Chapter 18

18

TUESDAY MORNING

I interviewed Adam Phillips in a smaller cabin on the lower deck, and, from the objects lying around, it looked as though it belonged to the ship's engineer. This was less luxurious than the guest cabins above, but it still gave me ample space to sit down facing my interviewees. Adam Phillips came in wearing a sweat-stained T-shirt advertising the Mr Olympia competition 2021. It looked as though it had had a lot of wear since then. He apologised, saying that he'd been in the gym working out. The fact that this yacht boasted a gym didn't really come as a surprise. Given that it also had its own pool, it wouldn't have surprised me to learn that it had a casino and a disco on board as well. He sat down opposite me, his arm and shoulder muscles threatening to burst through his clothing but, to my surprise, I saw him visibly trembling. Was this in reaction to the news he'd just been given by the head of Accounts or maybe just a natural reaction of the body after violent exercise?

Alternatively, was it guilt?

I started with the easy stuff. ‘Your name is Adam Phillips?'

‘Yes.' He had to stop and clear his throat. ‘That's correct.'

‘And I believe you've worked for the company for five or six years.'

‘It'll be six years in September.' He was leaning towards me with his elbows on his knees and I could see his fingers twisting and twining nervously.

‘Have you always worked in the accounts department?'

‘Yes, I'm a qualified accountant.'

‘Do you enjoy your job?'

‘Very much…' I saw him take a deep breath. ‘Is it true what Edgar just said? Have you been hired to investigate missing money?' He looked worried but somehow not altogether surprised and my suspicions deepened so I didn't pull my punches.

‘It appears that over two million pounds have been stolen.'

The expression of shock remained on his face but whether this was at the amount of missing money or at the prospect of being uncovered remained to be seen.

I kept going. ‘I want you to be completely honest with me: do you know anything about this? I'm not accusing you of anything, I'm just asking if at any time you've had suspicions that something underhand was going on. I imagine you spend a lot of time looking at the company's accounts so you'd be well placed to pick up any irregularities.'

For a moment, it looked as though he was going to say something, but then he stopped and I could see him think twice. I didn't press him; I just gave him time until he finally made his decision. When he spoke, his voice was little more than a whisper.

‘Can you promise me that what I say will be treated with the utmost confidentiality?'

‘Of course.' This was sounding promising.

‘The answer to your question is yes.' There was another long pause. ‘Several months back, around Easter time, I became suspicious about large sums of money being transferred to what looked like an anonymous account. I did a bit of checking and managed to trace it to a bank in the Cayman Islands – I'm sure you're aware that's a tax haven – and the more I thought about it, the less I liked it.'

I tried to sound as encouraging as possible. ‘So did you do anything about it? Presumably your first port of call would have been your direct superior, and that's Edgar Beaumont, isn't it?'

He nodded and another long pause followed before he finally came to the point. ‘Please, for the love of God, don't tell Edgar that I told you this, but I found myself wondering whether he might have had something to do with it.' I saw him run the back of his hand across his forehead to wipe the sweat away, and this time, I felt sure it had nothing to do with his workout. ‘You see, Edgar's been involved in a very messy divorce. It's common knowledge in the company. On a couple of occasions, he's let slip that his wife is trying to bleed him dry – those are the exact words he used. When I got suspicious about money going missing, I couldn't help thinking that he might have had something to do with it.'

‘Does that mean you just kept quiet or did you speak to somebody else about your suspicions?'

‘I couldn't stay quiet about something as serious as that. After all, if money was going missing, I could even find myself being under suspicion so, after a number of sleepless nights, I went to Jerome Van der Groot.'

‘And you told the CEO everything?'

I saw him nod.

‘And how did he react?'

‘He was obviously very shocked and he thanked me for having had the courage to come forward. Reluctantly, I told him of my doubts about Edgar and he confided in me that he'd also been suspicious about him for some time.'

‘And what happened then? Did Jerome Van der Groot go to the police or did he approach Edgar Beaumont directly?'

‘Jerome told me he wanted to do everything he could to avoid a scandal and he said that until we had concrete proof that it really was Edgar, he wanted me just to keep an eye on things and report direct to him if I noticed any other suspicious transactions.'

‘So you have no idea if he spoke to Edgar? What about suspicious transactions? Did you come across any others after that?'

He shook his head. ‘Absolutely none. If it was Edgar, he must have got wind of my suspicions and stopped. I presume Jerome must have confronted him about it, and maybe Edgar confessed and paid the money back – but if he did, I haven't seen any big sums being paid in – or maybe it wasn't Edgar at all. I really don't know. I'm afraid that's all I can tell you. Jerome never spoke to me about it again but, seeing as no further money was going missing, I just assumed Jerome had sorted it somehow.'

‘Thank you. Please could you tell me where you were and what you did on Saturday night when Jerome Van der Groot stormed off from the dinner table?'

‘I sat there with the others for a minute or two before going back to my cabin. We were really quite shocked. Everybody knew that Jerome had a short fuse, but I'd never seen him so furious before.'

‘And could you tell me who he was furious with and what it was all about?'

‘Mainly with Martin – you know, Martin Grey, the game-show host.' He caught my eye for a moment. ‘Nothing unusual there. Martin picks fights with everybody.'

‘Fights?'

‘Not real fights, arguments. He has a habit of rubbing people up the wrong way.'

‘But this argument wasn't about this missing money?'

‘God, no, I would have remembered that. No, it might have been a programming thing but, whatever it was, it really angered Jerome and he was absolutely fuming.'

‘Thank you, and don't worry, I'll be very circumspect with all the information you've given me. Now I need to interview Louise Challenger. Could you ask her to come and see me, please?'

He stood up and left the room, still looking very nervous, and I reflected on what he'd said and the overall impression he'd given. It was interesting that the big argument on Saturday night hadn't been about the money after all. Maybe my next interviewee might be able to shed more light on that. In spite of my initial doubts, I tended to believe what Adam Phillips had told me, but the fact of the matter was that although he claimed to have reported his suspicions to the CEO, Jerome Van der Groot was no longer around to confirm or deny. Mr Muscle might never have reported anything because he had been the thief. It could be this had been a hastily prepared cover story following the murder of his boss. The next question, needless to say, was exactly what involvement he might have had in that. Had I just been talking to a very credible-sounding actor intent on avoiding a conviction for murder – maybe double murder?

Louise Challenger looked equally nervous when she came into the room. Today, her hair was hanging loose and she was wearing quite a pretty, flowery blouse and a fairly short – but not Susie Upton short – skirt. Certainly, she didn't look as schoolmarmish as the first time I'd seen her. Oscar, always delighted to have a female visitor, got to his feet and wandered over to rest his head on her knee. This appeared to give her some encouragement and she even managed to summon a little smile.

‘What a lovely dog. What's his name?'

‘It's Oscar, and am I right in thinking that your name is Louise Challenger?' She nodded and I continued. ‘As you've probably heard from Mr Beaumont, I've been asked to investigate some irregularities with the company's accounts. Could I start by asking if this comes as a surprise to you?'

‘It certainly does. Edgar didn't go into any detail. What's been happening? Has money been taken? A big sum?'

‘In excess of two million pounds, I believe.'

I saw her sit back with a shocked expression on her face – although she might just have been a good actor.

‘Two million pounds? But how? Who?' She sounded genuinely stunned.

‘That's what I've been engaged to find out. From what the others have told me, it would seem that only Jerome Van der Groot, Edgar Beaumont, Neil Vaughan, Adam Phillips and you had access to the accounts. Is that correct or have I left anybody out?'

‘No, that's everybody. But surely you don't think…?' She was still doing a very good job of looking horrified.

I ignored her question. ‘You're absolutely sure about there's nobody else? No secretaries, trainees, interns?'

‘Absolutely not. We're the only people with access, but…?'

This time, I did reply to her unposed question. ‘Now that Mr Van der Groot has been murdered, we're left with just four possible perpetrators. I'm trying to identify which of you this might be.'

The expression on her face was one of horror, but she pulled herself together and looked me square in the eye. ‘Well, I can tell you right now that I had nothing to do with it.'

‘That's good to hear but, tell me, if you had wanted to make payments to an outside bank account, could you have done so?'

She answered immediately. ‘Yes, of course I could. That's the main part of my job. I pay people, but everything I do is vetted by Neil and Edgar and, of course, by Jerome.'

That sounded pretty conclusive. ‘I now have a more difficult question for you: assuming that you're telling the truth, and seeing as Jerome Van der Groot is dead, that only leaves three possible perpetrators. Have you ever had any suspicions about any of them?'

She immediately shook her head but I sensed a lack of conviction. I waited some time for her to actually put her thoughts into words. ‘It's unthinkable that any of my colleagues would have done anything so awful. I certainly can't believe it of Adam or Neil.'

I immediately picked up on her omission. ‘What about Edgar Beaumont?'

I had to wait before she answered and she was clearly choosing her words carefully. ‘Edgar's been having problems, money problems. He's in the middle of an acrimonious divorce and every now and then, he moans to me about it, but I genuinely can't imagine him resorting to theft, particularly on such a grand scale.'

‘And what about Jerome Van der Groot?'

She looked up sharply and caught my eye again. ‘Jerome? But he's dead…'

‘Indeed, but he might have been squirrelling money away, mightn't he?'

I had to wait even longer while she explored what appeared to be a completely new concept. Finally, she replied, but I noticed that she didn't look me in the eye this time. ‘No, that doesn't sound right, besides, he's dead…'

There seemed to be little more I could get out of her about the accounts so I queried the big argument on Saturday night and her answer to this was more informative.

‘It was between Jerome and Martin.' She shot me a quick glance. ‘You were here yesterday, weren't you? You heard Martin – he can be a real pain. He and Jerome had a massive argument.'

‘About what?'

‘I don't know all the ins and outs of it, but I'm pretty sure it was something to do with industrial espionage.'

Now it was my turn to look surprised. ‘You're going to have to explain that to me.'

‘Like I say, I don't know much about it, but I think the cause of all the trouble was that Martin's been in talks with one of the other TV channels.'

‘With a view to leaving your company?'

‘I honestly don't know. Maybe he was just feeding them ideas, but, whatever it was, it really got to Jerome. Any company that can dream up a fresh game-show or comedy-show format could potentially make many millions. In consequence, any ideas have to be kept strictly confidential.' She paused for a moment before a thought must have occurred to her. ‘The best person to ask is Susie. She was sitting next to Jerome as usual and she knows everything there is to know about what goes on here at GreyratTV.'

I made a mental note of the fact that Susie Upton's usual spot had been alongside the big boss and continued with my questions. ‘This has nothing to do with the inquiry into the accounts irregularities, so you're under no obligation to answer, but just to satisfy my curiosity, what's the relationship between Susie Upton and Martin Grey? One minute, I hear them insulting each other and the next, I see Grey with his hand on her thigh. What's that all about?'

‘Martin puts his hand on everybody's thigh – including mine! I wouldn't read too much into that. As an outsider, I think Martin's secretly jealous of Susie because anybody can see that she's more popular than he is. He's got such a massive ego, this really gets to him and he's always sniping at her as a result. But at the same time, he absolutely drools over her. Anybody can see that.'

‘But she doesn't return his affection?'

‘Definitely not.'

‘Do you think anybody else here is attracted to Susie?'

If she was puzzled to see the possible connection between these questions and the missing money, she didn't show it. I saw her pause for thought for a few seconds before replying. ‘I don't think so. Of course, there was always Jerome.'

‘What makes you so sure about that?'

‘Just the way he behaved alongside her.' She raised her eyes from Oscar for a moment or two and looked at me. ‘He was always very… I don't know the word really, maybe "possessive". He was very touchy feely with her, he insisted on her sitting with him and I've seen him put his hand on her bottom.' Her expression soured. ‘I certainly wouldn't have let him do something like that to me.'

‘And do you think anything ever happened between them?'

She shrugged. ‘I really don't know, but I doubt it. Susie's a flirt. Everybody knows that, but I don't think she would stoop that low.'

‘Thank you. I now only have a couple more questions for you. First, what did you do on Saturday night after Jerome Van der Groot stormed off?'

‘A number of us got up and exchanged looks, but nobody said much. Then I just went back to my cabin and went to bed.'

‘Can anybody confirm that?'

She had to think for a few moments. ‘I walked back with Edgar. We stood outside his door for a couple of minutes and chatted – just about Italy and this cruise – and then I went to my cabin. I was on my own all night if you're looking for an alibi, but I'm not the sort of person who goes around murdering people.'

‘Thank you and, finally, can you think of any connection there may have been between the murdered deckhand, Heinrich or Rick Schiller, and anybody in your group?'

She shook her head but then added, ‘You could ask Susie. She knows pretty much everything that goes on around here.'

I thanked her for her cooperation and asked her if she would mind asking Susie Upton to come and talk to me. Clearly, the glamorous presenter was the fount of all knowledge here on the Regal Princess .

After the door had closed behind Louise, I reflected on what I'd heard from her and the others. Of the five people with access to the accounts, I was increasingly feeling that the suspects had now reduced to just two men: Edgar Beaumont and the late Jerome Van der Groot. As far as the other three were concerned, I had tended to believe them, although I still had the feeling that Adam Phillips had not been completely open with me. The next problem was going to be pinning something on either of the two – the dead man or the one who was still alive. Back in the days when I was at Scotland Yard, I would have sent the company accounts to the team of forensic accounting specialists who are specially trained to go through item by item, line by line, double-checking source and destination of every payment and correlating this against who might have authorised it. It's a long and painstaking job, but I had a feeling this would now be the only way of getting to the bottom of GreyratTV's missing millions.

The other interesting piece of information was the fact that Jerome Van der Groot had clearly had the hots for Susie Upton – even though she had been adamant in denying any relationship with him of that ilk, and my brief glimpse of the two of them together in Lucca hadn't struck me as overly affectionate. But what if Martin Grey had been right? Maybe her denials were just an act? Had she been cynically prostituting herself to her boss so as to get ahead? If so, might this have led to a situation where she couldn't take it any longer and had decided to resort to drastic action? Was the murderer a woman rather than a man?