. I mean you must have other clients you could work for.’
‘Not so much these days. I’ve turned down a lot of work in recent years, so I could concentrate full-time on Guy’s problems. And a lot of fucking thanks I’ve had for my trouble.’
‘Surely that can’t be true. I’m certain Guy really appreciates your loyalty.’
‘Well he’s got a bloody funny way of showing it.’
‘How so?’
‘Well I was due an annual bonus at the beginning of the year and here we are nearly at the end of August and I’m still waiting for it.’
‘I see, what’s he saying about it?’
‘Every time I mention it, he says that it’s quote, ‘still under review,’ as if it was all somebody else’s decision. That’s complete bollocks.’
‘Look, Henry, he’s probably just waiting until this big deal is tied up and his feet are clear. I’m sure you’ll get your money then. You just need to be patient.’
‘That’s easy for you to say, Jack. I was really counting on that money, because the clock’s ticking and I’m running out of time fast.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Look, it’s not your problem and I’ve probably blabbed too much already. Thanks for the drink and the chat, Jack, I really have to get going.’
Jack was chatting with Annie outside the rear entrance to the townhouse basement and enjoying a cigarette break, when her phone rang.
She checked to see who it was, then answered the call and wandered off along a flagstone path which led through the back garden.
On her return she smiled and said, 'that was Guy, he wants to have a chat up in the penthouse about something.'
'Did he say what it was about?'
'No.'
'Okay, no worries, just give me a minute to finish my smoke and then we can go up.'
'Sorry boss, it's just me he wants to see this time.'
'Oh well, fair enough. I'll try and find some silver cutlery to polish in the servant's quarters.'
Annie jogged up to the attic floor of the townhouse and was buzzed into Guy Brodie’s inner sanctum.
'Thanks for coming up, Annie, I was wondering if you would do me a favour.’
‘Sure, what do you need?’
'What I need is some help putting together an agenda for the next
Westlink
investors’ meeting. My PA left suddenly a couple of weeks ago and I’ve quickly discovered that I’m completely hopeless at this kind of thing. Henry has tried to lend a hand, but he’s not much better than me.’
'No problem,’ said Annie, as she gathered a large pile of A4 paper from the bottom tray of a laser photocopier and quickly began organising the numbered sheets.
‘Oh, but just before you start on that, could you first read through the cover page and tell me what you think of it. I’m not sure if I’ve struck quite the right note with my introductory remarks. Sometimes I’m guilty of not fully explaining what it is I’m trying to say.’
Annie sat down and began reading, while Guy stood up and gazed out of the window. ‘I don’t know if it’s obvious, Annie, but I'm suffering from a bad case of cabin fever. I've been going cross-eyed sitting here, trying to unravel a puzzle. But I’m afraid nothing’s coming to me to-day. It's almost as if my brain has completely seized up.’
‘I know the feeling,’ said Annie. ‘With me it’s always when I’m being impatient and trying to force something. Sometimes it’s better just to think about a completely different subject for a while and often the answer I’ve been looking for just pops into my head. By the way your cover page is clear and concise, with no annoying jargon or waffle. I’d say it’s good to go.’
Guy smiled and said, ‘thanks, I really appreciate your input and I’m fully aware that helping out with office admin wasn’t really what you signed on for here.’
‘Happy to help. Actually it’s been pretty quiet downstairs, so there’s not a lot for me to do just at the moment.’
Annie finished stitching together the copies of the agenda for Guy’s meeting and stood up to leave, before pausing. ‘If you don’t mind me saying, Guy, you really should take a break and get out of the office for a couple of hours. You know what they say, about all work and no play.’
‘Yes, maybe you're right.’
‘Look it's such a beautiful day, why don't we go out somewhere. I know Jack wants to have a chat with you anyway, so we could all take a walk somewhere together. Getting some good fresh air into the lungs usually helps when you're feeling stressed out. Works for me anyway.’
'That's a really good idea, Annie. Give me half an hour and I'll meet you both downstairs. This is a perfect day to show you one of my favourite parts of Edinburgh. Holyrood Park.’
Annie came breezing back downstairs into the large ground floor kitchen, to find Jack had emptied out the entire contents of a huge fridge, in a failed attempt to find something tasty for lunch.
He looked round and muttered, 'I could have sworn there was a bit of left over smoked salmon in here somewhere.'
'You're right, there
was
. But I ate it earlier with a croissant for breakfast. Totally delicious.'
'Terrific. So what's been going on with you and Mr Moneybags up in the penthouse for the past hour?'
'Oh you mean Guy? Nothing much,' said Annie casually. 'He was just wondering if I would consider marrying him, that's all. Short notice I know, but he just came out with it. The proposal that is. He's such a sweetie … he said he couldn't bear to keep his feelings for me bottled up inside any longer.'
'What?'
spluttered Jack in complete amazement. 'He
proposed
? But you just met the bugger four days ago and you've only spoken to him
twice
that I know about.'
Stifling a fit of giggles Annie said, 'sorry, that was a total Freudian slip, boss. But, admit it, I did have you going for a minute.'
'Just you watch the bushes, Ms James.'
'Anyway, Guy had a problem and I think he just wanted an extremely attractive female, with a keen business brain, to bounce a couple ideas off.'
'I see, and since there wasn't anybody like that around, he asked
you?
' said Jack, obviously miffed to have been left out of the conversation.
'Correct. However, business studies and marketing were actually quite a big part of my course at college.'
'Oh pardon me, and did you manage to help him with his problem? Because, if you did, we are absolutely within our rights to charge him extra. We’re providing security only and consultancy services were
not
any part of our original deal.'
'Look calm down, will you. No, I couldn't really help him, but we did chat for a while about ordinary stuff and I suggested that he should get out of the office for a couple of hours. So we're all going out later, for a nice drive to Holyrood Park. I thought that would give you the perfect opportunity to speak to Guy about Henry. So that's what I've been doing for the past hour, trying to stop our generous employer from flipping out and generally moving things along, while you've obviously been down here mumping away to yourself and generally trashing the kitchen.'
'Annie.'
'What?'
'Sorry. That was good work.'
'Thanks.'
'And I don't care what anyone says, you're definitely not as daft as you look.'
Guy led Jack and Annie round the corner from the townhouse, through a cobbled archway into Wemyss Place Lane, a secluded backwater of pretty mews style properties.
'Where are we going?' asked Annie.
'Sorry, I should have explained earlier. I've had to rent a lockup garage here in the Lane, because the paintwork on my car was keyed twice when it was parked on the street outside the house. I think we can probably hazard a wild guess who the culprits were. So I thought this arrangement would be safer.'
Guy then unlocked the up and over garage door to reveal a gleaming new Lexus RX 450 Premier SUV.
'Who wants to drive?' said Guy, offering up the car keys. 'To-day all I want to do is sit back, relax and watch the world go by.'
'I'm afraid I'm out of commission at the moment, till I get my licence back,' said Jack. 'But I'm sure Annie would do the honours.'
'Oh my God, this is so different from my Corsa,' said Annie.
'Don't worry, it's really easy to drive. Basically you just put the gear stick into D, then point it and it almost drives itself.'
'Okay, I'll give it a go, but only if you reverse it out of the garage for me first.'
Guy duly got the Lexus out, closed the garage door and helped Annie settle into the driver’s seat. Jack meanwhile had been staring open mouthed at the Lexus.
'When I start up my old Mondeo there's usually a loud bang, followed by a huge cloud of filthy grey smoke and a noise like a pile of spanners rattling around in a tin box. But your car didn't make a sound. How's that possible?'
Guy smiled and said, 'it's one of the latest hybrid models, Jack. If I'm just pottering around Edinburgh, I can keep it in electric mode most of the time. But if I'm heading out of town, the petrol engine kicks in. It's really much better for the environment, I think, and unlike many hybrid vehicles the batteries on this one never need to be charged, because of an energy recovery system.'
'That's bloody clever,' said Jack, pretending that he understood a word of Guy’s explanation. 'Okay, how about if you sit in the front with Annie. I'll go in the back and keep an eye out, just in case anyone tries to follow us.'
Annie got comfortable in the driver's seat, while Guy programmed the built-in sat-nav for Queens Drive, in Holyrood Park, as their final destination. 'The centre of town will be completely mad at this time of day, so I think we'll give it a wide berth and go via Leith Walk and Abbeyhill.'
Annie drove several laps around the cobbled surface of Moray Place, until she felt more comfortable with the Lexus controls, and then set off for Leith, following directions on the head-up display, projected onto the windscreen. 'This is just so spooky, driving along with no engine noise. Or any noise.'
'We're running on battery power at the moment and you're absolutely right, Annie, it does take a bit of getting used to. I kept thinking I'd stalled the car, the first few times I drove it around town.'
'I've got one of my emergency cassettes back here, if you want to listen to some music,' said Jack helpfully.
'I'm sorry,' said Guy, smiling. 'The car doesn't actually have a cassette deck, but it's got everything else.'
'You'll have to forgive him,' explained Annie. 'Jack's kind of old-school when it comes to music, cars and everything else for that matter. I've been thinking of having him carbon-dated to check. But, as far as I can tell, he seems to have stopped listening to any new music round about 1975 and never got started again.'
'If you would prefer to have the radio on, just say out loud the name of the station you want and the voice control system should be able to find it for you,' said Guy.
'Okay, Radio Clyde One,' said Annie and a few seconds later the familiar voice of Grant Thomson filled the interior of the Lexus from the expensive multi-speaker sound system.
'How cool is
that
?' exclaimed Annie. 'I want to trade my Corsa in for one of these babies, and I want to do it to-day.'
Jack snorted in the back of the car as Guy laughed and then said, 'I really envy the easy way you guys talk to each other. You know, with all the jokes and banter, that's the way Henry and I used to be. But over the last couple of years we seem to have drifted apart somehow. It's as if he's permanently distracted by something else but, whenever I mention it to him, he just shrugs it off and says he's fine. I've actually held off paying his annual bonus this year, to try and force him to get back on track, but it hasn't made any difference. So the result is, we've just stopped talking about it and I've had to gradually take on more of the work he used to do.'
The perfect moment had arrived to mark Guy's card.
'I think we can maybe help you here, Guy,' said Jack. 'The reason Henry is distracted is because he has a serious gambling habit, which is totally out of control.'
'Oh God, I knew he liked an occasional bet on the horses. I mean he was even nipping into betting shops at lunchtime when we still were in the fourth year at secondary school.'
'Well he's certainly moved on a bit from just having an occasional bet. Now he's up to his eyeballs in debt and owes money to people all over Edinburgh. That's
one
of the reasons he's distracted.'
'I'm really sorry to hear that. I wish he'd spoken to me about it earlier and I would have tried to help him, before it got to this stage. But you're obviously implying that there's something else going on as well, Jack.'
'Yes there is, I'm afraid. We're almost certain that Henry is behind all of the leaks of sensitive information about your big project. We suspect that someone who wants to sabotage the deal has gone to a great deal of trouble and expense to buy up all of Henry's gambling debts, to force him to pass on confidential details on the
Westlink
project. I believe this person is also responsible for the harassment you've been suffering at home and Henry may have been involved in that to some degree. I think they've been trying to make you paranoid and suspicious of everyone, in order to somehow gain control of the
Westlink
deal.'
Guy sat back in silence, as he tried to come to terms with the bombshell of betrayal by his best friend. Five minutes later, Annie drove the Lexus into Holyrood Park and turned left up Queens Drive, passing Dunsapie Loch and the extinct volcano, christened Arthur's Seat, which dominates the Edinburgh skyline. She pulled the Lexus into a small car park overlooking the suburb of Duddingston and the trio got out of the car and began walking along Queens Drive.
'This was a really good idea, Annie, to get out of the house for some fresh air to try and clear my head. It's ages since I've been up here. Let's walk further round Queens Drive and you'll get a terrific view of the city skyline across to Edinburgh Castle and further west. The trio walked along in silence for a few minutes. Then Guy stopped before saying, 'I feel such a fool. I've become totally paranoid in the last few weeks, suspecting my PA, my lawyer and even the poor housekeeper, of betraying me. When in reality it's been the last person in the world I would have suspected, the person closest to me … my best friend, Henry. It's incredible, are you absolutely certain about this?'
'No, not one hundred per cent and for that reason we want to lay a trap, with your co-operation. To do that we need you to come up with a credible piece of false information and it needs to be something that, if it were true, would completely scupper the
Westlink
project.'
'I see, so you want me to share this information with Henry and then wait to see if he passes it on.'
'Yes, exactly. If only the three of us plus Henry know about it and the false rumour gets repeated in the public domain, by whoever's pulling his strings, that would be a clincher for me.'
The trio turned at that point and began walking back to the car park as Guy Brodie chewed over Jack's suggestion.
'There is one thing that might work. Have either of you heard of ransom strips?'
Annie shook her head and Jack said, 'no, never.'
'It's actually a very clever property scam, which usually involves a tiny piece of land that’s absolutely vital to a development project, typically to provide access for building from the nearest public road. Since absolutely nothing can happen without this piece of land, it's accurately described as a ransom strip. The owner of the strip can hold out indefinitely, until the developer inevitably caves in and pays out an outrageous sum of money to obtain legal title.'
'Have you ever been caught out like that?' said Jack.
'Yes, the reason I know all about this is because it happened to me on one of my very first projects. I was getting ready to start work on a small block of twelve flats on a cleared brownfield site in the north of the city when, at the very last minute, I received a letter from a lawyer informing me that his client had just become aware that building was due to commence on his property without permission.'
'How did that happen?' asked Annie.
'My lawyer at the time had simply messed up and not done a thorough enough title search. He missed this little sliver of land, which was right next to the pavement and had a dilapidated sign on it, advertising a local scrapyard.'
'I take it that was an expensive mistake?'
'You could say that. I ended up having to pay fifty thousand pounds for a tiny piece of land probably no bigger than a snooker table. Believe me, it was a very painful lesson. From that point on, I’ve always made sure that all necessary checks have been carried out before I commit to any building project.'
'Was Henry working with you at that point?’
'Yes, I'm sure he was.'
'So if you were to tell him that someone has popped out of the woodwork at the very last minute, claiming ownership of a vital strip of land affecting the
Westlink
site, he would immediately know what you’re talking about and how potentially serious that was?'
'Yes, I'm certain he would remember from the previous incident.'
'Okay, I think we may have a plan, Guy. When we get back to Moray Place, set up a meeting with Henry as soon as possible and tell him the hot news about the ransom strip. Say that the owner of the land is refusing point blank to sell or negotiate and you’re desperate and don't know what to do. If I'm right, he'll pass that information on straight away.'
'You know, this might actually work,' said Guy. 'There's an investors meeting scheduled in two days' time, just before the option to buy period expires, so it's crunch time for the project. If I haven't been able to tie up all of the loose ends by then, with everybody signing on the dotted line, then it's game over. So that type of news would potentially be a bombshell for the project.’
'Speaking of investors,’ said Annie, 'I’ve just been thinking, who would benefit most if the
Westlink
deal crashed and burned? Would any member of your consortium be in a position to pick up the pieces and do a quick re-launch?'
'I see what you mean. I don't know to be perfectly honest, but it's possible because a significant part of the investment funding is coming through a firm of Edinburgh lawyers I haven't dealt with before. Obviously I asked for proof that their clients have the necessary funds and it all checked out okay. It’s some kind of family trust that seems to be sitting on a pile of ready cash that’s looking for a safe home. The story is that they've, apparently, been badly burned recently in one of these dodgy tax avoidance schemes, involving a film production company, and they've now decided on a much safer, low risk investment strategy. So where better to put their money than in good quality property right here in Edinburgh?'
‘So you don't actually know who the lawyer is acting for?' asked Jack.
'No, I don't have the names of any individuals, although that’s not unusual at this stage. But the investment vehicle they're using is called East Coast Ventures.'
'Okay then, I think we have a plan,' said Jack. 'Tell Henry all about the latest crisis and let’s see if anyone rises to the bait.'