Jack and Diane Ch. 15-18

I glanced at Camilla. I could see her bridle at this buffoon. I really couldn't understand how this imbecile had got to where he was. He wouldn't have got past the Navy selection board.

He continued. "I have been authorised to make an ex gratia payment for your inconvenience. Our solicitor, Mr Chambers has the details, and some documents for you to sign. This would, of course all be confidential and without prejudice." He smiled expansively, confident in a job well done. Chambers brought the documents and placed them in front of me, proffering his pen.

Milla went to speak. I put my hand to her arm to stop her. I wanted this moment. I let the papers lie unread.

"So if I had hit Constable Graham would you be having a nice little chat with me about paying her a couple of thousand pounds, then we'll all forget about it? Or would you be all over the papers and television ranting on about assaults on police officers, and demanding I be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law? You think you can buy my silence for less than I can make in a day? Tell me this, how much will it cost you to defend this in court? How much damage will that court case cost you in bad publicity?" I leant forward towards the Assistant Chief Constable, "And do you think any of your careers would survive it?" I looked at Milla.

"Gentlemen unless you have anything more to offer I think we are finished here. When you are prepared to produce an equitable settlement, please contact my office," she said. With that we left.

We waited until we were outside. As we walked to the car I could no longer contain my incredulity. "Where did they get that imbecile? A Sub Lieutenant fresh out of Britannia College has more sense."

"It's endemic in the police, they seem to give them special insensitivity training."

"That's as maybe, Milla, but that was just incompetent."

"I rather liked the comparison you made, between what they expected you to accept from them, and how they would treat you if the circumstances were reversed."

As we drove I continued. "I can't believe they intend to put her back on the job. If I had used a spray and a baton on her, I'd be looking at ten years at least."

"Well they are going to have to come back to me with a better offer. What do you want out of it?"

"Quite frankly if they had told me they were disciplining her and throwing her out of the force I would have been satisfied. After that though, I feel pretty damned insulted. I'd like to see Wilson and that other pair carpeted, but I don't really see that happening." I thought about it. "She's not fit to be a police officer. She misused her position in Devon to gather information. That was bad supervision down there. I want her out of the force."

"What about the settlement?"

"Well we didn't make a claim to begin with. To be honest I don't think I would have bothered about one, but after that derisory offer, I want you to push for whatever you can get out of the bastards. Do you think we could make a claim on behalf of Harry and Georgie?"

"On what basis?"

"You're the lawyer Milla. Emotional distress for being left alone in the house or something?"

"That could get very messy, but I might be able to use it as leverage. Alex Chambers is a decent guy. I'll talk to him"

"Ok Milla, I leave it in your capable hands. Whatever you can get might make the difference between buying the house for them. Screw the fuckers into the ground. Make sure the Chief Constable has to know about it."

"I'm fairly certain he does. Wilson is being used to distance him from any trouble. I'll have a look at previous settlements to get an idea of how much to go for."

"Well, remember the kids were left unprotected, and if it wasn't for my parents being so close they could have been on their own for hours. And I was slung in a cell without appropriate medical treatment as well. Lay it on thick."

"Oh, I will, Jack. I'll pin them to the wall."

"How's Simon? I haven't seen him since we went hacking."

"He's great. He's retiring from the bench shortly."

"I'm sure he'll be glad to. What are you going to do then?"

"That'll be a bridge we'll cross when we come to it. But I think I'm looking forward to moving on."

"Are you going to give up the practice?"

"I might. I'll maybe look for something less taxing, that I don't wind up taking home with me."

"Any ideas?"

"Well I was thinking a boutique, but that market seems to be pretty well sewn up," she laughed.

With that we arrived back at Camilla's offices.

"Lunch?" I offered.

"That would be nice. I'll just drop my briefcase in the office first."

"Are your briefs in it?"

"Get your mind out of my underwear, you dirty bugger!"

I gave her my best injured ingenuous look. "You're a lawyer; don't you call your case notes "Briefs"?"

"That's not what you meant, and you know it!"

I didn't bother going into the office after lunch. I phoned Mum and told her I would pick the kids up from school. They were pleased with the surprise. We spent the afternoon tending to the horses.

*****

That evening, Diane phoned. "I'm meeting an estate agent at the Plymouth house tomorrow morning. I won't be able to take Harry and Georgie for the weekend."

"Maybe you could take them with you. Let them see it again before you sell it."

"I'll do that some other time. I'm just going straight down and back up again. It wouldn't be much fun for them."

"I suppose that's true," I conceded. I didn't actually want them to see the house in the state it was likely to be in.

"Let me speak to them, I'll let them know I'll see them on Sunday."

I put the children on the line.

"Brill," said Georgie, when she came off the phone with her mother. "Can we go hacking tomorrow Daddy?"

"Certainly," I said. "What do you want to do Harry?"

"I think I'd like to do that too, Dad."

Something got in my eye and made it water.

*****

Fortunately, Saturday was a beautiful autumn day. We stopped for lunch at the same pub as usual letting the horses loose in the adjoining field. We had just ordered when my phone rang.

"Jack! There's a burst pipe! The house is a mess. What do I do?"

"Where's the burst?" As if I didn't know. Schadenfreude filled me with malicious joy.

"I don't know. The ceilings are down."

"Is it from the bathroom or hot tank?"

"I don't know. The bedroom ceilings are down it seems to be coming from the attic."

"OK. Check and see if the main stopcock is open."

"Where is that?"

"You didn't turn it off last time you were down then? It is in the kitchen. The mains feed pipe runs up the wall in the corner on behind the backdoor. There is a tap on it. Turn it off."

"You always did those things. I didn't know about it."

"Diane, if you remember I had to tell you about it the first time you went down after the divorce." She rang off.

"What's up Dad?"

"There's a burst pipe in the Devon house. The ceilings are down."

"What does that mean, Daddy?"

"It means your Mum is going to have to spend a lot of money to fix it, or she's not going to get as much money when she sells the house." My phone rang again.

"Jack, that hasn't stopped the water."

"It's probably just the water lying everywhere. Can you hear it running in the pipes?"

"I don't know. How do I tell?"

"Put your ear to the pipe and tell me if you hear a hissing sound."

"No, I don't hear anything. The estate agent is here now. What'll I do?"

"How should I know? It's up to you. Get him to give you a valuation as it is and an estimate of what it would be worth if you had it fixed up, I suppose."

"Could you come down?"

"Diane, we are hacking. We've stopped for lunch. We won't be home for hours, and then I would have to drive down. Why don't you get Peter to come down?"

"He wouldn't be able to do anything. Please, Jack?"

"Look, we'll all come down tomorrow, and see what we can do. Book yourself into a bed and breakfast or something and we'll meet you there."

In a small voice she said "OK, I'll see you tomorrow."

Somehow I didn't feel as triumphant as I thought I would. The moment of exultation at her misfortune, had been replaced with empathy for her pain. I didn't feel the same joy at being with the children on the return ride.

*****

Next morning we were up early and on the road by eight. We made good time and were at the house by lunchtime. It was a mess. Diane was very sad.

"The estate agent said the place is only worth about a hundred and fifty thousand in this state. He said I would have got about two hundred or more if it was in decent condition."

"Well, check with your insurers on Monday. They can get it repaired and you'll probably get more than that with it freshly painted …"

"What am I going to do Jack? I need the money to buy Lavinia out. A hundred and fifty would probably be enough for her share and portion of the stock. But I need the money quickly. Who knows how long the insurers will take to put it to rights?"

"Let me have a look around." The children wanted to get inside to see the damage, but I wasn't about to let them any further than the door in case anything came down on them. The water was off, but there wasn't really anything more I could do than secure the property. "Best leave it to the insurers," I told her, "let's go down to the beach before we go home."

We went to the beach for a while, and then had a late lunch of fish and chips before hitting the road. Harry decided to travel with his mother, just to keep her company on the journey.

For the first few miles Georgie was a pensive. Then she spoke. "Can you fix it Daddy?"

"Fix what darling?"

"Our house. Can you?"

"I'm sure I could, love, but it's your Mummy's house now and she wants to sell it."

"But you could buy it Daddy and fix it for us. I like my holidays in our house. Please, Daddy?"

"Houses cost a lot of money, Georgie, I don't know if I have enough."

"Mummy said it wasn't worth as much now. If you buy it now you won't need so much money. Harry and me can help fix it."

"Harry and I, you are talking about you doing something," I corrected her, "Sweetie, I don't want to tell you I can and then let you down."

"You can keep my pocket money, Daddy. I'm sure Harry would let you keep his too."

I had to stifle a laugh. Somehow I knew he would, too, just for his little sister. "You can't ask him that, boys need money for all sorts of things. It wouldn't be fair for him to go out with his friends and have nothing to spend when they are all doing things. Imagine how he would feel if they were going swimming or something and he couldn't go. He would be all embarrassed and that wouldn't be fair. They would make fun of him, wouldn't they?"

"I suppose …"

"Tell you what. I'll look at things and see what I can do, but I'm not going to make a promise I can't keep. OK?"

"I know you'll do it, Daddy." I didn't quite share her confidence, but her words had stiffened my resolve to try.

Jack and Diane Chapter 18.

I heard nothing from Milla until Wednesday. "Jack, Alex Chambers was in with me yesterday. I think we have an agreement that will suit you. Can you call in to discuss it with me?"

"Yes, I could call in about four, if that suits?"

"That's fine. I'll see you then."

I was on site most of the day and left in time to meet Milla. She cut to the chase immediately.

"Alex basically asked me what we wanted to make this all go away. He didn't put it in exactly those words, though. He was skirting around hoping we weren't going to press for a prosecution. So I asked what he was offering as a settlement. His first offer was twenty thousand, so I laughed at him and told him that the way they had dragged it out that wouldn't cover my fees this far."

"Christ, I knew you were at the top of the tree but I'll be hard pushed to cover much more Milla."

"Don't be silly, they'll end up paying my fees and David's for that matter."

"David's?"

"Yes, he was your brief when you were arrested in the first place. I'll make sure they are covered as well."

"OK, so what's this agreement you have thrashed out?"

"Graham will be discharged from the force; she'll forfeit all gratuities and pension rights. If she doesn't accept that she'll be prosecuted."

"Hang on; she has a track record of trying to get even with me for her father. That's going to give her more reason to hate me."

"Jack, if she tries anything, this will all come out and she'll go to jail. She will not want that, believe me."

"Fair enough. I just want to be able to get on with my life. It's been on hold for long enough. Get the papers drawn up and I'll sign them."

"Don't you want to know the settlement figure?"

"I'm sure you'll have done the best deal possible, I didn't go into this for the money." Milla looked a little crestfallen. "OK, OK, of course I want to know. I just don't want to appear mercenary about it."

"One hundred and twenty five thousand."

"WHAT?"

"You heard."

"How the hell did you manage that? That's about ten times what I thought."

"When I mentioned I was also acting for Harry and Georgie after them being left on their own, he caved in. Basically what I've done is forfeited all other claims, including pursuing Graham for damages. That's why she's going to have to forfeit her gratuities and pension rights. You aren't the only one who wants to get on with their life. Everyone at her station knows how she set up the young probationer who came out with her. I'm pretty sure it'll be round the whole force by now. No-one will want to work with her."

"That's true. It was the same in the Navy."

"Anyway, those rights are going to offset the settlement. As I say, the whole thing goes away."

"And your fees, and David's?"

"They pay them. If this had gone to court you can guarantee they wouldn't see change out of half a million."

"Shit!"

"Look. They'd be paying for at least two barristers, theirs and ours. I'm sure Graham would retain someone as well, and as her employer they could be stuck with that bill. All we would have to do is retain two more for Harry and Georgie and they'd be totally screwed. Alex knows that. This is a good deal for them. Don't forget, we could also go after the Devon force. I'm sure we could prove they broke the Data Protection Act and haul them into it too. And that would be megabucks paying for computer experts, never mind having to give them access to the police system."

"You put that to Alex Chambers, didn't you?"

"Oh yes!" she grinned. "When I said one hundred and twenty five thou, I think he'd have written the cheque there and then, but he had to put it to the ACC first. Alex knows they haven't a leg to stand on. We have a meeting with the police again on Friday. I've made it for two o'clock. Can you make it?"

"Damn sure I'll make it. Diane wants to sell the house in Devon. The kids are really cut up about her selling off their childhood. They feel she is cutting them out of her life even more. That money might just allow me to buy it back."

"You loved that place, didn't you?"

"True. There was something more special about the time I spent down there when the children were younger. It was a little idyll; an oasis."

"How is the gym going?"

"On target to open on January the first."

"How is the hunt for staff going?"

"Fine. The franchisers have interviewed for coaching staff, but it is up to me to organise the administration and ancillary staff."

"Can you get time off to interview for them?"

"No, I've retained a recruitment agency, although I have final say on the management positions. It gives me a bit of protection from the sex discrimination legislation."

"Why do you need that?"

"It's a women only gym? I don't want male staff?"

"Good point. The courts have started interpreting it in favour of men now, too."

"I'll hold evening interviews for the senior positions, but they'll be pre-selected by the agency. Actually there are only the manager's positions to fill."

"How are you making sure you have enough staff to cover all the shifts?"

"The franchisers have a rota worked out. We'll use a combination of full time staff, job sharing, and part-time working."

"Quite the modern employer, aren't we? What prompted you to go into the ladies-only gym business, as if I couldn't guess?" I smiled, knowingly.

"I remember you very well when we were children, Jack. No-one ever got one over you," she put her hand on my forearm, "or your friends." Tears glistered her eyes, unshed. I leant in and gently kissed her. She returned the compliment with an embrace that turned me to stone, well one bit of me anyway. I held her close. "Sometimes, Jack, I wish …" I placed my fingertip to her lips.

"Shhh. It would never have worked between us. You know that."

"It could. I could make it work, Jack."

"No, Milla, it would not be fair to either of us. We would lose each other forever."

"Oh Jack! You always knew what was right for us. I love you so."

"I know. I love you too." I gave her my handkerchief. Yes, I still carry one. Knowing Milla as I do I recognised there was more to this than meets the eye. "Would you like to come home with me for supper with us?"

"I would like that very much."

Preparing supper gave Milla and me a chance to sort out details of the settlement, like when I would get the money. We also discussed the possible, or as it may now be, probable, purchase of the house in Devon.

"What exactly happened, Jack?"

"A burst pipe. It must have happened during the cold snap."

"I didn't think it got that cold in Devon." Milla looked at me with the same look she gave me in the office when she asked why I purchased the gym franchise.

"Fuck's sake, Milla! Not everything is my doing. Anyway, the usual method is arson. It's a damn sight easier. And it could easily be explained away as vagrants or hooligans." I'm not entirely sure she was convinced. But then, she probably knew more about me than anyone else, with the possible exception of David.

"You should be able to afford it with comfort, now though. Kinda convenient, don't you think?"

"Look! I know you are a lawyer with a particularly jaundiced view of men, but if she gets her insurers to re-instate it, the price probably be further out of reach."

"Maybe not now."

"Stop trying to wind me up."

"I'll get Harry and Georgie."

After supper the children went to their rooms, and Milla and I settled down in front of the moving wallpaper. "OK, Milla. Spill."

"Simon and I are getting divorced."

"And it has hit you harder than you expected."

Milla looked at me, "How did you know?"

"Your gaiety is a bit forced, and you were looking, despondently, at Harry and Georgie. Look you can't live with together as long as you and Simon have without getting attached to one another. What are you both going to do?"

"I told you Simon is retiring, didn't I?"

"Yeah."

"Well, he's talking about moving to the south of France."

"What about the house?"

"I'm buying his share. We bought it to take advantage of the rising market. We shared all the expenses, but kept everything else separate."

"It's a bit much for one. But it's a new start for you."

"It's a bit much for two, to be honest, but it will give us a decent lump of capital."

"So you are going to sell it?"

"Eventually. Well I suppose I'll head on and let you have time with the youngsters."

After she left I knew that my friend would need a lot of support for a while.

*****

Thursday brought two phone calls. The first from Milla confirmed the terms of the settlement. She asked if I could call into her office on Friday at eleven to sign the agreement. The second was from Diane.

"Jack, I've heard from the insurers. They are being difficult."

"Why? It should be a straight forward claim."