Don't Start Something

"You think that Eliza and Emma aren't involved then?"

"Without seeing the documentation involved in these share transfers, I can't be sure. But it looks as if Martin and his Lawyer, who he's probably shagging, and I can't blame him if the photo in the Law firm's Web site are anything to go by, are in collusion with Grant Beresford to gain control. But how do we prove it?"

"I've located a Lawyer who just might be both interested and interesting. He has just set up his own practise but has several years' experience in Company Law. We should speak with him as soon as possible."

"Okay, can you ring him first thing and arrange that? I think that if we can lean on Grant he might cough up a different story about who is responsible for all of this. We might need to speak to Eliza and Emma as well." I caught the look on her face. "Don't worry, even if she has had nothing to do with any of this, I'm not going back to her."

Even after a prolonged session of lovemaking and Peta in super close proximity, I couldn't sleep. My mind was going backwards and forwards over the recent events and what we had discovered today, and it didn't make for a calm night's rest. I got out of bed at around 1:00 in the morning and was busy scribbling notes and drawing flow charts so that I could get the sequence of events right in my head, when a bleary eyed Peta walked into the kitchen. "What are you doing? You should be sleeping."

"I would if I could, believe me. I'm still trying to work out what has happened and what we have to do, and it's no clearer."

"You're just about dead to the world, I'll make you a hot milk and then you and I are going back to bed and, without making love, we are going back to sleep. You need to have your wits about you in the morning."

Peta was a calming influence, holding me close and whispering her love to me until I drifted off.

The clock radio blaring the morning news theme music woke me from a deep, dream free sleep. I was alone. Then I heard noises from the direction of the kitchen and the aroma of fresh coffee and toast. Time to get up, and I felt more awake than I had felt for days. I was met by a pair of lips, a pair of arms, and a body pressed hard against mine. The lips withdrew just enough for her voice to emerge. "Good morning Darling, did you sleep well?"

"Better than I expected, and I have you to thank for that." Our lips collided and stayed locked together for what seemed like forever. Breakfast was over in minutes and Peta went off to shower. "Do you want me to scrub your back?" I asked hopefully.

"I want it but I'm going to have to deny myself the pleasure, we have work to do, so there must be no distractions, they can come later, when this is all over."

"I won't hide my disappointment, but you're right, we have to head-butt the world."

Our appointment with the Lawyer proved most enlightening. When Peta made the appointment she had given him details of our reasons for contacting him. He was able to get hold of a copy of the original Probate documents and compare them with those that Martin had given me, and surprise, surprise, the forfeiture clauses were a more recent inclusion. It had been generated using a computer while the original was typed on an electric typewriter, probably an IBM golf ball, there was a minute flaw on the left leg of the 'W'. It was time for a visit to the police.

"So what you are telling me is that the charges relating to Grant Beresford's involvement in this share transfer scam, have been trumped up?" Inspector Morris of the Fraud Squad regarded us across the desk.

"No, they're real enough, but his partners in crime are not who he has told you were involved."

"Why would he lie about that?"

"He's probably cut a deal with his accomplices where they'll post bail for him and help him skip the country with enough cash and a guaranteed income from those shares, at least for a short while, but I wouldn't be surprised if that is cut off once he's out of the country."

"What proof do you have?"

"We have proof that the forfeiture clauses that have been used to cut off the returns to Eliza Preston and my wife Emma, were a later inclusion, and not in the original Probate documents. We suspect my boss and Father-in-Law, Martin Preston and the company Lawyer, Morgan Alexander, they have the most to gain, he gets the majority holding in the company, and she has control of the Trust share-holding. Between them they have a hundred percent of the shares in a very successful company."

"But why did Eliza Preston transfer the shares to Grant Beresford in the first place?"

"Martin needed a reason to file the injunction. The devaluation of the shares as a result of the transactions gave him that."

"Was the plan to detonate that explosive device Beresford's alone or were the other two involved in that as well?"

"That I don't know. I have a suspicion that if the other two are charged over the shares, and are facing a gaol sentence, he'll change his story and implicate them."

Peta and I spent the afternoon back at work going over the monthly returns for the next board meeting. Just before we left for the day Martin came into my office. Peta had just given me the breakdown to check. "How are the figures looking Ewan?"

"Good, slightly up on last months and a modest increase on seasonally adjusted figures. I'll have the complete report on your desk by noon tomorrow."

"Good, I'll see you tomorrow."

I was beginning to love being with Peta, she was a lot more affectionate than Emma ever was. I walked into the kitchen from the bathroom and as I walked by her I put my arm around her. She immediately stopped what she was doing and spun around. Within seconds we were lip-locked once more. "Mmm, I'm glad I waited for you." She whispered to me.

"I do believe that I am too." More lip-locking and some caressing followed. Do you want me to cook for you or will we go out to dinner?" I asked, hoping that she would refuse my offer to provide the meal.

"Let's go out."

The beauty of dining out was that we didn't have to prepare the meal, and didn't have to clear up after it, the downside being that we had to limit how much wine we consumed, at least at the restaurant. It was after 10:00 when we got home, and we sat and chatted for a while over a glass of good red before heading to bed.

The next morning was full of major dramas. The police arrived at around 11:00 just as I was giving Martin the reports. "Mr Preston, we would like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind?"

"What about?"

"The share transactions." I left them to it and went back to my office to watch from a distance.

There was a lot of shouting coming from Martin and this brought the office to a standstill, the staff wondering what was going on. "This is fucking bullshit!"

"We have evidence that implicates you in fraud against this company."

"There is no fraud, at least I have committed no fraud. I need to speak to my Lawyer."

"You'll have all the time in the world to speak to her, we have arrested her as well."

"What? What the fuck are you on about?"

"She has been arrested for knowingly falsifying legal documents with the aim of perpetrating a fraud."

"What are you on? If you think that I or my Lawyer have done anything wrong I would suggest that you have been on something illegal."

"You can suggest what you want sir, but the facts of the matter are that we have a warrant for your arrest and we intend to execute that warrant. You'd do well to come quietly."

He went quietly, reluctantly but quietly, leaving the staff to wonder what was going to happen next.

What happened next was that Eliza and Emma arrived for the board meeting. "Where's Martin?" Eliza asked Rhonda.

"He's been arrested and taken off by the police."

"What? What was he arrested for?"

"Apparently the police have come up with evidence that implicates him in fraud."

"Get Ewan, maybe he knows something about this."

Peta's phone rang and she switched it through to me. "Ewan, can you come in to Martin's office please?"

"Sure, I'll come straight in." I walked out to Peta's office. "It's on." I told her.

"Good luck Darling." She smiled as I left.

"Ewan, do you know anything about Martin being arrested?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact I do. It seems as if the clause in the Memorandum of Intent that his Lawyer used to block the share transactions was not in the original document. This got the police interested in this whole Grant Beresford shambles, his arrest for murder and attempted murder are only a part of this whole deal. It would appear as if Grant's initial approach to you to arrange for the share transfer was instigated by the two of them. They were going to use that to get the shares transferred to a nominee, in this case Martin, that would remove you from any sort of benefit from the company, and they would have it all for themselves. I managed to stumble across the scheme and went to the police with the evidence and they took it from there."

"So I don't lose control of the shares?"

"No, the status quo has been preserved, you and Emma will still get the benefit from the shares, and they will still remain under the control of the family Trust. You may be able to gain control of Martin's shares if he is found guilty of fraud, that's for the Lawyers to sort out."

"What happens between you and Emma?" Emma was watching my reaction closely.

"I'm afraid that I won't be coming back to her. Look, things were strained even before this happened, and it wouldn't have lasted. I would hope that she will agree to an amicable divorce and move on with her life. I know that there are any number of eligible young men who would be only too happy to oblige."

"And I suppose that you and Peta will want to stay together?" Emma asked.

"Yes that is my intent. My being with her, even though it's only been a short time, has been the happiest and most serene time that I've had for a long time. I want to move on, and I want to be with her. I ask that you allow me to have that."

"I'm not happy, but I do understand. I've hurt you, and I realise that the trust that is necessary between two people is not there right now. I was hoping that we could regain that trust, but I'm realistic enough to know that this is not now possible. In twelve months you can have your divorce, I will not oppose it."

"I don't suppose that you'd be interested in taking over Martin's position in the company." Eliza asked. "I know that he had high hopes for you, and it will go some way towards compensating you for the hurt that we've put you through"

"I'll think about it, and talk it over with Peta. But I can't make any decision until we find out what happens to Martin, you never know, he just might get off."

"I don't care if he does, he's finished as far as the company is concerned, as is that scheming Lawyer. He's probably been fucking her."

"I wouldn't know about that. What I do know is, and this was advice that he gave me when I was angry at getting the sack. 'Don't start something that is going to get you hurt.' He should have heeded his own advice."