Dead Man's Dinner - Una Gordon Page 0,48

course, but I was persistent and pretended to know a lot more than I did. Be my solicitor or your father-in-law will be told all I know. Not that I knew much, but Ben didn't know that and anyway if the old bloodhound had got on Ben's trail all would have been lost. He's a tenacious, old devil and doesn't give up easily. Reluctantly Ben capitulated and from then on an uneasy truce has existed between us.” Derwent knew that as long as Ben's father-in-law was alive, Ben would keep acting for him and the old boy looked as if he were going to live forever. “The funniest thing of all is that Verity's real name is Jane Stubbs! I can just see his Lordship’s face if he learned his daughter was being displaced in favour of Jane Stubbs!”

Homer knew that the relationship between Derwent and Ben had never been a happy one and it had been clear on many occasions that Ben would have loved to have told Derwent what to do with his business, but he always remembered just in time the price he would have to pay for such a decision. He spent many sleepless hours wondering how he could get the better of Derwent, but, in the end, fate stepped in and released him. Derwent died. When Ben first heard how ill Derwent was he felt pity for him, but he just couldn't believe his good luck. Derwent was forever changing his will, depending who was in favour with him at that moment. The only certain thing about his will was that Homer would be left a tidy sum.

Ben was not surprised to be called to Derwent's hospital bed. He supposed that another change in the will was in the offing. Even making allowance for his serious illness, Derwent was difficult – first he wanted things left to one person and no sooner had Ben got that sorted than he wanted to change it.

One day when Ben went along, Derwent seemed more settled. “I know what I'd like to do, but you'll have to be in agreement.” Rather wearily Ben waited for the latest developments. “How would you like a large slice of my estate?” he began.

I've bloody well earned it, thought Ben, but he was suspicious of what Derwent was up to. “What do you mean?” he asked. It was then that Derwent had told him the plan about the dinner party and the cards and then the Aids rumour.

“They'll never fall for it, Derwent. They'll all realise you've never been to bed with their wives.”

“Oh, come on, it's worth a try. It'll be hilarious if they fall for it.”

Ben looked at Derwent. Hilarious it might be, but Derwent wouldn't be there to see it.

“Do it – say you'll do it.” Derwent sounded like a child trying to persuade his parents to buy him something very expensive for Christmas.

Ben asked for time to consider it and finally agreed. He could not imagine that six intelligent men were going to fall for such a silly prank. He hesitated about the Aids rumour. There was something distasteful about that, but then the carrot dangled before him was too great and he agreed to that as well.

“What do you want from my estate?”

“You know as well as I do that if I'm responsible for drawing up your will I cannot benefit from it personally.”

“Get someone else to draw it up then.”

Ben looked at him. “I have another idea. Leave your flat to Verity.”

Derwent turned to Ben quickly. “Oh, no....”

“Verity knew what was on the cards when she started this relationship, but you know what women are like – they get restless and she's been on at me for some time to set her up in a flat, but the type of place she wants doesn't come cheap and it would be difficult for me to lay out that sort of money without questions being asked.”

Derwent almost giggled with glee. This was wonderful. He told Homer all about it and he also gave Homer instructions what to do if the dinner party was never held. He didn't tell Ben that he had given Homer some very important information. Ben wouldn't have liked that and there was no point in upsetting him. Ben may have guessed that Derwent would make some kind of contingency arrangements, but he thought he'd keep his part of the bargain. It was impossible to know what Derwent might have planned if he failed to do so. The six white envelopes were posted and the dinner party was held. The rumour was duly started and if Ben Carmichael was aware of all the consequences, he lost no sleep over it.

When Ben had seen some of the contents of the filing cabinet he had been determined to get his hands on it. If Homer hadn't come in at that moment he 'd have taken some of the files with him. He was kicking himself for not confiscating them sooner. He hadn't realised that Derwent kept all this confirmation in files; he'd always thought it had just been kept in Derwent's head Why hadn't Derwent told him about this? He had tried to act casually in front of Homer and now that stupid oaf had got rid of the stuff. Ben misjudged Homer completely and believed him to be genuinely stupid, instead of which Homer had that natural craftiness which often people like him had. These files were Homer's income and no one else was going to get their hands on them. He should have moved them sooner. He went into a cold sweat when he thought how close he had been to losing them. Because the filing cabinet had been left to him, he hadn't thought that Ben would want to remove the files.

“Homer,” Derwent had told him, “I'll leave you enough money to buy a nice little flat and enough money for you to live on, but if you want any luxuries, you'll have to earn them.” Derwent had been a good teacher. Homer knew exactly what to do.

In due course he moved into his flat. He left the files in the bin bags at his sister's because as Derwent had said, “Always be prepared for the unexpected” and although it was unlikely that Big Ben would pay him a visit, he wasn't taking any chances. Derwent had been dead for a year when the novelty of having his own flat started to wear off and he felt like a little holiday. Two weeks in Spain would be just what the doctor ordered, he thought. During the week, while his sister was out, Homer went along to her house. He took two or three files downstairs to study them. Included amongst them was Ben Carmichael's. Naw, thought Homer, it's a bit too soon to start on that again, but in time it should be a nice little earner. Better not leave it too long though because if his Lordship dies, Ben might not be so windy about people finding out.

The fourth file Homer tried seemed to suit his purposes. “Remember, Homer, squeeze them gently,” Derwent had told him. “Never overdo it or it might backfire.” Homer felt full of confidence as he made that first phone call. He heard the gasp at the other end of the phone when he told the person at the other end of the phone what he knew. It was as easy as pie. A month later he was sunning himself on a Spanish beach and looking forward to many more holidays like it.