Page 51 of Traitors Gate

‘Have you considered retiring?’

‘Often,’ admitted Booth Watson. ‘But I simply can’t afford to.’

‘What if I could make that possible?’

‘No doubt by involving me in something that could get me disbarred or worse.’

‘Far worse, because if they could prove I was responsible for the Crown Jewels being stolen, I would be hung, drawn and quartered.’

‘I feel sure I could get you off the drawing and the quartering,’ said Booth Watson, trying to lighten the mood.

‘Not if it could be proved that I had been responsible for stealing the Crown Jewels,’ said Miles as he set off again.

‘But every schoolboy knows that’s impossible,’ said Booth Watson once he’d caught up with his client. ‘Unless of course you’ve found a way to get everyone who works at the Tower to take a holiday on the same day, while the Governor hands you the keys to the Jewel House.’

‘Not me, because I don’t plan to be there when the exchange takes place, although the whole operation won’t come cheap.’ Miles slowed down to allow a couple of tourists to overtake them before he began to outline his plan in great detail.

By the time the two of them had returned to the Churchill Rooms, Booth Watson made no attempt to disguise his lack of enthusiasm for the whole project, although he accepted that Harris had come up with a genuinely original idea that had never been considered before, and, without question, Miles was the one person he knew who just might pull it off – even though it would cost him a vast sum of money. However, he didn’t hesitate to offer his expensive advice.

‘I’m against the whole idea,’ was Booth Watson’s immediate response.

‘Why?’ demanded Miles.

‘For a start, the odds are stacked against you.’

‘Wrong again,’ said Miles, ‘because I won’t be taking any risks. I’ll be leaving that to others, so the only people who will end up with the odds stacked against them will be Warwick, Hogan and their precious boss.’

‘What about your own team, who could all end up in jail?’

‘I don’t give a damn about them. They know the risks they’re taking, and will be well-rewarded if they succeed.’

‘But if they fail,’ said Booth Watson, ‘we’re discussing treason, and the least of my problems will be being disbarred.’

‘Not if you’re in court on that day and shocked when you discover I’ve been arrested by Chief Superintendent Warwick while in possession of a crown, and need a lawyer to defend me.’

‘But think about the expense Miles, and for what?’

‘Complete and total revenge on three people who thought they’d got the better of me.’

Booth Watson knew when he was beaten and began to think about the lucrative fee he would earn when he represented five clients for treason. Someone had to.

‘Then all I need to know is the date, time and place,’ he said.

‘I’ll be outside the House of Lords sometime between three and four o’clock that afternoon – assuming everything goes to plan.’

‘And the date?’

‘I’ll know that once the result of the upcoming general election has been declared and the new PM, whoever that might be, has kissed hands with the monarch, appointed his government and selected the date for the Queen’s Speech, which is usually held on a Wednesday two weeks after the election has taken place.’

‘What if it’s a hung parliament?’

‘At least I won’t be hanged because I’ll have to call off the whole operation.’

‘But why, when there will be another Queen’s Speech in a year’s time?’

‘Because, by then, the two main participants will have been replaced. So frankly it’s now or never, and I can assure you, BW, I won’t be given a second chance.’

‘I think the result of the election will be a thumping majority for Tony Blair and the Labour Party,’ Booth Watson predicted, ‘so the Queen’s Speech is almost certain to be sometime in May.’

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