in his diary. There was no appointment there.
He made his way downstairs, hoping that whoever this person was wouldn’t spot his lack of preparedness. Turning the corner at the bottom of the stairs, he saw who it was.
His father, Edward, was waiting outside.
‘Dad,’ he said, opening the outer door. ‘What are you doing here?’
Edward looked terrible, as if he’d been up all night. His slightly-too-young for him messy haircut drooped without its usual gel, and his trendy jeans were crumpled. ‘I wanted to speak to you in person,’ he said, ‘without Miranda knowing. Now was the best opportunity.’
Will didn’t like the sound of this. ‘What’s up? You don’t look very good.’
Edward shook his head and whispered, ‘I might need to find a lot of money, very quickly.’
Will looked at his father, startled. ‘What? I thought things were okay again with your work.’ He knew most of his father’s clients had remained loyal, despite the police investigation into his possession and use of a firearm against Peter Myers. The dropping of the charges, on a technicality, had stemmed the small but still worrying outflow of clients.
‘It’s nothing to do with that, William. I’m being blackmailed.’
Chapter 10
‘Thanks for inviting me in.’
‘That’s okay,’ Emma said, as David Sherborn entered the flat. She directed him into the living room.
He was holding a brown envelope, and it seemed eerily reminiscent of the day he had presented the photographic evidence that showed Scott Goulding was following her.
Lizzy rose from the sofa to greet him, holding out her hand. ‘Nice to see you again.’
He smiled. ‘I just wish for once we could meet in happier circumstances.’
‘Please, take a seat,’ Emma said, her nerves growing taut. She waited for David to speak, but he seemed reluctant. It just made her all the more nervous. ‘So, what’s this about?’ she asked, finally.
In the short time that it had taken David Sherborn to climb the stairs, Emma and Lizzy had had little chance to speculate on the nature of his unexpected visit. But they’d both agreed that it was probably only bad news that would bring him there.
‘Okay,’ he said, seeming nervous. ‘Listen, I might be wrong about this; I might be being over-cautious, but I thought that it was worth running this past you. At the weekend, I was doing some tidying out of my image files on the computer, and I got to looking at the photographs I took for you, when you asked me to try and identify the stalker. It was then that I noticed something.’ He took a breath. ‘As I said, it might be nothing.’ Emma and Lizzy watched in silence as he pulled out a set of images from the envelope. He handed one to each of them. ‘I think that there might have been someone else following you.’
‘What?’ Emma looked at the photograph of Dan and herself, outside Windsor Castle. ‘Who?’
‘In that photograph the person is on the far right. Wearing a dark-coloured peaked cap.’
Emma and Lizzy looked at each other.
Lizzy looked at her photo. ‘I can see them in this one!’
David nodded. ‘The person is in another couple of photos. At first I didn’t spot it at all, because they’re not in most of the shots. But the ones in Windsor, and one at the train station, there they are, in the background.’ He shrugged. ‘But, as I said, I might be overreacting, it might be nothing.’
‘You’re not overreacting,’ Lizzy said, looking up. ‘This is the person, Em.’
David looked between them for an explanation.
‘While Dan and I’ve been on honeymoon, someone has been sending Lizzy letters. And they posted one to me, which I got this morning.’
‘One was hand-delivered here,’ Lizzy continued. ‘I chased after whoever it was – I saw them leaving the building. They were wearing a blue cap, just like the one in the photos here. And the build looks right.’
‘So I was right to be suspicious,’ David said.
‘Have you got
He made his way downstairs, hoping that whoever this person was wouldn’t spot his lack of preparedness. Turning the corner at the bottom of the stairs, he saw who it was.
His father, Edward, was waiting outside.
‘Dad,’ he said, opening the outer door. ‘What are you doing here?’
Edward looked terrible, as if he’d been up all night. His slightly-too-young for him messy haircut drooped without its usual gel, and his trendy jeans were crumpled. ‘I wanted to speak to you in person,’ he said, ‘without Miranda knowing. Now was the best opportunity.’
Will didn’t like the sound of this. ‘What’s up? You don’t look very good.’
Edward shook his head and whispered, ‘I might need to find a lot of money, very quickly.’
Will looked at his father, startled. ‘What? I thought things were okay again with your work.’ He knew most of his father’s clients had remained loyal, despite the police investigation into his possession and use of a firearm against Peter Myers. The dropping of the charges, on a technicality, had stemmed the small but still worrying outflow of clients.
‘It’s nothing to do with that, William. I’m being blackmailed.’
Chapter 10
‘Thanks for inviting me in.’
‘That’s okay,’ Emma said, as David Sherborn entered the flat. She directed him into the living room.
He was holding a brown envelope, and it seemed eerily reminiscent of the day he had presented the photographic evidence that showed Scott Goulding was following her.
Lizzy rose from the sofa to greet him, holding out her hand. ‘Nice to see you again.’
He smiled. ‘I just wish for once we could meet in happier circumstances.’
‘Please, take a seat,’ Emma said, her nerves growing taut. She waited for David to speak, but he seemed reluctant. It just made her all the more nervous. ‘So, what’s this about?’ she asked, finally.
In the short time that it had taken David Sherborn to climb the stairs, Emma and Lizzy had had little chance to speculate on the nature of his unexpected visit. But they’d both agreed that it was probably only bad news that would bring him there.
‘Okay,’ he said, seeming nervous. ‘Listen, I might be wrong about this; I might be being over-cautious, but I thought that it was worth running this past you. At the weekend, I was doing some tidying out of my image files on the computer, and I got to looking at the photographs I took for you, when you asked me to try and identify the stalker. It was then that I noticed something.’ He took a breath. ‘As I said, it might be nothing.’ Emma and Lizzy watched in silence as he pulled out a set of images from the envelope. He handed one to each of them. ‘I think that there might have been someone else following you.’
‘What?’ Emma looked at the photograph of Dan and herself, outside Windsor Castle. ‘Who?’
‘In that photograph the person is on the far right. Wearing a dark-coloured peaked cap.’
Emma and Lizzy looked at each other.
Lizzy looked at her photo. ‘I can see them in this one!’
David nodded. ‘The person is in another couple of photos. At first I didn’t spot it at all, because they’re not in most of the shots. But the ones in Windsor, and one at the train station, there they are, in the background.’ He shrugged. ‘But, as I said, I might be overreacting, it might be nothing.’
‘You’re not overreacting,’ Lizzy said, looking up. ‘This is the person, Em.’
David looked between them for an explanation.
‘While Dan and I’ve been on honeymoon, someone has been sending Lizzy letters. And they posted one to me, which I got this morning.’
‘One was hand-delivered here,’ Lizzy continued. ‘I chased after whoever it was – I saw them leaving the building. They were wearing a blue cap, just like the one in the photos here. And the build looks right.’
‘So I was right to be suspicious,’ David said.
‘Have you got
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