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Killing the Lawyers

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2019
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‘No sweat,’ said Hardiman. ‘Gilding the lily is all. Time for a quick word.’

It wasn’t a question. As he uttered the words he opened a door marked DIRECTOR OF PHYSICAL RECREATION, a title rather larger than the office he ushered Joe into. There were lots of files and correspondence in evidence, but all neatly stacked. To Joe, who could create chaos out of two sheets of paper and an empty desk, it looked like the workplace of a busy but well-ordered man.

‘Have a pew,’ said Hardiman, ‘and tell me what this is all about.’

‘Can’t do that, Hoo … er, Jim,’ said Joe. ‘Private business.’

‘So you’re here professionally?’

So it wasn’t Hooter who suggested me, thought Joe as he shrugged noncommittally.

‘OK. But I need to know if this is anything to do with that stupid business about that phone call.’

Another shrug. It was pretty good this shrugging business. Saved a man a lot of tripping over his tongue.

‘I’ll take that as a yes. Listen, Joe, I appreciate you got a duty of confidentiality, but I’ve got duties too, and anything to do with the New Year meeting is my business. Zak told me about the call, I told her it was the price of fame, some nutter, ignore it. I thought I got through. What’s happened? There been more?’

Joe varied the shrug with a little hand movement, sort of French, he felt.

‘OK, so there’s been more. Listen, Joe, I’ve got to know this. Is Zak seriously thinking about scratching because of this crap?’

There didn’t seem any harm in saying, ‘No, I don’t think scratching’s an option,’ till he’d said it, after which he realized it implied agreement with all that had gone before. But shoot, not even a Frenchman could shrug forever.

‘Thank God for that. But if she’s so worried, why hire you? Why not talk to me again, or go to the police?’

Back to the shrug.

‘I’ll tell you why,’ said Hardiman after a moment’s pause for thought. ‘The girl’s worried someone close to her may be involved. And if that’s right, if it’s someone in her family, Zak wouldn’t want that to get public. She’s a loyal girl.’

Wasn’t so loyal to you, thought Joe.

He said, ‘Why should she think someone in her family could be out to harm her? Thought she was the apple of their eye.’

‘I take it you haven’t met her sister?’ said Hardiman. ‘Zak might be the apple of her parents’ eyes, but she’s the pip up sister Mary’s nose.’

With a mental sigh, Joe abandoned all shrugs and pretence. This sounded too important to miss.

He said, ‘What’s the set-up? Young sister having all the talent, getting all the attention?’

‘Half right,’ said Hardiman. ‘But Mary was talented too, very talented. Squash was her game, and she was good. I’ve known her a long time. She used to work out at the gym where I took my athletes for weight training. From thirteen, fourteen on she had just one idea in her mind. She was going to be the world’s Number One Woman, and nothing was going to get in her way. And I think she might have made it too if it hadn’t been for the accident.’

‘Hey, I think I remember something of that in the Bugle,’ said Joe. ‘Car smash, wasn’t it?’

‘That’s right. She was driving her parents to see Zak run. They were shaken and bruised, nothing more, but Mary got her knee mangled. End of hopes.’

Joe said, ‘You tell that story like there’s a lot more to it, Jim.’

‘Sensitive soul, aren’t you?’ said Hardiman. ‘Listen, I’m into confidentiality too. Was a time when Zak used to tell me everything. There are things I figure you ought to know because of this situation you’ve got yourself into. But I don’t want Zak knowing it comes from me, you understand me, Joe?’

Back to the playground, Hooter’s voice soft, but his eyes oh so hard and menacing.

‘Just tell me what you want to tell me, Jim,’ said Joe mildly.

Hardiman looked like this wasn’t the cued response, then said, ‘OK. Way I got it from Zak was that in her parents’ eyes she was the star who needed cosseting, Mary was the toughie could look after herself. Easy to see why. Mary was completely single minded, didn’t care what kind of impression she made. While Zak, well, you’ve met her. Can’t help liking her, can you?’

‘No,’ agreed Joe. ‘So what happened?’

‘OK, this night, Mary was late picking up her parents – her dad’s car was in dock, which was why she was doing the driving. Reason she was late was she’d been playing in a club competition and the woman she beat was the Great Britain Number 2, and there’d been a journalist there who’d wanted to interview her afterwards. None of her family there though. So she’d got home full of this, only to be yelled at ’cos she was late taking them to see Zak run. Henry, that’s her dad, was nagging away at her, can’t you go faster, that sort of thing. So she jumped a light. Which was when it happened. And when Zak got to see her in hospital, first thing she said was, now you’ll be satisfied, last time I’ll have an excuse being late for seeing you run. Laying it all on Zak.’

‘How’d Zak take it?’

‘Like the trooper she is. When Mary got out of hospital it was Zak kept her up to scratch with her physio. I think Mary would have been happy to walk with a stick the rest of her life so’s no one would forget. As it was she seemed set to laze around at home looking miserable till Zak got her a job with her agent.’

‘That’s this guy Endor, isn’t it? Read about him too. Local isn’t he?’

‘Not really. Flash house out near Biggleswade, but he’s a professional Cockney, on the make, on the up,’ said Hardiman without much sign of affection.

Blames him for Zak going to the States and changing trainers? wondered Joe.

‘But, to be fair, he seems to be doing OK by the girl,’ Hardiman went on, as if realizing he’d let his feelings show. ‘He spotted Zak was going to need an agent before she’d got around to thinking of it for herself. But she’s no fool. Once she heard his proposal, she sat down and re-evaluated things. I think she signed up on a short-term contract, and part of the deal was that Endor gave Mary a job without it looking like a fix.’

‘Must’ve been pretty obvious,’ said Joe. ‘And some folk might think it was rubbing Mary’s nose in it, putting her where she’d see the figures clicking up every day telling her how well her sister was doing.’

His aim was to provoke and it worked.

‘That shows you know dick about Zak,’ snarled Hardiman.

‘While you know her inside out?’

‘I know her better than most. You’ve got to get close to someone you’re training. Sometimes you can get too close.’

‘What’s that mean?’

‘Young kids are vulnerable. They find a friendly ear to pour things into which, a couple of years later as they grow up, they wish maybe they hadn’t. So then they look for a reason to split.’

‘Thought you and Zak parted by mutual consent ’cos she wanted to go stateside and you wanted to take this job at the Plezz?’

‘I was talking in general, Joe, not about me and Zak,’ said Hardiman coldly. ‘Listen, Joe, you tread carefully here, right? Last thing I want is some family row blowing up in the Plezz, so save your dramatic revelations till Zak’s on her way back to the States.’

‘Should’ve thought the last thing you wanted was Zak coming last,’ said Joe.

Hardiman shook his head and sighed deeply.

‘Joe,’ he said. ‘The Grand Opening isn’t about Zak, it’s about the Plezz. After it’s over, then the real work begins, and it doesn’t matter if during the course of the ceremonies the mayor gets fighting drunk, the visiting dignitaries all fall into the pool, or Zak Oto gets run into the track by a no-name from nowhere. In fact if one or all of those happen, we’d probably get much more publicity than if everything goes to plan. This time next week, the mayor will be sober, the dignitaries dry, and Zak long gone to sunny Virginia. And all of us back here will be settling down to the long hard struggle to make this place pay.’

He paused and Joe digested the speech.

‘So you’re not bothered about Zak?’ he said finally.
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