Web of Lies by Sally Rigby (best book club books of all time .txt) 📕

I’d lent him a hundred grand was bad enough. If I’d told her the truth, she’d have made my life hell. It was bad enough anyway.’

‘Couldn’t she find out from the bank statements how much you were paying back to the bank each month and put two and two together?’

‘I made sure she didn’t see the loan documents.’

‘Did she ask what Donald wanted the money for? Did she think that you were part of the Ponzi scheme he was operating?’

‘I told her I knew nothing of his illegal activities, and I was helping him out because he was desperate. She believed me, even though she was angry about it.’

‘Did she ask where you got the money from to lend him?’

‘I told her I’d taken out a loan, but said I’d offset it against taxes for the company, so it wouldn’t cost us much.’

The whole thing was complicated and didn’t quite ring true. But Seb couldn’t put his finger on it.

‘Didn’t your accountant have something to say about the loan you took out?’

‘No, because he didn’t know.’

‘How can you take out a business loan without him knowing?’

‘It was a personal loan.’

‘But you said it was a business loan.’

‘That’s what I told Pauline.’

‘In case she saw the business bank statements. But they would be on personal bank statements, not business ones.’

‘I opened a separate bank account which she knows nothing about, and I get online statements only, so she won’t get to find out.’

Talk about burying his head in the sand. Was he being deliberately obtuse, or did he genuinely believe that it would all remain hidden?

‘Tony, you need to think this through carefully. There’s a possibility that everything that happened between you and Donald will come out in the not-too-distant future. I advise you to speak to Pauline and tell her about the blackmail and the reason for it. At least then she’d be forewarned of any bad publicity and will be able to come to terms with the situation.’

‘It’s easy for you to say, you don’t live with the woman. I’d much prefer to say nothing. It’s not like I had anything to do with Donald’s death.’

‘That will be for the police to decide, if it turns out they become involved.’

‘What are you going to do now?’ He stared anxiously at Seb.

‘I’ll go back and discuss it with my colleague, and it will inform the rest of our investigation.’

‘But she’s a police officer. Even if she is helping you on the side, it doesn’t mean that she won’t go back to her superiors and report what I’ve done.’

‘I’ve already told you the statute of limitations would most likely have passed. Our interest is in learning what, if anything, happened to Donald.’

‘I promise you, I had nothing to do with his death.’

‘It’s up to you whether you discuss it with Pauline, you know what I’ll be doing with the information you’ve given me.’

Tony slumped in his chair, and a twinge of pity coursed through Seb’s veins. Until he remembered what the man had done.

Chapter 32

18 May

Seb left the pub and returned to his car, immediately phoning Birdie because he knew she’d be anxious to find out what Yates had told him.

‘Well?’ she said the moment she answered.

‘I’ve just come from my meeting with Tony Yates. He opened up and told me everything. He, too, was being blackmailed by Donald, as we suspected.’

‘So, if he’s blackmailed two people there’s every chance that he’s blackmailed more. I think that now confirms his death was suspicious. He’s blackmailed someone who wanted to get their own back. But was it Edgar or Yates? Or someone else?’

‘In theory, perhaps. But the nagging question is, why was he murdered so long after the blackmail? Also, if they wanted their money back, then murdering Donald wouldn’t help them. The money they gave him was treated like an investment with all the paperwork and promised dividends.’

‘Why did he do that?’

‘According to Yates, as a precaution in case he decided to go to the police, so it didn’t appear to be blackmail. Also, it then would seem legitimate to his accountant and the tax man.’

‘Maybe Witherspoon went back to someone demanding more money and it was the last straw, so instead they killed him.’

‘Neither Edgar nor Tony had the funds to pay him any more money, and Donald was fully aware of that. According to Yates, Donald didn’t ask for more.’

‘He would say that if he killed Donald.’

‘True. That’s assuming Donald was murdered. We still don’t have any concrete evidence.’

‘Why do you keep saying that? We have the suicide note, which Sarah claims is suspect. We also have your attack, and the fact he was blackmailing at least two people, to our knowledge. That, to me, is evidence enough.’

Why was he resisting going with the obvious? Was it because of Sarah? How would she cope with being, yet again, the centre of what would inevitably be a barrage of media interest? The family would continue to desert her, and the boys would find being at university a nightmare.

‘I want to be sure before doing anything rash.’

‘What about Andrea Wood? Do you think she might have been blackmailed, too? She’s another who made a large investment at the time when Donald was struggling. And if he was blackmailing her, he could have demanded more money, and she had him killed. Or killed him herself. And …’ She paused. ‘You didn’t get attacked until after you’d spoken to her, remember?’

Birdie had a point.

‘We shouldn’t discount Yates, Edgar, or the Blacks either. They were all interviewed before I was beaten up. But one thing to consider is we know that the person with Donald on the day of his death was male.’

‘We need to pass this over to CID. We’ve gone far enough with it,’ Birdie said.

‘Not yet. I want to wait until we’re sure.’

‘Really? Aren’t you keen to get away from here and back to the bright lights of London?’

He hadn’t even thought about it.

‘Where did you get that idea from?’

‘I