A Rush of Blood

Twenty-nine

‘Let me get this straight, kid,’ said Bob Skinner slowly, into his mobile. ‘You are now running Lietuvos Leisure and Lietuvos Developments. Is that what you’ve just told me?’

‘That’s how it is. Regine Zaliukas and her children own both companies now, or will when probate’s completed on the will. She’s executor of the estate, and as such she has the power to appoint an administrator to run them on its behalf. And she’s appointed me. I thought she was kidding at first, but she wasn’t.’

‘Have you told your boss?’

‘Mitchell Laidlaw? Of course I’ve told him, and I’ve checked with Ronnie Drake.’

‘How did they react?’

Alex laughed. ‘Mitch’s first reaction was to rub his hands at the thought of all that fee income; then he told me to get on with it, for a couple of weeks, until Regine’s had time to come to terms with her husband’s death, and consider the future more calmly. Ronnie’s seriously pissed off that Regine didn’t ask her to take it on. Well, screw her. If she’d shown more enthusiasm about contacting Regine in the first place, she probably would have wound up in the frame. I told her as much too.’

‘Christ, Alex, listen to you. A partner for a day and you’re making waves.’

‘Like hell I am. I’m making a point. Ronnie Drake’s a spare wheel in this firm; it’s just as well she’s not long for it.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘The private client department’s being hived off; in other words, we’re getting rid of it. Don’t worry,’ she added, ‘I’m not giving away any secrets. Our press people announced it this morning. The management board has been wanting to do it for a while. Willie Conn was the last of the opponents, and now he’s gone. .’

‘Mitch hasn’t said a word to me,’ Bob grumbled, ‘and I’m a private client.’

‘He will, though; meantime he asked me to tell you. You’ll be getting a letter as well.’

‘So I’ve got to look for a new lawyer?’

‘No. A very few key clients are being invited to stay on, and you’re one of them. This is office politics, Pops, part of my new world. But enough of it: I’m still waiting for you to tell me that you’re pleased for me.’

‘About what?’

‘About this new appointment,’ Alex exclaimed, exasperated.

‘I’m not sure that I am. The late owner was a known, if unconvicted, hoodlum. I thought he’d left that behind him, but now I’m not so sure. He died a sudden and violent death, which is under police investigation as we speak, for all that I told you yesterday it was a suicide. Now you want me to be pleased because my daughter’s taking control of his businesses?’

‘Pops, these companies are absolutely kosher.’

‘I don’t doubt it. But what about the people who work for them? You know nothing about them at all. This sidekick of his, Gerulaitis. How’s he going to take it when you swan in there and tell him that he answers to you from now on?’

‘He’s going to take it like a gentleman; in about half an hour, give or take a few minutes. I’ve fixed a meeting with him in his office.’

‘And if he doesn’t?’

‘Then he’d better be checking his contract of employment, for if he refuses to accept me, or to cooperate with me, I’ll have no choice but to fire him.’

Bob frowned. ‘Listen, love,’ he said, quietly, ‘I know you’ve never traded on my name, and that you can get quite spiky when it’s brought up, but just this once. . Since Gerulaitis is Tomas Zaliukas’s cousin, you can be sure he’ll know all about me. I want you to promise me that you will make certain that this bloke knows exactly who you are, and that he knows your name’s no coincidence.’

‘Father,’ she replied, severely, ‘you are being melodramatic. But, since I was put on earth to fill your life with light and joy, I’ll do what you ask; just this once.’

‘Good. You’ve made an ageing man happy.’ He sighed. ‘Now, Regine. She says she’s staying in France?’

‘Yes, for the moment. There’s nothing she can add to your investigation, other than to confirm that her husband seemed perfectly normal last time they spoke. But she also told me that the idea she’d left her husband is all balls. She was taking a short break in France with her kids, that’s all. I’ve left a message to that effect with Sauce Haddock’s DI, though she didn’t seem overjoyed to get it.’

‘Hers not to reason why,’ the chief constable murmured. ‘There’s the small matter of a funeral,’ he continued.

‘Which can’t happen until you lot release the body,’ his daughter pointed out.

‘As soon as I give the nod to the report to the fiscal, he’ll be able to OK it.’

‘And when will that be?’

‘When I’m convinced there are no worms left down there. Yours enigmatically, Robert Morgan Skinner. Bye, kid.’ He snapped his mobile shut, ending the call.