Deadly Lies by Ann Girdharry (book recommendations .TXT) 📗

‘Go on.’

‘It was an absolutely idiotic decision on my part. You’ve got to understand Ronnie was the big boss and everyone took directions from him. Hardman Construction belonged to him – it was his baby. I was sort of the unofficial second in line mostly because I’d been around the longest except when Jack got promoted he always tried to sideline me. And then there was Maude, the office manager, and she reported straight to Ronnie and like I said, she thought Jack was wonderful and wouldn’t hear a word against him. I went to Jack first because I thought it was the right thing to do, the gentlemanly thing, if you like. What a fool I was. When I confronted Jack about the rape allegation he denied it of course, and Ronnie was away on a business trip. I told Jack I would be informing Ronnie as soon as he got back.’

‘And what happened?’

‘What do you think? Jack got to Ronnie first. Jack told Ronnie he’d discovered I was cooking the books and had been stealing money from Hardman Construction for years. Ronnie believed I’d betrayed him and he was furious. He suspended me on the spot and I can still remember the hurt and hatred on his face when he did it. Of course, I tried to defend myself and to tell Ronnie about the attempted rape and Jack. He wouldn’t listen. Ronnie thought I was trying to discredit his son-in-law. He didn’t want to know about Zofia, he didn’t want to investigate amongst the women staff, Ronnie just wanted me out. And then this happened.’ Pearson pointed to his stomach.

‘You became ill?’

‘I wasn’t sick. Six years ago at the same time this was all going on, I had a break-in and the man had a knife and he got me in the belly. I spent the best part of twelve months in and out of hospital.’

‘Was this the property where you had the break-in?’

‘It was and I’d have liked to move out only this place is so cheap to run. I still have nightmares about confronting him. That was the second most stupid thing I’ve done in my life.’

‘Burglars don’t often wound their victims. You must have startled him.’

‘That’s what the officers said at the time. I got him in the corner with the poker and that’s when I found out he was a vicious bastard. I’ll never forget his smile when he put the knife in. It was like something out of a horror movie. ‘You think you’re better than me, but you’re not,’ he said to my face. The man was a maniac. How I wish I’d never tried to tackle him.’

‘Hindsight is a wonderful thing,’ Grant said.

‘He was a known felon, a man called Riley. The police caught him and he got nine years for it. Not that it did me any good him going to prison. I had no job, I’d lost my reputation and Ronnie made sure to put the word around so no one would take me on. I lost my health and my dignity because now I have to walk around with a disgusting bag full of you-know-what which I have to empty every few hours. In fact, six years ago I pretty much lost everything.’

‘And you never tried to put the record straight with Ronnie Hardman?’

‘I tried several times and he refused to speak to me. In the end I gave up. Ronnie is a very stubborn man. That’s the part which hurt the most – we’d worked together for over twenty years and then Ronnie took Jack’s word over mine. I’m pretty certain Jack must have moved money around so it looked as if I’d been siphoning off funds. Ronnie never understood the money side. It would have been easy to make it look bad for me and Jack was clever.’

‘You’re saying Jack set you up.’

‘I’m sure he did. To get the heat off himself. I never took a penny from the company and that’s the honest truth.’

The lounge clock dinged the hour and in the quiet afterwards, Grant could hear Pearson’s wheezy breathing.

‘Do you have contact details for Zofia Kaminski?’

‘I used to have. She sent me a card when I was in hospital. I think she moved to London after.’

Pearson got up and rummaged in a desk drawer, then he wrote down the details.

As Grant accepted the paper, he couldn’t help thinking Daniel Pearson had a pretty strong motive for getting back at both Jack and Ronnie. Still, his health meant he couldn’t be the abductor.

And then there was Zofia Kaminski, what would she have to say about it? Grant’s copper’s instinct was kicking off big time. At last. This was the break they needed. Grant knew he was onto something.

18

In the morning, Maria was allowed to give the children food. She carried the tray carefully. She had prepared toast and strawberry jam, which was Lisa’s favourite, and there were scrambled eggs. Half an hour earlier Maria had deliberately made a monster breakfast for him with a pile of sausage and bacon. It had left him bloated on the sofa, and though he tutted when the tray went past, he didn’t protest.

‘Remember to put on your mask,’ he said as he handed her the key. ‘And don’t stay longer than you need to.’

At the top of the stairs, she pulled the mask over her face. He had installed a double lock. It was one of his many precautions though this one seemed exaggerated. Surely he didn’t expect a six-year-old and a four-year-old to break their way out?

Lisa was curled up in a ball on the floor, linked by a chain to her sister. Emily was sitting with her back to the bunk. The older girl had a wary look on her face. Orange juice slopped from the beakers as Maria set down their breakfast.

‘Eat up.’

‘I’m not hungry,’ Emily said.

Very likely the mask was scary for them. It was a Halloween one,