Clawthorn (Clement Book 3) by Keith A Pearson

Author:Keith A Pearson
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: CrestaPress
Published: 2018-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

23.

Despite his claims not to be suffering a hangover, Clement slumps down on the sofa and closes his eyes. With almost a pained expression he kneads his temples with clenched fists.

“Are you sure you don’t have a headache?” I ask.

The slightest shake of the head.

“Can I get you anything?”

“Nah,” he mumbles.

With Clement barely responsive, I guess all I can do is take stock of where we are and, more importantly, where we go next.

I grab a notepad and take a seat in the armchair.

What we know is Dennis Hogan, my father, was a member of the Clawthorn Club around the same time as Allen Tamthy — the so-called Tallyman — and is one of only a few people who knew his true identity. Then, in the early seventies — around the time I was born — he tried to leave but was convicted of raping and murdering a prostitute. He was released after eighteen years in prison and pitched-up in Bethnal Green at Nancy’s boarding house. Over the following year he came and went; apparently because he was a travelling salesman. And I know he stayed with Nancy just after my mother’s death, before he set up the NLH Foundation later that same year.

Taking-up a seemingly insignificant position whilst donating large sums of money, he remained at the NLH Foundation for twenty-seven years and enjoyed his final Christmas with Nancy before he turned up dead in a high-end apartment in Chiswick last month — in possession of a notebook listing the membership of the Clawthorn Club. And throughout all of this, he maintained some delusion of parental pride by having photos of me in his home and his wallet, and by keeping almost every article I’ve ever written.

We also know the identity of two Clawthorn members: the former Met Deputy Commissioner, Thomas Lang, and the unfortunate Lance Nithercott — the former being culpable for the latter’s death. The only other member we’re close to identifying is someone associated with The Daily Standard.

Clement was right: not a lot of it makes sense, and we’re nowhere near close to unmasking the Tallyman.

There is, however, one final lead to explore.

I retrieve my laptop and open the spreadsheet containing the four names which matched surnames on both the personnel list at The Daily Standard and members of the Clawthorn Club. At the top of that list sits Damon Smith — arsehole, and the man who delivered the news about my pending unemployment. Someone who works at The Daily Standard colluded with the Tallyman to orchestrate my suspension and Damon is by far the likeliest suspect.

However, with no obvious way of proving Damon did anything, the next best option is a process of elimination with the three other names on the list: Terence Brown, Jeremy Smith, and Roger Smith.

I open a web browser and start with Jeremy Smith: the only one of the three who sits on the main board of directors. A little googling tells me all I need to know. It appears his

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