The Devil in Disguise by Martin Edwards Read Free Book Online Page A

served to rob him of it. What puzzled Harry was Jonah’s use of the royal we. The old man was usually as careful in his choice of phrase as a Chancery lawyer and since leaving the force he had operated as a one-man band. Surely at his time of life he was not about to turn over a new leaf?
    â€˜This is Harry Devlin. I have new instructions for you. Can we meet at one o’clock for a bite of lunch on board the Queer Fish ?’
    He felt pleased at having couched his request in terms that Jonah would find difficult to resist. Provided he picked up the message during the morning, the prospect of a paying job coupled with a free lunch and a trip to his beloved waterfront should ensure the old man’s presence at the appointed time.
    He still couldn’t make up his mind whether the man with Vera had been Luke Dessaur. He rang Luke’s home number but there was no reply. A metallic voice on Luke’s mobile number told him that the phone was switched off and please to try later. He put the receiver down and told himself that he’d run out of excuses to delay sifting through his correspondence. He was wondering why, whenever he received a particularly stupid letter from another solicitor, it came on letterhead festooned with quality assurance logos when his receptionist rang.
    â€˜Kim Lawrence for you.’ Suzanne had an extraordinary gift for uttering the four words with the aural equivalent of a knowing wink and a nudge in the ribs. Harry’s involvement with the solicitor from Mersey Chambers was now widely known, although he still found difficulty himself in defining their relationship. He felt himself blushing even as he asked for her to be put through.
    â€˜Sorry to bother you,’ Kim began before pausing. He was struck by her tentative tone. Outside the office she could be a mass of contradictions and uncertainties, but during working hours she adopted the persona of the cool, decisive lawyer with such skill that very few realised that it was no more than a disguise.
    â€˜Glad you rang. I was wondering if you would be interested in seeing Vertigo again? It’s on at the Philharmonic Picture Palace.’
    â€˜Thanks - but is there any chance I can see you before then? Tonight, for instance?’
    â€˜Sure.’ He was surprised by the urgency of her tone, but gratified by it. ‘What would you like to do?’
    â€˜Tonight is the annual general meeting of the Liverpool Legal Group. I haven’t been for years, I thought I might show my face this time. Shall I perhaps see you there?’
    Harry knitted his brow. From anyone else, the suggestion would have been a patent leg-pull. He loathed the politics of their profession. For him, attending a lawyers’ talking shop held as much appeal as undergoing a colonic irrigation. Yet her question was not satiric, but rather anxious - almost pleading. Quite out of character. He would need to feel his way through this conversation. ‘I hadn’t planned...’ he began.
    â€˜Sorry,’ she said quickly. ‘I should have realised. Silly idea. Forget it.’
    â€˜No, no. Jim reckons I ought to take an interest in the future of the profession. I say the Legal Group has no more influence over it than a bunch of fortune tellers. But if you’re going, perhaps I should break the habit of a lifetime.’
    â€˜Fine,’ she breathed. ‘And thanks.’
    â€˜No problem. I can moan about diminishing profits with the best of them. And it’ll be good to see you again.’
    â€˜You too,’ she said quietly.
    Suzanne rang to say that Jonah had called back to confirm their lunch meeting. Things were beginning to move. On his way out to court, he looked round Jim’s door. His partner looked up from the glossy brochure he was studying and said, ‘We need to sharpen up our corporate image.’
    Harry groaned. This was old ground. ‘Don’t tell me. Another public relations consultancy