Silent Accusation by Lesley Scott

Author:Lesley Scott [Scott, Lesley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Horror
Published: 2023-01-11T00:00:00+00:00

Twenty-One

I arranged to meet my brother at The Swan, near his office on Chancery Lane. I arrived first and found a table in the corner of the wooden-panelled walls, underneath a faded print of Horatio Nelson in his full naval regalia. I sat down on the red, upholstered bench seat and placed my pint dead centre on one of the beermats.

David was late, of course, no doubt wrapping up an epic victory, but that gave me time to rehearse. The door burst open and, like a cowboy squaring for the fight, he marched through, followed by Lucy. It hadn’t occurred to me that Lucy would join us, and I wondered what she might think.

‘Sorry I’m late. Lucy took ages.’ He winked.

Lucy tutted with her eyes. ‘Lovely to see you, Peter.’ She planted a kiss on my cheek.

‘Same again?’ David nodded at my pint.

‘Please.’

Lucy said, ‘I wasn’t sure if it was a man-to-man talk. I hope you don’t mind me joining you?’ She unwrapped her coat and draped it over the end of the bench seat.

‘Of course not, you might be able to help.’

‘Make him behave, you mean.’

David came back balancing a triangle of drinks in his hands and four packets of crisps under his arms. He dumped it all down in the middle of the table. I set the drinks on beermats while Lucy ripped open the crisps, laying them out for us all to dip in.

‘So, what’s all this about? Finally been caught money laundering?’ He took a deep swig of his pint and a quarter of it disappeared. I noticed no ‘How have you been?’.

‘I just wanted to check something with you.’

‘Well, let’s get the business out of the way.’

‘It’s nothing difficult, I hope. I’m trying to help a friend and said I’d have a word with you.’ David didn’t even try to look interested as he wiped his nose to catch the runs from the change of temperature. ‘He’s hitting a dead end with some legal stuff.’

‘Go on then.’

‘His aunt died recently, and there’s some money tied up in it. He needs to trace other relatives because there’s a fund. And he’s not sure how that all works.’

‘Oh yeah.’ This was obviously beneath him.

I took them through a sober version of events, outlining a family who’d lost touch with distant relatives in America. I shared the scandal of the long-ago secret pregnancy and how my friend needed to find that grown-up relative to settle the estate. While David waited for me to cut to the chase and come out with what I wanted, Lucy asked lots of questions. An analysis of my story wasn’t the plan and I had to make up answers on the spot – Anna was right, I was getting good at it. Then I tied myself into a knot.

‘Sorry, I’m confused.’ Lucy would unravel me sooner or later. ‘A solicitor is already involved. So why does your friend need David’s help?’

‘A solicitor was searching, years ago. The point is, my friend either needs

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