The Perfect Sinner

‘You’re barring me from chambers,’ he accused. ‘You can’t do that.’

‘No. No … of course not,’ Harold agreed hurriedly, ‘no such thing … no such thing at all. Fact is, old chap, that all of us need to take a decent break from time to time, and young Maddy would probably appreciate the chance to see a bit more of you….’

Max looked coldly at him. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell him that he didn’t give a damn about what Maddy would appreciate, but he managed to restrain himself.

Robert Burton had certainly managed to put the wind up Harold, he acknowledged bitterly. Pompous old bastard, who was he to tell Max what he could and couldn’t do. Take some extended leave … They couldn’t make him, of course, no, no way could they do that, but they could make life pretty unpleasant for him if he refused, Max admitted angrily. If they chose to do so, they could adopt tactics that ultimately could force him out of chambers, and once that became public knowledge, his chances of continuing to receive not just the fat briefs he had grown accustomed to getting, but also the status and accolades that went hand in hand with being a member of such a prestigious set of chambers, would diminish abruptly. There was no way, after the work he had put in, the sacrifices he had made to get where he was, that Max was ever going to allow himself to be downgraded or side-tracked to somewhere second rate.

As he listened to Harold’s pompous meanderings, he told himself fiercely that when the day came when he took over as head of chambers, he would make everyone involved in this pay for what they were doing to him, especially that creep Jeremy Standish, the clerk-cum-office manager, whom Max knew perfectly well neither liked nor approved of him.

‘So you can see, I’m sure, what I mean—’ Harold was continuing to waffle uncomfortably ‘—and like I said, Maddy, I am sure, will …’

Max had had enough, and giving an impatient shrug, he stood up.

‘A month …’ Max began, but Harold, suddenly becoming courageous and mindful of his fellow members’ urgings and the responsibility he owed them, insisted firmly, ‘Two months, Max. That will give plenty of time for any potential unpleasantness to die down….’

Two months … Max gave him a hard stare, tempted to argue but sharply aware of how it would make him look if he lost.

God, but Justine had truly mucked this up, he fumed half an hour later back in his own small office. And if he had her here right now … he’d … Two months … Just what the hell was he going to do?

As he stared angrily out of his office window, there was a brief rap on the door and Jeremy Standish walked in.

‘Maddy was on the phone while you were with Harold,’ he told Max. ‘She asked me to remind you that it’s Leo’s nativity play tomorrow afternoon and that your grandfather will be going….’

As Jeremy saw the murderous expression darkening Max’s eyes he couldn’t resist adding, mock innocently, ‘I’m sure Maddy will be delighted when she knows that you’re going to have a couple of months off. You must miss her and the children so much with them living in the country and you living in town….’

Leo’s flaming nativity play, that was all he needed, but of course, if he didn’t go, his grandfather was bound to start asking awkward questions. Max still hadn’t repaid the loan he had cadged off him when he and Maddy had got married—and, in fact, he had no intention of repaying it. Max had witnessed his grandfather’s growing involvement with his own son and already sensed that if he wasn’t careful, Leo might begin to usurp his own so-far-unchallenged position as his grandfather’s favourite, and there was no way Max was going to allow that to happen. He was already beginning to think it had been a mistake to allow Maddy to have so much contact with his grandfather and thus easy access to his ear. Not that he had any fear that his grandfather would pay any attention to anything she might choose to say. His grandfather despised women and was an old-fashioned chauvinist.

Two flaming months and not even the chance of a fortnight or so in Aspen now to alleviate it. And of course, he would have to tell Maddy, whether he wanted to or not. The last thing he wanted was for her to ring the chambers and find out that he wasn’t there—and why. And, in fact, he would have to warn her not to say anything to her parents, either. With any luck he could keep the whole thing pretty quiet. As his brain began to swing into action, Max started to make plans.

Perhaps it might be as well to remind Harold that any hint of his enforced ‘holiday’ getting out would reflect just as dangerously on the reputation of the rest of the partners as it would on him. Max might be under no illusion that Robert Burton’s real intention in putting pressure on Harold was to humiliate him, but it would do no harm to overlook that and to point out that on the surface at least, he totally believed that Harold was acting simply out of concern for the chambers as a whole, and since he had no option but to accept the situation, what he needed to do now was to make everyone else believe that taking such a period of leave was his own choice. Perhaps he could even earn a few ‘brownie’ points with his grandfather and Maddy’s family by making out that it was his wife and children that had motivated him, and living in Haslewich at his grandfather’s expense would certainly save him money. And of course, he still had women friends in Chester with whom he could alleviate his undoubted boredom.

By the time he had cleared his desk, Max had almost managed to persuade himself that two months’ leave was exactly what he wanted … almost …

‘The bed’s quite definitely William and Mary, and when I told him what it was really worth …’ Guy Cooke broke off from his description of the furniture he had been asked to value to look keenly at his ex-business partner and to ask gently, ‘Jenny, what is it, what’s wrong? You haven’t heard a word of what I’ve just said.’

‘Oh, Guy, I’m sorry,’ Jenny apologized immediately, giving him a small smile. ‘There’s nothing really wrong, it’s just …’

‘Jenny, I know when you’re happy—and when you’re not,’ Guy reminded her dryly.

Jenny shook her head and admitted, ‘It’s Jack, our nephew. His school report this time is, well, not very good at all, and the headmaster has asked to see Jon about him.’

‘What’s the problem, do you know?’ Guy asked her sympathetically.

‘Well, we’re not sure, but we think it could possibly be because of David. You know that Jack and Joss bunked off school to go and look for Jack’s father….’

‘Mmm … Chrissie mentioned it,’ Guy acknowledged, referring to his wife, who was in a rather roundabout way, a member of the Crighton family.

‘Both Jon and I have talked to Jack, and so has Olivia, but he seems to have this bee in his bonnet at the moment about David,’ Jenny told him. ‘It’s perfectly natural that he should, of course; after all, unlike Olivia, he was still really very much a child when David disappeared and he couldn’t totally take in the situation. But what’s more worrying is that Louise seems to think that Jack is actually blaming himself in some way for David’s disappearance.’

‘Blaming himself …’ Guy gave her a sharp look. ‘Why on earth should he do that?’

Jenny shook her head. ‘I don’t know. We’ve both tried to talk to him about it, but he’s at that age …’ She gave a small sigh. ‘We’ve all always been so close, and we thought he was happy living with us, but now we’re both beginning to question whether or not we did the right thing and whether he might ultimately have been happier going to Brighton with Tania.’

‘I shouldn’t have any concerns about that,’ Guy interrupted her firmly. ‘I certainly know who I’d prefer.’

Jenny gave him a wan smile. ‘Tania is his mother,’ she reminded him. ‘Even if Olivia says that in her opinion Jack has been far better off with us.’

‘Olivia should know, she is Jack’s sister.’

‘Yes, I know, and we’ve been through the whole history of David’s disappearance with Jack and explained to him about the … the problems that had arisen here with the business.’

‘It can’t have been easy for you,’ Guy commented. ‘I can still remember just what you and Jon went through at the time.’

‘It was a shock, especially for Jon when he found out that his twin had been defrauding one of their clients. I know it’s a dreadful thing to say, but if that client hadn’t died when she did and Ruth hadn’t been able to refund the money David had “borrowed” from her estate, I don’t know what would have happened.

‘Olivia, Jon and I have explained to Jack just what the situation was. While, legally, his father is free to return to this country if he should want to do so, there could be no question of him ever being able to practise in the business.

‘I know it’s an issue that we would have had to deal with at one stage, but I just wish that it hadn’t manifested itself right now when Jack is working towards his A levels.’

‘Mmm … I know that Joss is planning on going up to Oxford, but what is Jack hoping to do?’

‘We had talked and thought he wanted to follow Jon into the practice. There’s a very close bond between them, but just recently … I know all teenagers go through a turbulent period, but it seems lately that Jack really resents us both, but particularly Jon. His behaviour is hurting Jon, although he never says anything.’

‘Mmm … I expect he’s concerned that he might be rearing a second Max, although …’ He stopped when he saw Jenny’s expression and asked, ‘Is that what Jon thinks, Jen?’

‘Not exactly, but he has said recently that he wonders if he’s adequate father material. He blames himself for the fact that Max is as he is. He always has done, and I feel the same way—that we both failed him. We can’t help wondering if there was something we could have done, something we neglected to do, some sign we missed or some …’ She paused and shook her head. ‘Jack is nowhere near being like Max, of course, but Jon is beginning to feel that somehow or other he must have failed him—Jack’s become so abstracted, so withdrawn just recently, and of course you always worry that … about …’

‘Drugs,’ Guy supplied shrewdly for her.

‘Well, one reads such things,’ Jenny admitted, ‘and although we’re only a relatively quiet small country town, we’re not that far from Manchester or …’

‘I know what you’re saying,’ Guy agreed. Then he added quietly, ‘I could put a few feelers out for you if you want me to….’

Guy’s family, the Cookes, were involved in every aspect of Haslewich life, including some which were not strictly ethical or honourable.

There was a local story that the Cookes had once included in their number a member of the Gipsy band that had travelled through the area, and it was from this alliance that the family had inherited their strikingly dark tangled curls and good looks.

Jenny hesitated. The headmaster had recently alerted all the parents at the boys’ school to the fact that drugs were being sold outside the school gates, despite the police’s attempts to put a stop to it. She had no reason to suspect that either Joss or Jack were taking them, and she was pretty sure that Jack’s recent change in behaviour and attitude was because of his confused emotions about his father.

‘I wouldn’t want Jack to think that we didn’t trust him,’ she told Guy slowly. ‘Jon’s worried that Jack might feel that, as our nephew, he comes second place to Joss, which isn’t the case at all. We love them both very dearly, although of course in different ways, and because Jon was himself always aware that in his father’s eyes he could never compare to David, Jon is determined that Jack won’t suffer in the way that he did.’

‘It’s a very difficult situation,’ Guy acknowledged.

‘Jon hates having to take anyone to task,’ Jenny told him ruefully, ‘but it is so important that Jack works hard and gets good grades when he sits his A’s.’

‘I saw Max driving into town earlier,’ Guy told her.

Jenny forced a small smile.