Authors: Michael Ridpath
I turned to him, stunned. How foolish we had been! After Owen had left we had taken no measures to protect the system from him. There was all kinds of damage he could have been doing since he had left, probably had been doing.
‘Don’t look so shocked,’ Owen said, smirking. He was really enjoying this. ‘I haven’t done Ninetyminutes any harm. In fact, I’ve been a lot of help to Sanjay in the last couple of months.’
‘Does Guy know about this?’
‘Probably. We haven’t spoken about it specifically, but he knows me. You thought you’d gotten rid of me. But I can control things just as well from here.’
Jesus! But I believed Owen when he said he hadn’t done
any actual harm. In fact he probably had done some good. I felt a surge of anger at Guy. He knew what Owen was doing. I was bloody sure he knew.
Owen moved over to the kitchen area, tripping over a pizza box on the way. A half-eaten slice spun across the floor.
‘Where’s Miguel?’ I asked.
‘He couldn’t handle the place like this, so I told him to stay away. But I think it feels kind of cosy.’
He opened a can of 7 Up and strolled out into the garden. I followed him. It was a brilliantly sunny day, but there was a cool breeze blowing in from the sea. He sat down at a table near the marble railings overlooking Cap Ferrat, and I joined him. Wrappers and cans lay at the base of the lavender bed a couple of feet away. Owen was treating his father’s house with the contempt that he had always felt for its owner. His smugness was getting to me, as I was sure he intended it to.
‘I know what you’ve been doing,’ I said.
Owen sipped his drink and squinted out to sea, ignoring me.
‘You threatened Henry Broughton-Jones. Scared the wits out of his family so that he gave Ninetyminutes the ten million quid.’
‘Really? How do you know that?’
‘Don’t worry: he wouldn’t tell me anything. But it’s obvious he’s scared. And it’s obvious who’s been scaring him.’ I wanted to keep Henry safe from any more of Owen’s attention.
‘So, Orchestra did invest, did they?’ Owen said.
‘And you sent the virus to Goaldigger.’
‘Technically it wasn’t a virus. It was a worm.’
‘I don’t care what it was, technically,’ I said, fighting to keep my frustration under control. ‘It was sabotage.’
‘Horrible,’ said Owen. ‘I hope they catch whoever did it.’
‘I know you killed Dominique. And I think it’s highly likely that you killed Abdulatif.’
‘Abdulatif?’
‘The gardener who was blackmailing you and Guy.’
‘Oh, you mean the dude the police think wasted my stepmother.’
‘Yes. Him. You knew Patrick Hoyle was going to pay him off. You followed Hoyle to the drop. You saw him give the money to Abdulatif. You followed him and then stabbed him.’
‘Man, you do have some weird ideas.’
‘And I think you got your father killed. I don’t know how, but I’m sure you arranged it.’
‘Have you been smoking something?’
This time I stared out to sea, towards the white craft buzzing round Cap Ferrat.
‘You don’t have any proof,’ Owen said at last.
‘No. But I have enough to get the police asking difficult questions.’
‘I don’t think so. You have nothing to link me with any of this. Half this stuff happened, like, years ago.’
‘I want you to stop,’ I said.
‘Stop what?’
‘Stop threatening people. Stop hurting people. Stop killing people.’
‘Huh!’ Owen snorted.
‘I know you’re doing all this for Ninetyminutes. I know you think it’ll help your brother. But Ninetyminutes can get by without that kind of help.’
‘Can it? I don’t think so. You know how close Ninetyminutes has gotten to the edge. It’s been real lucky to make it this far. I guess sometimes it needs a little help.’
‘I’d rather Ninetyminutes went bust than it survived with your kind of help.’
‘You know what? I don’t give a shit what you think.’ Owen’s flippancy left him: he looked serious. ‘Ninetyminutes means everything to my brother. It’s, like, his last chance. It’s also his best chance. If it works he’s going to be just as rich as Dad, probably richer. If it fails, it’s going to be worse than just a disappointment to him. It will totally destroy him. I don’t like you very much, but I know you like him. You know I’m right.’
Owen was trying to talk me into seeing his point of view. That was a first. But he was right. I remembered Guy in the Jerusalem Tavern the evening after Henry had turned us down. If Ninetyminutes went under, so would Guy.
But.
‘Guy is my friend. I know you’re trying to help him. But listen to me. Listen to me carefully.’ I leaned forward. ‘I would prefer Ninetyminutes went into liquidation tomorrow than it survived by terror or murder, whatever effect that may have on Guy or any of the rest of us. So if I see you trying any more of this extortion, if anyone else gets hurt, I will blow the whistle. I’ll tell the police, I’ll tell the press, I’ll tell anyone else who’ll listen. It will finish Guy. It might finish Ninetyminutes. But I’m prepared to do it.’
Owen watched me for a moment. Then he burst into laughter. ‘You’re just as bad as me or Guy, you know that? You’re desperate for Ninetyminutes to succeed. You’ve looked the other way for so long, why should I believe you’ll suddenly become a good citizen? You and me are no different. Except I’ve got the guts to do something to make Ninetyminutes survive, and you’re too scared. Sure, you’ll take the millions of pounds from the IPO, but you won’t get your hands dirty. You’ll let other people do that. People like me.’
There was something uncomfortably true about what
Owen said, at least as it related to the past. But not for the future; I was determined about that.
‘You know,’ said Owen, ‘I never really liked you since I saw your naked butt going up and down on my stepmother.’
I couldn’t answer. I stood up and turned to leave.
I felt, as much as saw, a sudden movement behind me. I spun round as Owen grabbed my shoulder and dragged me back towards the railings. I squatted down to prevent myself being tossed over, and jammed one leg against them to try to get purchase. He leaned into me and pushed. He was stronger and heavier than me. I felt my foot slip. I took a swift glance behind me. There was nothing, just air, and then, far off, the sea.
Owen lunged again. My foothold gave way, but I managed to twist so that Owen’s forward momentum brought him up against the railings. For a fraction of a second I had the chance to give him that little extra push that would send him on his way. But I didn’t do it. I couldn’t do it.
Owen saw my hesitation. His eyes gleamed. With his legs far apart now, giving him a secure footing, he reached for my shoulders and pulled. I found my chest on the railings, my face staring down at waves gently shifting in and out over the strip of sand a thousand feet below. It was a long, long way. I was gripped by vertigo; a surge of panic rose like bile from my stomach and I jerked backwards to try to break free, but it was hopeless. I couldn’t move.
‘You know what happened to the last person who tried to threaten us?’ he muttered.
I didn’t. I kept quiet.
‘Anyway, let’s just get straight who’s threatening who here,’ he said. ‘If Ninetyminutes needs my help, and I think it does, then I want you to promise me you won’t get in the way. Do you understand?’
I didn’t answer.
Owen heaved. For a fraction of a second I thought I was going over the edge, then he grabbed me again. My face smashed against the railings. ‘I said, do you understand?’
‘Yes,’ I said, fighting back the panic.
I heard a grunt, and he pulled me back over the railings. I collapsed in a heap on the ground. I felt my cheek: there was blood.
‘OK. Now piss off out of here.’
‘Where the hell were you?’
I looked up from my desk. ‘Morning, Guy.’
‘Jesus! What happened to you?’ His expression changed from anger to astonishment as he saw my face.
‘Someone tried to push me off a cliff.’
‘Looks like it. There aren’t any cliffs in Munich.’
‘I didn’t go to Munich.’
‘I know. I was trying to get hold of you all yesterday. Your mobile was switched off. They hadn’t seen any sign of you in the office over there. Where were you?’
‘France.’
‘When you say someone tried to push you off a cliff, you don’t mean the one by Les Sarrasins?’
I nodded.
‘You saw Owen. You picked a fight with him, didn’t you?’ The anger was returning.
‘No. I told him to stop screwing around with Ninetyminutes. I told him to stop threatening the likes of Henry and me. I told him to stop sending computer viruses.’
‘He didn’t do any of that,’ Guy said contemptuously.
‘He did. I know.’
‘You know!’
‘Guy! He almost killed me!’ Guy’s refusal to see the obvious was getting to me.
‘My brother has a bad temper. You know that. If you went over there to hassle him it’s not surprising you got hurt. Now just leave him alone.’
‘You tell him to leave us alone.’
‘What the hell do you think he was doing at Les Sarrasins? I told him to go there. You’re the one stirring up trouble, Davo!’ He was shouting now. Everyone was watching.
‘One day, he’s going to kill someone,’ I said, just preventing myself from adding the word ‘again’ with so many ears listening.
‘Just lay off him!’ Guy was glaring at me.
I got up and left my desk, fuming. Everyone stared. Guy and I frequently disagreed, but we never shouted at each other, certainly not in the office. This was a first, and everyone was aware of it.
I went out on to the street. I heard footsteps behind me. It was Ingrid.
‘David, wait!’
I waited. She looked at my face and touched my scratched cheek. ‘That looks nasty.’
‘It hurt.’
‘Owen did this?’
‘Yes. He was trying to scare the living daylights out of me. For a moment there, he succeeded.’
‘My God.’ She fell into step beside me. ‘What were you doing?’
I told her about Henry and about my theory that Owen had planted the Goaldigger virus. I didn’t mention Owen killing Dominique and Abdulatif. Although I had told Hoyle, Guy had specifically asked me not to tell her, and I felt I should respect that, at least for the time being. She listened with a mixture of shock and sympathy.
‘I knew Owen was weird, but I didn’t know he was that weird,’ she said when I had finished.
‘It turns out he is.’
‘It was pretty brave of you to go and see him.’
‘Or stupid. But I had to. I had to stop him.’
‘Do you think you’ll succeed?’
‘Probably not. But I had to try. I couldn’t let him just carry on terrorizing people without doing something.’
‘What did you say to him?’
‘I told him that if he caused any more trouble I’d bring Ninetyminutes down. Talk to the police, the press.’
‘And will you?’
I stopped and faced her. ‘Yes.’
She avoided my eye. ‘Ah.’
‘What do you mean, “ah”? Do you think I’m wrong?’
‘Well. Owen has to be stopped, you’re right about that. And I don’t condone anything he has done, in fact quite the opposite. But if he does something stupid totally beyond our control, that’s no reason to ruin Ninetyminutes.’
‘What?’
‘You said it yourself to Guy. Ninetyminutes means something to all of us. It’s not just a means for Guy to prove something to his father. And it’s not just your conscience.’
I shook my head. ‘Whatever Ninetyminutes is, it’s not worth someone’s life.’
‘Of course it’s not,’ said Ingrid. ‘But that’s not the issue here. It’s not our fault Owen’s a psycho. Ninetyminutes shouldn’t have to suffer.’
‘But don’t you see? The threat of that is the only way to stop him.’
‘It won’t make any difference.’
‘It might. And for me, that’s enough.’ But I could see it wasn’t enough for Ingrid. She had put a year of her life into Ninetyminutes. I had known she badly wanted it to succeed, only now did I realize how badly. It depressed me. Without saying another word, I turned on my heel and walked. This time, she didn’t follow me.
*
My trip to France hadn’t solved anything. The doubts I had felt before Christmas, doubts that I thought I had laid to rest, were returning stronger than before.
I had thought the situation was clear. I knew Owen was dangerous, but I had thought he was out of the way. Guy, I had thought, was guilty of no more than protecting his brother. And I had thought that I could forget about France and Tony’s death and concentrate on Ninetyminutes.
It was now obvious I couldn’t. Owen wasn’t out of the picture, and neither was Tony’s death. My conversation with Hoyle had raised more questions than it had answered. What had Tony done with the knowledge that his sons had been blackmailed by Abdulatif and that one of them had probably killed the blackmailer? Knowing the Jourdan family, it seemed unlikely to me that he had simply offered counsel and support. And I remembered something Owen had said while he had me pinned against the railings at Les Sarrasins. Something about what had happened to the last person who had threatened them.
Was he talking about his father?
I should take Owen’s threats seriously. I felt the icy fingers of fear tickle my chest. I was afraid of him.
I knew Owen had killed in the past. I knew he could kill again. He didn’t like me, he had probably never liked me, but while I was on Guy’s side he would tolerate me. Once I started asking questions, probing into his brother’s past, that attitude would change. He was strong, he was clever, he was ruthless. But what was most frightening about him was he just didn’t have the same sense of proportion as other people. Nor did he seem to have any remorse. He had bitten off a schoolboy’s ear in a rugby match. He had killed his stepmother for the crime of adultery. He would kill me if he thought I was a serious threat to his brother.
So should I just look the other way, as Owen had mocked me for doing up till now?
It was tempting. It wouldn’t disrupt Ninetyminutes. I’d stay alive. I might even make some money.
But it was the memory of Owen’s taunts that made me realize I couldn’t do that. I wasn’t the kind of person who got rich on the back of other people’s crimes, and I didn’t want to become that kind of person. I would find out what had happened to Tony, and I would do my best to make sure that no one else was killed.