False Diamond--An Abbot Agency Mystery Read Free Page B

‘Daddy gave Ben some shares in the company when we got married. And he asked me to give him mine for his last birthday, to add to those he already had. So I did.’
    â€˜What!’ Sybil Holland’s face paled under the make-up. The blusher on her cheeks stood out by contrast.
    â€˜Yes,’ whispered Dilys. ‘So you see, Ben can’t be touched. Daddy will always support Ben, you know that he will, and now he can outvote you so there’s nothing you can do about it. I’m so afraid that if Ben gets bored with me, he’ll sue me for divorce, and we’d lose our house and have to take the children away from their schools and live in a rented flat somewhere, and I’d have to go out to work which I know I wouldn’t be any good at, and then the children would run wild and get into trouble and end up in prison and I can’t bear the thought of it.’
    The shadowy man laid his hand on Dilys’s shoulder by way of comfort.
    The harridan’s face was a picture of shock, horror!
    Bea looked from one stricken face to the other and wondered how much Max had known about all this.
    â€˜So you see,’ said Dilys, sniffing, ‘we can’t query the ring, and we can’t say anything to anybody about it.’
    Sybil took a deep breath. Her colour was returning to normal though there was the very slightest suggestion that her head shook on her neck. ‘I see that I have been remiss, involved as I have been in my own affairs, and living so far away.’ She caught Bea’s eye. ‘Florida. The climate agrees with me, and the society in which I move is … But I ought not to have let things slide.’
    Bea began to like the old dear.
    Sybil’s lips tightened. ‘I only came over this time because my brother got into a panic about … Though I’m sure it’s a storm in a teacup. But, added to the cut in my Holland and Butcher dividend, it caused me to cancel a cruise to the Bahamas. Looking back, I see I’ve been living in a fool’s paradise. I hadn’t bothered to keep abreast of developments.’
    Dilys said, ‘There’s nothing whatever we can do about it. I begged you not to go on and on about the ring and—’
    â€˜Now, what on earth do we do? And don’t say “nothing”. I am not accustomed to sitting down when hit by a truck. Up and at ’em, I say.’ She chewed on her lip, then turned to face Bea. ‘Well, now you know how things stand, Mrs Abbot, your involvement becomes a matter not just of convenience but of life and death for everyone concerned.’
    â€˜No,’ said Bea. ‘Wouldn’t touch it with a bargepole.’
    â€˜I dare say you
do
recoil from the prospect,’ said the mink coat, getting to her feet and, incredibly, lighting another cigarette. ‘I can quite see it would mean a move out of your comfort zone to come to our rescue, but there it is; it appears we’ve all got to take action if we’re to survive. You’ll want to speak to your son about this, no doubt. I’ll leave you my card. Ring me tonight or tomorrow morning before ten. I have an appointment at the osteopath’s at eleven and he lives in some far flung suburb which is probably inhabited solely by members of the third world living on benefits. And don’t tell me I shouldn’t say such things, because at my age I’ll speak as I find. Now, you can get one of your girls to summon me a taxi, and I’ll be out of your hair. Dilys, I’ll drop you off on the way home, right?’
    Bea saw the two women off into a taxi before returning to her office to open the window, despite the chilly air outside, and let herself relax into her chair. She passed her hand across her eyes.
    What a mess!
    Could Max really have got himself tangled with the affairs of H & B? So much so that he’d be in financial trouble if Bea refused to help them out? Sybil had hinted as much,