Chain of Vengeance: Chapter Three - Part Five

5

LONDON

Anna Thorpe found her boss in the kitchenette at the end of the open-plan office pouring himself a coffee.

“Henry. Hi. I need to talk to you about Sam.”

Henry Masters had a thick, unsupple body, a bald head, hair cropped close to maintain his dignity and a thick moustache. His hands were webbed with what almost looked like fur. He was four years from retirement, and he made it very clear he wished it was more like six months. He didn’t enjoy pleasantries at the best of times and didn’t make any attempt at eye contact or a smile now. “You know I shouldn’t have to make my own coffee,” he said, spooning five sugars into his cup and stirring in the milk. “Back when I started here that was the secretary’s job. Now I’m not even allowed to call her my secretary. It’s ridiculous.”

“Do you have a minute?”

Masters looked at his watch. “I can give you until I get back to my office.” He started to walk without pausing to see if she was happy with that.

The Investigations Department took up a quarter of that floor in the Tower Insurance building. Most of the office area was open plan, a network of criss-cross passages set out like graph paper around cubicles with temporary partition walls. The path back to Masters’ office led in a straight line along the edge of the floor, open plan to the right, smaller offices of chief investigators like her and Sam to the left.

Anna lowered her voice. “I’ve been looking into some of those closed files in preparation for the audit; cases that showed discrepancies or missing paperwork.”

“I know about that.”

“Last night I spotted some incongruities and this morning I looked into it further. I think one of our investigators has been playing the system.”

Masters’ face hardened. He was listening finally. “Which one?”

“Sam Decker.”

He stopped. “Sam?”

“I’ve found a series of cases that don’t add up under scrutiny.” She opened her shoulder bag, leafed through the files inside and pulled one out, cracking it open. “Look: life assurance case; woman apparently dies, her husband rings up to claim the money. We pay out the claim: two hundred and fifty thousand pounds.”

“Where’s the incongruity?”

“The woman rang up the other day, alive and well. She was calling about something else; it was a fluke she called. Around the time of the claim she received a bogus letter from us telling her that her policy had been closed due to unavoidable reasons and she was getting a pay-off of twenty thousand to cover it. That’s why she stopped paying her premium. There’s a call on record changing the address of the policy holder several weeks before her falsely reported death. That was where the check went out to. But that’s a dead end.”

Masters rubbed at the light grey stubble on his cheek with his middle finger. “What about the death certificate?”

“A fake. I’m telling you Henry, Sam Decker made the false claim on this policy then made sure he was the investigating officer. Then he covered it up and walked away with a quarter of a million pounds.”

Masters started walking again. “I don’t believe it; not Sam. He’s a friend of mine. We’ve worked together for eight years; it isn’t possible.”

“There are other cases,” said Anna, struggling to fit the file back into her bag as she kept up. “Arson, car insurance… Some of them stolen claims, some based around completely fabricated property. And I have a feeling that the cases I’ve discovered so far are the tip of the iceberg. I think Sam’s been playing us for years, building up a fortune on the sly so that he can get set for life. Then he’s going to leave the country and jet set for the rest of his days.”

“Look Anna, I know you and Sam don’t see eye to eye.”

“This isn’t about that.”

“You’ve been on my back to get rid of him for the past three years.”

“Henry; this isn’t personal; really. I was following your instructions when this came to light. If it wasn’t for the audit, it would have gone unnoticed. I’m not just trying to pin this on Sam because I don’t like him. There’s evidence.”

“What evidence?”

She had been afraid of this question. “So far nothing absolutely concrete. A whole series of cases with question marks over them like the one I mentioned and Sam the investigating officer on each. If he was on the up and up he would have noticed the oddities; you know how anal he is. And he’s the only one who was in a position to cover it up.”

Masters halted abruptly. Anna overran and had to back up. “So you don’t have any definite proof; is that what you’re saying?” He didn’t want to listen. He and Sam had been friends for too long. But she wasn’t going to give up that easily. She was sure of herself and if that bastard was finally going to get what was coming to him, she wanted to be in on it.

“I’ve got enough for an investigation to be opened and enough to call in the police.”

His face was stern, expression closed. “I don’t want you to waste anymore time on this. Sam Decker is one of the kindest, most conscientious men I have ever known. There is no way he could be involved in the illicit activity you’re describing. I think you’re allowing your personal vendetta to cloud your approach to your work. I don’t want to hear any more about it.”

Masters turned away and continued walking.

“Henry wait.”

Masters stopped ten yards away but didn’t present his face. “What is it?”

“We’re talking several million pounds of the investors money. Several million pounds; I don’t know how much. We can’t afford to let this disappear; not with the audit review coming up.”

In the open plan area to the right, heads were turning. Masters walked back to meet Anna. “All right. Investigate it and keep me posted but we keep it in-house. No police; understand?”

Anna nodded. “No problem.” When Masters turned away she smiled, watching him lumber back toward his office. He may have been wrong about Sam but he was right about one thing.

This was a vendetta