Chapter 94 #2
The man on Caiger’s left was unlocking the briefcase. Sabri watched him open it and take out a short stack of cream-coloured envelopes. They’d been tied together with a narrow red ribbon, and they looked identical to the one she’d received just a few weeks ago. When all this had started.
Untying the ribbon, the man got to his feet and proceeded to walk around the room, stopping first behind Tara and placing one of the envelopes on the table directly in front of her.
Tara stared at it, almost as if she expected it to move by itself.
Tug received the next envelope and then the man moved around the table corner to place envelopes in front of Robin and Cheryl.
Sabri smelled his aftershave, a strong combination of pine and citrus, as he leaned over Holly’s shoulder.
‘Please, nobody touch them,’ Holly called out.
Nobody did.
Sabri’s own envelope, one that had her name handwritten in capital letters, the address care of Barker, Momen and Dodds, appeared in front of her and then the lawyer moved back to his original seat. Apart from Holly’s interruption, the sequence had taken place in complete silence.
‘I want confirmation of what they are, first,’ Holly went on. ‘Mr Caiger, what are these and what are we expected to do with them?’
‘As you will see, they are unopened,’ Caiger replied. ‘So, we can’t say for certain what they contain. But they came by registered post, with a covering note, explaining that they appertain to Mr Quick’s will and that they should be handed out at the reading.’
‘I want to consult my colleague,’ Holly said, giving a quick glance around. ‘I want to ask Coffie’s advice. Are you happy for me to do that?’
One by one, the others nodded their agreement and Holly left the room.
‘Why doesn’t she want us to touch them?’ Cheryl had pushed her chair away from the table and was staring at her own envelope as though it might bite her.
‘She’s worried we might compromise ourselves,’ Sabri replied, although she really hadn’t any idea.
‘I was given a summons once,’ Robin added. ‘Once I’d touched it, it was deemed to be in my possession.’
Sabri looked towards the five lawyers at the head of the room. None of them were showing any sign of hearing the discussion taking place in front of them.
The door opened and Holly came back in.
‘Coffie says it’s a bit irregular, but then everything about this whole business is. He thinks that as we’ve all renounced our interest in Logan Quick’s will, he can’t see any way we can be harmed by this. He thinks we might as well open them.’
‘If it explodes, I’m suing,’ Tug announced, before sliding his finger beneath the envelope flap and ripping it open.
As Sabri’s eyes fell to her own envelope, as she reached out to lift it up, she heard the soft clang of something metal landing on the tabletop.
‘How did this happen?’ she heard Tug say.
Sabri pulled out a sheet of A4-size paper before upturning the envelope. A token fell out.
‘Mine’s the same,’ she heard Tara say. ‘Number five. This is my token.’
‘Mine too,’ Cheryl replied. ‘Number six.’
Sabri opened the letter. The wording was all too familiar. This is your token …
It wasn’t quite the same, though, not as pristine as the original letter, and it hadn’t been signed.
‘What does this mean?’ Cheryl asked.
‘It means if Quick didn’t have time to change his will, we inherit after all,’ Tug replied.
‘Jesus,’ Sabri heard Robin say.
‘We can’t,’ Holly jumped in. ‘I don’t want anyone getting carried away. We had to have been in possession of the tokens when Logan Quick died. We weren’t. He died the day we all went to St Helen’s. After we’d given them back.’
‘That may or may not be the case,’ Caiger replied.
‘But his death was only officially declared four days later when his body was found. By that time, the envelopes had already arrived and been registered here. So, even though none of you were aware of it, they were returned to your possession then.’
‘We’ve discussed this at length.’ Finally, one of Caiger’s colleagues, the same man who’d handed around the envelopes, spoke. ‘And consulted legal counsel. There is no doubt in any of our minds that the will stands. And that the six of you are the beneficiaries. Once again, congratulations.’
Sabri wondered if she was going to be sick. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Cheryl clasp her hands to her face.
‘There were seven tokens,’ Tug pointed out. ‘One of them was sent to Craig Lewis, also known as Logan Quick himself. Who’s got the seventh?’
The men at the front exchanged glances.
‘The current holder of token number three has been in contact with us,’ Caiger explained. ‘He preferred not to attend this meeting, but he does intend to claim his seventh share of the inheritance.’
‘We appreciate that this news will come as something of a shock,’ his colleague said.
‘And while none of you are our clients, we think it not remiss of us to give you some very general advice. Do nothing in a hurry. Take some time. Miss Jennings and Mr Bridgman are our trusted financial advisors and are willing to give you immediate financial advice should you need it. They can be at your disposal over the next few days.’
The woman and her colleague gave unsmiling but not entirely unfriendly nods around the room.
‘We’ve also taken the liberty of booking a private house on the edge of the national park,’ Caiger said. ‘We recommend that you all stay there for the next few days. Take some time, get used to the idea, consult our advisors. We can arrange for any family members to join you by the end of the day.’
He glanced left and right, and then all five of the lawyers got to their feet.
‘We’ll give you some time,’ the senior partner said.
Tara and Tug were the last to leave the offices of Barker, Momen and Dodds.
As they waited in the reception area for their car to arrive, she was conscious of all eyes around watching them: the security guards, still in their flanking positions; the receptionists behind the front desk; the staff members in the main work area beyond the glass walls.
All were trying to be discreet, but Tara could feel their collective gazes burning into her shoulders.
She moved a little closer to Tug, as though his bulk could shelter her from them.
This was how her life was going to be from now on. Always the object of curiosity. Public property.
Outside, the last car pulled up and the security guard in charge nodded to Tug. Time to go.
Taking advice from Holly and her boyfriend, the six of them had agreed to spend the next few days in the hideaway the firm were providing for them.
The Carter family would be driven over that evening.
They needed time, Coffie argued, to take everything in; to think through the implications of what the sudden influx of money would mean. Above all, they needed to be together.
‘It couldn’t have been Quick himself,’ she said, as Tug joined her on the back seat and the car doors closed. ‘He left the house before we did. We saw his helicopter take off.’
‘That git would never have sent them,’ Tug replied, as the car started to move, and Tara turned away to avoid the flash of camera lenses. ‘The last thing he wanted was his six arch enemies benefiting from his will. All he ever wanted was to fuck us up.’
‘Maybe he has,’ Tara said. Four billion pounds. It was untold wealth.
‘Resisting the temptation of Scotch at five hundred quid a bottle won’t be any harder than saying no to Asda vodka,’ Tug replied. ‘I’ve bigger problems than Logan Quick’s billions to worry about.’
He reached out and took hold of her hand. ‘And there are things I want that money can’t buy.’
Tara let herself lean against him. ‘I guess we’ll cope,’ she said.