Wheel of Fire

Six

Bella Fairbrother was elegant, assured, well dressed, and bristled with self-confidence. Vogel knew her to be thirty-nine years old. He thought she probably looked younger, and in some ways behaved as if she was older. She had only very recently heard of her father’s violent death in a fire, but was certainly displaying little or no sign of distress. Her expression was entirely non-committal. Everything about her indicated cool containment. Almost certainly she was accustomed to giving little away of her inner feelings. Superficially, her manner reminded Vogel of his old boss when he’d been in the Met. Only, the preposterously named Nobby Clarke was a tall blonde woman. Bella Fairbrother was of average height, with a full head of tumbling brunette hair which fell over her shoulders in a style Vogel thought would probably be considered rather old fashioned. It suited her though, and Vogel felt sure it would prove to be the only remotely old-fashioned thing about the thoroughly modern Miss Fairbrother.

‘Very pleased to meet you, detective inspector,’ said Bella, offering a perfectly manicured hand, in a manner which seemed almost to suggest that he should kiss it. Now that would be old fashioned, thought Vogel. And in the current climate could land him in jail, too.

‘I am sorry for your loss,’ said Vogel, taking the extended hand in his firmest handshake.

‘Don’t be, detective inspector,’ responded Bella. ‘As far as I am concerned, my father was a bigot and totally set in his ways. He and I have always had a difficult relationship, and for some time now, since I resigned as his deputy at Fairbrother International, we’ve had hardly any contact at all, which has suited both of us.’

Vogel was surprised, both by her frankness and her vehement manner.

‘That sounds quite harsh, Miss Fairbrother,’ Vogel responded mildly.

‘Does it? Yes, well, nothing to how harsh he could be. Nonetheless, I am, of course, shocked by what happened. I wouldn’t wish death in a fire on anyone. Obviously.’

‘Obviously,’ replied Vogel. ‘Could I ask you please when you last saw your father?’

‘Of course. It must have been a couple of months after I resigned. We were both invited to the same drinks reception in the City. We passed the time of day in a civilised manner; you have to keep appearances up if you’re a Fairbrother. But that was all. In effect, we barely spoke.’

‘Might I also ask what caused your estrangement from your father, Miss Fairbrother, and why you quit the family bank.’

‘I’m sorry, DI Vogel, I really don’t see what that has to do with the matter in hand.’

‘Miss Fairbrother,’ said Vogel firmly, ‘the fire officers called to Blackdown Manor last night strongly suspect that the blaze which destroyed the house and killed your father was started deliberately. Arson is being investigated. Therefore, I am conducting a murder inquiry. Actually, an inquiry into a double murder. As far as I am concerned at the moment, everything concerning anybody close to or related to either of the deceased could have a bearing on the case. Now, will you please answer the question.’

Bella Fairbrother looked genuinely shocked. ‘Murder?’ she said, turning the one word into a question. ‘The two officers who came to tell me the news this morning did say that investigations into the cause of the fire were on-going. But well, I suppose I didn’t take it in really. I mean, arson? Oh my God. I guess I just thought that was procedure in the event of deaths in a fire. I didn’t realise...’

She didn’t finish the sentence.

‘Miss Fairbrother, will you please answer my question,’ Vogel repeated.

He had already realised that this woman was never going to be easy to deal with. She was independent, feisty, and clearly a real handful. But none of that indicated that she might have any involvement with the fire at Blackdown Manor, nor indeed necessarily any relevant information to supply. But Vogel intended to make absolutely sure.

‘Of course,’ said Bella Fairbrother, although she still sounded a tad reluctant. ‘It was business really. Well, everything with my father was business. That was what he lived for. He made me deputy chair but expected me just to follow his lead and do what he said. He wanted me to be like all the other Fairbrother women throughout history, subservient and totally obedient to their men. He was never interested in my ideas, and rarely inclined to share his. Neither did he allow me to become fully aware of everything that he was doing, and what was being done in the name of Fairbrother International. I found out about certain of our banking investments in Third World countries that made Barclays look like philanthropists. There was also some extremely dubious hedge fund investment. My father wouldn’t discuss anything with me. I was beginning to feel like a puppet. The final straw came when he took it upon himself to make it clear that he had no intention of ever handing Fairbrother’s over to me. I would never get to run the company. It transpired he had drawn up a plan for succession which barely included me. And he told me he didn’t see why I should mind, after all I was a girl, and girls wouldn’t ever be proper bankers.’

Bella Fairbrother paused and took a deep breath.

‘My father was a dinosaur, Mr Vogel,’ she continued. ‘A very ruthless one. Perhaps you understand now why I distanced myself from him, and why I shall not be crying at his funeral.’

‘I couldn’t comment on that, Miss Fairbrother,’ said Vogel. ‘But, may I say, even now after his death, you do seem very angry.’

‘I am angry, Mr Vogel,’ said Bella. ‘My father kept such a tight rein on the affairs of the bank, it wasn’t just me who was kept in the dark half the time. He never trusted his own board fully. They are now frantically trying to sort out the numerous complex financial arrangements he had unilaterally executed. And if my father were still alive, Mr Vogel, he would tell you that is the way he would always work.’

‘I see,’ said Vogel.

‘Do you?’ queried Bella Fairbrother. ‘Look, Mr Vogel, I am going to take you into my confidence here. I may as well because, unless there’s a miracle, all this is going to come out sooner or later. I had a meeting with Ben Travis, the company secretary and Jimmy Martins, the deputy chairman, this afternoon. That’s why I didn’t get here until now. Fairbrother’s is a huge and historic business. Millions of people’s livelihoods worldwide depend on our family company, both directly and indirectly. I realise it must be difficult for someone like you to comprehend a concept of this magnitude, but if Fairbrother’s were to go under the repercussions would be catastrophic.’

Bella Fairbrother paused. Vogel blinked rapidly behind his spectacles. He always did when he felt uncomfortable. But he was actually far more embarrassed for the young woman addressing him, who obviously had no idea how she appeared to others, than he was for himself. Vogel knew well enough when he was being patronised, and he didn’t take to it kindly. Nonetheless, Bella Fairbrother was correct in her clear assumption that he was unfamiliar with international finance, and indeed had little grasp of how the possible collapse of the Fairbrother family bank might affect businesses and individuals across the globe. He was however extremely familiar with the consequences of greed and of misuse of power at all levels of society. Therefore, he did his best to appear both dispassionate and expressionless, apart from the rapid blinking which he felt confident Miss Bella Fairbrother was far too self-obsessed to notice, whilst continuing to concentrate his mind totally on everything she had to say.

‘As soon as they heard the news of my father’s death early this morning a board meeting was called,’ Bella Fairbrother continued. ‘Martins and Travis set about making provision for trade to continue as usual with Martins as temporary chair until someone could be appointed in the proper way. Jimmy Martins has already made it pretty clear he will not be prepared to take over as chairman on a permanent basis. And I don’t blame him. Being deputy chair to my father was a bit like trying to co-pilot an aircraft whilst wearing a blindfold. It is going to be very difficult indeed for anyone to take over the running of the bank from my father. He wove a tangled web, Mr Vogel. There were accounts and investments worldwide to which only he had access. In some cases, only he knew of their existence. Half the time he didn’t even follow proper Companies House procedure. Of course, most members of the board were aware of this, whatever they might say now, but if you wanted to remain in a senior position at Fairbrother’s you simply did as you were told.

‘When they learned that he was seriously ill, about five or six months ago, Travis and Martins and the board found themselves in a pretty pickle. And they still didn’t know what to do about it. In name, at least, my father remained chairman and chief executive, and nobody quite had the balls to overthrow him. Although he eventually stopped coming into the office, he was on the phone all the time, conference calls and so on, making sure things were still done his way. And he continued to control all the fundamental data concerning the business. In spite of his illness, he always remained confident of his own ability to deal with any situation.

‘But he was a maverick, Mr Vogel. And, now, well, without the sheer magnitude and extraordinary power of his personality, without his ability to juggle, when others would have no idea how to, nobody knows quite how to get out of the hole he seems to have dug for Fairbrother’s. It is possible that the bank may have to cease trading, or at the very least be subjected to a hostile takeover.’

‘You are being very frank, Miss Fairbrother,’ said Vogel, who genuinely had not expected so much information to be so freely offered.

‘I am afraid everything I have just shared with you will become public knowledge in the very near future unless I — and I really believe it is going to be down to me — can find a way of sorting out this mess and come up with a plan to save Fairbrother’s,’ responded Bella. ‘And that is going to take some doing, I can tell you, detective inspector.’

‘I see,’ said Vogel.

Bella Fairbrother took in a deep intake of breath and let it out very slowly.

‘It’s all just so awful,’ she said eventually, showing the first sign of any emotion since Vogel had met her. ‘I can’t believe that Blackdown Manor has gone. It was such a beautiful house, full of beautiful things. I grew up there, of course. And I had a very happy upbringing too, until my father decided to chuck my mother out and move in that tart he later married. After that it was sheer misery, probably why my brother turned out the way he did, too.’

Bella Fairbrother sounded bitter. And angry again.

‘Miss Fairbrother, you are clearly not sorry that your father is dead, you have made no secret of that,’ said Vogel. ‘I wonder if you actually desired his death.’

Bella Fairbrother laughed briefly. It was a laugh without mirth.

‘Not enough to kill him, or to have him killed, if that’s what you are suggesting, detective inspector,’ she said.

‘I would not dream of suggesting any such thing without appropriate evidence,’ said Vogel deadpan.

‘No, well, in any case, I had known for some time what a mess he was going to leave behind him. And, I also knew that my father would die sooner rather than later of natural causes. Whether or not I wanted him dead is irrelevant. I only had to wait a few months. In any case, I am a senior executive of a major bank, Mr Vogel, and I have every reason to believe that when the present chief executive takes retirement within the next year or so I shall be offered that position. I am only stepping in to assist Fairbrother’s at this stage because I have been asked to do so by the board, because I have a greater knowledge of how my father ran things than anyone else And I do not want Fairbrother’s to go under, obviously. It is my family heritage.’

‘Yes indeed,’ murmured Vogel. ‘I wonder, speaking of heritage. Have you been in touch with your brother at all? We need to speak to him too, of course.’

‘I don’t see why, he’s not been near our father for years. Not even been in this country for years either, as far as I know.’

‘Miss Fairbrother, I am not at all clear who or what is going to benefit from your father’s death. You paint a picture of possible collapse as far as the bank is concerned. But as a rule, when a wealthy man is murdered, excepting crimes of passion, there is usually a financial motive. That is why I need to speak to your brother, and to any other surviving family members.’

Bella Fairbrother sighed.

‘All I have is a mobile phone number for Freddie,’ she said. ‘He does call me occasionally, and me him. But at the moment it’s just ringing out. I’ll give you the number.’

Bella reached into her bag for her phone.

‘Thank you,’ said Vogel. ‘Of course, your father’s death, and the fact that it’s a suspicious death, is already in the press and on the net. Your brother is bound to hear of it, so he will surely get in touch with you then. Or even the police.’

‘I wouldn’t bet on it,’ said Bella Fairbrother. ‘My brother is not like other men.’