The Homecoming by J A Rainbow

Author:J A Rainbow [Rainbow, J A]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-05-06T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Ellie and Jan walked through to the dining room where their first interviewee was being served a cup of tea by Aneka. Ellie walked up and sat down opposite him at the table. He was a tall, very thin man that huddled over his cup of tea like it was the only source of heat keeping him alive.

“Good morning sir, I am Detective Superintendent McVey of Police Scotland and this is DI Robinson of the PSNI. We are looking into the death of Derrick Ogilvie, are you the accountant that he was to meet today?” she asked as Jan sat beside her. They had agreed that Ellie would take the lead with questioning as the ranking officer.

“Oh yes, he was to meet me for a breakfast meeting…terrible shock this…” the man rambled.

“Could we have your name?” Jan asked as she opened her notebook.

“Oh of course, I’m Walter Bradshaw, I’ve been Mr Ogilvie’s accountant for the past two years.”

“Was this meeting a regular occurrence? I mean do you normally meeting him at this time to discuss the accounts?” Ellie asked.

“No, normally we would meet at my office to discuss tax and account updates, but I called for this meeting as a matter of seriousness that needed to be discussed.”

“Could you tell us what it is?”

“Well…” Walter hesitated.

“We could get a warrant if we need to for your files but it would save us a bit of time if you just told us what your concerns were.” Jan said.

“Oh no, please don’t misunderstand me, I’m perfectly happy to help, I just wasn’t sure of where the client privilege line ends upon a client’s death. Look, what I can say is that I was concerned about some irregularities in the cashflow. I have triple checked my figures and they are correct, I wanted a meeting with Derrick to see if he had a simple explanation for these irregularities.” He explained, still holding his cup of tea like a lifeline.

“I see…you perhaps thought Derrick was dipping the till?” Ellie guessed.

“Oh no, in fact quite the opposite!” Walter said. “There was more money coming in than I could account for…a lot more money.” he said.

“Ah ok, I see the issue…and what…in your professional opinion could have accounted for this?” Ellie asked.

“Nothing logical.” He said then sighed, looking at Ellie. “Derrick was putting through cash as spa guests fees, but the numbers don’t add up. I’ve been over every receipt and every booking…for this place to have had the number of guests through their books that Derrick claimed, it would have to have been four times the size it is and have been fully booked every day of the year. I think Derrick was making up guests to hide money.” He said simply.

“You suspected him of money laundering.” Ellie stated and he nodded.

“Yes…I was coming here today to confront him with what I had found…and if he could not come up with a suitable explanation, I was planning on going to the police with what I had found.

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