A Pathway of Adversity
Chapter 17
Joey stood with her mouth open for a few seconds.
"Joey!" Alison hissed. "You're catching flies!"
Joey snapped out of the reverie and found her manners.
"How do you do, Ingrid? Please take a seat."
"Do you want me to disappear for a bit?" Alison asked; hanging onto the door handle.
"No, you're in on this as much as me... You sit down too!" Joey grinned, pointing to a chair.
Alison smiled back and sat down alongside Ingrid.
"Charlie has given me the basics of this case and of course, we spoke on the telephone recently too." Ingrid pointed out to Joey. "I'll try to keep a low profile while I'm working here, but as you can imagine, if I'm a trainee, I'm likely to need supervision for most of my stay, for appearance sake. Are you able to provide this?"
Joey looked at Alison.
"Well, I will have to be your supervisor, though it may be a bit tricky with our other member of staff... Her name's Martha." Alison sighed. "She'll wonder why I haven't given you to her... to show you the ropes, so to speak."
"Martha... Is she the Granddaughter of the owner of the business?" Ingrid asked, getting a small, black note book from her bag.
"That's right. She is also the girlfriend of the deputy Managing Director, Hugo Austen." Joey pointed out.
"Ahh yes... The big bad wolf! How cosy!" Ingrid grinned. "He, is building up quite an empire, I hear!"
"You have done your homework!" Joey smiled appreciatively. "I'm most impressed."
The blonde smiled in return.
"I try my best."
Joey continued to smile at the auditor and Alison struggled not to smirk.
"Well, I think, for appearance sake, we should get straight on with the job in hand." Ingrid suggested to Alison. "I'd like to powder my nose first. Ooh, by the way, I know I'm supposed to be your cousin, but is there any family history I should be aware of, as a talking point?"
"Well, Great Aunt Margaret ran off with a Ringer in nineteen twenty four leaving a husband and two kids and then, there was Uncle Percy who accidently burnt down his house in order to get his hands on the insurance money... he got three years inside... But apart from that and one or two mad cousins kept locked in the attic, we're a pretty, sound bunch!"
"In which case, if I make up the odd yarn of my own, you'll adlib without cracking?" Ingrid asked.
"Yeah, no worries."
"Yes, our Alison is very able to ad-lib and heckle!" Joey grinned.
"Good. So, shall we get started?"
Alison led the way out of Joey's office. Joey's eyes followed the blonde's physique until she was out of sight. She wolf-whistled quietly to herself and smiled.
"Ooh, you predatory creature, Collins!" She said out loud, and giggled.
"Okay Watson, any interesting news on our Mr. Rosetta?" Charlie asked the Constable.
"He's been taking photographs of Hugo Austen and his cronies, at play!" Watson grinned.
"Playing at what?" Charlie asked as she opened Hugo's file.
"Poker!" Watson smiled. "He's quite the player, I'm told."
"And Rosetta would know about that, having at one time been such a close pal." Charlie grinned.
"Angelo told me that Hugo is an habitual cheat."
"So I've heard. I'm beginning to think he's where he's at due to ill-gotten gains." Charlie murmured, thinking of Joey's father.
"I'd like to see him playing Jeffers... now he is a card shark!" Watson laughed.
"What our Constable Jeffers?" Charlie asked, thumbing towards the outer office.
"No less! Never play cards with him at Christmas! He'll win the knickers off you and come back for the contents!"
"I'll bear that in mind!" Charlie said, wondering what sort of staff she was working with. "Still, he may be a handy man to have around when things get dirty!"
"When things get dirty?" Watson asked in surprise.
"I've no doubt that if Hugo Austen is playing for big stakes, things will get dirty. And if Mr. Rosetta is after revenge... well, there's no saying what will happen!"
Joey walked past the accounts office. Alison and Ingrid had their backs to the office window, but Joey noticed that Martha was glaring in their direction. Joey paused for a moment and caught Martha's attention. She jerked her head, inviting Martha to join her in the corridor. Martha did not like Joey Collins, but obliged her, leaving Alison and Ingrid alone in the office.
"You don't look too happy, Martha." Joey smiled. "Something bothering you?"
"I can't understand why that girl is here! She... I mean Alison, said nothing about it to me, and then suddenly, BANG! There she is! I'd like to know who gave her permission to bring in half her family!"
"I understand that it was sanctioned by a member of the board before hand." Joey said, trying not to antagonise Martha further. "Your Grandfather is aware!"
"And the sort of stuff Alison is showing her..." Martha continued without a second thought. "I should be showing her! Alison is always bleating on about how busy she is!"
"I suppose it's because Ingrid is her cousin; she just wants her to feel comfortable on her first day."
Martha considered this for a few moments.
"Well, as long as I'm not expected to do overtime to make up for her lack of work!" She announced tartly, and flounced past Joey, into the Ladies room.
Joey took her opportunity and turned towards the accounts office; knocking discretely as she entered. Closing the door behind her, she smiled as the two women looked over their shoulders.
"Afternoon ladies! Having fun?"
"Well, we're working our way through last year's ledgers, but with Martha hovering over our shoulders, it's difficult to get down to any real business!" Alison complained.
"I've just spoken to Martha. Seems she's not too happy with what's going on. She feels left out, I think." Joey grinned.
"Well, maybe we should make it work in our favour!" Ingrid suggested. "We are looking for bogus entries in these ledgers, which she may or may not have been involved with... Alison, you could ask her to explain the sequence of entries; telling her that you can't remember the procedure; she'll feel important, and in her happiness due to an over-inflated ego, may inadvertently lead us to what we're looking for!"
"Sounds good! She'll love getting one over on me." Alison chuckled.
"And if I let Martha know that I think you're stuck up, she might well favour me more." Ingrid pointed out. "I'll go out of my way to befriend her; perhaps suggest having lunch together one day; that way, she'll trust me and open up. You don't mind if I slag you and your mother off, do you Alison?"
"Feel free! I'm sure Martha will love it!"
"Don't worry; I won't say anything which might embarrass you!" Ingrid grinned.
"Well, you two seem to have everything in order, so I'll leave you to it. Ingrid, I'm about to ring Charlie Buckton. Any messages?" Joey asked.
"Just tell her I'm being looked after. We are not communicating during works time as it will look suspicious."
"Fine... Oops, I think Miserable Martha is on her way back. See you guys later!" Joey said quickly, and skipped off before Martha reappeared.
"Charlie Buckton."
"Hey you. How's your day been?" Joey smiled into the telephone receiver.
"Would have been much better if I was on a deserted beach with you." Charlie whispered. "Can I see you tonight?"
"Well, I suppose I could tear myself away and share a bag of chips with you down at the beach!" Joey grinned.
"You sweet romantic thing, you! I finish here at about six. Can you meet me at about seven thirty?"
Joey rested her chin in her hand; a gooey smile on her face.
"Sounds wonderful. Where shall I meet you?"
"Outside The Surf Club?"
"I can hardly wait!"
"How is, Ingrid?" Charlie asked with interest.
"Absolutely beautiful! You didn't tell me what a babe she is!" Joey grinned naughtily.
"I'm not that stupid! Why would I advertise that fact when I'm trying my hardest to win you over for myself?" Charlie teased. "Seriously, how is she getting on?"
"Just fine. We've formulated a plan which might work. Will explain more later."
"I'll miss you 'til then!" Charlie said, in a fluffy voice.
"Yeah, me too. See you."
"See you."
Charlie waited until she heard a click as Joey ended the call. She replaced her own handset and relaxed back into her chair. She thought about Joey and her tummy turned over in excitement. It had been years since anyone had made her feel like this. She felt like a thirteen year old enjoying the pangs of her first crush. But she was no longer a teenager. Having been through the mill of sad and painful relationships, she was a seasoned sufferer and reminded herself, daily, that she really didn't know Joey Collins that well. The likelihood was, Joey too, would break her heart when it suited; marching off down the 'goodbye' pathway... never to be seen again.