Page 54 of A Simple Mistake
Aidan sighed.It never rained, but it poured.He hated the phrase, but he couldn’t argue its accuracy.“I’ll take Julian’s call first, please.”
“Of course.Tea?”
“That would be lovely.”Aidan waited for the click of Julian’s call connecting.“Julian.Good morning.”
“Indeed, it is.We need a planning session.”
“About?”
“My cousins.Ronald and Cecily, to be precise.”
Aidan sat straighter.Julian was prone to endure and accommodate his family, but his tone just then suggested something else.“What happened?”
“Frazer found proof that Ronald’s laptop held information on all our compromised projects, and—guess what?—the security features were off when he attended the November shareholders’ meeting.Frazer can also prove that Ronald told Cecily in early December that he lost the laptop.”
“And neither reported it.”
“And neither reported it.Which I consider ‘conduct detrimental to the company’s best interests’.”
The quotation marks came through loud and clear, and Aidan smiled as he flipped through his diary.“I would agree.”The Nancarrow family had tormented Julian and impeded the company’s growth for long enough.He didn’t want to pull the brakes when Julian was finally in a mood to do something about them.“I’m in court Tuesday and Wednesday, but I can free up most of Thursday.Would that suit?”
“Perfectly.I’ll call an online shareholders’ meeting for Thursday afternoon, and we can meet in the morning to plan strategy.”
“Excellent idea.I’ll see you mid-morning Thursday.”He made a note in his diary, then picked up the phone again.“I’m ready for Miss McTavish now.Oh, and could you please re-schedule my Thursday afternoon meeting?I’m needed at Nancarrow all day.”
Aidan stood and stretched, using the movement to switch mental tracks from changes at Nancarrow Mining to a case that grew more tangled every time it touched his desk.
Nico’s notion had seemed preposterous, but he couldn’t deny that it suited the data.If the dead womanwasn’tMargot McTavish, then all the discrepancies Skylar had observed were easy to explain.
He turned as the door opened and Claire McTavish came through, followed by his PA with a tea tray.She set it on the table by the window and disappeared in her usual efficient way.
“Thank you for making time for me, Miss McTavish.”Aidan shook hands, then offered her a seat.“I have a few additional questions.”
“I’m perfectly happy to answer whatever I can.”She settled into the sofa, a neat portfolio by her side.“What do you want to know?”
Aidan took the seat opposite her.“I’m not quite sure how to explain this.”
“You can be blunt.”
“Thank you.That will help, though you won’t like it.”He paused.“We have reason to believe that the body found in your aunt’s flat wasn’t your aunt.”
The sunlight slanting through the tall windows into Aidan’s office did nothing for Claire McTavish’s complexion.The young woman, who’d so impressed him with her poise at their first meeting, was pale as milk.
“What do you mean, it wasn’t her?I can’t… I can’t imagine—”
“It’s difficult, I grant.”Aidan poured tea and handed her a cup, wishing he could offer her a stiff drink instead.“If you remember, you came to me because you felt your aunt’s death wasn’t what it seemed.”
“Yes, but… I didn’t expect you to say the dead woman wasn’t my aunt!”
“Of course not.Tell me, though—did your aunt ever mention a sister?Atwinsister, to be precise.”
Claire McTavish shook her head.“She didn’t speak about her family.I suppose I assumed her parents were dead, and I never asked.”
“You never heard your aunt mention a sister’s name?Or an address?”
“No, never.”
“How about your late uncle?”
