Deceit. [COMPLETED.]

Chapter 40

"Airborne."

By the time we arrived at the airport everything had been organised right down to rooms at the exclusive 'Raffles' hotel.

It was the destination codes which had given Max the idea; all rather circumstantial, but the fact that he had never mentioned to anyone about his liaison with the Island and the fact that his bills were all hidden away did seem a little too suspicious even for my own little curious brain.

Max lost no time in falling asleep once we were airborne. She sat with her head tilted to one side. It seemed to mark an end to our last chapter and as we ambled slowly above the clouds I felt a new beginning was unfolding. I still regretted Paris, the dead man's face still etched in my mind but Max was adamant that I had made the right choice and right now, she was the one I was listening to and who I trusted the most.

There was an option of four videos but my mind still needed nourishment and so I reached down for the small holdall Max had brought with her. I sifted through each piece of paper but for some strange reason the small letter I had found was not there.

I sat back annoyed. 

'Did I tell you about the number?' Max was looking up at me through tired eyes. 'It is where we are going,' she said

'You mean the hotel?' 

A grin formed across her face. 'Josie confirmed it when she made the booking. I asked if she could trace the number and it was definitely the Raffles Hotel. Why else do you think we are going there? And ...,' she added, 'he still has a room there.'

I turned and lowered my head slightly in her direction. 'Miss Stamford,' I chided, 'are you telling me that your brother is in Singapore as we speak and he is actually residing at the hotel we are about to visit?'

'Was,' she said without moving. 'His room hasn't been used for three days.'

She trailed off leaving me to watch as she wriggled that tight lower region of hers to one side. It was a game she loved to play in my presence and one I had seen before at the dinner and dance, in the car and now here on the plane all used to full effect to play havoc with my emotions. I gave her a gentle slap on the behind, which she eagerly received with another feminine wiggle and then I returned to my perusals, the documents - my only real defence against what I really wanted to do but then, within a few minutes, I had stopped again.

I looked up.

What, I asked myself, was her brother doing in Singapore? 

More to the point, why had no one except Max and I been able to locate him? It was like a large jigsaw puzzle begging to be solved and as I closed my eyes I allowed myself to be taken right back to the beginning. 

'Have you ever done a delivery?'

Pat had not given me any dates when I first met him in London but a ship of the size of the Jupiter wouldn't be able to do the journey in one fell swoop. It would take about four weeks even as many as six depending on how many stops, so why was her brother still in the area? Max had said that her father had been given his phone and that it had been found in Japan?

When was that?

A few days ago which would tie in with his disappearance, but why go from Singapore to Japan?

I shrugged my shoulders and allowed my mind some breathing space and looked to where Max was now resting peacefully and decided to follow suit. I asked one of the flight attendant's for another bottle of wine and settled down to watch a movie and as the cabin lights dimmed, I was more than ready to fall blissfully into an alcohol-induced slumber which I didn't wake up from until it was breakfast.

Max was reading by this time looking very refreshed and after a much needed three-course meal we finally got down to her mothers will. It was a very personal moment. I read it on my own with Max looking out at the clouds. I felt humble and was determined to be as respectful as I could.

I brushed past the first few of pages until I came to the part where her mother bequeathed her estate. The majority fell to Max and over the next few pages I was able to read how much this dead woman had deeply loved her daughter; I read paragraphs of memories as though her very soul was speaking out to me. This was a most moving experience, not just because of how much Max and I had grown close over these past few days but because it was as though I was intruding on a very private and personal relationship.  

I moved through the paragraphs until quite unexpectedly, she turned to her son and probably the real reason he deemed it necessary to hide the document. 

'and finally in the hope that it may one day prove to be a solace to my beloved son Adam, I bequeath the Jane Rydon Foundation.  Created out of the deepest of my regrets, to help forge a way out of the quicksand that has been my life, I give this gift in the hope of a renewed love amongst our family.  A love that seems lost but not forgotten, a love that once was so infinite it could never be broken. May he one day understand the joy of giving and may he always know the joy of my love.'

It was a beautiful ending from a very moving lady.

I turned to Max. 'Do you know exactly what is in this?'

She spoke from the window. 'I've only glanced at it. For all his efforts, I still get everything. He may have stolen mum's will. He may have tried to stop me from having what was rightfully mine, but it was public knowledge that what was mum's would eventually come to me as it's public knowledge that Adam will get all of dad's stock and eventually the company.

A heard a soft reflective sigh.

'Until I see him, I really don't know how I'm going to react. Yesterday I wanted to punch his lights out but now, there is just this great big emptiness inside of me. I saw a shrink for ten months to help me get over what had happened to me. I saw her again when mum died. Now ... I don't know how I feel.'   

She finally faced me. 'Why do you ask?' 

'Have you heard of the Jane Rydon Foundation?' There was no other way of asking, but I sat and saw her shake her head. 

It was an awkward moment and I tried as tactfully as I could to explain my theory.

'It seems that your mum has left your brother a company called the 'Jane Rydon Foundation.'  It's the only part in the will that stands out and it might be important. Did your mum ever talk about it?'

Max scowled.

'My mum did lots of good deeds. He's welcome to it. No doubt, he has already sold it on as a going concern. That's probably where all his money came from to buy his shares. Good luck to him.'

But I wasn't convinced. 'So why hide the will? If he sold the company and no one knew about it, why not dispose of all the evidence linking you with the asset. Why keep it?'  

I was sure I was onto something but my darling friend had had enough.

She placed her back to me again and her head on her pillow. 'I'll get Josie to trace it when we land.  If it does exist, she will find it and then we will take it from there.'  

I sighed. Somewhere on that mighty Island was the answer and the sooner we found it the better.

As we walked wearily to the immigration desk a few hours later I gazed out of one of the large airport windows and thought of my friend John.

At least he was keeping things moving. While I was gallivanting around the world, travelling like a king, he was doing the real work and taking my ship to sea. By now, he was probably half way to England and as I moved slowly in the queue at passport control, I couldn't help but offer a silent wish for a safe journey.

+ + + + + + + + + + +

So where does this leave us now?

Why exactly did Adam hide the will?

What is this Foundation?

And what about poor John. Kirk has no idea has he?

Take care.
JU