‘The senior partner’s son? I knew them; met them. I didn’t know he even worked there. I went to Wimbledon with his parents, Sue and David Jenkins.’ What have I done? They didn’t deserve this, no one deserves to lose a child.
‘I met up with his father, David, last month. Apparently Toby didn’t choose to work within the company; he’d bailed out of university, from what David told me, he didn’t have a say in it. They employed him as the MLRO. As you can probably guess, he’s full of regrets.’
I shake my head. ‘MLRO?’
‘Money laundering reporting officer, someone who looks out for any dirty tricks. They had a vacant position. Toby was far too young for it. It was more a case of the partnership being seen to be doing the right thing, rather than his suitability. Unfortunately, for him, Gregg took him under his wing.’
‘Dear God. All the secret meetings, the wads of cash.’
‘It had been going on for some time; Gregg, another partner, who was also believed to be under the spell of Gregg, Toby and – can you credit it? – a bank manager from overseas.’
‘The fat, balding guy. Now I think of it, he definitely looked like a bank manager.’
‘Err, right, maybe. He vanished off the face of the earth, when everything kicked off. Whispers are, he’s somewhere in South America.’
‘How did they even, I mean why...?’
‘They took over a buy-to-let company in Spain. Reckon, Gregg did a deal with the insolvency practitioners after it fell into administration, except it wasn’t in his name. They used another scapegoat for this. It’s thought Gregg’s cut of dirty money was paid into a bank account in the name of Pat and Dennis Austin.’
‘His parents – so that’s why he kept sending them to Spain, but surely this was proof enough of his involvement?’
Billy shakes his head. ‘They knew he orchestrated the entire thing, but only had proof of a third-party involvement. Admitted to wheeling and dealing but not to money laundering. He’d covered his tracks well, hired the best lawyers. Lost his practising certificate, but they couldn’t pin the rest of the shit on him. The Spanish buy-to-let company operated as a fa?ade, a workhorse for collecting in illegal monies, paid into the solicitor’s client account, then back out to the bank account in Spain, then distributed accordingly. On the surface legitimate monies would be paid out of the account for the deceptive purchase of more properties. Dirty money, all of it. A whole tangled grid of corruption. Toby, unfortunately, was made the scapegoat. His father believes he was murdered, he didn’t take his own life.’
‘Oh, God. No.’ I don’t want to hear this. ‘How did it happen? How did he die?’ I really don’t want to know the answer; I’ve a sick feeling, I already know.
‘He was found dead, taken an enormous quantity of pills.’ I don’t properly hear the next words; how had I not worked this out? ‘It was recorded as suicide but he’d other serious injuries. They thought he’d been in a fight beforehand. Likely story, more like – someone held a gun to his head, forced him to knock back the pills.’
‘Oh, please, don’t say that.’
‘A professional job. But his injuries were not sufficient, no other out-of-context DNA, nothing. Unfortunately, he was known in the bars for getting himself into brawls, a bit full of himself, mouthy. At the end of the day, the injuries were not what killed him, it was the pills. They closed the books.’
‘Why do you say a gun? Did they find one?’ I truly hope they did.
‘No. But someone has it somewhere. Toby’s father, David, visited the partner in prison. He said Gregg had mentioned a gun, but he’d no part in it. Or no idea of its whereabouts.’
What have I got myself involved in? ‘Billy, you said others were looking for me – who?’
‘I’m just getting to it. This partner also told David they’d all met at your home, the night Toby was beaten, then died. He reckoned Gregg recorded the “meeting” on his laptop. The idea was to pay Toby off, bribe him into carrying the can. He intended to record evidence of his fake admission, but also to suggest his father, David, had full knowledge, sanctioned the dirty dealings. Then, Gregg could have used the evidence to blackmail his father, or at least encourage the company to cover up the scandal, leaving his practising certificate intact. But it all went shit-faced. Toby refused to implicate his father.’
Suddenly so much makes sense. No wonder Gregg was so angry, when he couldn’t locate the flash-drive. I should have watched it beyond those few seconds. I’m so ashamed; I didn’t want to know the truth. The deception was so much easier to live with.
‘So the recording holds the truth?’
‘So it seems.’ Billy shuffles uneasily in his seat. ‘They believe you may have it, you or Gregg. The flash-drive.’ He’s searching my face for answers. What if this is a ploy, and Billy’s here on your behalf? Is this why he’s hunting me – for you? No, I believe him. He wants revenge; I see it in his eyes.
‘So David Jenkins is looking for me?’
‘No. I am. He sent me, well, not quite true. I offered – nothing would make me happier than to finally get my hands on the bastard.’
‘So it’s you who’s been following me all this time?’
‘For a couple of weeks, yes. I really didn’t mean to frighten you.’
‘And the referral?’
‘All true and legit. Although, I think I’m beyond help. It was, though, a great method of getting close to you.’
‘Susie, the counsellor?’
He at least has the dignity to lower his head. ‘Again legit. I thought it may help me come to terms with things.’
‘But why call yourself Gregg Austin?’
‘Oops. Yeah, sorry about that. I made the call, and when I was asked for my name, I realised I couldn’t give mine because of you. I was put on the spot.’ He stretches his lip. ‘It was the first name that occurred to me. Stupid mistake.’ He nods his head at me.
‘Did you follow me home last week, a couple of times?’
‘Guilty, yep. As I say, I didn’t intend to panic you. I needed to find you.’
‘So all this time; when I’ve thought I was being hunted by my psychopath ex-husband, it’s mostly been you!’
I say mostly because it was you who delivered the envelope the other night; I could smell you. I need some air. I push back at my chair to stand up. I’m shocked, upset, angry and feel so incredibly guilty. ‘I need to leave,’ I tell Billy. I steam away from the table; he catches me up, grabbing my arm from behind.
‘No, Eve, please don’t leave. I want to help you.’ His touch is firm but gentle as I pull my arm away from him.
‘I have to go. I’ve appointments to attend to.’ I’ve still a couple of hours before I start, but I need time to rethink. ‘You want to help me? Do you have any idea what you’ve done? Creeping around? Me and my son have been petrified, thinking our days were numbered, and all the time it’s been you.’ I know this isn’t completely true; it’s been both of you. I tap at my whizzing head. ‘Have you any idea at all what I’ve been thinking, preparing, running through in here?’
Billy steps ahead of me, blocking my way. ‘Look, I’ll give you some time, but I need to see you again.’
‘I’ve told you, I had no idea about what was going on back then. It’s the truth.’
‘I understand that – no one knows better than I how he operates,’ he says. ‘But I do have reason to believe you may have what they’re looking for.’ He raises his eyebrows at me. ‘I need to see you again.’ He pulls me aside from the eager passers-by. ‘Eve, it’s not just me. Gregg is following you. He’s been so close to you, many times, a mere whisper away. I’ve been trailing him, observing you both.’
I shiver. Is he lying to me? Deep down, I understand he’s telling the truth.
‘Have you been near Jack?’
‘No. Come on, give me some credit. I wouldn’t do that. But he would, and he has. You’re in danger, Eve, both of you. He’s a broken man; nothing to lose. I wanted to get to you before he did. You have to trust me on this.’
He removes a stumpy pencil from his back pocket, then scribbles his mobile number on the back of a pay-and-display ticket, thrusting it into my hand.