“That’s enough!” Cooper said. He was trembling and seemed like he was about to cry.
Roy sat down on a chair, broken. I sat down on the sofa next to him.
“Evelyn and Neil are about to arrive. We’ll see if they’ve thought of anything. In any case, we have to stop Suzi. Your wife can’t hand you divorce papers tomorrow. She’ll have to wait until the business is complete. And that means waiting for months,” I said firmly.
My cell started to ring. Evelyn’s number appeared on the screen. They had arrived in the county. I didn’t ask Roy’s advice. I ordered Evelyn to come at once to Roy’s house, and to bring Neil.
When they arrived, I brought them up to speed. Roy listened as if I were speaking about someone who wasn’t him. Before I finished, Neil interrupted me: “I got a phone call. They gave me a lead and I think it could help to neutralize Suzi, if Roy agrees.”
We said nothing. Who had called Neil? What sort of a lead had he been given?
“Who called you?” I asked.
“He didn’t give his name. He just told me to investigate an old story about Suzi’s father. I had to make a few calls, call in a few favors. An old friend who works for the police helped me find what I was told to look for. I spent the whole trip over on the phone.” Neil looked at us, knowing we were all on tenterhooks. But that’s how he was; he liked to create dramatic tension.
“That’s right, he didn’t speak to me the whole way. He was on the phone the whole time,” Evelyn said.
“Are you going to tell us this story about Suzi’s father?” I asked.
“Many years ago, Charles Stone, Suzi’s father, killed a man.” Neil savored our reaction.
“What’s this rubbish?” Roy said, in shock.
“He was very young. He liked to show off to his friends because he had a hunting rifle. It was during the years of rationing. England was trying to recover from the Second World War. Apparently someone who had nothing to eat rustled a couple of sheep. Old man Stone, Suzi’s grandfather, used to curse the people who came onto his lands to steal sheep. ‘One day I’ll put a bullet in their heads,’ he used to say. And his son decided to surprise his father—make the old man proud—and be the fellow who caught the criminals. One night he sat watch on the hill where the sheep were penned at night. It was sometime before dawn when a man came and jumped over the fence. The dogs started to bark but the thief wasn’t scared. He picked up a sheep, and as he tried to escape he fell to the ground. Charles, Suzi’s father, had put a bullet in his back. He didn’t try to hush it up, but even went over to the man to gloat about his victory. He insulted him and threatened that if he moved he’d shoot him again. But by then the man was already dead.
“They arrested Charles and held him for a few days before he was tried. His family, one of the richest in the county, managed to cover it up. The police changed their preliminary report, and ended up saying that the man who’d fired the bullet could have been a poacher. The family of the dead man didn’t have enough money to pursue the case and have a proper investigation. Suzi’s grandfather bribed them as well. He bought them a house in another county and gave them enough money to keep their mouths shut. The man’s widow accepted the terms. But they also had children. The youngest boy barely knew his father. If we gave him a bit of a push we could get him to ask for the case to be reopened.”
“Is all this true?” Roy looked stunned.
“Every single word,” Neil insisted.
“Imagine the news reports: ‘Charles Stone killed a man for stealing a sheep, and years later he’s willing to hold the whole county back just to keep his wool business going.’ Imagine the headlines.” Evelyn seemed excited about the story she could write about this.
“Yes, we could present it as the story of a man capable of doing anything as long as it’s in his own interest, putting himself ahead of human life and the good of the county,” Neil added.
“Well, now you’ve got some leverage against Suzi,” I said.
“You’re mad! If I use this against her she’ll never forgive me,” Roy protested, almost frightened.
“Whatever you do, she’s not going to forgive you. You have to give up on Suzi.” Cooper spoke as though he didn’t care about the disgusted look on Roy’s face.
“Tell her to come in. I’ll tell her how things are. I won’t make you do all the work,” I promised.
“I don’t know. All this is…well…unexpected.” Roy couldn’t think straight.
“This is the only card we have, Roy, and we have to play it. You wanted to be in this world. There are rules. It’s better for us to solve our problems now, before your lawyer friends have to get involved. That would be worse for Suzi.”
Evelyn didn’t wait for Roy to react. She went off to look for Suzi herself. We heard shouting even before she came into Roy’s office.
“If you think you’re going to change my mind, you’re mistaken! I’m not going to stick by Roy, not for anything on earth.”
“You have to hear us out. Listen and then decide,” Evelyn tried to convince her.
Roy didn’t dare look at his wife. He sat in the armchair and looked down at the floor. Suzi barely glanced at him.
“So, here you are in your little cabal. I wouldn’t waste your breath trying to make me back off now,” Suzi said with disdain.
“It’s not about us and it’s not about Roy. It’s about your father. You have to decide if you’re going to save him or hang him out to dry,” I said, with all the coldness and indifference I could muster.
“My father? Don’t you dare bring my father into this,” she said, coming in close to my face.
“You and Roy should have thought a bit more when you first got into this business. Once you’re in, it’s not all that easy to get out again. You know what happened to those two upstanding fellows who both wanted to become mayor.” I hadn’t moved an inch. I could smell her breath.
“What are you threatening me with now?” Suzi asked, and there was a spark of worry in her eyes.
“Your father is a killer. He was arrested for murder years ago. The victim’s family may be interested in reopening the case,” I said, spitting out every word.
Suzi slapped me so hard that the marks of her fingers were visible on my cheek.
“You motherfucker! How dare you insult my father? I’ll bring you all down, I’ll tell people what you do, I’ll drag you through the mud! And you first of all, you cocksucker.” And she turned to slap Roy.
He didn’t move. He didn’t even blink when Suzi’s palm smacked his face. Roy seemed resigned to accept everything that his wife threw at him.
Evelyn moved across the room to try to calm her down, but Suzi pushed her away. She was like a wild animal, ready to sink her claws into anything that came near her.
“You have to accept the truth. Your father is a murderer and there’s nothing you can do about it. Although whether or not this story resurfaces depends on you,” I said, without looking at her.
She came back toward me and I thought she was going to slap me again, but she held herself back. This time she sat on the sofa and started to cry as she continued to insult us.
“Cocksuckers! You’re all a bunch of cocksuckers!” Suzi repeated these words like a mantra.
I made a gesture to Neil, who laid out, step by step, what he had learned. He even went a little further, stating that it was a matter of money whether or not the son of the man in question would ask to reopen the case. Suzi had her head in her hands and seemed to be somewhere else, distant from what Neil was telling her, but when he finished, she straightened up, her eyes filled with tears.
“Roy in exchange for your father. That’s the deal.” I took pleasure in her despair as I spoke.
“Suzi…darling…I…” Roy couldn’t put a sentence together.
“Roy has nothing to do with this. He just found out, same as you. But I’ve told you already. You’ve put forces in motion that you can’t control. You wanted to have tea with the Queen of England.
All right, well, this is part of the price. You don’t get a free ride if you want to become part of the establishment.” This time it was me who stood up straight in front of Suzi, and I looked at her as she seemed to shrink.
“What do I have to do?” Suzi asked between sobs.
“Nothing. You don’t have to do anything. You’ll go with Roy tomorrow, just as you always do whenever there’s anything important to announce. You’ll keep living together as you have until now. There won’t be a divorce. Or at least, not while we think it could do harm to Roy,” I said.
“My father…my father will die if I support this gas company. He’ll never forgive me,” Suzi said, without talking to anyone in particular.
“At least he’ll die with honor,” I said. “I don’t think he’d like the newspapers picking up on the fact that he’s a murderer, a man who’s willing to kill over something as little as a sheep. That will destroy him, and make his neighbors despise him too. A rich family that buys out a poor family in order to save their headstrong son from prison. It’s a story the papers would love to run with.”
“I don’t want to live with Roy…I can’t, not now…” Suzi whimpered.
“Well, you’ll have to. The house is large; there are enough rooms. You can still live under the same roof. And yes, try not to give the maids any reason to gossip. Oh, and you’ll have to continue appearing in public with Roy as often as is necessary. You do a good job of being the supportive wife.” My words were an order.
“Call your lawyer, Suzi. Tell him that you don’t want to divorce Roy, that you had a fight about nothing and that you’ve made your peace now,” Evelyn suggested.
“Yes, I’ll do it,” Suzi murmured.
“You’ll do it now. We want to hear you,” I instructed. “You understand that we don’t trust you.”
“You think I’d ruin my father’s life and let him be painted as a killer?” Suzi’s voice broke with anger and despair.
“If you didn’t care about the pain you were going to cause your children by ruining their father’s life, then I don’t need to believe that you’d care any more about your own father. You have to prove it. And there are other things, Suzi. Other things that could destroy your family, could destroy you. We still have some ammo.” I threw out this bluff, knowing that at this moment she had given up.
“You disgust me, Thomas.”
“Well, it’s not like I have a very high opinion of you or your family. At least none of us are murderers. I’m ahead of you there.”
“That’s enough, stop it!” Roy looked at me, ready to hit me.
“That’s how things are, Roy. Go on, Suzi, make the call. I want to hear you talk to your lawyer.”
She made the call. She played the part of the contrite wife perfectly. When she hung up the phone she stood up.
“If you don’t mind, I have things to do. I’ll fulfill my role.”
She left Roy’s office with all the dignity she was capable of. But she was beaten and she knew it. Roy watched her, sadly. I was surprised that after everything he still loved her.
“Problem solved,” I said. “Now we can get to work on the important things.”
“We’ve already prepared my speech for tomorrow,” Roy protested.
“Yes, but there are other things we need to talk about.”
Roy accepted without further argument. After all, he was relieved, even though he knew his relationship with Suzi was effectively over. She would not forgive him for capitulating when we’d blackmailed her.
I slept badly that night. I woke up at dawn, soaked in sweat. A bad conscience? I don’t think so. I’ve never allowed my conscience to grow, and I didn’t think twice about putting the screws on Suzi.
But the passing of the years has not changed the fact that, despite feeling no need for repentance, I could have done things another way. What would have happened if I had behaved differently?
When Neil appeared with Evelyn and explained that Suzi’s father had a man’s blood on his hands, perhaps I could have refused to pressure her with that:
“No, Neil, there’s no way we’re using that. It wouldn’t be right. Suzi’s father is in the hospital recovering from a heart attack…The old man could die if we raise this scandal. It’s water under the bridge; he was just a kid back then. Also, if we try to blackmail Suzi then her marriage to Roy is through. We’ll have to find something else. Come on, guys, let’s think.”
—
But I said nothing of the sort. I didn’t doubt for a moment that we had to blackmail Suzi, and that her father’s checkered past was our best bargaining chip. If we hadn’t used it perhaps we could have saved Roy’s marriage. But I didn’t care about that so much. I felt something akin to affection for Suzi and for Roy, but not enough for me to shirk my responsibilities.
Yes, if I had acted differently, then the gas company wouldn’t have set itself up in the county and Suzi might have ended up forgiving Roy. But I didn’t do it. Quite the contrary. When we got back to London I invited Evelyn and Cooper to a first-class dinner. Neil didn’t want to join us. Although he got his hands dirty doing the tasks I sent his way, he thought that I was a bastard, and so he came to my table only when I had work to give him.
—
Three days later, Bernard Schmidt called me. His voice was slightly more friendly than usual.
“Well, in spite of everything, you’ve been able to solve this gas situation. Our clients seem relieved.”
“It wasn’t easy.”
“Of course it wasn’t. That’s why we’re expensive. But I didn’t call to massage your ego. We have business in Spain and we thought you could deal with it.”
“I thought I was just working for Roy Parker,” I said uncertainly.
“There will be exceptions.”
“What’s it about?” I asked, without much enthusiasm.
“Oil.”
“Wow.”
“Apparently there’s a significant deposit of oil in the south, in a tourist area. Near a nature reserve, Doñana. Have you heard of it?”
“No.”
“Well, you have to get up to speed. It’s not going to be easy to convince the authorities or the public that the park will be left undamaged. Our client won’t invest unless he has full guarantees that he’ll be able to act in whatever way is convenient for his interests.”
“A Spanish company?”
“An American company that will work alongside a Spanish one for this purpose, not because it needs to, but simply to avoid the bureaucracy. Spaniards are difficult. It’s better for a Spanish company to be the figurehead and the one that negotiates with the authorities.”
“And what do we have to do?”
“Soften up public opinion. It’s what we do. Or hadn’t you realized?”
“When will I get the details?”
“Your boss, Leopold Lerman, will give them to you. I sent them over to him while you were in Derbyshire. Get to work. And reserve a ticket for Madrid.”
Lerman came to my office two minutes later with a large folder. He didn’t give me any details.
“Look at these papers,” he ordered.
I couldn’t help asking myself why Lerman and Schmidt had chosen me for this job. I wasn’t one of them, or at least I didn’t feel like one of them.
I spent the rest of the day reading the papers. I asked Cooper to look at them as well. I was growing more reliant on him. He was as clever as he was weird, or maybe he was just as odd as hackers usually are, but he could be trusted.
I asked him to draw up a plan I could discuss the next day with Evelyn Robinson. She had been a good choice on my part. She was game for anything, no matter how murky, so she was a perfect addition to a firm that dedicated itself, in Schmidt’s words, to “softening up” public opinion by any means necessary.
I still felt lonely. London for me was no more than an office, a place to work. I have never managed to enjoy the city, and enjoyed it far less back then. My life was reduced to work and Madame
Agnès’s house. I asked myself how it was possible that I had become such a frequenter of prostitutes. I missed Esther although I knew that it would be difficult for us to take a step back and find each other again. Even so, I called her, not caring what time it was or what she might be doing. Most often, she was working. When she heard my voice she seemed to cheer up. She was interested in my work. I explained in detail what we had done.
“You’re a real son of a bitch, aren’t you?” she said, but there was no condemnation in her voice. It was just a statement of fact.
“Will you marry me?” I asked, knowing that she wasn’t expecting me to ask her again.
“I think we did the right thing breaking the engagement. It wouldn’t have turned out well.”
“I don’t agree.”
“I think you do, deep down.”
“I miss you. Do you believe me?”
“I believe you, Thomas. Of course I believe that you could miss me. You’re alone over there, you don’t have any friends, you don’t have anyone to support you. You have to play the role of the bad guy twenty-four hours a day and that must be very tiring, even for someone who isn’t a very good person.”
“But you were ready to marry me.”
“Yes, I was. I dodged a bullet there. Hey, you know I bumped into your brother the other day? He’s charming.”
I felt sick. Physically sick. I couldn’t bear the thought of Esther being close to Jaime.
“And where did you ‘bump into’ him?” I asked, trying not to show how affected I was by what she’d said.
“On the street. I was waiting for a taxi in front of the office and then I heard a horn and saw Jaime waving at me to get in his car. He offered to drive me home. Your brother is quite the gentleman.”
“Nothing else?”
“What do you mean, ‘nothing else’?”
“He drove you home and that was that?”