Final Venture

35

We drove up to Woodbridge first thing the next morning in my Morgan. I parked it beside the house, in the spot where Frank had always left his Mercedes, and we climbed out. The thin November sun burned through the last remnants of the morning fog to illuminate the browns and golds of the watery landscape. There was no wind, and the silence of the marsh lay like a heavy cloak all around us. The only movement was the occasional flapping of an egret hauling itself into the air. There weren't many left now; most of them had gone south for the winter.

It was cold inside. I wound the grandfather clock and lit the stove, and a steady warmth soon pushed its way out from the old contraption through the building. The house wasn't really built for winter habitation, but the beginning of November was unseasonably warm, and the place was quiet, and cosy, and peaceful.

I had tried to call Jeff Lieberman the previous day, whenever Daniel was out of the office, without success. He was in and out of meetings all day. I had the number of his Riverside Drive apartment, so I tried him again. This time I got through.

'Hi, Simon.' He sounded tired.

'I didn't wake you, did I?'

'Yeah, but don't worry, you just beat the alarm by a couple of minutes. I didn't get home from the office until four last night. And they want me in again at eleven. All so we can make a pitch on Monday that I know we won't win. But you've got to go through the motions.'

'Jeff. Do you remember when Daniel came to New York in October?'

'Yes.'

'You definitely saw him, did you?'

'What do you mean? Yes, I did.'

'And that was the tenth of October, right?' The day Frank was killed.

'I don't know the exact date. I can check with my diary?'

'Please.'

I waited a few seconds.

'Yes. Here it is. October tenth. Brunch. We were supposed to have dinner together, but he changed it.'

'He changed it?'

'Yeah. He called a day or so before, and said he'd met some "babe" who lived in New York who he wanted to see that night.'

'Daniel? A babe?'

'It sounded a little odd to me. I did try to pry, but he wasn't saying much. But, hey, everyone gets lucky sometime. He spent most of brunch pushing Net Cop.'

That much, at least, Daniel had told me. 'Did you see him that afternoon?'

'No. After brunch he headed off. I don't know where. Why all these questions?'

'Oh, nothing.'

'OK. I'll see you at the Net Cop board meeting next week.'

'See you then. Oh, and Jeff?'

'Yes?'

'Don't mention any of this to Daniel.'

There was a pause as Jeff tried to work out what I was fishing for. In the end he decided to trust me. 'OK,' he said and hung up.

'Well?' asked Lisa as I put down the phone. She was perched on Frank's desk beside me trying to follow my end of the conversation.

'Daniel switched dinner to brunch.'

We looked at each other.

Lisa exhaled. 'So, what do we do now?'

'Well, we don't have absolute proof. But the cops can check him out. They should find something to nail him, if they know what direction to look in.'

'Do we call Mahoney?'

I sighed. 'I'd rather not.'

'What about the Assistant DA? What was her name?'

'Pamela Leyser. Maybe. But I think we should talk to Gardner Phillips first.'

I dialled his home. His wife answered, and said he was out on the golf course. She gave me the number of his cell phone. I tried it. It was switched off. I called Mrs Phillips back, gave her Marsh House's telephone number, and asked her to make sure her husband called me as soon as he got in. It was urgent. She expected him back by eleven fifteen, although she said he might be home before then. I looked at the grandfather clock. Quarter to ten. An hour and a half.

The waiting was difficult.

'Shouldn't we call Mahoney?' Lisa said.

'I don't think so. I know Phillips. He'd definitely want me to speak to him first.'

'But we've proof it was Daniel!'

'I know. And I'm sure Phillips will want us to pass that on to the police. But I've screwed this up before, I don't want to do it again. Let's just wait till he calls back, shall we?'

'All right. But I'm not hanging around here,' said Lisa. 'I'll go crazy. I'm going for a walk. Coming?'

'No, I'll stay here, just in case he does call back early.'

Lisa grabbed her coat and walked out the door. Through the sitting-room window, I could see her tramp along the edge of the marsh to the right of the house.

I went upstairs to make sure the storm windows were securely fastened, my ears listening out for the ring of Frank's ancient telephone.

Instead, I heard the front door bang.

'Lisa! Did you forget something?' I ran down the stairs. 'He still hasn't called…'

I stopped short. There, standing in the middle of the living room, his hands thrust deep into his city raincoat, was Daniel.

'Hello, Simon,' he said casually.

My initial reaction was to bolt back up the stairs, but I fought to compose myself. 'Hello, Daniel,' I said in feigned welcome, as coolly as I could manage. 'What brings you here?'

He wasn't obviously carrying a gun. But he wasn't taking his hands out of his pockets either. I wasn't sure what effect a gun would have if fired from within a coat pocket like that. But from a foot or two's range, I didn't want to risk it.

'Oh, I'm meeting some people for lunch at Woodman's in Essex, and I thought I'd drop by on the way,' he answered. An extremely unlikely story, I thought. 'Where's Lisa?'

'She had to go into the lab,' I replied. 'She'll be there all day.' If the worst came to the worst, I didn't want Daniel hanging around waiting for her to come back from her walk. 'Can I make you some coffee?'

'Sure.'

I moved past him to get to the kitchen. He backed off, keeping his distance. For some reason he didn't want to show his hand yet. Why could that be?

As I fiddled about with coffee and filters, I thought it over. Another murder now would blow the case wide open again, something Daniel would want to avoid. He was here to check up on how much I knew. If I played it right, he might leave again.

'It's still quite warm for November,' I said.

'Yeah,' said Daniel. 'And October was quite pleasant too.'

In different circumstances, I would have laughed at Daniel's weather small-talk. It wasn't his style at all.

We moved back into the living room, Daniel still keeping his hands in his pockets, and his body a few feet away from mine. We sat in chairs opposite each other. I had decided not to jump him, but hope that he would talk and then go.

'So this is where Frank was killed, huh?' Daniel looked around.

The words acted like a shock, a reminder of what Daniel could do, as well as bringing back memories of finding Frank's body.

'Yes. Just there.'

I pointed to the section of scraped and scrubbed floorboard in the dining area. One of the things Lisa and I had intended to do that weekend was to cover the spot with a rug.

'And they still don't know for sure who did it, huh?'

'Not publicly. But I'm pretty certain they think it was Enever.'

'And you? What do you think?'

'I think it was Enever too.'

'Are you positive?'

I pretended to consider this for a moment. 'Yes. He killed himself, didn't he? He had everything to lose from news about the side-effects getting out. I'm sure it was him.'

'And Lisa? What does she think?'

'Oh, she thinks it was him, too.'

Daniel watched me closely. Then, seeming to come to a decision, he pulled a stubby revolver out of his pocket.

'I don't believe you,' he said.

I stared at the gun. This was not looking good at all. I had blown it. If I had jumped him when we were both standing up only a few feet away from each other, he with his gun hidden in the folds of his coat, I might have stood a chance. But now we were sitting down, ten feet apart, and he was pointing the weapon at my chest.

I swallowed. 'Why don't you believe me?'

'Because you and Lisa are too smart for that. I'd have been happier with a story about how you knew Enever wasn't responsible but you'd stopped worrying about it once you'd cleared yourself. That's what I was kind of hoping for. After the questions you were asking me yesterday, I thought I ought to make sure you hadn't jumped to any silly conclusions. Turns out I was right to be worried.'

'I know you killed him, Daniel,' I said.

'Have you talked to the police?'

I needed to play for time. I wasn't sure which answer would give me most.

'Well, have you?'

I shrugged.

'I need to know who you have spoken to.'

'And I won't tell you.'

He jerked the gun at me. 'I'll pull the trigger.'

I glared at him. I wasn't going to let him get the better of me. 'I know you will. I still won't tell you.'

I braced myself for the shot. But it didn't come. Daniel looked confused. He was thinking.

'Where's Lisa?' he asked at last.

'I told you. At the lab.'

'But you said you were both coming up here for the weekend?'

'She's coming this evening. She's got more work than she planned.'

'I heard you call out to her when I came in.'

'I thought you must be her. I assumed she'd left the lab early.'

Daniel scanned the room. 'Is that your bag, then?'

He nodded towards Lisa's black bag, lying on the floor.

'No,' I said simply.

'You're not being very truthful, are you, Simon?'

I shrugged.

'We'll wait here for her. She'll tell me who you've told. Especially when she sees me pointing a gun at you. How long will she be?'

Once again, I shrugged.

He glanced at the old grandfather clock. It was five past ten. 'We'll wait till eleven. Then we'll see. This should be a good spot to watch out for her.'

And it was. From the living room there was a perfect view of the marsh. She would be bound to come into view on her way back to the house.

We waited.

I knew why Daniel wanted to know who we had spoken to about him. If we hadn't told anyone, as indeed we hadn't yet, then once he had got us out of the way he would stand a reasonable chance of continuing to lead a normal life. Provided, of course, he managed to escape blame for our murders. If anyone else did know, then his best bet was to kill us straight away and take the first plane to South America.

Either way we ended up dead. I just didn't want my last act to be giving in to Daniel. But he was right. Lisa would tell him the truth, once she saw him pointing a gun at me.

I thought through again what Daniel had done over the previous few weeks. I had pieced most of it together, but I wanted to fill in the gaps. 'Did Enever have anything to do with Frank's death?' I asked.

Daniel laughed. 'No. Of course not. I thought about asking him for help, but there was really no need. He was doing everything he could to ignore any evidence that neuroxil-5 was dangerous. I think he just couldn't accept the idea that there might be a problem.'

'But Frank knew there was something wrong?'

'Yeah. He met some doctor in Rhode Island who was going to make trouble.'

'Why did you have to kill them? Was it because you'd borrowed money from the loan sharks Sergei Delesov introduced you to?'

'It was worse than that. I'd told them BioOne was a sure thing. The day afterward, huge volume went through in the stock. Millions of dollars. If the bad news had broken about neuroxil-5 when they were still invested, I'd have been dead meat.'

'But they got out?'

'Yep. Thanks to your warning, I got them out in time, as well as myself.'

'And everyone was happy.'

'I wouldn't say they were exactly happy with me. It was hairy there for a while. I don't think we'll be doing business together again, shall we say. But I'm still alive.'

'Yes.' I looked at him squarely. 'You are. But quite a few other people aren't.'

He just grunted.

I thought through what must have happened. 'You changed dinner to brunch with Jeff in New York, and came back to Boston that afternoon to murder Frank?'

Daniel smiled thinly. 'Very clever. I even had time to get the last flight back from Logan to New York. The hotel could vouch that I spent the weekend there.'

'And afterwards you used my spare apartment keys to let yourself in to plant the gun in my closet?'

'Seemed like a good idea,' Daniel smiled smugly. 'It nearly worked.'

'Who killed Dr Catarro?'

'The Russians. And they were the ones who were supposed to deal with you.'

'What about John? Why did you kill him?'

'I had to. He'd remembered something Frank told him about neuroxil-5. He called me to ask about it. He said he'd called you, and you were coming round to his apartment to talk to him about it. I knew I had to shut him up, and quick.'

'So you shot him in the back?'

'Hey, this isn't the Wild West. I did what I had to do to survive. There's nothing wrong in that.'

'Nothing wrong in that!' I exclaimed in amazement.

'Simon. I'm alive, and I'll do what's necessary to stay that way'

It was difficult to think of Daniel as a murderer. Thin, pale, nerdish, he looked more at home with a keyboard than a gun. But I knew Daniel. He was greedy, and he was overconfident in his own abilities. That was how he had found himself in a position where it was either Frank or him. And Daniel had quite a self-centred morality. He'd go for himself any day. If he thought he wasn't going to get caught, and if the alternative was some Russian killing him, I could imagine him resorting to murder.

And once he'd done it once, he had to do it again.

We sat in silence, waiting for Lisa. She had said she wanted to be home before Gardner Phillips called back at eleven fifteen. I remembered all the times Lisa had been late in the past. Please, God, please let her be late just one more time.

The percolator was bubbling away in the kitchen.

'Shall I get your coffee?'

'Leave it! Stay where you are.'

I stayed where I was. The clock between us ticked louder and louder against the wall. Daniel was trying to stay cool, but he was finding it difficult. He was fidgeting, and a film of sweat was building up on his upper lip.

I was finding it difficult too. My earlier bravado, when I had dared Daniel to shoot me, was hard to maintain. I didn't want to die now, especially after all I had been through in the last couple of months to avoid first prison, and then a bullet. Just when I had sorted my life out, it was going to end. Because of Daniel. The bastard! John had been right about him all along.

Half past ten.

The phone rang. A loud, pre-digital, old-fashioned clanging sound. Gardner Phillips. I moved towards it.

'Stay where you are!' Daniel snapped. 'Leave it!'

So I left it. Both of us stared at the telephone as it cried shrilly for attention. Phillips was persistent, that was for sure. Thirty rings. I counted them subconsciously. But finally it went quiet. Daniel relaxed.

My mind raced. I hadn't told Phillips where I was, just the phone number. With the help of the police, he should be able to figure out the address from that. He could have the cops here in twenty minutes.

But why should he? I had said it was urgent, not a matter of life or death. He'd wait half an hour and call again.

In half an hour I'd be dead.

Quarter to eleven. As the time grew nearer when Daniel would shoot me, so also did the chance that Lisa might not return until after his deadline. She might survive. Oh God, please let her survive.

Five to eleven.

Then I saw her. She must have come back along the path through the woods. She was approaching the house from the side, the side I was facing, but in a few seconds she would pass right in front of the big living room window, and Daniel couldn't fail to see her. Unless I distracted him.

I kept my eyes on Daniel, but through my peripheral vision I could see her getting closer and closer. She was smiling, trying to catch my attention: she couldn't see there was another person in the room yet.

When she was a couple of yards from the window, I made my move.

'I need that coffee,' I said.

Then deliberately, but not quickly enough to scare him, I stood up, and moved across the room towards the kitchen.

'I said stay where you are!' Daniel's eyes followed me.

I remembered that Daniel had shot both Frank and John in the back. Perhaps he was squeamish about shooting a friend face-to-face.

I walked on, slowly, my hands up in a calming gesture. 'OK. You can keep me covered. But I need that coffee.'

'Stay there, or I'll shoot!'

I could feel sweat breaking out all over me. He meant it. The bastard meant it.

Through the window, which Daniel was now turned away from, I could sense as much as see Lisa. I knew that the slightest flicker of my eyes towards her would cause Daniel to turn, and then we'd both be dead. I sensed she stopped. She saw Daniel, and then she ducked out of sight.

'OK, OK,' I said, and slowly moved back towards the chair.

'Simon. I'm going to kill you, you know that,' said Daniel. 'I don't want to do it quite yet, but I will if you give me no choice.'

I sat in the chair again to wait. I wondered what Lisa would do. Get the hell out of here, and call the cops, I hoped. I glanced at the old grandfather clock. Only two minutes to go. Too late for her to save me. But time for her to save herself and our child.

My own death, now just over a minute away, suddenly seemed very real. Of course I was frightened. But somehow, the knowledge that Lisa and the baby would survive gave me some strength. Strength enough to die.

Daniel, realizing that his self-imposed deadline was fast approaching, seemed to be steeling himself. He was tense, sweating. He didn't like doing this.

The clock struck eleven.

Daniel stood up. He licked his lips. The gun was held out in front of him, shaking.

'I guess she didn't come back,' he said.

'It doesn't look like it.'

I watched him calmly.

'Stand up!'

I stood up.

'Turn around.'

I didn't move. If I was going to die, it would be standing up, facing my assassin. I wasn't going to beg for mercy. Lisa had escaped. And our baby. And now I was going to die with simple honour. In these final moments of my life, that mattered to me.

'I said, turn around!'

Daniel almost screamed. I held his eyes. He wasn't enjoying this one bit, and I was glad.

Just then a car engine burst into life. I recognized the low growl of the Morgan's V8 engine. Lisa was going to get away! He couldn't stop her now.

'What's that? Lisa?'

I nodded and smiled.

Daniel licked his lips. 'Did she come back? Did she see me?' His voice rose in something close to panic. Outside, the car was put into gear.

'You bastard!' he said and raised his gun.

Outside the car engine revved and then slowed. Through the wooden walls of the house we could hear it growl and then explode, rushing towards us.

'What the fuck!' Daniel turned towards the wall of the living room. There was an almighty crash, and the house rocked. The wall erupted, and the dark green nose of the Morgan burst into the room. Wood flew everywhere, a chunk dealing Daniel a glancing blow.

I leaped.

He regained his balance and fired. I felt a sharp burn on my stomach, and was on him. He was thin and wiry, and fighting for his life. I was strong, and bigger than him, and fighting for mine. I grabbed the hand holding the revolver. Two more shots rang out, each smashing harmlessly into a wall. I beat his hand against the floor until he let go of the gun. I grabbed it, and belted him over the head with the butt. He slumped on to the floor.

I rushed over to the Morgan, which was half-in and half-out of the house. Steam was hissing out of the engine. The whole front of the car was concertinaed upwards. The windscreen was cracked but still intact. And behind the wheel was Lisa, motionless.

I was seized with panic. She was leaning back in the seat, a cut on her head bleeding heavily. She was still, her eyes shut. On her lap was an inflated life jacket, which she must have grabbed from the boathouse to cushion the impact.

'Lisa! Are you all right?'

Nothing.

I touched her gently on the shoulder, afraid of making an unseen injury worse. She didn't respond. I wanted to grab her, shake her back to consciousness, but I knew I shouldn't. So I stroked her face. 'Lisa! Lisa! Speak to me!'

She moved slightly and groaned. Her eyelids flickered. Relief flooded through me.

'Oh, Lisa, are you hurt? Please tell me you're not hurt!'

She shook her head. 'I don't think so,' she whispered.

I helped her out of the car and pulled her close to me.

'What about the baby?'

'I… I don't know.' She buried her face in my shoulder.

'Thank you,' I said, holding her tight. She had risked her life and our child's life for mine. I couldn't ask for more than that.

She pulled back, and tried to smile. 'I didn't want our baby to grow up without a father.'