"Francis, Clare - A Death Divided" - читать интересную книгу автора (Francis Clare)

GGP Media, Possneck

For Rozzie

Chapter One

joe met the malign gaze of Mr Al Ritch from six thousand
miles away, and wished the technology undone. The conference
link had been installed at a time when the firm was in thrall to
the power of eye contact and body language, but it seemed to
Joe that, more often than not, one side came to see through a
glass darkly, and for the last hour the only language his client's
jutting head and lowering frown had conveyed was gathering
mistrust.
Joe was stuck in a conference room with two members of
his team, a fiery Scot called Anna, and Ed, a quiet junior with
big ambition, both of them grim-faced after more than two
hours at the coalface and no hope of an early reprieve. It was
a Friday evening in the run-up to Christmas. The rest of the
Merrow office had emptied for the weekend and the only
sound was the muted hiss of traffic from a rain-soaked Grace-
church Street five floors below.
In front of them, the TV monitor relayed golden strips of
sunlight, a pale wood table with water glasses and, seated
centre-stage between four of his team, the bulbous figure of Mr
Al Ritch, wearing short-sleeved shirt, gold Rolex and a thatch
of compressed sandy hair which Anna swore he took off and
put on a stand at night.
His heavy features were showing puzzlement. 'Now, how's
that agin, Joe?'
For what had to be the third time Joe explained the
importance of obtaining detailed witness statements from those
who could support their case.

2

'Right down to the project managers?'
'Definitely. Yes.' With Al Ritch, Joe had long since taken to expressing himself in absolutes.
'But let's jus' get this straight, Joe - you're proposin' to go
see these guys yourselves? Hell, they're spread all around the
globe. Five o' them - nah, what is it, Larry?' He turned to his
right-hand man. 'Six.'
Anna gave a snort of exasperation and cleared her throat
to hide it.
Joe said, 'This case is going to be decided on the facts,
Mr -- er, Al. It could turn on the smallest details. We need to
obtain the most comprehensive witness statements possible.
We-'
'Joe, perhaps you'd be kind enough to explain this one
thing fer me,' Ritch interrupted in his slow drawl. 'Jus' exactly