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

After he’d left Sarah’s the day before, he’d spent time googling Donald and his Ponzi scheme. There were thousands of results. He started at the top of the first page. It was an interview with some of the hundreds of people who had lost all their money after investing in Donald’s schemes.

Those interviewed talked about him as being charming, friendly and, so they believed, trustworthy. That was the Donald Seb remembered, too. He’d been well liked, and the family had approved of him. He’d never asked Seb to invest, probably because he thought being a police officer, he wouldn’t have money to spare. He was right.

He’d read several more articles, and they were more of the same, saying that Donald had operated one of the worst Ponzi schemes in UK history and how he’d destroyed the lives of so many. Sarah had been right about the scheme coming to light after one of Donald’s clients had alerted the FCA, the independent regulator in the field, that they were owed several interest payments.

Many people were calling for the family to make some sort of recompense, but he knew they couldn’t do that. People automatically assumed that because Sarah and the boys lived in a big house, and were related to a viscount, that they were wealthy. The articles did make mention of Sarah, pointing out her connection to Viscount Worthington. But other than that, there wasn’t much about her and the twins. A small blessing.

Sarah’s house was only ten minutes away and, when he arrived, he turned up the long drive and parked in front of the house. He knocked on the door, expecting it to be opened by one of her staff but, instead, it was Sarah.

‘Morning,’ he said, staring at his cousin, pleased to see the tight lines were a little less accentuated around her eyes. He hoped she was feeling less stressed than the previous day.

‘I was wondering what time you were going to arrive. I didn’t want to go anywhere in case I missed you.’

‘I thought you wouldn’t appreciate me arriving too early in case you wanted a lie-in this morning, after the difficult day you had yesterday.’

Elsa poked her nose around Seb and rubbed against Sarah.

‘Oh, you’ve brought your dog. Hello.’ She leaned down and patted her on the head. ‘Let’s go for a walk in the grounds and she can have a good run. Then I’ll show you Donald’s study.’ Sarah held open the door for them to head into the house.

‘How are you doing after yesterday?’ Despite there being less tension on her face, there were dark circles under her eyes. He suspected she’d hardly slept.

‘It was a long and strenuous day and I was glad when it was over. The boys are still here, but they’re in bed. I’m not going to disturb them as they need their rest. It’s been so hard for all of us.’

‘Yes, I could see how on edge they both were, yesterday. Understandably.’

‘Like me, finding out what their father had done shocked them to the core. They’d always got on well with him and held him in high esteem. Now, everybody in the country, probably the world, knows what he did to all those people, and that the boys are his sons. It’s hard when you love someone to find out what a monster they’d been. But it’s not like there’s a switch inside of you to turn off the love you had for them. It’s just …’

Her face crumbled, and he drew her into a reassuring hug.

‘It’s only natural for you to have these feelings,’ he said softly. ‘You have to give it time. It will get better, I promise.’

She pulled out of his arms and stood up straight, giving a sniff. ‘I know. Less of me going silly, it’s not going to help anyone.’

He followed her into the kitchen and out of the back door, unhooking Elsa’s lead as they went. She charged off into the garden. Unlike the day of the funeral, it was warm, and the sun was shining through the few fluffy clouds. ‘Do you mind Elsa running here or should we go into the woods?’

‘She’s fine. It’s nice to have a dog around. I’d been saying to Donald about getting another dog after we lost Mitzi, but he didn’t want a puppy because they’re hard to train at our age. He didn’t want a rescue dog either because he said he didn’t know where they came from. Some of them can turn nasty. So, we were left dogless. Now I’m on my own …’ She shrugged, letting out a long sigh.

‘You should get one, they’re splendid company,’ he encouraged, convinced it might help her get over her loss, and give her something to focus on other than questioning Donald’s death.

‘Tell me more about Donald’s business. Are you familiar with what he did?’

‘More so now than when he was alive. I’d always believed that he gave people financial advice and helped with their investments. That’s all he ever told me. I know more now, having read the papers and seen on TV what he’d done to his investors.’

‘So, you understand that for many years he operated a Ponzi scheme. He persuaded people to invest their money through him, only instead of investing it into a particular scheme which gave a return, he kept the money for himself and used money others had invested with him to make their interest payments.’

‘A bit like using Peter to pay Paul,’ Sarah said.

‘In a simplified way, yes. This went on for more than ten years. Think back to then, can you remember whether something specific happened around that time which made him change from being a legitimate financial adviser to doing this?’

‘He didn’t ever say anything to me. I’d always thought his business was doing well, and he was making a success of it, even during the recession.’

‘He took people’s money for himself. What did