Unravel a Crime - Tangle With Women (24 page)

“
O.K., “he said, “provided
it’s not too expensive. I’m only a worker here like yourself.”

What he didn’t say was that he
was finding it difficult making ends meet. He had not been paid yet, and what
he did receive would be absorbed by his rent in Milton Keynes, as well as his
bed and breakfast in Worcester; then there was the children’s maintenance which
was in arrears, and so the story went on.

“
How about the Old Rectifying
House. It’s a steak house down by the river.”

“
That sounds just what I
need.” he said.

Half an hour later they were
sat opposite each other at a table on the first floor of the restaurant.
Brakespeare had decided to treat himself to a 12 oz. Rump steak. “Medium” he
had asked. Lisa contented herself with a smaller version. Both had settled for
a warming glass of red wine each, and over large glasses were in front of them.
Brakespeare had thought of complaining that they only wanted normal size ones,
but was ashamed to do so.

“
Cheers” Lisa lifted her
glass.

“
Cheers,” echoed Brakespeare.
“To the team.”

“
To us.” She replied, and they
toasted each other.

Brakespeare thought about what
she had just said. He had never been good with small talk, but he needn’t have
worried. This was a new Lisa, confident; not diffident, sparkling; not timid.
Someone with whom he could talk intelligently, about matters not limited to
domestic circumstances; the subject matter of his conversations with Mel.

Of course he and Lisa talked
about the office, and the people in it. He had little to contribute, but Lisa,
irreverently regaled him anecdotes about the staff.

Brakespeare noticed that she
had missed one person out.

“
What about Gordon Morrison.”

Neither had ordered a starter,
and the arrival of the plates of steak and chips allowed Lisa to compose what
she wanted to say. She looked straight into Brakespeare’s eyes as people do
when they want to show that they are not being totally honest.

“
He’s very sweet. He’s been
very good to me. He’s given me a chance.”

“
And one you seem to be making
the best of.” volunteered Brakespeare.

“
I hope so, I really hope so.
I really do want to do well, Jonny.”

“
I’ll continue to give you the
chance if I can, but you mustn’t expect to walk before you can run. Don’t
forget that the buck stops with me on this case – and how!”

“
That’s why I want to help.”

“
O.K”.

There was a silence, and both
concentrated on their food for a few minutes, occasionally glancing up at the
other from their plate, and smiling. Then Brakespeare found himself absent
mindedly staring at Lisa as he eat.

“
Yes, Jonny?” she smiled.

“
How well do you know Gordon
Morrison?”

Lisa looked sideways, sighed,
and nodded her head. “I knew that you would ask me that.”

“
Well?”

She put her knife and fork
down on her plate.

“
Jonny, you have told me about
your background. Yours is public. Mine is not supposed to be. Please promise me
that you won’t repeat what I am going to tell you to a soul .”

“
Promise.” and he smiled.

“
No, Jonny I’m serious.” Her
look was anxious.

“
Lisa, I don’t know what
you’re going to tell me, but I really do promise.” He stretched his hand across
the table, and was pleased when she took it and squeezed it in acknowledgement.
She cut another portion of meat for herself and held it on her fork.

“
I didn’t go to the University
of the West of England to start with. My family lived in Worcester,
Massachusetts and I was luckily enough to get a place at Yale College, which
wasn’t a million miles away. I wanted to read law, but in the States, you start
off with a general degree, and then take an aptitude test if you want to
specialise.”

“
So what did you read?”

Lisa looked at him straight in
the face with that look he knew was a challenge.

“
Women’s, Gender and Sexuality
Studies.”

Brakespeare struggled with his
emotions, and to keep a smile from his face. However it somehow fitted her
persona. He could see her championing women’s rights, whatever they might be.
He decided to remain silent and take a sip from his glass.

“
Then I got involved with
somebody in my sophomore year. I became pregnant.”

She eat her meat to allow time
for Brakespeare’s reaction. Again he forced himself to remain silent. These
waters were becoming both deep and murky. On the other hand, Lisa was
demonstrating trust in him; baring her soul like this. There was a silence
while she finished the portion.

“
I didn’t keep it. I went to a
clinic and they took it away. I didn’t think it mattered. It was just a blip in
the relationship. We could have had more later. That’s what I thought, but he
dumped me.”

It was obviously painful to
her to tell the story, and she attacked her steak again with her knife and
fork. Brakespeare sat patiently and continued to eat his meal. He knew from his
experience with clients, that it was better to let them confide slowly painful
memories rather than ask any questions.

“
It was in the middle of my
second year. I had a breakdown. I left Yale, and came to England. My mother has
a sister in Bristol. I had a year out, but my tutor kept in touch with me. He
knew someone at the University of the West of England, and got me a place
there, to start a law degree, which you can do straight away in England. Nobody
knew me, so that was O.K.” She laughed to show that it wasn’t.

“
Well somehow I got through
the next 3 years, but as I think I told you, I didn’t get a good degree. With
all the baggage I was carrying, I guess I just coasted through. I wanted to be
a barrister, but I just couldn’t face the Bar with all those cocky, confident,
Hooray Henry’s and stuck up bitches. They’re just so…so, British.” She spat her
words out.

“
Oh, come on.” said
Brakespeare. “They’re not all like that; the Bar’s changing.”

“
But they’re still all trained
to behave as if they have their head up their bottoms. Look at Mister Breezie.”

“
Point taken.”

“
So I started looking for
legal work through an agency to make a start in the law, and ended up here.
Worcester, Massachusetts to Worcester, England. It was as if it was all
intended, so here I came”

“
And lived happily ever
after.”

“
No, “ she said slowly. “Not
quite. I met Gordon.”

Brakespeare did not need the
situation spelling out. Gordon Morrison and she were involved with one another.
Of course it might be that she was more involved than he was. Brakespeare too
had experienced female staff showing all the signs of having a crush on him.
Even spotty Tracy went out of her way to smile at him. It was one of those
things that happened in life – especially offices. Such relationships usually
ended in tears.

Lisa suddenly looked up.

“
Why have you made me tell you
this, Jonny Brakespeare.”

“
I haven’t.”

“
You have. I’ve never told
anybody, and then you come along and…”

She did not have to finish her
sentence for Brakespeare to immediately understand.

“
We’re a team”. she had said.

“
So what about Gordon. What’s
he like?”

“
Nice, just very nice. Someone
I could trust. He helped me get back on my feet. Gave me confidence. Restored
my self esteem.”

“
Is that all?”

She had finished eating, and
pushed a still half full plate away.

“
Why do you men always think
of that?”

“
What?”

“
Sex. S-E-X. That’s what you
mean isn’t it?”

“
Yes, it happens occasionally
between men and women.” Brakespeare said.

“
Well, it happened to us too.”
Again she paused for thought. “Look, I shouldn’t be telling you this, but
there’s no point in hiding things. Not now anyway. Gordon isn’t happily
married. Oh, he has all the trappings of a prosperous solicitor, nice house,
nice cars, nice wife. But he and his wife don’t love each other any more.”

“
And so you…..”

She nodded. “Only three or
four times.”

Brakespeare raised his
eyebrows.

“
Oh it all went horribly
wrong. It always does for me. He felt guilty that he was letting his family
down. Then the secret got out. His brother in law, Breezie had a go at him and
then rang the office to have a go at me; then the Partners in the firm had a go
at me, and I nearly lost my job over it, but Gordon stuck up for me. He took
all the blame. Said that it was his fault for having taken advantage of a
member of staff. Everyone knows, Jonny. They treat me like a leper.”

“
Ah, I wondered why you and
Margaret did not seem to get on.”

“
Margaret, huh.” She gave a
short laugh. “Margaret is only jealous because he never wanted to get into her
knickers!”

“
And why Mortimer keeps
warning me away from you.”

“
Does he?”

Brakespeare nodded.

“
Why do you stick it out?” he
asked.

“
Where would I go. What would
I say when they ask me why I left my last job; that I got screwed by the
Boss?!”

“
Point taken.”

“
So I’ll just sit it out and
take my Legal Executive Exams, and then probably move on.”

“
Return to the States?”

“
Maybe. I don’t know.””

Brakespeare sat back and
pushed his plate away, only it was empty.

“
Well I thought that I had
problems. What you’ve told me explains a lot. It seems that we’re both a pair
of emotional cripples. Gosh, what would Newberry say if he knew.”

“
He does know Jonny. He knows
everything. He and Gordon are mates.”

“
And he doesn’t mind?”

“
He’s also an ‘emotional
cripple’ as you so nicely put it. Why should he mind?”

“
That’s true,” said
Brakespeare, thinking of Newberry’s marital situation. He decided to take the
plunge. “So won’t you come out with me then?”

Lisa sat upright in physical
shock, then relaxed and smiled her softest smile at him.

“
I would Jonny – but I can’t.
I can’t let Gordon down, not now that he’s so ill. He needs me.”

“
Do you see him?!”

“
When his wife goes out.”

“
And now?”

“
I go to the hospital when she
can’t.”

“
Does she know”

“
I think so; it’s one of those
unspoken things.”

“
Is that where you went the
other night, when we went for drinks – the hospital?”

Lisa nodded.

“
We’ll that’s a lot of baggage
we’re both carrying.”

“
Sure, but now that it’s out
on the table, Jonny, we just have to ignore it and get on. We’re professional
colleagues. We’ve a case to fight and we need to get on with it for both our
sakes. We both need this result as much as David Newberry.”

“
Yes you’re right. We’ll be
ships passing in the night.”

“
Don’t say that.” Lisa
surprised him. Her eyes were brimming with tears again. This was getting
complicated.

“
I’m only here for the
duration of Gordon’s illness.”

Tears started to run down Lisa’s
face.

“
He’s not coming back, Jonny”

“
What?”

“
His brain tumour. They tried
to take it out, but it’s too far gone and they couldn’t take all of it away.
He’s dying.”

Brakespeare was in shock.
No-one had explained this to him. Did this indefinite period of employment mean
‘forever’? Did he want it to be forever? Could he see himself permanently in
Worcester? Did they expect him to stay?

Now there was the added
emotional ingredient of Lisa. Oh, why didn’t he leave her alone? What was she
looking for? Did she know what she was looking for? Did he know what he was
looking for?

“
Aren’t you going to say
anything, Jonny?” she asked as he became lost in his thoughts.

“
Oh, shit.” He said it slowly,
and looked into her eyes. She looked directly back and nodded in agreement.

Brakespeare was late for work
the next morning. He and Lisa had continued talking until eleven o’clock, and
then, with a mutual peck on the cheek, they had each gone their separate ways.

Tired out though he was, he
had not been able to get to sleep until the small hours. Everything involving
him seemed unnecessarily complicated. No wonder everyone seemed to tiptoe round
Lisa. Did she now have a sexless relationship? Well it would be one if Morrison
was dying of a brain tumour. No wonder she didn’t want to go to a conference
with Breezie, the brother in law.