Sight Unseen

SIXTEEN

Booking a flight to Jersey was the easy part. The hard part for Umber – much harder – was knowing what to do when he got there. Sharp's plan had been to put some pressure on Jeremy Hall while his father was away and see what resulted. Whether the people who had framed Sharp for drugs smuggling had anticipated such a move was unclear. What was clear was that they must have followed Sharp to Portsmouth and hence had probably been following him for some time. The same might apply to Umber himself, despite his certainty that no-one had followed him to Kintbury. Walsh had seemed surprised to see him aboard Wisby's boat, but that could have been play-acting, at which the man was something of an expert.

In the final analysis, it hardly mattered. They could easily guess how Umber would react to news of Sharp's arrest. He could not seriously hope to travel to Jersey undetected. He was not sure he even wanted to. Stealth and caution had landed Sharp in prison and Umber in a predicament he could see no obvious way out of. It was time to step into the open – and see who might be waiting for him.

'Make sure they don't pull the same stunt on you,' was Larter's farewell piece of advice the following morning. 'Don't let anyone near your bag or your pockets.'

Crossing London at the start of the working day made it virtually impossible to follow such advice, but Umber reached Victoria confident no-one had planted anything on him. The painkillers he had taken and the beer he had drunk the night before were ganging up to undermine his watchfulness, however. He fell comprehensively asleep aboard the Gatwick Express and stumbled onto the Airport Transit in a daze, conducting a fuddled search of himself and his bag as he went.

Two hours later, he was hurrying through an unattended Green Channel on arrival at Jersey Airport. He exited the terminal into more of the dazzling sunlight and chilling breeze he had encountered on leaving the plane and made straight for the head of the taxi rank.

Umber had never been to Jersey before. The view he had from the taxi during the drive to St Helier was of an undulating, daffodil-spattered English landscape, with French place names and architectural styles grafted on – a pretty island, but a small one nonetheless: that had been apparent from the air. Oliver Hall had settled there because of its tax-haven status, but maybe he had found another kind of haven in the process and his son along with him. And maybe now their seclusion was about to come to an end.

The approach to St Helier was a busy main road round a wide, south-facing bay, with the rooftops of the town, the lofty ramparts of Fort Regent and the piers and derricks of the harbour growing ever closer ahead. Umber had asked to be taken straight to the offices of Le Templier & Burnouf of Hill Street. He had not thought much further ahead than what he meant to do there, which included learning all he could about Sharp's prospects. He had a strong suspicion they were far from bright.

It was lunchtime in St Helier, the pavements crowded, the traffic thick. The taxi stopped and started and eventually reached Umber's destination: a brass-plaqued legal practice in an elegant Georgian building opposite the Parish Church.

Umber had half-hoped Sharp's solicitor, Nigel Burnouf, might be lunching in the office and would agree to see him there and then, but it was not to be. The receptionist told him to come back at 2.30.

He filled the hour and a bit this left him with by booking himself into the nearest hotel – the Pomme d'Or in Liberation Square – and doing a small amount of research on the Halls. Oliver was not listed in the Jersey telephone directory, which came as no surprise. But Jeremy was less shy. His entry gave an address in le Quai Bisson, St Aubin, an address he shared, according to the Yellow Pages, with Rollers Sail & Surf School. The map lodged with the stationery in Umber's room showed St Aubin to be a village a few miles back round the coast. And the timetable in the bus station right opposite the hotel promised a half-hourly service in that direction. Tracking down Jeremy Hall would clearly not have tested Sharp – if he had ever had the chance.

Back at Le Templier & Burnouf promptly at 2.30, Umber was sent straight into Nigel Burnouf's office.

Burnouf was a plump, placid, middle-aged man with sandy hair, gold-framed spectacles and a reassuring air of unflustered efficiency.

'I was a little surprised when Janet said I was to expect you, Mr Umber,' he said after they had shaken hands and sat down. 'Didn't you get my message?'

'Oh, I got it, yes.'

'And proceeded to ignore it. Well, I confess the possibility you might do so had occurred to me. As I suspect it has to Mr Sharp.'

'I'm here to do whatever it takes to get him out of trouble.'

'That's rather a tall order, I'm afraid. He was caught red-handed. We need a witness who saw a third party plant the material on his van – or a confession by said party. I'm not holding my breath.'

'You do understand he was definitely framed, don't you?'

'It's what he tells me. And he's certainly an unlikely candidate for drugs smuggling. But facts are facts. It would help me if you could suggest who might have framed him – and why.'

'Hasn't George come up with a name?'

'No. Though I have the feeling there is a name. Could you enlighten me, perhaps?'

Sharp had said nothing about the Halls. It seemed, in fact, that he had said nothing at all beyond protesting his innocence. Umber had guessed it would be so. In the circumstances he could only follow Sharp's lead. 'There's nothing I can tell you at the moment. I need to… make a few enquiries.'

'Thus exposing yourself to those risks Mr Sharp is so anxious you shouldn't run?'

'I'll be careful.'

'Do you want me to tell him that? Or will you do so yourself? I can arrange for you to visit him.'

'I'll hold off on that, thanks. In fact…'

'You'd rather he didn't know you were here?'

'Well… yes.'

'You're not asking me to deceive my client, are you, Mr Umber?'

'No. But you don't have to volunteer information, do you?'

Burnouf considered the question for a moment, then said, 'I suppose not.'

'He'd only worry about me.'

'And he already has plenty to worry about. Point taken.'

'How is he?'

'Much as you'd expect. Imprisonment comes hard to a man of his age and former occupation. On the other hand, La Moye isn't Pentonville. His problem is time. It hangs heavy. And it's likely to go on doing so. He'll reappear before the magistrates next week, when a further and lengthier remand in custody is more or less inevitable.'

'No chance of bail?'

'Realistically, none. Drugs smugglers are notorious for jumping bail, I'm afraid.'

'And when will the case come to trial?'

'Not for several months at least.' Burnouf leaned forward. 'The best way to help your friend in the meantime, Mr Umber, is to let me have any information that's even marginally relevant. For instance, if Mr Sharp didn't come to Jersey for the purpose of trafficking in drugs, why did he come?'

'What does he say?'

'Nothing.' Burnouf smiled wanly. 'Rather like you.'

'I do have something that might help, as a matter of fact.'

'You do?'

'This.' Umber took a sealed envelope out of his pocket and placed it on Burnouf's desk.

'What is it?'

'A statement, I suppose you'd call it. My record of certain recent events not unconnected with what's happened to George.'

'You want me to read it?'

'No. That is, not unless… I should happen to meet with a fatal accident.'

Burnouf's eyes widened. 'Aren't you being rather… melodramatic?'

'I hope so. But I have good reason to doubt it. So, just in case…' Umber patted the envelope. 'The contents may be enough to get George off. I'm not sure. They'll give you some material for his defence, anyway.'

'I see.' Burnouf picked up the envelope. 'Or, rather, I don't.'

'I'm sorry I can't say any more.'

'So am I.'

'You'll hold onto the statement for me?'

'If those are your instructions.'

'They are.'

'Very well, then.' Burnouf took a roll of Sellotape out of his desk drawer, tore off a strip and stuck it over the flap of the envelope. Then he tore off a couple more strips and stuck them over the envelope's seams. 'Sign across the seals, would you, Mr Umber?' He proffered a pen. Umber obliged. 'Your receipt.' Burnouf hastily filled in a form and handed it over. 'All done.'

'Thanks.' Umber rose to leave.

'Where are you staying?' Burnouf asked as he saw him out.

'The Pomme d'Or.'

'Nice hotel. Quite a history attached to it, actually. If you go along to the Occupation Museum, you can see film of the crowds gathered outside the Pomme to celebrate the end of German rule, with British troops sitting on the balcony waving -' Burnouf broke off. 'Sorry. I'm talking as if you're a tourist.'

'Jersey's changed a lot since the War, I imagine,' said Umber, feeling he had to respond in some way.

'Enormously. And not necessarily for the better, according to my father and quite a few of his generation.' Burnouf smiled. 'Tax exiles from the mainland are the problem, apparently. They've brought a lot of money to the island. And lucrative employment for the likes of me. But they've brought their troubles with them as well.' He looked Umber in the eye. 'I have a funny feeling you know that, though.'

Umber had not enjoyed holding out on Burnouf, but he did not regret it either. He did not know exactly what to allege or who to allege it against. He needed evidence. And only the truth seemed likely to furnish it. But the truth was as elusive as ever. The statement he had lodged with Burnouf proved nothing. Yet it was all he had to show for his and Sharp's efforts. He had to learn more – and soon.

The number 15 bus dropped him in the centre of St Aubin, a smart, bustling seaside town clustered round a harbour filled with yachts and motorboats clinking at their moorings in the late-afternoon sun. He asked directions of a passer-by and was pointed along the harbourside boulevard to the first turning.

Le Quai Bisson was a narrow side-street leading to several old stone warehouses functioning as small business premises. The doors of Rollers Sail & Surf were firmly closed, the small office to the rear locked and unattended. The place had a pre-season look about it, with last year's tide tables still displayed in

the office window.

A steep flight of steps led up beside the warehouse to a higher road. Halfway up the steps was the entrance to the flat which the roof area of the building had been converted into. Umber could hear the bass output of an amplifier within. He took an optimistic stab at the bell. No response. He tried again, adding a rattle of the letterbox for good measure.

The door opened suddenly to a gust of heavy metal and a blank stare from a slightly built young woman dressed in black combat trousers and a purple T-shirt. Dark, straggly hair fell either side of her narrow face, in which a vermilion slash of lipstick was the only trace of colour. The shadows beneath her eyes and the pallor of her skin did not suggest sailing and surfing were recreations she often indulged in.

'Hi,' she said with a lop-sided grin.

'Jeremy in?'

'Not right now.'

'Are you expecting him back soon?'

'Yeah. But that doesn't mean it'll happen. Is this… business?'

'Not exactly. He knows me from a long time back. I'm David Umber.'

'Umber? You said Umber?' She looked genuinely incredulous.

'That's right.'

'Fuck me. The Shadow Man.'

'What?'

'Never thought you'd show up. Bloody hell. I'm Chantelle, by the way.' The name went some way, Umber supposed, to explain the hint of a French accent. 'Do you want to come in?'

'OK. Thanks.' He stepped into a narrow hallway. A tiny kitchen and a scarcely bigger bathroom were to the right. To the left was a large lounge-diner-bedroom with dormer windows to either side and a Catherine-wheel window set in the gable at the front of the warehouse, through which there was a sparkling blue glimpse of the harbour between the opposite rooftops.

'Fancy a tea?' asked Chantelle.

'Sure.'

'I've just made some.' She stepped into the kitchen to fetch her mug and fill one for him. It was easy to believe, given the state of the bed and the dining table, that the tea had been intended to round off her breakfast. Umber edged his way to the hi-fi tower perched amidst the general chaos and nudged down the volume.

'There you go.' She was waiting with his mug as he turned round. He took it from her with a sheepish grin. 'Sorry the place is such a mess.'

'Don't worry about it.'

She cleared a drift of magazines and CDs from the couch so that he could sit down, then folded a blanket back over the unmade bed and plonked herself on the end of it, mug cradled in both hands as she looked at him with almost comic intensity.

'What's this about Shadow Man?' he asked.

'Oh, it's what Jem calls you. On account of your name. Umber. From the Latin for shadow, isn't it?'

'Yes. It is. But I'm surprised… Jem… talks about me at all.'

'Are you really surprised? I mean, it was quite a thing, what happened to his sisters. It stays with him. He likes to talk about it sometimes. Can't stop himself, to tell the truth. Not that I want him to.'

'How long have you known him?'

'About six months.' She smiled. 'Best six months of my life.'

'That's nice to hear.'

'Yeah.' She looked bashful, then said, 'So, what's brought you here?'

'It's, er, complicated. No offence intended, but it'd be best if I spoke to Jem about it.'

'Understood. But you could tell me about yourself, I suppose.' She grinned. 'Unless that's classified information.'

Umber chuckled. 'Boring, but not classified.'

'Great. So -' She broke off as the throaty roar of a motorbike engine half-drowned the music. 'Hold on. That sounds like him now.' She leaned across the bed for a view through the nearest window. 'Yeah. Thought so.'

A few moments later the front door opened and a tall, broad-shouldered man entered at a slight stoop, then froze in mid-stride at the sight of Umber.

Jeremy Hall was barely recognizable as the small boy Umber had first seen at Avebury twenty-three years previously. He was in his early thirties now, a tanned and muscular figure in red and black motorcycling leathers, his fair hair curlier than in childhood, his eyes a greyer shade of blue. There was certainty in his steely gaze. He knew who Umber was. Alarmingly, there was also a simmer of anger. He knew – and he was far from pleased.

'Guess who,' chirruped Chantelle.

Jeremy set down his crash helmet and gauntlets on the hall table, then stepped slowly into the room.

Umber rose cautiously from the couch. 'I'm sorry not to have phoned ahead,' he ventured. 'This must be a bit of a shock for you.'

'Aren't you going to say hello, Jemmy?' put in Chantelle, her smile stiffening. 'It's the -'

'Shadow Man.' Jeremy's voice was cold and hard. 'I know. David Umber.' He nodded. 'I've been expecting him.'

Chantelle blinked in surprise. 'Expecting him? You never said.'

'Do me a favour, sugar.' Jeremy took a coin out of his pocket and flicked it onto the bed. 'Pop down to the shop and buy an Evening Post.'

'My tea will get cold.'

'Just go.'

Chantelle flinched at the harshness of his tone and blushed slightly. She leaned forward and picked up the coin. Then, without looking once at Umber, she put down her mug, stood up and walked out of the room. She glanced at Jeremy as she passed him and laid a hand gently on his arm, but he only jerked his head towards the door.

A second later it had closed behind Chantelle, leaving the two men alone together.

'I had a call from the old man,' Jeremy cut in before Umber could say a word. 'Warned me you might pull something like this.'

'I only want to -'

'Dig up a load of stuff that's best forgotten. I know what you only want.'

'It's far from forgotten by you – according to Chantelle.'

'Leave her out of it.'

'Suits me.'

'There's nothing I can tell you about Sally.'

'Who said I meant to ask you about Sally?'

'What, then? No.' Jeremy shook his head. 'I'm not getting into this. Not here. Not now.'

'I don't know what your father said, but -'

'Here's the deal. The only deal you'll get from me. You're staying in St Helier?'

'Yes.'

'I'll meet you there tomorrow afternoon at La Fregate. It's a cafe on the seafront, shaped like a capsized boat. You can't miss it. Be there at four.'

'All right. But why can't we -'

'Shut up.' Jeremy levelled a threatening finger at Umber. 'We're playing to my rules, not yours, OK? It's tomorrow or nothing.'

'OK.' Umber tried to sound calmer than he felt. Why his unannounced visit had so enraged Jeremy he did not understand. But he could imagine that rage tipping over into violence all too easily. And his experiences of Monday night had left him with a strong sense of his physical vulnerability. He had not realized how acute that sense was until this moment. 'Tomorrow afternoon it is.'

'Now…' Jeremy moved to the front door and yanked it open. 'Get out.'

Umber noticed a tremor in his hands as he walked past Jeremy's motorbike and out beside the warehouse towards the harbour. The encounter had affected him more than he would have expected. He would have to pull himself together before he met Jeremy again. Seizing the initiative from the younger man would otherwise be beyond him.

He turned onto the Boulevard and made for the bus stop. It lay just beyond the road junction in the centre of the town. As he neared the junction, he spotted Chantelle making her way across it, a newspaper clutched in her hand. In the same instant, she spotted him and pulled up abruptly, then swivelled on her heel and headed for the higher road that would take her to the top of the steps above the flat. By the time Umber reached the junction, she had vanished from sight.