Walking with Ghosts

receives a decent education. And a final, smaller one-off payment, say fifty thousand pounds, would allow Joni’s elderly and frail mother to spend her remaining days free from financial constraint and worry.’
    The barrister looked at Edward Blake. Blake’s features were immobile, but his whole body was shaking. ‘What is your response to the proposals, Mr Blake?’
    Blake brought his body under control and let a thin smile cross his lips. ‘I’ll not pay a penny,’ he said. ‘Joni Prine is a slag and a thief who’s never been in my employ. And no one can prove otherwise.’
    ‘OK,’ said Marie, ‘the alternative course for us is to solicit offers from the tabloid press for a certain videotape. One way or another Joni will be compensated.’
    Robert ‘Bobby’ Neville leaned forward and touched Blake’s arm. He smiled with a mouthful of teeth. ‘Edward,’ he said, ‘I do believe you’d like to reconsider the proposals to compensate the lady.’
    Blake glared at the cabinet minister with undisguised hatred. ‘A quarter of a million,’ he said. ‘I’m screwed for a quarter of a million, and the rest of you go home with everything intact. Is that justice?’
    No one replied. Sam Turner made a squeaking sound from underneath his hat, but he didn’t actually say anything.
    ‘I’m not going to fall for this,’ said Blake. ‘If I go down you all go down with me.’
    ‘What you have to realize, Edward,’ said the cabinet minister, ‘is that the tobacco industry will immediately pull its cash out of your operation. And even if you are lucky enough to retain a new client, there will be very few politicians willing to listen to your arguments. If that tape ends up with the tabloids you’ll be joining the dole queue.’
    ‘We’ll be there together, then, minister. There’s no way that I’m going to pay everyone’s fare out of this.’
    Bobby and his barrister went into a whispered conference. Scratching of chins. Shaking of heads. Slow dawning of resignation on their faces as they came out of the huddle. Bobby looked at Edward Blake and said, ‘Fifty-fifty?’ Blake took his time, let the minister sweat for almost a minute. Then he said, ‘You’re a fucking prince among men, Bobby.’
    The barrister did his cough again. He rubbed his hands together. ‘Well, then, everything seems to be settled, er, amicably.’ He collected the videotape and put it into his briefcase.
    ‘A moment,’ said the cabinet minister. ‘What happens if for some reason Mr Blake doesn’t honour his part of the commitment?’
    ‘We’ll go to the tabloids,’ said Marie.
    ‘So there’s another copy of the videotape,’ said the cabinet minister, almost to himself.
    ‘Ten, actually,’ said Marie. ‘Lodged with different solicitors and banks. Just in case anything happens to Joni Prine or to anyone connected with her.’
    Marie got to her feet. ‘Coming, Sam?’ she said. She waited until her boss had shaken hands with the other gentlemen in the room, smiling and nodding his head, occasionally raising his hat, but still not speaking. Then she followed him out of the office and down into the street where they both collapsed against the wall of the building.
    ‘Unbelievable,’ she said. ‘I didn’t think they’d buy the whole package.’
    ‘It’s true what they say,’ said Sam, when he’d got his breath back, ‘if it wasn’t for the government we’d have nothing left to laugh at.’
     
    *
     
    A quick celebratory coffee and back to work. When she had spoken on the telephone with Charles Hopper, secretary of the Fulford Players, he had sounded as though he might be helpful. Marie had expected him to get back to her, but there had been no word from him. She decided to visit his house rather than telephone again. You got more information from a man if you could establish eye contact.
    He lived in a three-storey Georgian town house off the Fulford Road. The place was well maintained, the mortar sharply pointed, the windows cleaned, and the three steps up to the front door had been recently scrubbed. The weather was electric. When Marie had started out the sky in the east had been black; now it was clear over there, but the air was heavy with pressure. There were sudden gusts of wind, shaking the trees and sending people running for their hats, then just as quickly the wind would die away and leave behind it an apparent calm.
    The bell jingled merrily inside the house, but no one came to answer the