Page 10 of Traitors Gate

‘However,’ added Beth, ‘my father has spent his life working in the property market, so I could ask his opinion, if you’d like me to.’

‘That would be most kind.’

‘Why don’t I give him a call while I’m with you,’ said Beth, ‘and find out his initial reaction.’

‘Would you?’ asked Mrs Lomax. ‘I’d be most grateful.’

‘I’d be delighted to,’ said Beth. Without another word she took out her mobile phone and dialled her parents’ home.‘What number in Jermyn Street?’ she asked as the phone began to ring.

‘12A,’ Mrs Lomax replied as a voice came on the line.

‘Dad,’ Beth began, ‘I need your advice on a property matter, to make sure I haven’t missed something.’

Arthur Rainsford listened carefully as his daughter offered a précis of everything Mrs Lomax had told her.

‘You haven’t missed anything,’ was her father’s immediate response. ‘Almost all the commercial properties in Mayfair are owned by the Crown or the Grosvenor Estate. And you can be pretty certain the gallery will be on a short-term lease. Twenty-five years at most, with five-year upward rent reviews. The going rate is around a hundred thousand a year, according to the square footage, so the rates will be the least of her problems.’

‘So a million for the stock is beginning to sound like a fair deal?’

‘That’s your world, not mine,’ said her father. ‘But I’ll make a couple of discreet enquiries and call you back just in case we’ve both missed something.’

‘Thank you, Dad. We’re all looking forward to visiting next weekend,’ said Beth before she rang off.

‘That’s most helpful,’ said Mrs Lomax, once Beth had passed on her father’s opinion. ‘The timing couldn’t be better because the kind gentleman has sent me a contract to consider over the weekend and promised he would telephone on Monday to find out if I’ve made up my mind.’

Beth had another cup of tea before she left while Mrs Lomax told her how she’d watched the Queen’s coronation on a black and white television in 1953 and had seen Dame Edith Evans playing the nurse inRomeo and Julietat Stratford-upon-Avon in 1960 … or was it ’61? However, her most abiding memory was …

‘I ought to be leaving, Mrs Lomax …’ Beth suggested for a third time.

‘Won’t you stay for lunch, my dear? Janet’s fishcakes are considered quite exceptional.’

‘I’m sure they are, Mrs Lomax, but I’d like to be back before the children return from their trip to Legoland.’

‘Legoland?’ queried Mrs Lomax, which meant it was another fifteen minutes, while Beth explained to the old lady, who only possessed oak furniture, what Lego was. She finally escaped after a third cup of tea.

Beth had reached the seventh roundabout when the phone in her car began to ring. She pulled into a layby and picked up the phone to hear a familiar voice.

‘Where are you?’ her father asked.

‘Just about to join the A5. Should be back in London in about an hour.’

‘I want you to turn around and go back to Buckingham immediately. Find a hotel, book a room for me and another for your father-in-law.’

‘Dare I ask why?’ said Beth.

‘Because the kind man isn’t quite as kind as Mrs Lomax thought he was, and as he’ll be calling back on Monday morning, time isn’t on our side.’

‘Then I’ll have to return and tell Mrs Lomax I’ll be delighted to sample Janet’s fishcakes.’

CHAPTER 5

BOOTHWATSON SAT ALONE INchambers, well aware Mrs Faulkner would be late. She always imagined it would give her an advantage. But while her bank balance was consistently overdrawn, she was at a perpetual disadvantage.

Mrs Faulkner finally turned up at eighteen minutes past three without any suggestion of an apology. As she took the seat opposite him, BW once again admired how immaculately turned out she was, although he suspected it now took her a little longer to achieve. Her couture outfit reminded him why her suit wasn’t the only thing in red.

‘How nice to see you again,’ Booth Watson said, ‘and how well you’re looking,’ he added as she made herself comfortable.

‘Cut the crap, BW. You only ever ask to see me when you want something. So what is it this time?’

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