What Will Burn by James Oswald (ebook reader web .txt) 📕

Fiscal, along with the results of the post-mortem, and that will be the end of it, I expect.’

Cartwright appeared to relax a little, taking McLean’s words on trust. Probably Donaldson was more wary though, still sitting forward, his posture tense.

‘Was Fielding the only one working for the Bairnfather Estate?’ McLean asked. ‘I mean, is there someone who can easily pick up where he left off? Run with it? I know Lord Bairnfather’s not an easy man to keep happy.’

Probably Donaldson’s shoulders slumped at the question, his defensiveness melting away. ‘There’s a couple of secretaries will be able to help, but Tommy kept on top of all that stuff himself. It’s going to be a nightmare picking through all the pieces. It’s something we touched on yesterday at our meeting, actually. Same as we did at every meeting, to be honest. He was very defensive when it came to his clients. Detrimentally so, as we both told him time and time again.’ He shook his head slowly. ‘And now it’s come to bite us on the arse. Just like I told him it would.’

McLean considered the pair of them. They might have been lying to try and protect the reputation of their firm, but it seemed unlikely. Fielding had struck him as the kind of man who kept secrets, even from his business partners. Maybe especially from his business partners.

‘Well, that’s probably enough to be going on with. Thank you for your time, gentlemen.’ McLean stood up, took a business card from his pocket and slid it on to the conference table. ‘If you do think of anything else that might be relevant, or come across something when you’re reviewing Mr Fielding’s business, do let us know. Soon as we have cause of death confirmed, I’ll pass that on, and you will of course be kept informed of any other developments too.’

‘One thing before you go, Inspector.’ Probably Donaldson pushed back his chair and rose to intercept McLean before he could leave. ‘You said Tommy had some work at home? Might we have those folders back soon? And his laptop?’

McLean smiled his best shark tooth smile. ‘As soon as possible,’ he said, reappraising just how much Probably Donaldson really knew of Tommy Fielding’s activities. The lawyer was almost certainly right. This was going to bite DCF Law on the arse, and hard.

55

The major incident room had about it the air of somebody’s house halfway through moving home. Fielding’s death had brought a halt to the process of winding down the Cecily Slater investigation, but there wasn’t much evidence of it going into reverse. At least not yet. If it turned out the lawyer had accidentally choked himself, and the only link with the dead woman was his being her solicitor, then the room would be mothballed until the next serious crime. McLean didn’t imagine that would be long in coming.

He found DS Harrison and DC Stringer huddled around one of the few workstations that hadn’t been unplugged and wheeled away by the IT technicians. Spread out on the table beside them, the folders that had been sitting on Fielding’s desk were now marked with little yellow Post-its, which meant that somebody had read through them.

‘Find anything interesting?’ McLean asked, which made Stringer jump. Harrison’s nerves were much stronger. Or she was simply used to being crept up on.

‘Sir. You’re back then. Go OK with the lawyers?’

‘As well as can be expected. I think they knew Fielding was pursuing his own agenda, but were happy to turn a blind eye as long as the money kept coming in.’

‘Lawyers, eh?’ Harrison rolled her eyes, then turned back to the folders. ‘I’ve had a quick scan through these. Really wish Lofty was here, mind. He’s got an eye for the detail.’

‘And?’

‘Slater’s file is just stuff to do with her will. Powers of attorney, that kind of thing. I did notice something, though.’ Harrison picked up the file and flicked it open to the first marked page. ‘There’s a copy of a letter here. Routine stuff. But it refers to the will being redrafted.’

McLean peered at the typed page, but he’d never been all that good at legalese, and his eyes were tired. ‘When was this?’

‘Letter’s dated six months ago, which would put it around about the same time Slater got in touch with Mirriam Downham about setting her affairs in order.’

Hardly a smoking gun, but it was something. ‘Anything else?’

‘There’s some correspondence about the Bairnfather Trust that’s probably worth following up.’ Harrison flicked through to another page. ‘Again it’s an oblique reference, but reading between the lines I get the feeling Slater had put her foot down about something and Fielding was trying to persuade her to change her mind. That one’s from a couple of months earlier.’

‘So potentially we could have Fielding asking Slater to approve something to do with the trust that she doesn’t want to. Slater making moves to protect herself. Possibly even reassigning her power of attorney to someone else. And Fielding suppresses all that. Keeps the paper trail to a minimum, and kills the old girl before she can kick up a fuss?’

Harrison shrugged. ‘It’s pretty much what you suggested, sir. Pieces seem to fit, but there’s nothing conclusive. Just speculation.’

‘What about the laptop?’ McLean scanned the table but couldn’t see it.

‘Serious security on it. Which you’d expect from a lawyer’s computer. Same with his phone. I’ve sent both of them down to Mike in IT forensics, but we’re treading on thin ice, sir. Unless Fielding’s death turns out to be suspicious, we probably shouldn’t be poking around in his personal stuff.’

McLean had to admit that Harrison was right. Even if everything was deeply suspicious as far as he could tell. He checked his watch. ‘Angus should be starting the PM in an hour or so. I’ll head down to the mortuary and see what he can come up with for us.’

‘You want us to carry on going through this?’ Harrison waved the folder about.

‘No. Leave it for now.’