Deceit. [COMPLETED.]

Chapter 53

"Divided Loyalties."

I phoned Geoff as promised, temper calmer but my nerves were still on edge.

He seemed to understand.

'Look Kirk. I'm sorry. I know that you are upset but I'm good at my job and my job is to find out about people, their good points and their bad and I know you are in Singapore. I know you are with Miss Stamford; what I need to know before we carry on is do you have separate rooms?'

'Yes,' I sighed.

There was a pause as he seemed to process my last answer. He then apologised for asking such a blunt question adding that he wouldn't be the only one to question what we were doing and I could only surmise that he was talking of the police and of course my wife.

He huffed.

'This is going to get a lot worse before it gets better believe me and having the same room as the boss's daughter when you have just been indicted for conspiracy, not only to commit embezzlement but also murder, is not something you should be wanting to do, so if you are then I suggest that you had better make sure that you are not.'

'I'm not!' I snapped.       

Another pause.

'Ok.'

He then said that better people than him would be looking into what Max and me were doing and so we had better make sure we were looking over our shoulders.

He knew about Hockenheim which was a surprise and he knew about Paris though not what had happened after we had left the restaurant and I had no intention of revealing that.

The conversation though seemed a little too one sided.

I stopped him at that point.

'Geoff - look. I'm taking a lot here at face value. I only have your word about who you are, so as much as I am beginning to understand how my life is now being turned upside down and I seem to be in a whole heap of shit, I am not about to open my heart to anyone, no matter how good a detective he claims to be.'

Another moment of silence as he seemed to digest the implications of what I was saying.

'Fair comment,' he replied in the end. 'I would have thought you a fool had you done so.'   

'Then let's trade,' I said, gaining confidence. 'You give me something interesting that Jenny and I can get our teeth into and I will give you something in return, a trade off for a trade off, a sort of question for a question.'   

I half expected him to say no but he didn't. I asked him what he thought we were doing in Singapore and he admitted he didn't know.

'My gut feeling is nothing at all, except having a secret shag at the company's expense which, if it's true, is your affair except under the circumstances I would think extremely bad timing.'

I looked up at Max and placed a hand over the mouthpiece. 'He wants to know what we are doing here.'

She grabbed the phone and her answer was both curt and pleasant. She didn't stop either to listen to any reply.

'Mr Whartley. I hope what I say will be accepted. Mr Attwood and I have come to Singapore to find my Brother. No doubt, you have already concluded that what we purchased at Stamford Enterprises, as the first of six vessels to come out of the Takiyoma steel works is not in fact what we wanted. In fact it turned out to be an old cargo ship, about which we absolve all identity to and for that matter, accept corporate liability for.' She huffed. 'All a very unsatisfactory state of affairs and one that both I, and a number of the board members, wish to keep from my father until that is we had found suitable answers. My brother, who was managing this project, has for his own reason strangely become absent and no one has been able to contact him for some time. He has in fact disappeared along with the ship we have bought and it is my belief that both he and the ship are here in Singapore or the surrounding area.'