Read Online Resolutions by Jane A. Adams - Free Book Online

it’s that the architects that Peel used to work for did the extension on Marlow’s house and other bits and pieces on his pubs or something. Anyway, Peel did the drawings, generated the computer models or whatever they do now, liaised with Marlow on the changes. According to Marlow, that was the extent of their involvement, but . . .’
    They were turning now into a set of double gates at the end of a long drive. The house up ahead was modern but obviously not off the peg. Painted white and with an odd, green pantiled roof that Mac was not sure he actually liked, it spread expansively either side of a massive front door. Single-storey wings extended the frontage even further, and glancing through the tall windows as they parked up, Mac realized that one wing housed a large indoor pool.
    â€˜All right for some,’ he said. ‘Second pool on the other side?’
    Alec laughed. ‘Apparently, he collects orchids or something,’ he said. ‘I believe that’s where he keeps them.’
    â€˜Orchids. Right.’
    â€˜You don’t like orchids?’
    â€˜Actually, no. They’re sticks with fancy bits stuck on the ends. You can’t tell me that’s attractive. And we have nothing on Marlow except that Peel contacted him?’
    â€˜So far, no. Usual rumours about dodgy dealings and backhanders, but nothing more concrete or more unusual. He’s cooperated with the investigation, claims he was as shocked as anyone could be when Peel turned up, but he failed to report their meeting and it was only after John Bennet reported seeing Peel that Marlow admitted to having his own encounter.’
    â€˜He came forward, then?’
    â€˜No, we managed to track Peel’s movements on CCTV, saw him coming out of one of Marlow’s pubs. We confronted Marlow and he admitted Peel had been to see him.’
    â€˜And? What did Peel want?’
    â€˜That’s what we don’t know. Marlow insists Peel just bought himself a drink and sat at the bar nursing it. Marlow says he saw him, recognized him and realized he was maybe the last person he wanted around, told him to leave. Marlow says Peel left without comment, but I find that hard to believe.’
    â€˜Witness statements?’
    â€˜Indicate a brief conversation between the two of them. Marlow just insists that Peel took a bit of convincing, that Marlow threatened to call the police, a threat which he did not carry out either at the time or retrospectively. He claims just to have been glad to see Peel go, to have been worried about what Peel might do if Marlow crossed him.’
    â€˜Which may be true.’
    â€˜Which may be true, but . . .’ Alec opened his car door and had to grab the handle as a gust of wind caught it and wrenched it back. Mac was more cautious, holding on to the door as he got out of the car, and looked around, noting the depth of gravel on the drive and the measured manicure of the lawns.
    Money , he thought. And lots of it.
    The front door opened as they crossed the drive, and Mac realized that Marlow must have been watching them, waiting for them to get out of the car. He stood on the top of the short flight of steps, holding the door half-closed behind him as the wind pushed hard against it, as though intent on fighting its way inside.
    â€˜Bitter day,’ Marlow said, stepping back and gesturing for them to go in. ‘A truly bitter day.’
    Mac could not help but wonder if he meant the wind or purely that the police had come to call.
    Marlow’s study was book-lined and so thickly carpeted that small children could be lost in the pile. The hall floor, Marlow told them, was reclaimed parquet from an old manor house that had been demolished when his was being built. He said it was two hundred odd years old. The carpet in the study, Mac thought, certainly did not have that age or pedigree, but probably, he considered, a similar cost.
    An orchid sat on the heavy oak desk, long