An Affair of the Heart (13 page)

“That’s right,”
Brian interrupted. “You see, only that doctor from the MRI, Dr
Askwith, had seen and known that Mrs Williams was carrying an organ
donor card. But now that it’s gone missing, and no one knows where
it is, it was just his word that it ever existed. Until now.”

Gina turned to
stare at Brian. “Who’s telling this story?” she said to him.

Brian smiled.
“You are, Gina,” he said.

“Good!” Gina
turned back to Rachel and continued with her story.

“Well, then.
When they asked him about the affair, it was to accuse him of only
being interested in his own fight with her husband. They tried to
say that he wasn’t working for our interests at all. Robert was
forced to reply under oath. He said that it wasn’t true. He said
that it was only because he knew that Mrs Williams would have
wanted her organs to be used after her death that he had decided to
fight this case for us. They asked him how he knew such a thing,
and Robert said that he was with Mrs Williams when she first got
the card. He said that she spoke to him about it, and that he saw
her fill it in. He said that was why her husband didn’t know
anything about it, because they didn’t discuss things like that
together anymore.”

“It didn’t half
cause a stir,” Brian added. “Mr Williams was watching from the
gallery at the time. He stood up and called Robert a liar. They
shouted back and forth at one another until the judge had Mr
Williams escorted from the court.”

“It serves him
right!” Gina said. “Causing all this trouble for nothing! I’m glad
it’s over with!”

Rachel looked
surprised. “You mean it’s all finished? So soon?”

“I’m afraid
so,” Brian replied. “Proving the existence of the organ donor card
to the judge was what was important. With two independent witnesses
both stating under oath that they had seen the card, I don’t think
there’s any doubt that the judge will now accept that the card did
exist.”

“And that’s
it?” Rachel asked. She sounded disappointed.

Brian nodded.
“Oh, Davidson went through the motions of course, and called a few
more witnesses, but I think it’s all a foregone conclusion now. We
just have to turn up tomorrow to hear the judge’s verdict. I think
he’ll criticise the staff of the MRI for losing the card and
getting the bodies mixed up, and that Dr Askwith will get
disciplined, but I don’t think there is any doubt that the judge
will find in their favour.”

Brian shrugged
his shoulders. “It means we’ve lost, of course. But that was the
plan, to make the MRI fight and win. I never dreamt that it would
work so well, in fact I didn’t think it would work at all. I’ll say
this for Robert, he’s got nerve. He’ll get into all sorts of
trouble over what he did. The Law Society frowns on any kind of
conflict of interest, but he took it to new heights today. They’ll
definitely call into question his motives in taking this case, and
in withholding information crucial to its outcome. Robert knew that
would happen, but he didn’t care. When Robert told me that this
case would be unconventional, he wasn’t joking.”

Rachel looked
worried by the prospect that Robert would face some form of
punishment. “Will he be alright?” she asked, hating herself for
blushing slightly under her mother’s stares.

Brian dismissed
her concern. “Don’t worry, Robert can take care of himself. I think
he has his future already well planned out. He’s even given your
mother a list of alternative solicitors. At least now I can
concentrate on the real job. I can’t wait to face Sir Richard
Hargreaves!” Brian looked delighted at the prospect. “Now that the
case for negligence against the MRI has been disproved, I’m going
to slaughter him in court! I just hope that they don’t chicken out
and settle beforehand.”

Talk of
settling produced an instant reaction from Gina. “We won’t settle,”
she told Brian in a grimly determined voice. “Not after all the
trouble he’s caused us. I don’t just want to make him pay; I want
him to suffer! And when he does pay, I want everybody to know and
see him pay!”

Rachel didn’t
hear her mother’s words. She was looking down, fiddling with her
glasses in her hand. It wasn’t fair, she thought to herself,
miserably. She had missed it all again! And, what was far worse,
she suddenly had this terrible feeling that she never would meet
Robert McCord. Somehow she knew what his well-made plans would be.
With the case all but over, and the Law Society on his trail, it
would be just like him to go back to America.

“You let him
beat you!” Alex Williams accused Helen Worthington. He was angry,
almost hysterical, and he was shouting at her. And he didn’t seem
to care about who heard him anymore, either. They were in the lift
of the building where the firm of Worthington, Leech and Harrington
had their offices, and there were three other people in the lift
with them. They all moved as far away from the arguing couple as
the confines of the lift would allow.

Helen was just
as angry as Alex was. Not just because of what had happened in
court, but also because of the way Alex was treating her. He hadn’t
stopped shouting at her since they had left the court building in
Crown Square. Now Alex almost poked her in the chest with his
finger as he ranted on.

“At the first
opportunity, the first hurdle, you fell!” he shouted. “I told you
that we should go first! I told you that he was up to something!
But no, you wouldn’t listen! And now he’s won! He’s beaten me
again!”

“It’s not over
yet!” Helen argued, brushing aside his dagger like finger. Her
voice was raised too. “I told you we should have made the Law
Society aware of his conflict of interest!” she went on. “But no!
You wanted to keep it quiet! You tied my hands, Alex! This is your
fault! If I had my way, McCord would have been out of the picture
right at the start!”

The doors
opened and Helen swept out of the lift. Alex followed quickly after
her.

“My fault?” he
said as they hurried along the corridor. “Was it my fault you
employed that incompetent, Hargreaves?”

Helen almost
kicked the door open to her offices. She stormed through the
reception area without a word to the secretaries, her partners or
anyone. Alex followed behind her, still ranting at her.

“I told you
this would happen! I told you not to allow him to go first!”

The door
slammed behind them, but their raised voices could still be
heard.

Helen threw her
briefcase across the room and turned on Alex, pushing him back
against the door. “I told you!” she almost screamed. Alex was
surprised by the sudden violence, and stared at Helen as she
continued to shout at him. “I told you McCord’s relationship with
you and your wife was the only way to get rid of him! We should
have used it! It was you who persuaded me not to! It was you who
lost us this case, Alex! You! You and your stupid attempt to hide
your precious wife’s affair!”

Alex came back
to life. He grabbed Helen’s arms and pushed her roughly away.
“Don’t bring Sarah into this!” he shouted.

Helen stepped
forward again, determined to stand her ground. “She’s in it
already!” she snarled. “Right up to her saintly armpits! McCord has
seen to that! And there’s nothing we can do about it! Oh, we can
get rid of him now! No problem! He’s admitted to it openly! But now
it’s too late! Because no matter what we or anyone else says now,
the MRI have won this case!”

“He lied!” Alex
shouted.

“But they
believed him!” Helen shouted back. “The judge believed him,
everyone believed him! Even I bloody well believed him!”

Alex began
stalking around the room in his frustration. “But he did it on
purpose! Couldn’t they see that? Couldn’t they see what he was up
to?”

“Of course he
didn’t do it on purpose! You make it sound like he just walked in
and announced it!” Helen held up her fist as she went on. “They
accused him of it!” she said, her voice hoarse with shouting.
“Right there in court! Without any warning! They just came right
out and said it! And you could see that he was just as surprised as
we were! He genuinely wasn’t expecting it! And that’s why they
believed him!”

“Then overturn
it!” Alex demanded. “Have it thrown out!” His final words were
almost a plea. “Do something!”

Helen didn’t
reply. Instead she brushed at her hair, calming herself as she went
around her desk and sat down in her leather chair. Even then she
didn’t answer, and only the sound of their heavy breathing broke
the sudden silence in the room as she gathered her thoughts. Helen
rubbed her hands back and forth along the arms of the leather
chair, as if trying to gain some strength from it. Finally she
stopped and said, “There is a way.”

“Then get on
with it!”

“It will mean
making your wife’s part in McCord’s embezzlement public
knowledge.”

Alex turned
away. Now he didn’t answer. This time it was his turn to be
thoughtful.

“It’s the only
way, Alex,” Helen went on, her voice now almost back to it’s usual
silky tones. “We won’t be in court tomorrow. So there’s nothing we
can do to affect the outcome of this case. But if McCord were to be
arrested, if it subsequently became known that he conspired with
your wife to rob you, while he was acting as your solicitor at the
time, then his evidence can be called into question. It won’t stop
the judge’s ruling on this case, but we can overturn it when we
come to court against the Carter’s. McCord’s arrest and his
conspiracy with your wife will be classed as new evidence. We can
question his motives and his integrity. Who knows? If he can cheat
on one client, he could cheat on another. Or maybe even lie in
court.”

Helen paused
for a moment, watching Alex closely. He still had his back to her,
his head down. “You’ve nothing to lose now that the affair is out
in the open,” she went on. “You don’t have any choice now. We have
to use it, or lose.”

Alex slowly
turned to face her. “There still isn’t any evidence to connect him
with the theft,” he said downheartedly, his voice calm at last.

“We have the
cheque book and the cards,” Helen pointed out. “They show that he
was involved. Why else would they be in the name of Mrs Sarah
McCord?”

Alex briefly
closed his eyes. It was as if saying the name had physically hurt
him. “It’s not enough,” he said.

“Maybe not to
get a conviction,” Helen replied quickly. “But for our purposes,
it’s enough.”

Alex stood
still and stared at her for a moment. “Alright,” he said at last.
“Do it. I’ll see that all the information I have is handed over to
the police today.”

“Good!” Helen
picked up the telephone. “Marcia? Come in here, please. I want some
letters doing right away.” She turned back to Alex. “We can still
win this, Alex. But remember, I only found out about your wife’s
affair and McCord’s embezzlement today. I don’t want a kicking from
the Law Society for withholding information.”

Alex nodded.
“Tell me Helen, how did they know about the affair? How did they
find out?”

Helen shook her
head. “I don’t know, Alex,” she said as there was a timid knock on
the door. “Come in Marcia! It’s quite safe!” she called out. Marcia
came into the office, and Helen gestured the secretary towards the
chair nearest to her desk. Then she said to Alex, “I suppose
someone else who knew must have told them.”

Rachel sat in
her bed, thinking. Just like the night before, Gina had stayed for
a while after Brian had left and they had sat and talked for a
couple of hours. Eventually, Rachel had cheered up a little. But
now, sitting here in the dark, alone with her thoughts, there were
only two things on her mind. First, she had still not been able to
meet Robert McCord. And second, the case was now virtually over,
and she had this feeling that he might soon go back to America.

She had to see
him before he left. She just had to. Slowly an idea had been
forming in her mind. Her clothes were in the small wardrobe in the
corner of her room. She could get dressed and be out of the
hospital in minutes. She knew her way around dead easy. And it
would be quiet now. It was half past nine. Nurse Kaye had already
been in to see her, and Rachel would probably not be checked on
again until the morning. She was sure she could be out and back
again before anyone found out.

The more she
thought about it, the more she knew that she could do it. She felt
fine. She would be going home soon now, anyway. And Dr Cornwall had
kept saying that she was as strong as an ox.

With sudden
determination, Rachel threw back the covers and got out of bed.

Helen
Worthington waited until Marcia had gone out of the office before
she opened the envelope her secretary had brought her.

After Alex had
left earlier that day, something he had asked her had been praying
on her mind. If they and McCord hadn’t told the MRI’s counsel about
Sarah’s affair, who had?

She thought
about ringing up Davidson and asking him. But she knew that would
be foolhardy. Even if he knew, he would enjoy not telling her. She
was sure McCord was intending to reveal it, but someone had beat
him to the gun. But who else could possibly benefit from the MRI’s
victory?

It was driving
her crazy.

Suddenly she
had a hunch. She made a few long distance phone calls, got the
clearance and arranged for the transmission of the information she
wanted, and then waited. It all took less than an hour.

And now it was
on her desk. She took out the contents of the envelope and laid it
carefully on the blotter in front of her. It was a photograph. She
looked at it closely, quickly retrieving a magnifying glass from
the back of her desk drawer and placing it over the photograph. She
peered intently at the small, fuzzy, people in the picture. Finally
she smiled.