Blood Stones (45 page)

‘I am not accusing anyone or attacking anyone,' Heyderman said harshly. ‘I am putting the facts before the Board.'

Dick Kruger had been gearing up to fight back. Heyderman might overawe the others, but Dick was no coward, and one look at Arthur's stricken face fuelled his notorious temper.

‘Well, let's take a close look at the facts then,' he said. ‘Arthur was backed into a corner by a clever Russian who seems to have out-negotiated Andrews at every turn. He looked for a way out, and he very sensibly took one, in the company's interests. He's been insulted and abused for doing so, but we'll leave that aside. The facts are, the Russians need us more than we need them. They can't sell their goods at a profit without us, and anyone who deals with them, like the trade in Amsterdam for instance, can be told bloody clearly they won't get any goods from us! So they'll have to come back to the table and talk business. It's just a face-saving bluff. Andrews fucked up and he's trying to put the blame on Arthur. That's the truth of it!'

‘Thank you, Dick,' Harris said quietly. ‘I think you've made the point.'

For a moment it seemed to James that Kruger had swung the issue in Harris's favour.

Then Heyderman's chair scraped back and he stood up. It was a clever move because he dominated them even more from a height.

‘You ask if I'm attacking Arthur. The answer is, Yes, I am. Five years ago we lost the concession on those Russian diamonds because of incompetence here in London. Now we lose it again, thanks to your personal intervention. Hastings saved your ass. But I'm not going to let you hide behind that. Incompetence and dishonesty have caused us a loss of business and reputation that no responsible Board could sustain. I formally propose a vote of no confidence in the Managing Director.'

A brief, shocked pause, and then Andrews said, ‘I second the proposal.'

‘Right,' Heyderman said briskly. ‘Let the vote be taken. Reece, you're taking this down?'

‘Yes, Mr Julius. Those in favour.'

He counted the raised hands out loud.

‘The Chairman, Andrews, Johnson …' There was a hesitation while he looked round again. Another hand went up. ‘Wasserman,' he intoned. Arthur put a hand to his face. A nerve under his left eye began to jump. They had known each other for thirty years. He had assumed automatically that David Wasserman would be on his side.

‘Those against the resolution.'

It would need a two-thirds majority to carry the vote. There were four committed already. Three remained.

Reece said, ‘The Managing Director, Kruger.'

They were all looking at James. His moment had come.

‘Are you abstaining, Mr Hastings?'

James spoke quietly. ‘I've worked with Arthur for fifteen years. I couldn't in conscience vote for him on this issue, but, equally, I'm reluctant to vote against him. I'm abstaining.'

He didn't look at any of them. Suddenly Ray Andrews got to his feet.

‘At this point I'd like to say something,' he said. ‘I'm over forty and nobody wants to start looking for a job at that age unless they have no possible alternative. But that is what I feel. I didn't tender my resignation before so I could attend this meeting and register my vote. Chairman and members of the Board, my letter of resignation is already waiting in the Chairman's office. Good-morning to you.'

He walked to the door and closed it firmly. It shut with a click like a revolver shot.

‘So,' Julius Heyderman said loudly, turning a blue glare on Arthur Harris, ‘we have just lost one of the ablest men in the business. We have, to all intents and purposes, a two-thirds majority in a vote of no confidence in you, Arthur. I shall expect your resignation by tomorrow morning at the latest!'

Arthur had sat absolutely still while the drama with Andrews came and ended. Now he raised his head high and looked directly at Julius. He sounded completely calm.

‘I haven't the slightest intention of resigning.' He gave David Wasserman a look of bitter reproach. ‘This has been an illuminating experience for me. I've heard myself accused of dishonesty and misconduct in the most outrageous terms by a man I promoted on to this Board. I've seen an old friend vote against me – you could at least have warned me, David – and Jan Heyderman's grandson try to force me, a Harris, off the Board.

‘Well, gentlemen, I'm not going to resign. I am going to fight you, Julius. You started this war against me, and I'm going to carry it to the shareholders at the AGM. If you thought you could push me out behind closed doors, you underestimated me. But then you always have. But don't underestimate the extent of my holding and the holdings of members of my family. We will conduct the next stage in the full public domain. Now I have work to do, if you'll excuse me.'

He left the table and Dick Kruger picked up his notes and followed him out of the room.

Heyderman said briskly, ‘No further business. Everything will be in the minutes. Let us hope,' he added, ‘that when Arthur's had time to cool down, he'll see sense. Good-morning.'

David Wasserman came up to James; they walked out into the corridor together.

‘It's a bad business,' he said. ‘I didn't like voting Arthur out, but I hadn't any choice. Not just because of the Russian deal, but what he did to you …' He shrugged. ‘You can't have a business run like that. You were right to abstain.'

James said, ‘Do you think he'll back down?'

‘No,' the old man said slowly. ‘No, I don't think so. But Heyderman's never lost out yet. The real loser will be the business in the end. Keep in touch, my boy. And keep your head down till this is over. I'm getting Concorde back this afternoon. I'll be glad to get home.'

He sounded weary and depressed. It had cost him, James realized, to go against someone he had known and worked with for so long.

Sylvia had booked seats for the new Ayckbourn play. She loved the theatre; Julius humoured her by going, and she pretended not to notice if he fell asleep during the performance.

Stella was included in the party, with a couple of friends and their young son and daughter-in-law. So far, Stella hadn't once stepped out of line. She was friendly, amenable to Sylvia's social plans, and seemed so anxious to please her father that it made Sylvia feel nervous. Above all, she was sober.

The crucial Board meeting had taken place that morning. Sylvia didn't attempt to ring up and ask what had happened; Julius hated being disturbed in his office. For the sake of the evening ahead, she only hoped it had gone as he intended. She was neutral about Arthur Harris and positive in her dislike of her sister-in-law, Christa. Christa was acid tongued, jealous of her brother, and a shrew to her self-effacing husband. Sylvia was thankful they were a continent apart and didn't see more of the couple than was the minimum when they came to London.

She came back from a shopping expedition and the hairdresser to find a message from Stella, ‘Please let me know when Daddy comes in; I must see him.'

Sylvia frowned. They were all meeting at the Aldwych Theatre. There wouldn't be time to spare.

She called Stella's room. ‘I got your message,' she said quickly. ‘Are you all right? Nothing wrong, is there?'

Stella's voice sounded thick as if she had a cold. ‘No, everything's fine. Is he back?'

‘Not yet, I'm expecting him at any minute. We're going to be rushed to get to the theatre by a quarter-past seven … Is it so urgent?'

A pause, then the answer, ‘Yes. I'm afraid it can't wait. I'll come down. It won't take long. I'll come now.' Then she hung up.

Sylvia opened the door of the suite. To her relief Stella was dressed and ready for the evening. Her eyes looked puffy as if she had been crying.

‘Oh God,' her stepmother said, seeing her in the light, ‘what's happened?' You look awful. What's the matter?'

‘It's all right,' Stella said. ‘I haven't been on the booze, don't worry. I've just had a good blub.' She used the childish term without thinking. ‘It won't make us late, Sylvia, but I couldn't wait till tomorrow. Here's Dad now.'

Her stepmother noticed a long brown envelope which Stella had left on the table. Julius came in.

‘Hi,' he said. ‘Sylvia, Suki … Sorry I'm a bit late.'

‘How was the Board meeting?' his wife asked.

He scowled. ‘The little bastard's threatening to fight it out at the AGM. We'll see. Forget it, let's go to the theatre.'

‘Daddy,' Stella came towards him, ‘I know it's not the right moment, you're rushed and you've had a bad day. But I have to show you this. Please read it.'

His impulse was to refuse. He was in an angry mood. He hadn't expected Arthur to oppose him. He wasn't used to being thwarted. His despised brother-in-law had suddenly turned and shown that, after all these years, he had balls.

Stella picked up the envelope and handed it to him. There had been a call from Miller when she got back to the hotel. She had spent the afternoon agonizing about what to do.

‘Before you read it,' she said, ‘I have to explain something. I believed Reece was involved in Jacob's murder. I hired a private detective to investigate him. That's what they found out.'

He stared at her. He raised his voice. ‘You what? What the hell do you mean?'

Stella interrupted him. ‘Read it first, you can yell at me afterwards. I'm trying to protect you, that's why it can't wait.'

He grabbed the envelope from her. Sylvia gave her a look of angry reproach.

Stella said simply, ‘Get Dad a drink; I think he's going to need it.' Then she sat down to wait.

At one point her father jerked his head up and stared at her in horror. ‘Good Christ!' Then he read on, his face flushed a deep red.

‘They're going to be arrested,' Stella said. ‘I heard today. You've got to get him off the payroll before it happens. That's why it couldn't wait.'

Sylvia was beside him with a whisky. ‘Darling, what is it? What's happened?'

He swallowed hard, and then said, ‘Reece. The filthy, bloody little pervert. Incest. Oh good Christ,' he repeated. He held out the report to her. ‘Here read it!'

Stella said, ‘I went to see the sister. I accused Reece of having Jacob murdered. She admitted it.'

They heard Sylvia exclaim in disgust. ‘Oh my God,' she was saying. ‘My God, how revolting! Julius, what are you going to do?'

‘Fire him,' he answered. ‘By special messenger tonight. Before this filthy mess blows up in my face. My personal assistant … God Almighty.'

He sprang up. ‘I've got to deal with this right away. You go to the play, make my excuses. I'll join you for dinner later. Ring down and ask for secretarial services and lay on a special delivery.'

He swung away from her and back to Stella. ‘You're not going either,' he said. ‘When I've dealt with this, we're going to talk, you and I. I want some explanations!'

‘Darling,' Susan Andrews said firmly, ‘you did the right thing. We talked it over and I'm sure it was right.'

She slipped her arm round Ray's shoulders. He had walked through the front door to find her waiting and told her in one sentence that his career with Diamond Enterprises was over. He had resigned at the Board meeting. He sat down and suddenly he seemed depressed and older. Anger had sustained him up to the last minute. Now it was purged and the reaction had set in. She knew him so well, and she loved him enough to pretend that she wasn't frightened, too.

He'd find another job. Not as well paid, perhaps, or as senior, at his age, but something would come along. She got him a large gin and tonic and said simply, ‘I'm glad. And you're not to worry or to have any regrets. The whole thing was disgraceful. Now I've booked a table at Martino's, we're going out to dinner and celebrate a new start. So drink that up, darling, and let's go.'

Ray looked up at her. She wasn't clever, and her early prettiness was fading; grey peppering the brown hair and a few lines under the eyes. But she was loyal and loving and he had never wanted anyone else from the day they married. His mother, a shrewd Scottish lady, had said when they became engaged, ‘She's sterling, Ray. You won't regret it.' Sterling she was; not just his lover and wife, but his best friend. He reached out for her hand and held it tightly.

‘Thanks, Susie. Thanks for everything.'

Sylvia didn't enjoy the play. She couldn't concentrate; Ayckbourn was difficult enough without her thoughts wandering back to that scene in the hotel. The picture of that horrible little creature in bed with his own sister kept intruding on the theatricals taking place on stage. She felt slightly sick. Julius would cope with it. Nothing was dangerous enough to overwhelm him. That reassured her. But Stella – putting detectives on them – that was a warning sign. Not quite the compliant, rehabilitated daughter, come meekly back into the fold. She sighed inwardly, and joined in the long applause when the play ended. It was a relief to get out of the theatre. She gathered her guests together and set off for the Savoy. They kept two places at the table for Julius and his daughter, but they never came.

‘You never loved me,' Stella was pacing up and down as she talked. ‘I was in the way.'

Julius was sitting on the sofa, watching this strange creature stripping layers off their relationship. Not in anger, but quietly.

‘That's not true,' he said. ‘I never understood you. You didn't fit, from the time you were a baby. You weren't like Eileen, or like me … you were some throw back. If I tried to hold you, you fought and wriggled to get away. You were difficult and wilful. Your first bloody word was “No”!'

‘I wasn't a boy,' Stella retorted. ‘You wouldn't have minded then. You wanted someone like mother, all soft and feminine and clinging. I wasn't made like that. I wanted both of you to love me, and when you didn't, I hit back.'