Read Online Gift Wrapped by Peter Turnbull - Free Book Online Page B

asked.
    â€˜Yes, you could say that ... he came up through the tools. Somerled,’ Bellingham beamed, ‘S-o-r-e-l-y? That is an unusual name.’
    â€˜Gaelic,’ Yellich replied and told Bellingham the correct spelling of his name.
    â€˜Yes ... I thought it must have been. I have a very distant relative with that name and I have never known how it was spelled, until now. So, it’s S-o-m-e-r-l-e-d. How interesting. You know, as I child I would invent puns on his name such as, “he is sorely missed” and “my cousin sorely injured himself”, though I kept it all to myself. I sensed it would not go down very well with my straight-laced parents ... but it did amuse me. I’m sorry, I digress ...’
    â€˜No matter, sir, no matter. So, can I ask, is there anything that you might think relevant to Mr Wenlock’s disappearance and to his murder?’
    â€˜His murder!’ Bellingham paled. ‘He was murdered?’
    â€˜Yes, I am sorry to say. The skeleton found at Gate Helmsley ... you may have heard about it in the news.’
    â€˜That was James Wenlock?’ Bellingham gasped. ‘I saw the news reports ... yes, I saw them ... my ... that was ... is James Wenlock?’
    â€˜Yes, I’m afraid to say we are all but one hundred per cent certain, just awaiting the DNA test results as we speak, but everything points to the remains as being those of James Wenlock.’ Yellich spoke solemnly. ‘We have notified his family. We are certain enough of the identity of the skeleton to do that.’
    â€˜Well I never.’ Bellingham glanced to his left and out of his office window towards the cream-coloured walls of the theatre, then turned to the officers. ‘This really is going to take some absorbing ... for all of us who remember him ... my heavens.’
    â€˜So ...’ Yellich pressed, ‘if you can, can you tell us what Mr Wenlock was like as an employee?’
    â€˜He seemed to be conscientious, I would have said.’ Bellingham looked at his desk top. ‘We certainly never had any form of complaint about him or his work, not that I can recall either from colleagues or clients. He seemed to be a good, steady worker.’ Bellingham nodded. ‘Yes, I can say that – he was a good, steady worker.’
    â€˜I see ... and as a person, as a personality, how did he impress?’ Yellich asked.
    â€˜Ah, well, as I said ... a reliable worker, no complaints there, but as a person ...’ Bellingham paused, looked upwards and seemed to Yellich to consult the ornate plasterwork on the ceiling. ‘Well, I don’t wish to speak ill of the dead and to be fair, I didn’t know him well, but quite frankly and only so far as I recall, I always found him to be a little smug. Yes, I think I am prepared to say that, a little self-satisfied.’
    â€˜Smug?’ Yellich echoed.
    â€˜Yes, I would think that is accurate,’ Bellingham confirmed. ‘Self-satisfied, holding himself aloof; a little more deference to the senior partners would not have gone unnoticed and unappreciated. I think it is fair to say that his attitude could be described as one of “hubris”. He always struck me that he carried himself like the chartered accountant he wasn’t, instead of carrying himself like the more lowly certified accountant he actually was. And ... and ... it might be relevant to your inquiry that he did seem to be very well off, financially speaking. He must have had private means over and above the salary we paid him ... but then most accountants do.’
    â€˜Really?’ Yellich raised his eyebrows. ‘What do you mean, sir?’
    â€˜Oh, yes, you appreciate that our world is the world of finance. When an accountant is at lunch he is invariably also reading the stocks and shares pages in the newspaper and he or she will be almost guaranteed to have a nice little portfolio of gilt-edged securities plus a few