This Was A Man (20 page)

‘One or two of them to join us,’ interrupted Brook.

‘Perhaps this is the time to mention the elephant in the room,’ continued Seb. ‘Namely Mr Desmond Mellor, who, although no longer chairman of the company, does retain fifty-one
per cent of its shares. Therefore a takeover would be nigh on impossible without his blessing.’

‘I understand that you’ve had dealings with Mr Mellor in the past,’ said Dawson, removing his glasses. ‘How is your present relationship?’

‘I don’t think it could be much worse,’ admitted Seb. ‘We both sat on the board of Barrington Shipping at a time when my mother was chairman. Not only did Mellor attempt
to have her removed from the board, but after failing to do so, he tried to take over the company using tactics that were found to be unacceptable by the takeover panel. My mother prevailed, and
continued to run Barrington’s for several more years until the company was bought by Cunard.’

‘I invited your mother to join our board,’ said Brook, ‘but unfortunately Margaret Thatcher trumped us.’

‘I didn’t know that,’ said Seb.

‘But you will recall that when Barrington’s launched the
Buckingham
, and later the
Balmoral
, Mrs Clifton appointed Cook’s as their preferred booking agent.
We’ve never had a better partner, even if I did have to get used to her calling at six o’clock in the morning or ten at night.’

‘You too?’ said Seb with a grin. ‘However, I have a confession to make. Before you approached us concerning this takeover, at his request I visited Desmond Mellor in
prison.’

Jessica would have enjoyed drawing the expressions that appeared on the faces of the three men sitting opposite her father.

‘Even worse, on that occasion Mellor offered to sell me fifty-one per cent of the company for one pound.’

‘What did he want in exchange?’ asked Brook.

‘That once he was released from prison, we would return his fifty-one per cent, also for one pound.’

‘Not a very seductive proposition,’ suggested Dawson. ‘Although it must have been tempting at the time.’

‘But not tempting enough,’ said Hakim, ‘if as a result you have to rub shoulders with scumbags like Sloane and Knowles, who in my opinion should be locked up in the same cell
as Mellor.’

‘That was off the record,’ interjected Arnold firmly, ‘and does not represent the views of the bank.’

‘I agree with you, Hakim,’ said Brook. ‘I only met Adrian Sloane once, and that was quite enough. However, let me ask you, Mr Clifton, do you think there’s any chance
that Mellor might consider reviving his offer?’

‘It seems unlikely, although I’d be willing to give it a try, assuming he’d agree to see me.’

‘Then let’s find out as quickly as possible if that’s a runner,’ said Dawson.

‘But even if Mellor did agree to see you,’ said Arnold, ‘I must warn you that the wheels of power grind even more slowly in the Prison Service than they do in
Whitehall.’

‘But I remember you and Seb visiting me at Belmarsh at a moment’s notice,’ said Hakim.

‘Those were legal visits,’ said Arnold, ‘and not subject to the usual prison restrictions – don’t forget, you were my client.’

‘So if Mellor were to agree to let you represent him,’ said Hakim, ‘we could cut through the red tape.’

‘But why would he even consider doing that?’ asked Dawson.

‘Because Barry Hammond,’ said Sebastian, ‘a private detective employed by Farthings, discovered it was Sloane who stitched up Mellor. Which is why Mellor ended up in jail, and
once he was safely out of the way, with the help of his friend Knowles, Sloane appointed himself chairman of Mellor Travel, which hasn’t declared a profit or issued a dividend since. So
it’s just possible Mellor might be desperate enough to consider us the lesser of two evils.’

‘If that’s the home team,’ said Brook, ‘what have you managed to find out about our rivals?’

‘That they’re even worse,’ replied Seb. ‘Sorkin International is not an easy company to get to grips with. Their head office is registered in Panama, and although they
have an office number, no one ever answers it.’

‘Is Conrad Sorkin himself based in Panama?’ asked Dawson.

‘No. He spends most of his time on a yacht, constantly on the move. In fact, there are seven countries where he’s currently persona non grata, but unfortunately the UK isn’t
one of them. And in any case, he seems to have access to bent lawyers, shelf companies, even aliases to make sure he always stays one step ahead of the law.’

‘An ideal bedfellow for Sloane and Knowles,’ suggested Brook.

‘Agreed,’ said Seb, ‘and as you know, Sorkin has recently matched our bid of two million for Mellor Travel. However, I think it’s unlikely we’ll be treated as an
equal.’

‘But surely Sorkin can’t instigate a full-blooded takeover without Mellor’s backing,’ said Cook’s lawyer.

‘He doesn’t need to,’ said Hakim, ‘because we’re not convinced that’s his purpose, as Seb will explain.’

‘I’m pretty sure it’s not the company that Sorkin is interested in,’ said Seb. ‘Just the forty-two shops and offices, which have a book value of under two million
pounds, whereas my property analyst has valued them at over five million.’

‘So that’s his game,’ said Dawson.

‘I think he’ll be happy to sell off the properties without consulting Mellor,’ said Arnold, ‘or even worrying about breaking the law, because I suspect Mr Sorkin will
have long since disappeared before the police catch up with him.’

‘Can we do anything to stop him?’ asked Brook.

‘Yes,’ said Seb. ‘Get hold of Mellor’s fifty-one per cent, and sack Sloane.’

When a letter landed on Virginia’s doormat the following morning, she recognized the handwriting, and opened it to find another envelope inside addressed to Miss Kelly
Mellor, but with no address attached, just a scribbled note:

Virginia immediately ripped open the second envelope and started to read a letter Desmond had written to his daughter.

Sebastian was just about to get in the lift, when Arnold Hardcastle came running down the corridor towards him.

‘Haven’t you got a wife and family to go home to?’

‘Good news,’ said Arnold, ignoring the comment. ‘Mellor has not only agreed to see us, he wants a meeting as soon as possible.’

‘Excellent. Hakim will be delighted.’

‘I’ve already spoken to the prison governor, and he’s agreed that a legal meeting can be held in the prison at twelve tomorrow.’

‘Hakim will want to be there.’

‘God forbid,’ said Arnold. ‘He’d probably end up strangling the man, and who could blame him? No, you should represent Farthings. After all, it was you he asked to see
when he came up with his original proposal. I’d also suggest that Ray Brook be present, so Mellor realizes the bid’s serious. One chairman to another. He’ll be impressed by
that.’

‘That makes sense,’ agreed Seb.

‘Do you have anything scheduled for tomorrow morning?’

‘If I do,’ said Seb, opening his pocket diary, ‘it’s about to be cancelled.’

Virginia had been in touch with Kelly Mellor’s mother, but she wasn’t at all cooperative. She probably thought Virginia was Mellor’s latest girlfriend.
However, she did reveal that the last time she’d heard from her daughter she was somewhere in Chicago, but admitted she’d lost touch with her.

At eleven o’clock the following morning, Sebastian, Arnold and Ray Brook climbed into the back of a taxi, and Seb instructed the driver to take them to HMP Belmarsh. The
cabbie didn’t look pleased.

‘Not much chance of a return fare,’ Arnold explained.

‘Why so early?’ asked Brook.

‘You’ll find out why when you get there,’ replied Arnold.

The three of them discussed tactics on their way to the prison, and agreed that their first priority was to put Mellor at ease and make him feel they were on his side.

‘Keep mentioning Sloane and Knowles,’ said Seb, ‘because I’m confident he’d rather deal with us than them.’

‘I don’t think he would have agreed to see us,’ said Brook as the cab left the city and headed east, ‘unless we were in with a chance.’

By the time the cab drew up outside the vast forbidding green gates of HMP Belmarsh, they each knew the role they were expected to play. Arnold would open the proceedings and attempt to persuade
Mellor that they were the good guys, and when Seb felt the moment was right, he would make him an offer of £1.5 million for his shares. Brook would confirm that the money would be deposited
in his account the moment he signed the share transfer and that, as a bonus, Sloane and Knowles would be sacked before close of business that day. Seb was beginning to feel more confident.

When the three of them entered the prison they were escorted to the gatehouse and thoroughly searched. Brook’s keyring pocket knife was immediately seized. The chairman of Cook Travel may
have visited almost every country on earth, but it was clear he’d never entered a prison before. They left all their valuables, even their belts, with the desk sergeant, and, accompanied by
two other officers, made their way across the square to A Block.

They passed through several barred gates, unlocked then locked behind them, before arriving at an interview room on the first floor. The clock on the wall showed five to twelve. Brook no longer
needed to ask why they had set out so early.

One of the duty officers opened the door to allow the three men to enter a rectangular room with glass walls. Although they were left alone, two officers stationed themselves outside, looking
in. They were there to make sure no one passed any drugs, weapons or money to the prisoner. Nothing gave the screws greater pleasure than arresting a lawyer.

The three visitors took their seats around a small square table in the centre of the room, leaving a vacant chair for Mellor. Arnold opened his briefcase and extracted a file. He took out a
share-transfer certificate and a three-page agreement, the wording of which he checked once again before placing it on the table. If all went to plan, by the time they left the prison in an
hour’s time, there would be two signatures on the bottom line.