Page 31 of Murder in Portofino

I kept going. ‘I want you to be completely honest with me: do you know anything about this? I’m not accusing you of anything, I’m just asking if at any time you’ve had suspicions that something underhand was going on. I imagine you spend a lot of time looking at the company’s accounts so you’d be well placed to pick up any irregularities.’

For a moment, it looked as though he was going to say something, but then he stopped and I could see him think twice. I didn’t press him; I just gave him time until he finally made his decision. When he spoke, his voice was little more than a whisper.

‘Can you promise me that what I say will be treated with the utmost confidentiality?’

‘Of course.’ This was sounding promising.

‘The answer to your question is yes.’ There was another long pause. ‘Several months back, around Easter time, I became suspicious about large sums of money being transferred to what looked like an anonymous account. I did a bit of checking and managed to trace it to a bank in the Cayman Islands – I’m sure you’re aware that’s a tax haven – and the more I thought about it, the less I liked it.’

I tried to sound as encouraging as possible. ‘So did you do anything about it? Presumably your first port of call would have been your direct superior, and that’s Edgar Beaumont, isn’t it?’

He nodded and another long pause followed before he finally came to the point. ‘Please, for the love of God, don’t tell Edgar that I told you this, but I found myself wondering whether he might have had something to do with it.’ I saw him run the back of his hand across his forehead to wipe the sweat away, and this time, I felt sure it had nothing to do with his workout. ‘You see, Edgar’s been involved in a very messy divorce. It’s common knowledge in the company. On a couple of occasions, he’s let slip that his wife is trying to bleed him dry – those are the exact words he used. When I got suspicious about money going missing, I couldn’t help thinking that he might have had something to do with it.’

‘Does that mean you just kept quiet or did you speak to somebody else about your suspicions?’

‘I couldn’t stay quiet about something as serious as that. After all, if money was going missing, I could even find myself being under suspicion so, after a number of sleepless nights, I went to Jerome Van der Groot.’

‘And you told the CEO everything?’

I saw him nod.

‘And how did he react?’

‘He was obviously very shocked and he thanked me for having had the courage to come forward. Reluctantly, I told him of my doubts about Edgar and he confided in me that he’d also been suspicious about him for some time.’

‘And what happened then? Did Jerome Van der Groot go to the police or did he approach Edgar Beaumont directly?’

‘Jerome told me he wanted to do everything he could to avoid a scandal and he said that until we had concrete proof that it really was Edgar, he wanted me just to keep an eye on things and report direct to him if I noticed any other suspicious transactions.’

‘So you have no idea if he spoke to Edgar? What about suspicious transactions? Did you come across any others after that?’

He shook his head. ‘Absolutely none. If it was Edgar, he must have got wind of my suspicions and stopped. I presume Jerome must have confronted him about it, and maybe Edgar confessed and paid the money back – but if he did, I haven’t seen any big sums being paid in – or maybe it wasn’t Edgar at all. I really don’t know. I’m afraid that’s all I can tell you. Jerome never spoke to me about it again but, seeing as no further money was going missing, I just assumed Jerome had sorted it somehow.’

‘Thank you. Please could you tell me where you were and what you did on Saturday night when Jerome Van der Groot stormed off from the dinner table?’

‘I sat there with the others for a minute or two before going back to my cabin. We were really quite shocked. Everybody knew that Jerome had a short fuse, but I’d never seen him so furious before.’

‘And could you tell me who he was furious with and what it was all about?’

‘Mainly with Martin – you know, Martin Grey, the game-show host.’ He caught my eye for a moment. ‘Nothing unusual there. Martin picks fights with everybody.’

‘Fights?’

‘Not real fights, arguments. He has a habit of rubbing people up the wrong way.’

‘But this argument wasn’t about this missing money?’

‘God, no, I would have remembered that. No, it might have been a programming thing but, whatever it was, it really angered Jerome and he was absolutely fuming.’

‘Thank you, and don’t worry, I’ll be very circumspect with all the information you’ve given me. Now I need to interview Louise Challenger. Could you ask her to come and see me, please?’

He stood up and left the room, still looking very nervous, and I reflected on what he’d said and the overall impression he’d given. It was interesting that the big argument on Saturday night hadn’t been about the money after all. Maybe my next interviewee might be able to shed more light on that. In spite of my initial doubts, I tended to believe what Adam Phillips had told me, but the fact of the matter was that although he claimed to have reported his suspicions to the CEO, Jerome Van der Groot was no longer around to confirm or deny. Mr Muscle might never have reported anything because he had been the thief. It could be this had been a hastily prepared cover story following the murder of his boss. The next question, needless to say, was exactly what involvement he might have had in that. Had I just been talking to a very credible-sounding actor intent on avoiding a conviction for murder – maybe double murder?

Louise Challenger looked equally nervous when she came into the room. Today, her hair was hanging loose and she was wearing quite a pretty, flowery blouse and a fairly short – but not Susie Upton short – skirt. Certainly, she didn’t look as schoolmarmish as the first time I’d seen her. Oscar, always delighted to have a female visitor, got to his feet and wandered over to rest his head on her knee. This appeared to give her some encouragement and she even managed to summon a little smile.

‘What a lovely dog. What’s his name?’

‘It’s Oscar, and am I right in thinking that your name is Louise Challenger?’ She nodded and I continued. ‘As you’ve probably heard from Mr Beaumont, I’ve been asked to investigate some irregularities with the company’s accounts. Could I start by asking if this comes as a surprise to you?’

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