A Truthful Man by Hilary Walker

Author:Hilary Walker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Catholic fiction novels, Christian spirituality in the Catholic tradition, British fiction, British fiction novels, British authors, British literature
Publisher: Hilary Walker
Published: 2022-04-28T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty: The Ruddminster Gazette

Saturday, 2nd March

Mark rose early on Saturday morning to find Mary sitting at the kitchen island in her dressing gown. Her fingernails tapping on the marble surface sounded like glass splinters falling from a great height onto corrugated iron.

Today’s Ruddminster Gazette lay in front of her, with an open laptop next to it, and her eyes narrowed as he approached. She shoved the newspaper in his direction and turned the computer screen towards him. Both of them were screaming the same terrible headlines.

“Take your pick,” she hissed.

Mark grabbed the newspaper and hastily exited the room, sensing Mary’s hatred follow him out. He leaned against the hall wall with his eyes closed, fighting off increasing panic, before squinting at the front page.

Above a photo of him looking cynical, ran the first headline: Financial Director Wrecks Hundreds of Seniors’ Lives.

Underneath came a second article entitled Bogus Charity Set Up to Pay Boulder’s Bribes. Inset was another picture of him, taken at the charity function in the Monastery Hotel. He was holding a glass of champagne with a smug expression.

Gulping, Mark reached for his coat and car keys. He had to escape the house.

Mary appeared in the hallway. “Look at my brave husband running away.”

He gave his best attempt at a scornful smile and slammed the front door behind him.

The sun was not yet fully risen as he drove east along the edge of the moors, looking for a parking spot.

He must stop soon or he would burst; he felt as if a dozen hippos were sitting on his chest and rats were gnawing at his stomach lining.

He found a space. Staggering out of the car he ran, clutching the newspaper, to the nearest tor. Too breathless to climb up the stones, he sat on the base.

Head flung back, he gasped for air, trying to push away the heavy mammals and subdue the malevolent rodents.

When his breathing improved and his pulse had settled into a calmer rhythm, he looked out across the moor.

Shafts of dawn light were piercing through the mist and a single ray of gold came to rest on a rabbit chewing grass in front of him. Mark could see the delicate veins running through the animal’s translucent ears.

The tableau portrayed the innocent side of life now closed to him and stirred up an unbearable longing.

Taking a deep breath, he flattened the paper on his knees and forced himself to read it.

It was all there. How he’d ‘allegedly’ been reckless with the funds of the senior investors in his company and lost all their savings. How he’d set up the Helping Seniors Charity to make himself look good, even though his own actions were responsible for their plight.

In the second article he was accused of bribing the deceased, Dave Miller, to keep quiet about his actions, and an unnamed source even suggested that the accountant’s ‘sudden’ death was not from natural causes.

It got worse. A rumour was circulating that Mark had conducted an affair with a female

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