"Singapore."
Max explained everything in that as far as the family was concerned Mrs Stamford had made no will.
'We all thought that she had made a will,' said Max. 'She even told me what was in it a few years before she died. She said that I was going to inherit a lot of money, shares mostly but that she was keeping her will safe from prying eyes only when we looked for it, it was no where to be found and as far as our solicitors were concerned, without a will everything had to go to father.'
She looked down at the floor deep in thought.
I chose that moment to put the folder down and bring her close rocking her gently like a child until her whole body grew heavy from exhaustion all the time trying to focus on the flickering candle light as I thought of what I could say.
I still had no understanding of what had happened today. I naively thought I was helping her to find her lost brother and yet here I was holding a beautiful woman in my arms whilst still trying to take in the enormity of it all and I was definitely starting to feel out of my depth.
But of one thing that I was sure of and was I was not a quitter.
'Look,' I said, after a while, 'You and me are a team remember? And although I would never pretend to know what all this means or what you are going through, I want you to know that I'm here for you and won't leave your side until this is over.'
She offered me a smile, it was barely visible in the half-light but I saw it and sent one back.
'We will get through this,' I said. 'We will rise above all the hurt and deception, we will rise above all the jealousy and infighting and when the time comes, if we have to then we will go to the police, but not until we are ready.' And I meant every word too regardless of the outcome. 'Not until we have found your brother,' I continued, 'and not until we have heard from his own lips why he has done this to you and your family.'
We were both tired. We had already outstayed our welcome here and as I gingerly got up off the floor I moved back into the bedroom to grab at anything I could see that was left in the safe.
We made our way downstairs not caring whether we had left any fingerprints and eased open the garage door to a street deserted of any movement.
Street lamps glowed orange as we walked away from a small house of secrets and I was reminded again of the fact that our walk in the semi darkness in the middle of the night was what we had done only a few days ago when we were in Paris.
An hour later we were in a nearby hotel and by ten I was awake again to bright sunshine streaming through my bedroom window.
I went downstairs to look for food. I didn't want to disturb Max. I ordered a Danish pastry along with a pot of coffee and had my meal in one of the quiet rooms next to the reception desk.
I chose a table near a window. The room was empty save for a mother who was sat playing 'patter cake' with her son. I thought of my own children. I thought of my wife Cheryl. I had to phone them.
'Hello.' It was Danny.
'Hi ya darling.'
'Daddy !!!'
'How are you sweet heart?'
'Oh I'm fine daddy. When are you coming home? Mummy's been crying. She says she hasn't but I've seen her and Lizzie says it because you and mummy have had a fight. Is it true daddy? Have you been fighting?'
It was so good to hear her voice.
'No darling,' I said softly. 'Your mother and I have just had a little disagreement about my work that's all but I promise I'll be home soon, its just that we have had problems on board my ship sweetheart and daddy's been asked to stay a little while longer, that's all.'
I asked if she could get mummy and had to wait for what seemed an age before I heard my wife's voice. She was curt but polite, informing me that mum and dad were still there and asked when she would be seeing me.
'Darling,' I started, 'I love you more than anything in the world. You know that. You are my life, but there is something very wrong going on here. Lies are being said that are hurting not just us but people in this company and I am really struggling to walk away from it all.'
I asked her to have faith in me but what I got back was something totally unexpected.
'I'm scared Kirk.'
'Of what?'
'Of what is happening. Christ. Of how this is effecting us. You and me. Can't you see that? You care more about your stupid job that us.'
I said that I didn't.
'Then give this pipe dream of yours up. Walk away from it darling. You don't owe them anything.'
'And the photographs?' I asked.
She asked me if they were something she needed to worry about.
I said that they weren't.
'Then come home,' she said. 'Sod em. We did ok on your junior officer's salary didn't we? We can do it again. Walk away. I don't care where you are. Just catch the next plane home and let's start again.'
But I couldn't. Not with so much at stake.
I hesitated. I needed more time.
'I'll walk away,' I promised, 'only if you give me two more days and if I haven't found out who was behind those photographs then I'm done, I'm on my way home.'
I know it hadn't been easy for Cheryl but I asked her to trust me one last time.
It wasn't easy. I heard her sigh. I heard her say that she would give me 48 hrs and no more and after that she wanted to see me walking through our front door.
I agreed.
'That Mr Wartley phoned again by the way,' she said. 'A very strange man if you ask me and most insistent that you call him - wanting to know if I had heard about some Egyptian god of all things.'
My shoulders dropped. Such an insignificant man, he was the last person I wanted to talk to. 'What god?' I asked irritated and with half a mind to ignore him.
'I've no idea,' my wife said flatly. 'I think he called him a Numbskull or something like that.'
She was clearly trying her best at being humorous under such trying circumstances and in my heart I wanted to reciprocate until with a chill another name suddenly filled my head.
'You mean 'Namuesis'?'
'Yes! How on earth did you know that?'
I made up a cock and bull story that he was a god from the sixth dynasty and I even quipped that he was the god of doom and gloom. She seemed to like that and I when asked, she gave me his number.
I told her that I loved her. I reaffirmed my commitment to her, offering yet more assurances that nothing underhand was happening or would happen for that matter and as I put the phone down I caught sight of Max coming through the hotel lobby, arms full of shopping bags.
She gave me a huge grin and tried to plant a kiss on my lips but I twisted my head slightly and pulled away. 'I've just been talking to my family.'
She put her arms down and sighed. 'Ohh.'
'What's in the bags?' I asked.
'New clothes, toiletries and something to carry them in.'
She tried again with another smile and insisted we took lunch in the main restaurant at twelve. I agreed.
'Geoffrey Wartley phoned,' I said studying the menu.
'Who?'
'Someone from accounts,' I replied nonchalantly. 'We met him at your party. A large man. Introduced himself while we were waiting to go upstairs. He came across as quite lonely and he's tried to get in touch with me twice now and to be honest I don't know what to make of it all.' I looked up. 'I'm a little perturbed to be honest at how he got our number,' I then shrugged. 'but he seems harmless enough. He just wanted to talk to me about the Namuesis. No idea why.'
I stopped to gauge her response but she simply looked at me with a total lack of interest and so I let it be. Either she hadn't heard a word of what I had said; didn't know anything about it or just didn't care.
'I can get Patrick to have a word with him if you want,' she said in the end. 'Get him to stop bothering you, if it helps.'
But I shook my head.
'No need,' I said. 'He'll soon get the message when I keep ignoring him.'
The meal was pleasant enough, a salad with a tuna pasta washed down with a very nice chardonnay but the mood was a little somber and not surprising when you consider what had happened last night. Max was back to her radiant self, dressed to impress as if nothing had happened and under the circumstances I opted to leave business matters until we had retired back upstairs. Under my bed were the documents from last night and with a heave of the mattress, I managed to drag them all back out.
Max failed dismally to hide her amusement at my cloak and dagger approach and while she fell about laughing I found myself warming to her all over again. I gave her a handful of papers and started on a set of bank statements, both showing healthy returns and neither from England.
The first, a Euro account made out to Adam, held around sixteen thousand euros while the second was in the name of a Nathan Fellington for around twenty seven and a half thousand dollars. I thrust the second piece of paper across to Max who scanned it quickly.
'No idea,' she said with a shake of her head. 'Never heard of him.'
We looked at everything and it wasn't until I was near the bottom of the pile did I notice a small white envelope. It contained a single letter with the words 'The Right Reverent Sister Ceassaciea of the church of the holy trinity of Marie Santa Luciantia' imprinted across the top
A mouthful but so out of the ordinary, it had to mean something.
'Bingo !!'
I dropped the piece of paper and spun round only to find a crumpled up piece of paper thrust into my face.
'I know where he is!'
It was a recent phone bill.
'Singapore!'
'Singapore?'
'Yes.'
She rose off the bed, scooped up the documents as though they were soapsuds in a bath and told me to meet her downstairs in five minutes.'
I glanced down at the two bags of new belongings and I did as I was told arriving downstairs a few minutes later in a new shirt and trousers.
Max was waiting for me, my bill already paid for, and linking up with my arm through mine she ushered me out into the heat of the sun where a taxi was already waiting to take us to the airport.
We sat together. I allowed her touch as she leant a hand on my knee. I allowed, as well, her intoxicating scent to fill my lungs and I found myself allowing her closeness to renew the intimacy we had between us.
I loved my wife.
Of that, there was no doubt but Max was changing everything and drawing me closer to her, sucking me in with every breath she was taking, and I was ashamed to say I did have feelings for her.
I needed her in my life only I just didn't know how badly.
As I sat next to my friend, breathing in her very essence of who she was, I allowed the voices of my family to quietly fade into obscurity. Hearing their voices had been like a breath of fresh air to me, revitalising me and knowing that my Cheryl still cared about us was as if I had been reborn.
I still hadn't committed a crime.
My morals were still intact, albeit a little frayed at the edges but they were still there, guiding me, and I was almost back to my full self again.
Singapore.
We were at last gaining on our quarry and before I even knew what I had done, I had pulled my friend's face close to mine and planted a huge kiss on her lips.
'What was that for?' she asked.
I shrugged my shoulders. 'No reason. I'm just glad to be alive that's all.'
With that I sat back and looked ahead. By tomorrow morning, the Jupiter would be on her way to England with my good friend John at the helm and with any luck we will be on the other side of the world closing in on her brother.
So much could be achieved in 48 hours.
I just couldn't wait.
+ + + + + + + + + + +
So Singapore. What next I wonder?
And he has made it up with his wife. That's good isn't it?
And what about Mr Wartley? What does he want?
What is more who is Nathan Fellington?
And yet more money found.
What on Earth is going on?
I so want to hear your thoughts :)
Take care.
JU