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

tear rolling down her cheek. ‘All we have is our pension to live on, which barely covers the bills. God help us if something big needs replacing like the boiler. We don’t want to bother our children because they have their own families to care for. We’ll probably have to sell the house and move into a small flat, or a care home. All thanks to that man.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ Seb said. ‘You should consider telling your family, though. They might want to help you.’

‘We got ourselves into this mess, and we’re not going to ask our children to help us out. Nobody, apart from you, knows exactly how much we’ve lost, and that’s how it’s going to stay,’ Mr Black said, banging a fist on the arm of the sofa. ‘All they think is that we’d invested a small amount with Witherspoon. We had to tell them that because our names are out there on a debtors’ list. Although we didn’t expect anyone to notice, we wanted to cover ourselves just in case.’

‘Why are you investigating him now, isn’t it all over?’ Mrs Black asked.

‘Mr Witherspoon’s wife doesn’t believe he took his own life, and she wants us to look into it,’ Seb said, hoping it wasn’t going to drag up too many awful memories for them.

‘Do you think he was murdered?’ Mrs Black asked, her eyes wide.

‘We haven’t got that far. I’m just taking an extra look to make sure nothing was missed during the investigation.’

‘I believe he committed suicide because he didn’t want to be seen as a failure. He always came across as being so proud of his success. He should have stayed and faced up to what he’d done to all of us.’

‘I expect you’re right, but we want to make sure.’ Seb stood. ‘Thank you for taking the time to talk to us. We really appreciate it.’

Seb and Birdie left the house and returned to the car.

‘This makes me so sick,’ Birdie said. ‘Witherspoon goes in there all smarmy and smiles and wanting them to trust him and then he takes the money, not caring what would happen to them. It’s a fucking disgrace. What’s gonna happen to those poor people? They’ve got nothing and are too proud to ask for help. It’s disgusting.’ She thumped the dashboard.

‘Remember that when they first invested with him, his business was above board. He didn’t start the Ponzi scheme until years later.’

‘I don’t care. He’s still a bastard.’

‘I knew Donald and there was nothing about him which made me think he would resort to this kind of behaviour. He always came across as being above board and genuine.’

‘Nothing? I find that very hard to believe. No one can be that perfect.’

‘Perfect he wasn’t, and I suppose he did smile a lot and maybe liked to ingratiate himself with people. But I never witnessed anything which gave me cause to believe that he was operating fraudulently.’

‘Did he ever ask you to invest in one of his schemes?’ Birdie asked.

‘Not once. I was a police officer, and he thought I had no money, as well as thinking I’d lost the plot by joining the force.’ He sighed as the familiar conversations he’d had with his family regarding his choice of career forced their way to the front of his mind.

‘What’s wrong with being a police officer?’

‘Nothing, as far as I’m concerned, but it’s different for my family. They’d rather I’d done something else, and now they’ve had their wish granted.’ He turned his head and stared out of the front window. He wasn’t prepared to discuss it further with her. With anybody, in fact, until he was clear about it himself.

‘What happened, do you think, for Donald to embark on this fraud, because surely something must have? And then what went wrong for it all to go to tits up?’ Birdie asked.

‘If I was to hazard a guess, I’d say he had a cash flow problem ten years ago and found himself short of money. At that same time, he signed up an investor, and instead of actually putting the money into the scheme it was earmarked for, he borrowed it, believing it would be like a short-term loan. It then snowballed from there, and he was continually borrowing money from new investors to pay the old. It worked well, for a long time, but Ponzi schemes can only flourish as long as there’s a steady flow of new investors. Problems arise when the money runs out and there isn’t any new money coming in. The house he lived in required upkeep and he took Sarah and the boys on expensive holidays. He wore bespoke suits and drove top of the range cars. It was a delicate balancing act, one which he obviously failed to keep going.’

‘If he was murdered, then there are a number of people with motives.’

‘We don’t know that he was, yet. Remember it was only reported to the FCA shortly before he’d died, and they didn’t get access to the records until after his death and following that it was announced.’

‘But if people like the Blacks wanted their money back, and he refused then they could’ve murdered him.’ Her brow furrowed. ‘Except that would make it even worse because they’d never get their money back. Why didn’t he sell his house if times had got desperate?’

‘It’s in Sarah’s name and he couldn’t touch it. He’d have had to go to her and explain what was going on. He always kept Sarah well away from the business, and I imagine he was too proud to admit he’d failed.’

‘Maybe he did tell her, and she killed him. She wouldn’t be the first wife to murder her husband.’

‘Then why ask me to investigate his death after it had been classified as suicide? That doesn’t seem at all feasible.’

‘True. Is there any way people like the Blacks can get their money back?’

‘They could make a claim on the estate, except there’s nothing left. He was bankrupt.’

‘I wish