The Programme by Andrew Arden

Author:Andrew Arden
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Authors Online Publishing
Published: 2012-12-05T00:00:00+00:00

As soon as she arrived at the office the next day, before Jessica got in, Carey called George Cohen. She would need his help on the full Kroger trial.

George was guarded, nervous, mumbled a response to her ’I am one’ greeting:

“I didn’t know if you were still over there.”

“I got back this morning. How’re things here?”

“I, um, well, I haven’t been around much,” he admitted.

“Working hard?”

“Yes.” The truthful answer was none the less misleading. He added: “I moved out, you know.” He had been living in the South Kensington flat with Gloria before she went to the States.

“What are you telling me, George?”

A long silence. A loud sigh.

“I needed some time away, Carey. I thought you’d know.”

“How would I know?”

“Oh, because of the dispute with Christopher.”

“What dispute?” Her hackles were rising; this was news to her.

“I’m not sure, you know, how much I ought to be saying. I mean, well, you’re still only an Initiate, aren’t you?”

She was not even an Initiate, merely an Acolyte.

“I’m also The Programme’s lawyer.”

“Are you sure? I thought I was their accountant.”

“What are you telling me, George?”

“When they first went over, I was still handling all the money from here. It’s easy enough on-line. I even managed the bank account in Boston until I found I was being barred. I spoke to Christopher. He said, well, they were going to run their own accounts, you know, separately, over there.”

“So? I mean, George, that’s hardly a surprise; it couldn’t be very convenient to have to ring you in England every time they want to write a cheque or something.”

“No, of course not; nor did they have to. I only managed it. They had access; it’s just that I didn’t - I didn’t have any access anymore.”

“Okay,” Carey said slowly, absorbing the information. “Is it such a big deal? I mean, the main money’s here, right?” Matthew’s money, in law.

“Well, that’s it. Each of the Chapters has its own local account, for everyday expenses. But most of the funds were in the main account; we moved that to Boston, you see.”

“You did?” Carey tried to stay calm. “Why? Whose idea was it?”

“Well,” George coughed apologetically. “It was mine. With more activity in the States than here, it made sense to place funds there than constantly to pay for transfer and exchange from here.”

“And?”

“And obviously, Christopher had to be a signatory over there; we needed a resident signatory. They both were: Christopher and Cassandra.”

“But you are as well?”

“Yes. But two can override one, do you see?”

“What about Matthew? I thought.” She knew. “It’s all in his name, though. Is he a signatory?”

“He’s the account-holder. He can override us all.”

“Did you check with him? What did he say?”

“I haven’t spoken to him. I thought, well, they’ve run it all for years; you know Matthew - he’s always somewhere else. I assumed he knew.”

“George,” she said, “is this why you’ve moved out?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, do you think you’ve made a mistake?”

“You mean, fallen on my sword, that sort of thing?”

“That’s one possibility.

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