Shannon’s Trial by Paul Bennett

Author:Paul Bennett [BENNETT, PAUL]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-25T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

‘We need a break,’ I said to the crew on Friday morning.’ We’ve been too close to see the wood from the trees. We’ve missed things — the cash, for example. We’ll recap today and move on again. I’m to blame for not getting a focus on the problems. Norman, how about we go to Toddy’s this evening. Clear our heads for a while?’

‘Sounds like a plan,’ he said. ‘Table for eight at eight. Leave it with me.’

‘Tasks,’ I said. ‘Anji, continue to look at the foreign names. I want everything. Consultant, operation, how much, how they paid and anything else that comes up from the results of your trawling.

‘Valentine,’ I said. ‘Keep focusing on Cooper’s list. Find a link. If necessary, go through everything a second time.

‘Cherry. Can you check what the competition are charging and, if you can, how they are rated for service? Strengths and weaknesses.’

‘And what are you going to do?’ she said.

‘I’m off to Fairstead Hospital to shake as many trees as I can. Watch this space.’

* * *

Susan Blair wasn’t delighted to see me. She cooled a little when I said I would only be another few days. All I wanted from her was an update. She didn’t kick me out — which was progress. Her muddy-brown eyes looked at me with contempt. Her pixie-cut hair seemed more like an imp today or a gnome, perhaps. Too much hair gel to keep it in place — nothing moved when she turned her head. I hoped I’d found her before she was distracted by the urgent need for a cigarette.

‘What’s new?’ I said. ‘Anybody who might fit into Cooper’s shoes?’

‘What do you think I am, Shannon? A magician who can conjure a replacement out of thin air? Somebody itching to take over the spot of a murdered man? Wise up, Shannon. It’s going to be a long haul, although I do have one idea that might solve things swiftly.’

‘Your colleague, Mister Owen, told me you’d already had five people enquiring about Cooper’s job. What has changed since I spoke with him?’

‘Underqualified, some of them, and the rest want a shareholding that we are not prepared to give at this time.’

‘You do appreciate that will influence my recommendation in the final report? Anything you think will mitigate that decision?’

‘Only the fact that we are a tight management group that can cover the disturbance of the loss of Cooper. We can hold the fort.’

‘I’ve noticed you have a lot of foreign patients,’ I said. ‘How did you manage that?’

‘Word of mouth,’ she said. ‘One satisfied client from abroad who sings our praises and the floodgates open. Good business maxim.’

‘I follow the same rule,’ I said.

‘But you have to kill someone to get your message across,’ she said.

‘That might be the same case here, for all I know.’

‘There is no one here that is a murderer,’ she said.

‘Someone had to do it,’ I said. ‘Why not you, for instance?’

‘Because I never left my office the whole afternoon, apart from a few minutes to have a sneaky fag.

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