Body 13 (Quigg Book 2) by Tim Ellis

Author:Tim Ellis
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Koko Publishing Ltd
Published: 2010-11-29T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

All of the Apostles were there except Phillip.

James stood up at exactly eight o’clock and raised his glass. The others joined him and followed his lead. ‘To absent friends,’ James said. They repeated his words, drank and sat down again.

They were sitting around the Queen Anne table in the banqueting room of the Surrey estate. This was the Last Supper, although they never called it by that name in anyone else’s hearing. To observers they were merely eleven friends having a meal, as they did on the last day of every month.

James nodded at the maitre d’, who in turn nodded at his second-in-command, who relayed the nod to his line of waiters. Almost immediately swing doors swung outwards and a stream of waiters poured in carrying warm tartlet of goats’ cheese, cream of mild Stilton & broccoli soup and consommé Julienne on silver salvers.

The building they were in, one could hardly call it a house due to its size, was set in its own grounds, well back from the rarely used road in Cobham, and enclosed by a twelve-foot high brick wall that shielded it from prying eyes. Although it had twelve bedrooms with en suite bathrooms, six reception rooms, a banquet hall, a ballroom and a games room, the most important aspect of the estate could not be seen. In fact, only eleven people knew of its existence. The building boasted a large underground complex with a swimming pool and a variety of other rooms that had been allocated for different purposes.

The estate belonged to a holding company, which was part of an offshore portfolio of companies owned by another holding company. If one were able to navigate through the maze of complexity associated with the ownership of this particular estate, they would find that these eleven men were all directors of the parent company called Palessot, having paid £500,000 when they had been invited to join the Apostles. That half million was now worth £3 million and increasing daily. Each of the men was very pleased that the activities of the business, not all of them legal, had increased their original investment and made them multimillionaires.

The starter had been served and the conversation was convivial. The Apostles were taking their time, savouring the anticipation of what – or, more appropriately, who - waited for them in the underground complex – the evening’s entertainment.

The waiters brought each person’s choice of main course on silver salvers, selected from beef bourguignon, pork escalope Portuguese, roast breast of pheasant and halibut of Wellington.

Not all of the Apostles had dessert. Some, such as Bartholomew, were watching their weight.

Finally, they were left with only the port decanters, glasses, ashtrays and boxes of Cuban Montecristo cigars for those who partook.

‘Gentlemen,’ James brought a hush to the assembly. ‘I believe we have something to celebrate, Bartholomew?’

Bartholomew stood. He held a glass of port in his right hand and a Montecristo cigar in his left. ‘Thank you, James. As you are all aware, Phillip is no longer with us.

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