Lies of the Dead Read online

  ‘Where did you find it?’

  ‘In Mum’s old bureau, the one in Liam’s house.’

  ‘But we looked through that.’

  Tom wasn’t sure how he felt. He should be euphoric now they had the package.

  ‘There’s a secret drawer. Mum told me about it once, but she couldn’t find it so I thought it was another of her stories. The other afternoon, I felt desperate enough to try, and finally got lucky.’

  ‘A secret drawer. You’re kidding me.’

  The waitress brought their drinks, and Tom picked his up gratefully. He felt tiredness creep over him after the earlier adrenaline boost.

  Andi looked at the licence in her hand and shook her head. ‘This is serious stuff.’

  ‘I know.’ Tom pulled out the driving licence with his name and Liam’s photo. ‘This was with it.’

  Andi looked at it, and then at Tom. Her face drained of colour. ‘Forged documents feels unreal enough, but for him to use your name as well. What on earth was Liam up to?’

  ‘I hope this will give us some answers.’ Tom picked up the package. The instructions on the plastic envelope were in Liam’s handwriting. They said it should only be opened by Tom or Andi.

  As he ripped it open a flash drive fell onto the table, along with a white card. On the card were the typed letters liamrhys, and below that a few handwritten words. The message said, Remember the good times – like the summer I was ten.

  Andi pointed to the flash drive. ‘My office is close, but maybe home would be better.’

  Tom nodded, and they both got up.

  *

  At home, Andi pulled out her laptop, and set it up on the dining table. She sighed as it booted up.

  ‘You should be glad it’s not mine,’ said Tom. ‘It takes a lot longer than this.’

  Andi slotted the flash drive into the laptop and clicked on the folder.

  Tom wasn’t sure what he expected, but certainly more than the two files that showed on the screen. Then he focussed on one of the filenames. ‘Janine Lacey.’ He stabbed his finger at the screen.

  ‘At last we’re getting somewhere.’ Andi opened the audio file, and Tom held his breath as he heard Liam’s voice.

  ‘We could call this blackmail.’ It was Liam’s usual half-mocking tone, despite the word blackmail.

  ‘Only you could make me out to be the bad one. I’ve only asked for a tiny part, and I’m sure you don’t want me to report what I found.’

  The second voice was Janine’s.

  Liam laughed.

  ‘What are you going to do?’ Janine again.

  ‘I guess I don’t have too many choices.’ There was a brief silence until Liam spoke again. ‘I’ll open an account for you and put the money in it, but it will take a few days.’

  They were talking about blackmail, but Liam didn’t sound anxious or angry. He could treat this like a game! Tom shook his head in disbelief.

  ‘It’s a risk for me. Once I submit my report to HFC I can’t change it. If I did, I’d be in as much trouble as you.’

  ‘You’ll get your money.’

  The audio file finished, and Tom expelled his breath in a long sigh.

  ‘This is unreal,’ said Andi. ‘Blackmail?’

  ‘Janine mentioned a report. That sounds like work stuff.’

  ‘What did Liam do? I mean, what was his job? He worked for some private investment place, didn’t he?’

  Tom shrugged. ‘Yes, but I’m not really sure exactly what he did. The odd occasions he talked about it, most of it went over my head.’

  ‘Try and remember.’

  ‘He bought and sold shares, or money or stuff. I remember I joked once that he did much the same as the old second-hand shops, and he agreed. He said the only difference was that he didn’t have to look at other people’s junk, and he made a lot more money.’

  ‘He’d have to, to afford the cottage and the London apartment, and whatever else he got up to.’

  ‘What’s in the other file?’ said Tom.

  Andi opened the text file. All it showed was a webmail address.

  She pasted it into an Internet browser window. ‘What was the name on the card with the flash drive?’

  ‘Liam Rhys in lowercase and no space between the names.’

  She typed it into the username box, and moved the cursor to the password field. ‘Any suggestions?’

  He flicked the white card with his finger. ‘The summer he was ten. What’s that supposed to mean? When did we get Loopy?’

  ‘I’m sure it was before Liam was ten.’ Andi tried their pet dog’s name anyway. A message in red appeared, Username or password is incorrect. ‘I’ll assume it’s the password that’s wrong.’

  ‘What was Loopy’s proper name?’

  ‘I don’t remember, but I’m sure it’s not that because Liam was a lot younger than ten when we got her.’ She tried Liam’s birthdate, and then changed the year to match when he would have been ten. Neither worked.

  They tried all the family birthdates and everything they could think of, but they couldn’t get into the email account.

  ‘Bloody hell, what’s the point if we can’t get into the email account?’ Andi dragged her fingers through her hair, making it stand up on end. ‘He’s as annoying as ever, and don’t you stick up for him,’ she snapped.

  Tom paced around Andi’s dining room. He tugged the curtain and stared at the garden. What had happened when Liam was ten? He strode back to the table and picked up the card. Remember the good times. The childhood summers merged into one long, hazy memory. Nothing stood out.

  Andi swivelled on the computer chair to face him. ‘Any more ideas?’

  He shook his head.

  ‘So what are you thinking?’

  Tom had so much going through his head, he wasn’t sure where to start.

  ‘You saw documents at Liam’s apartment that weren’t there after Janine left. Liam’s note confirms she’s involved. The voice file tells us she discovered what he was up to, and she either wanted to be part of it, or money to keep quiet.’

  Andi picked up the driving licence in Chris Toogood’s name. ‘He said he would open an account in Janine’s name. He must have accounts in this name too. Why else would he need identification?’

  ‘And in my name,’ said Tom.

  ‘It’s strange there were just driving licences. You’d think if he had one type of identification he’d have a full set.’

  ‘Maybe he did and they’re somewhere else. We don’t know whether he hid the driving licences to be found, or if they were stored there. I shouldn’t be surprised by anything Liam does, and yet I am.’

  ‘If you think this is your fault, you’re wrong.’

  Tom pulled a face. ‘I’m not so sure. Mum let him get away with so much, but I usually stuck up for him as well, and he took advantage of it.’

  ‘Do you mean in general, or something specific?’ She stared at him. ‘Come on, tell me.’

  He sat on one of the dining chairs. ‘Just before Mum and Dad died, Liam turned up at their place unexpectedly. I’d gone to the house to collect something. I wandered in through the kitchen as I always did, then I heard raised voices from the living room. That was when I realised Liam was there. He’d got himself into some trouble.’

  ‘Girl trouble?’

  ‘No, for a change it was different, and a lot more serious. From what I overheard, he’d helped himself to money from the company he worked for, and needed to pay it back in a hurry. He asked Mum and Dad for the money.’

  ‘And they gave it to him, of course.’

  ‘No.’

  Andi tapped her fingers on the desk. ‘Really. That would be the first time they’d ever refused him. What a time to choose.’

  ‘Certainly was.’

  ‘I never heard about any of this. How did he get himself out of it?’

  ‘He forged Dad’s signature on a cheque.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘I left after Mum refused to give him th
e money. No one knew I’d been there. Liam must have gone back to London, because he wasn’t there later.’

  ‘And this happened just before Mum and Dad died?’

  ‘Yes.’ Tom got up, and paced around the room again. He’d never told anyone about the forgery. ‘When I went to see Mum and Dad later, they didn’t say much and didn’t mention Liam’s visit.’

  ‘I’m not surprised about that.’

  He picked up a photo of Andi and the twins. The first few days after his parents died had been utter confusion. ‘They went to a friend’s anniversary party that night.’

  ‘And Mum crashed the car on the way home.’

  ‘Yes. People at the party said they were both subdued. Not a surprise considering the conversation with Liam.’

  ‘I don’t remember a lot about those days after they died, other than the funeral itself. The twins were little, and they were ill most of the time we were here. I was exhausted with that. You and Steven tried to be helpful and didn’t tell me much, which didn’t help actually.’

  ‘Dad died in the car. They said instantly, but I don’t know. People say things like that because they think it makes it easier. Mum was in a pretty bad way, but they thought she would pull through. When she came round the following day, she asked about Dad, and someone stupidly told her he’d died. After that she just gave up.’ He replaced the photo frame on the bookshelf.

  ‘So how did you find out about the cheque?’

  ‘The bank phoned me a couple of days after the accident. I hadn’t told them about Mum and Dad. They showed me a cheque they were questioning because of the signature. The cheque was made out to Liam. The signature was similar to Dad’s, but it wasn’t his. I said it was and they accepted that, maybe because it was made out to a family member. I don’t know.’

  ‘Did you talk to Jo about the cheque?’

  ‘No. Things were up and down between us, even then.’

  Andi expelled her breath in a sudden whoosh. ‘You had to cope with all that on your own. I’ve always felt bad about not being much help with all the funeral arrangements. Liam was worse than useless, and at the time I couldn’t understand why he took it so hard. I said to Steven we’d be better off without Liam there. Now it makes sense.’

  Tom shrugged. ‘Jo helped with the funeral stuff, and Steven, but I didn’t want to tell anyone about the cheque.’

  ‘So Mum and Dad never knew about it?’

  ‘No, but they were worried about Liam that day.’

  ‘Did you talk to him about the cheque?’

  Tom shook his head. ‘I decided to leave it until after the funeral, but he went back to London straight away. He came to see me after we’d sold the house, and gave me a cheque for the same amount as the one he’d forged.’

  ‘You sent me some money a while after we’d sorted out the house sale, extra insurance or something like that.’

  ‘I lied. It was half the money Liam gave me. You hated him so much, I didn’t want to give you more to add to your list.’

  Andi got up and gave Tom a hug. ‘You’re a good man. Have I ever told you that? I’m glad you’re my brother, and I’m sorry I wasn’t in a fit state to help you through it.’

  ‘I’m not sure about the good man stuff. I shielded Liam from the consequences of his actions as much as Mum. Now look at us.’

  ‘You’re not to blame for that.’

  ‘I wish I could believe it.’ He took Andi’s place at the laptop and tried more passwords, but nothing worked.

  He turned around. Andi was staring at a blank space on the wall.

  ‘What’s up?’

  ‘Kristen was caught shoplifting.’

  Tom hadn’t expected this sudden change in conversation.

  ‘Steven managed to sort it out at the store. Thankfully they’ve decided not to prosecute. It gave her a fright. Teenagers think they’re bulletproof and know it all.’

  Tom guessed from her stance she had more she wanted to say, and kept quiet.

  She looked at him and pulled a face. ‘They were at Steven’s when it happened. I thought I handled it well, kept calm and didn’t lose my temper. But I haven’t done anything since.’

  ‘What do you think you should do?’

  ‘I don’t know. You said you shielded Liam, just like Mum and Dad. Isn’t that what I’m doing with Kristen?’

  ‘You can’t think she’ll be like Liam.’

  ‘Her teacher rang me a while ago. She forges my signature on notes when she bunks off school.’ Andi blinked back tears. ‘I always thought life was so straightforward. Right and wrong. Turns out I don’t know anything.’

  ‘Mum and Dad, well Mum mostly, gave in to Liam all the time. You don’t do that. Kristen won’t turn out like Liam. She’s different, you’re different.’

  ‘Easy to say, but you still feel guilty about Liam. It’s nice to think it will all sort itself out, but life doesn’t work that way. I should do something, but goodness knows what.’

  She rubbed her eyes, and then ran her hands through her hair. She’d done that since childhood when worried. Her breath came out in a sigh. ‘Do you think Liam left the driving licences in the bureau for you to find?’

  ‘If he did, he didn’t make it easy. Rosemary Michaels saw his car outside the cottage that night. Until now I thought he only stopped by to pick up the diving belt. We just don’t know. He could have left them there ages ago and forgot them, though that doesn’t seem reasonable. He might have left them there that night, but why? He couldn’t be sure I knew about the compartment. We don’t know what he used them for, when or how often. I suppose they could even be duplicates, and he left them there for other reasons. With Liam it could be any of those things.’

  ‘Okay, so we don’t know why he left them there, or if he meant you to find them,’ said Andi. ‘Let’s go with what we do know. We have an audio file of Janine blackmailing him. Whatever she says, it certainly sounds like it to me. We can guess it’s to do with his work, probably theft, considering what you’ve just told me. He certainly worked in the right business for it. If we hadn’t met her in his apartment we wouldn’t have known she existed.’

  ‘She said she didn’t know Liam had any brothers or sisters.’

  ‘True, but she could have lied. If not, it would be easy enough for her to find out if he had any family.’

  They both stared at the computer screen as if it could give them some answers.

  Tom pointed at the audio file name. ‘Janine Lacey. So we’ve got a surname for her now. She said she worked with Liam, and yet she’s not an employee. There’s something we’ve missed.’ He clicked on the audio file.

  They listened again to the few brief sentences, and Tom repeated a few words. ‘Once I submit my report to HFC. What if she’s an auditor or accountant working for another company, and she found some discrepancy?’

  Andi opened a search window, and tapped away while Tom waited.

  ‘Would you believe it, there’s a company in central London called HFC, and they’re auditors.’ She turned to face Tom. ‘Shall we give them a call and ask if Janine Lacey works for them.’

  ‘No, if we phone and ask about her, she might get to hear about it.’

  ‘We’ve got to do something.’

  ‘I’ll go to London.’

  Andi stared at him. ‘And me.’

  Tom pointed out they didn’t know how long it would take to actually find Janine. They’d assumed she worked for HFC, but even if she did, she might be on holiday or at a client’s office. At the very least it would be a full day in London, and probably longer. The twins were with Andi that week. Reluctantly she agreed she wouldn’t be able to go.

  ‘What’s your plan?’

  ‘I’ll sit outside the HFC office until I see her. Then I’ll find out what she and Liam were up to.’

  ‘How will you do that?’

  ‘I’ll make it up as I go along.’

  Chapter 15

  Tom

  Tom spent the night at Andi’s,
and left for London the following morning. It was close to eleven before he arrived in London and located the HFC address. The first opportunity he might have to see Janine would be lunchtime, so he found a small hotel a few streets away and booked in for two nights. He could extend it if he needed longer.

  He parked his car, and returned to the HFC offices. On his way, he passed the entrance to the underground. What if she used the tube? He wasn’t the type to leap over barriers in an effort to follow her. He hurried down the steps, and bought an Oyster card at the ticket office.

  The automatic glass doors of the office block led into a spacious, tiled atrium. On the wall next to the lifts was a long list of the companies housed in the building. HFC were on floors twenty-one and twenty-two. He went back outside, and strolled across the small square to a café for an early lunch. He bought a newspaper and sat outside the café, which gave him a good view of the entrance and foyer. Clouds scudded across the sky, but he pulled on his sunglasses. He hoped that, and the newspaper, would be enough if he saw Janine. He would also have surprise on his side, although that hadn’t helped the man who followed Andi. Hopefully he could avoid the private investigator’s mistakes.

  He ate his lunch, ordered another coffee, and waited. The doors swished open and shut as the late morning trickle turned into the lunchtime deluge. Tom sat at an angle to the building, so he could see everyone who left or entered, while giving the impression of being totally absorbed in the newspaper.

  The café was busy but not packed, and he remained at his table until the flow of people reduced. He folded the paper and walked around the square, but always with the building in view.

  He wandered along the crisscross streets beyond the square, but never far away. Around four-thirty he went into a bookstore across the road from the office block, and browsed through books on shelves close to the windows.

  He stayed as long as he could, and then went into the shop next door. By six-thirty most people appeared to have left the offices, and he went back to the hotel.

  *

  The next morning, he went to a café on the opposite side of the square. There was a light drizzle, so he sat inside next to the window.