Web of Lies by Sally Rigby (classic novels for teens txt) 📗

fifteen years ago, when he was in town for a party Sarah had given to celebrate her parents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary. When he arrived, he was surprised that the 16th century pub was exactly as he remembered it and hadn’t been updated.

He walked in and, even though he hadn’t seen him for many years, he straight away recognised Edgar, sitting in the corner with a drink on the table in front of him. There was a definite family resemblance between him and his older brother. They both had a full head of thick grey hair, were stockily built, and around five feet nine inches in height.

He stopped at the bar, got himself a pint, and then headed over.

‘Good to see you,’ Edgar said, standing.

‘You too, despite the circumstances.’ Seb shook his hand and sat opposite.

‘How’s Sarah coping?’

‘Haven’t you been in touch with her?’

‘To be honest, no. We kept away.’ He couldn’t meet Seb’s eyes.

Feeling guilty? He should be.

‘She could do with some support, Edgar. Especially from family who are likely to be more understanding of the situation, and you’ve already told me she knew nothing about what Donald had done.’

‘I’ll mention it to my wife, Celia, and see what she says. She might agree, but I wouldn’t bank on it. We’re still reeling over what has happened to us. He’s left us virtually penniless.’

‘Do you mind if I record our interview?’ He could remember it all verbatim, but Birdie might like to listen to what Edgar had to say.

‘For what purpose?’ he asked, frowning.

‘It’s for my partner. I wanted to speak to you alone as we know each other. I can assure you it won’t be used for anything else. I’ll delete it once she’s listened.’

‘Okay, you have my permission.’

Seb took out his phone, clicked on record and placed it in the middle of the table.

‘You invested a lot of money with Donald. How did you first get involved?’

‘He was doing really well at a time when the bank interest rate was heading towards zero. After discussing this with Donald, he suggested I invest with him as he could get me a good return on my investment. I trusted him, so I did. Each quarter I received a healthy dividend.’

‘According to his records, you invested another large amount with him at the beginning of this year.’

Edgar picked up his glass took a long drink. ‘That’s correct. He asked me to invest some more … because he had this big deal coming up and he wanted to include me as family.’

What wasn’t he telling him?

‘And you agreed to do it?’

‘I’d have been foolish not to and at the time I was still getting my quarterly returns.’

‘What happened?’

‘A couple of months in, the dividend from my existing investment didn’t appear and there was nothing coming from the new one, so I asked for my money back. He said no, because it was all tied up. What I didn’t know until after his death was that he’d lost all my money.’

‘How much did you invest with Donald in total?’ Although he knew from the records, he wanted to double-check everything had been recorded.

‘Three hundred and fifty thousand. One hundred thousand initially and then a further two hundred and fifty. The dividends from the original investment have always gone towards the children’s school fees, and I thought the additional dividends would help, as their fees increase annually.’ He bowed his head. ‘The children have to leave their school at the end of this academic year. I could just about manage to scrape enough money to pay for the last term, but not now. We’re in dire straits.’

‘What about your house?’

‘I have a large mortgage on it which I’m struggling to service. I took out a second mortgage to cover some renovations a couple of years ago. We’ve always lived well. We’d go skiing twice a year and take a holiday in the Caribbean. Without my investments, I don’t earn enough to cover our expenses. Celia is barely talking to me at the moment.’

‘Why? It wasn’t your fault. You can’t be held responsible for Donald’s actions.’

‘She … she … didn’t know about the latest investment.’

Ah ha … that’s why he was acting strangely.

‘Why didn’t you discuss it with her?’

‘Donald wanted a decision immediately, and she was away with some friends on a no-contact spa week. He was most insistent.’

‘May I ask where you got the money from to invest? Two hundred and fifty thousand is a lot of money to get your hands on at short notice.’

‘A variety of places. I had money in savings accounts, and I sold most of my share portfolio.’

‘You work as an accountant in Leicester, I believe.’

How could someone with such financial acumen find themselves in a situation like this?

‘Ironic, isn’t it? No one understands how I managed to get caught out.’

‘Did you have any idea at all that Donald was operating a Ponzi scheme?’

Edgar frowned. ‘You think I’d have given him all of my money if I had? That’s ridiculous.’ He waved his hand in the air.

‘He didn’t start the scheme until after your first investment.’

‘I’ll take your word for that. He didn’t share business decisions with me. We used to be close, but not so much recently.’

‘Why’s that?’ Seb asked, honing in on the hostile tone in his voice.

‘No reason. We just seemed to drift apart.’

That was a cop-out answer, but he wasn’t going to pursue it now, as he didn’t want the man to totally clam up.

‘Where were you on the day Donald died?’ he asked, deciding to move on or they’d end up going around in circles.

‘I was at home with Celia when they found him. I remember getting the call from Sarah.’

‘He died the day before on the Saturday. Can you remember your movements then?’

‘Not without my diary. Most weekends, if we don’t have any functions, we spend relaxing.’

Seb wasn’t going to push him. This wasn’t a police investigation, after all.

‘How did you feel when he died?’

‘What a stupid question. He was my brother, of