Chapter 25
25
William
William hovered by the doorway to Frankie’s flat. He didn’t want to leave her but she insisted she’d be all right and he could hardly argue. Being a shoulder to cry on was one thing, as was helping her out in the bakery, but inviting himself into her flat was crossing a line which, although it was one neither of them had drawn, was there just the same. Plus, he needed to get some sleep himself, even though he’d just arranged to meet Tam shortly. There suddenly didn’t seem to be enough hours in the day.
‘You’re sure you’ll be safe here?’ he asked, looking up at the window above the bakery.
Frankie nodded. ‘If Robert does turn up, he’ll have a long wait on his hands. I won’t be going anywhere until this evening. And you’ll be back then, won’t you?’
William wouldn’t miss it for the world. ‘Okay then.’ William stared at his feet. And then at Frankie’s cheek, where he’d seen Beth drop a friendly kiss. Could he do the same? Dare he? He told himself it wouldn’t mean anything, but who was he trying to kid? He couldn’t think of anything he’d rather do. As it was, he’d spent nearly all of the last twelve hours with her, and the thought of the next twelve without her felt inexplicably odd.
He passed Frankie her bag, opening the door for her and dropping his gaze once more. He shuffled his feet. He had only seconds left before Frankie would be gone…
‘Bye, William…’ Frankie raised her good hand and touched his jacket, just light enough for him to feel. She leaned forward and…‘I’ll see you tonight,’ she added. A moment later, she slipped through the door.
Not once during the last thirty years or so had William met anyone like Frankie. And that changed everything. Because his past had been lived with no real thought for the future, and most of the time he hadn’t much cared what happened to him. Now, though…So, although he knew what he ought to do about Stuart, should and would had suddenly become two entirely different things. And that was a problem.
‘What are we up to today then?’ asked Tam as William greeted him. ‘Another spying mission?’
William grimaced. ‘Not quite, but I do need your help again. You had a business, didn’t you? So does that mean you know about accounts and stuff?’
‘In theory, although I’m not sure how useful I’ll be. My business went bust, remember? Why are you asking?’
‘Because I need some information, but I’m not sure how easy it will be to find. I thought you might know. Can I possibly borrow you for ten minutes before you go to Beth’s?’
At Tam’s nod, William glanced around him at the street, busy with morning shoppers. ‘Is there a way to check a company’s accounts? I don’t need the detail, just how much money they’re making.’
‘Companies House has an online database – would that help? You can search for a list of directors, when the business started up, turnover, that kind of thing.’
‘That’s exactly what I need. But I don’t have a computer or a mobile phone, or not one where you can do that kind of thing, anyway.’ He pulled a face. ‘I’m a bit of a dinosaur, I’m afraid. Frankie might have one, I suppose. Or Beth…I’ve never asked.’
Tam smiled, fishing in his pocket and pulling out a battered wallet. ‘No need,’ he said. ‘Not when you have one of these.’ He winkled out a dog-eared card. ‘Library membership,’ he added. ‘Books, maps, newspapers, audiobooks, and…a computer suite, all free to use.’
‘Perfect,’ replied William, grinning.
It was quiet in the library at that time of the morning, and the computer suite quieter still.
‘Go and grab a seat,’ said Tam. ‘I’ll book us in.’
William did as Tam suggested, heading for the computer which was furthest from the door. There weren’t many folks around, but he didn’t want to take the chance that someone might overhear what they were about to discuss.
He picked up a leaflet, idly reading it while he waited for Tam to appear. It was more to give his hands something to do than any interest he had in learning how to research his family tree, however. If he did this thing, and found the information he needed, did that mean he absolutely had to follow it up? His head had one answer, and his heart another, and right now, William had no clue which would win.
William was no angel; his life thus far had been littered with lies. Some of them were no more than the schoolboy fibs of his youth. Some might come under the umbrella of a certain kindness, an accommodation of how you felt in order to spare someone a harsh reality. But some of them had been much worse. And then there were the lies of omission, where he hadn’t revealed what he should. Kept things to himself in order to cover the truth of his past…but wasn’t that just as bad?
He had told Frankie and Tam that he didn’t need much sleep because he’d been living somewhere noisy, implying as much anyway, but he’d lied . He’d told Frankie he’d made the odd loaf of bread, implying that it was a leisurely pastime, something he might do of a weekend, but he’d lied . He had also left an apologetic message for Danny on the club answerphone saying that he wouldn’t be at work for the next few days because he had flu, but he had lied .
The truth was that he would be working with Frankie until her wrist was better because there was nowhere else he’d rather be. But his relationship with the truth was complicated. He glanced at the computer screen in front of him. If he and Tam found what he suspected they might, then the biggest truth of them all was about to stare William in the face. The question was whether he could bring himself to tell it.
‘Sorry,’ said Tam, appearing by his side. ‘Would you believe the computer which allows us to use the computers was on a go-slow. I’m loving the irony.’
William smiled and shuffled his seat over so that Tam could sit down in front of the screen. ‘I’m not much good with technology,’ he admitted. ‘It’s kind of passed me by.’
‘Well, I’m no expert,’ replied Tam. ‘But I reckon I can find us what we need. Let me just log on and then I can take a look. Have you got the exact name of the company you’re trying to find?’
William pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and spread it open on the desk. He’d been carrying it around ever since they’d followed Stuart’s van to the row of shops just around the corner from where he used to live.
‘Sun City Tanning Studio…’ read Tam, squinting slightly at William’s untidy scrawl. ‘Isn’t that the place we stopped outside the other day?’ He frowned. ‘I know you said it was better if I didn’t know what was going on, but I think the time for that has passed. You obviously think it’s something dodgy.’
‘I didn’t mention it before, but I used to live a couple of streets away from those shops when I was young. I know them very well. The tanning salon was a greengrocer’s back then, and I’ve been inside it many a time. It isn’t very big, none of the shops are. They’re only small businesses, useful and viable, but not the sort to make you a millionaire. So how much do you reckon the tanning salon takes in a year?’
Tam pursed his lips. ‘We can do a quick search of similar businesses for sale, if you like,’ he said. ‘That would give us a rough idea of turnover, but I don’t suppose it’s more than forty or fifty thousand a year. A shop that size, in that location…’ He shook his head. ‘Definitely not going to make you a millionaire.’ He began to tap at the keyboard. ‘Let’s have a look, shall we?’
William watched while Tam brought up a series of pages, most of which meant nothing to him, but after a couple of minutes, Tam indicated the screen. ‘If we want more detail, we have to pay, but this should give us the basics.’ He began to type the company name into a search box.
The screen was suddenly filled with a list of names – all either identical or very similar to the one they were looking for, businesses all over the country. Tam drew his finger down the list. ‘There,’ he said, tapping the screen. ‘It’s the only one with the right address.’
A couple more clicks of the mouse and the screen changed again. Filled with numbers this time, against terms William had no understanding of. ‘You’ll have to tell me what we’re looking at,’ he said.
But Tam was silent, brows drawn together as he digested what he saw in front of him.
‘What does it mean?’ urged William.
‘That I was in the wrong line of business,’ Tam replied. ‘I can’t believe they’re making that much money…Is tanning really that lucrative?’
William stared at the screen. ‘No,’ he said. ‘That’s just it, I don’t believe it is. This is about ten times what I think it should be, but, sadly, pretty much what I expected to find. I’m no expert, but if what I suspect about Stuart is right, then he’s going to need some way of making his ill-gotten gains seem legit. He needs to make his money clean.’ He raised his eyebrows at Tam, not wanting to say the actual words out loud.
Tam looked furtively around the room, leaning closer. ‘You mean they’re laundering it?’ he whispered.
William nodded. ‘I can’t think of any other explanation. And businesses like tanning salons are prime examples of how they do it – ones which operate primarily on a cash basis. They simply mix in the dirty money with the legitimate takings, and it all comes out clean in the end. But what you end up with is a business that has far more money coming through the door than you would expect.’ He thought for a moment. ‘Is there a way to check who owns this company?’
‘Sure,’ replied Tam. ‘Hang on, I’ll get the page back up. So yes, here’s Stuart, and apart from him, there’s just one other guy listed – a Paul Morris. Does that mean anything to you?’
William stared at the second name on the list, unsure whether to be relieved or not. A big part of him had been worried he’d find Danny’s name, but Paul Morris meant nothing to him. He picked up the piece of paper which held the details of the tanning salon and, spying a biro that was lying on an adjacent desk, he scribbled down what he’d seen on the screen. ‘Thanks, Tam, this is exactly what I needed.’
Tam slid him a sideways look. ‘I’m not sure you should be thanking me,’ he said. ‘This is serious, William. What are you going to do?’
William closed his eyes, inhaling deeply as he opened them. ‘At this moment in time, I’m not sure. But something. I have to do something…’ He swallowed, staring at the wall behind the computer as if the answer could be found there. ‘I have a promise to keep.’