Chapter Forty Five
Tim tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for the door to be answered. As he was about to knock again it was finally opened, but not by the person he was hoping to see.
"Oh, Clarrie" Tim sounded more than disappointed "Is Julia in please?"
"It's nice to see you too!" Clarrie leaned against the door frame and took a drag on her cigarette "She's not, as it happens. What have you done this time?"
"What makes you think it's something I've done?" Time challenged.
"Oh, it usually is" Clarrie smirked at him.
"Well, not this time" Tim stated firmly "Do you know where she might be?"
"Not a clue Dearie!" Clarrie replied nonchalantly "I'm not her keeper you know."
She turned to go back inside the flat. As Tim tried to follow he found the door shut firmly in his face. He huffed. Shall I wait here for her to come home? Or try somewhere else? He ran his hand through his hair as he turned from the door as he tried to think of where he might find her. Just then a cab pulled up at the curb.
"Tim! Darling! Are you alright?!" Before he knew what was happening he had Julia in his arms.
"I am now" He smiled at her "Things didn't go too well with your Father though" He hung his head "I wanted to warn you that he's not very happy"
"Oh, I know!" Julia moved past him to unlock the front door "He stormed in to a chat I was having with Mummy and threw the most awful tantrum" She took his hand and led him into the flat.
"Are you alright?" Tim asked worriedly "He seemed to be very upset. He didn't hurt you did he?"
"Daddy?" Julia looked surprised "No matter how angry he looked, Daddy couldn't hurt a fly!" Tim looked less than convinced "It's all just bluster with Daddy, trust me."
"What exactly did he say?" Tim asked, unsure.
"Oh, just some tripe about not allowing me to marry you!" Julia huffed as she busied herself finding glasses and a bottle of wine "I mean, I ask you!"
Tim groaned and put his head in his hands.
"Don't worry Darling" Julia said brightly as she handed him a glass of red "Mummy will talk to him and it will all be sorted by tomorrow." She smiled "Have you thought about where we might be married?"
-TW- -TW- -TW-
Isobel swirled the brandy around her glass as she thought about how to phrase what she wanted to say. Dickie watched her fondly in the firelight.
"Each of these ideas has it's own merits" Isobel stated at length "But it many ways that only makes the decision harder" She took a sip of her drink. "I do think it's worth looking at the long term though, rather than a short term gain."
"I agree" Dickie nodded "It's not worth breaking even in the short term, only to need go through this process again in five or ten years time. Of course, I'd also like to be able to leave John a going concern, rather than a headache."
"Have you thought about doing nothing?" Isobel said distractedly.
"Pardon?" Dickie looked shocked
Isobel looked at him as if coming out of a trance "Well, all these ideas revolve around using the house as it stands - either by utilising it differently or adapting it somehow. What about if you didn't use it at all?"
"I'm not sure I quite understand" Dickie was puzzled.
"Well, the farms and the tenants are all profitable at present and they don't actually need the house to carry on, do they?" Isobel asked.
"Well, no..." Dickie agreed cautiously.
"And you don't want to live at Cavenham again, do you?" Isobel sounded a little unsure.
"No. Decidedly not" Dickie was firm.
"So why keep the house at all?" Isobel asked "I think Mr Stevens is correct in thinking it has no resale value - there are plenty of stories of houses like that being sold for a pittance, and that's with the associated land - but what about taking the house down and either building something different or using the land in a different way?"
Dickie stared at her in shock.
"I'd.. " Dickie swallowed "I'd never even considered anything so radical" Dickie voice was a little hoarse.
"Oh, it's probably nonsense" Isobel shrugged as she rose to get another drink.
"It's not nonsense at all" Dickie said quietly as he rose as well and crossed the room "We're trying to come up with ideas when we are too close to the problem." He shook his head as he took Isobel into his arms "You can look at things without the emotional attachment or a lifetime of other people's expectations." He kissed her softly on the forehead "You don't know how wonderful you are."
-TW- -TW- -TW-
"Thomas! You are being unreasonable!" Marjorie said in exasperated tone "You don't have a single good reason you can give me to explain how you are behaving!"
"Just trust me! This is a really bad idea!" Thomas took another slug of his drink.
Marjorie crossed the room and took the glass out of his hand "Enough of this." She said quietly "I think it's time you told me what's really going on."
"I don't-" Thomas began.
"Yes, you do know what I mean" Marjorie interrupted him "We have been married 30 years and friends much longer than that. I know you Thomas David Foxton. Whatever it is, it's been going on for some time" Thomas looked shocked. Marjorie huffed "Did you really think you were doing a good job of hiding it?!"
"Well, clearly not" Thomas grumbled "It's a good job you're not in the House."
Marjorie quirked an eyebrow and waited.
Thomas sat heavily in an armchair, defeated "It's not easy to explain, and I can't talk to you here."
"What?" Marjorie looked puzzled.
"Please, just trust me a little longer" Thomas took hold of one of her hands "Let me have a little think about where we can go tomorrow to have a talk."
A feeling of dread settled in Marjorie's stomach, but all she could do was nod her agreement.
-TW- -TW- -TW-
"Who else knows about this?" Whittaker asked the room.
"Just us" Money assured him.
Whittaker looked at Miles "Who have you spoken to?"
"No one Sir" Miles confirmed.
"Not your wife, sweetheart, girlfriend?" He asked.
"No Sir" Miles replied
"What about other guys in the office?" Whittaker queried.
"I haven't mentioned anything" Miles started to look scared.
Whittaker sighed. "We have to be very careful." He lit another cigarette. "I must admit, I don't understand everything you've said tonight but I'm inclined to follow where it leads." He paused "I won't be taking this to the Commissioner just yet" He stated firmly.
"What?" Money sat up in his chair in surprise.
Whittaker raised his hand to calm his colleague "Every time we've got anywhere near the Black Baron in the past, something has happened to warn him off and it's come to nothing. I don't want to chance it this time"
"You think the Commissioner may be in on it?" Miles questioned.
"If he's not, someone on his staff may be" Whittaker nodded. "Let's do as much as we can between us three, and only include anyone else at the latest possible moment." He looked carefully between the two other men "At this point I know the leak must be one of you two." He stubbed out his cigarette.
"Or we know it's you" Money affirmed.
"Quite" Whittaker agreed. He turned to Miles "What other information do you think you need?"