Page 59 of End Game
‘Why not?’ asked Miles. ‘They will be well aware that my collection is worth over a hundred million, which will surely leave the board with no choice but to take my offer seriously.’
‘You seem to forget,’ said Booth Watson, ‘that your ex-wife is the current chairman of the museum and that Commander Warwick’s wife is its director, and they’d both resign before letting you anywhere near the boardroom.’
‘Exactly what I had in mind,’ admitted Miles, as he carried on walking. ‘However, should I succeed, and both of them do resign, I will need you to rewrite my Will at a later date.’
Booth Watson didn’t comment. After all, it would be the third time in as many years that Miles had rewritten his Will, and on every occasion it had been done to assist him with closing a deal he was involved in at that time, and would welch on later.
‘Was there anything else you wanted to discuss?’ Booth Watson asked, as they came to the end of their walk.
‘Unfortunately, yes,’ Miles replied. ‘The CPS have been in touch again requesting a date to discuss the sale of counterfeit Olympic tickets. I told them to get in touch with you.’
‘They already have,’ said Booth Watson. ‘It appears yet another witness has come forward. I’ve fixed a date for them to interview you a couple of weeks after the Games are over. It seems Commander Warwick and his wife are going on holiday following the closing ceremony.’
‘But what they don’t know,’ Miles reminded him, ‘is that once the Games are over I will also be taking a holiday. A permanent holiday, as I have no intention of going back to prison.’
‘But I thought you wanted to join the board of the Fitzmolean.’
‘I do, but only temporarily, although I’m confident that once I am elected, my ex-wife and Dr Warwick will resign, which is the sole purpose of the exercise.’
‘And then what?’ asked Booth Watson, unable to keep up with him.
‘Then, sadly, as I’ll be living abroad and unable to attend any further board meetings, I will feel it nothing less than my duty to also resign. That’s when you can once again rewrite my Will.’
‘But what makes you so confident the board will go along with your plan?’
‘One member of the board who sees herself as the next chairman has already written offering her support, and is confident she can muster up four other votes. So I will only need one more to be elected,’ said Miles, as they walked back across the road to Whitehall. ‘You can’t imagine how much pleasure it will give me to see Dr Warwick have to leavewhile her husband is left with no choice but to resign at the same time, after the Olympics end in disaster.’
Miles shook hands with his lawyer and gave him a warm smile before he climbed into his waiting Rolls, leaving a bemused BW on the pavement. It began to rain.
•••
Artemisia was beginning to think she could write a dozen articles about Kelly that could be serialized in theSun. Her new friend continued to introduce her to young men who’d be returning home in a few days’ time, but it only reminded Artemisia how much she cared for Robert.
That didn’t stop Kelly trying to tempt her with more and more forbidden fruit. She should have been christened Eve, thought Artemesia.
‘Did you know,’ said Kelly, when she met up with Artemisia later that afternoon in the village park, ‘that the Olympic Committee have supplied the athletes living in the village with one hundred thousand condoms?’
Artemisia burst out laughing.
‘And I consider it no more than my duty to use up my allocation,’ she paused, ‘as well as yours!’
‘Who’s next on your list?’ asked Artemisia, innocently.
‘The French freestyle relay team have, surprisingly, been knocked out in the semi-final, and I intend to offer sympathy and succour.’
Artemisia laughed.
‘Anyway, have to rush. See you tomorrow,’ Kelly said, as she slipped something into Artemisia’s hand.
•••
‘It’s a bus ticket,’ Robert said when Artemisia got home and showed him what Kelly had given her.
‘But not just any old bus ticket,’ replied Artemisia. ‘If you look carefully, you’ll see it’s got a time and date on it.’
‘Four o’clock on August the fourth. This Saturday,’ said Robert, handing it back to her.
‘I checked it out before leaving the stadium,’ said Artemisia. ‘It’s for one of those red double-deckers that takes you on the grand tour of the Olympic Park, on the hour, every hour. It’s so popular you have to book days in advance.’
