False Charity Read Online Free Page B

case, Coral couldn’t go to the police without getting him and herself into trouble. Bea straightened the mirror, noting to her horror that there were gashes in the wall behind it. Was this where Max and Nicole had hung their plasma television? Well, the mirror would disguise the problem for the time being.
    Coral attempted a smile. ‘I’d forgotten you could never sit still for five minutes.’
    Bea got off the stool, and sat. ‘I’m listening. What did you do then?’
    â€˜I didn’t let it rest, of course. I came straight back to Max but by that time he’d got into Parliament and lost interest in the agency, and was hardly ever here. That holy terror of a woman that used to keep the books here, she’d retired, and that girl Maggie is good at polishing furniture but hopeless in the office. When I finally got to see Max he said he was sorry, he didn’t know what had gone wrong, but the agency wasn’t liable for anything other than introducing us to the client.
    â€˜So I went round to the address on the charity’s letterhead and, guess what … not a sign of them there! And their telephone number was out of service.’
    â€˜Ouch,’ said Bea. ‘A proper con job, and you can’t go to the police.’
    â€˜Then I heard you were coming back after poor Mr Hamilton, ah well, we all have to meet our Maker some time, don’t we, and I was glad you gave yourself a bit of a holiday afterwards even if it was by yourself.
    â€˜But the thing is, I’ve lost so much money that I don’t know which way to turn. I help my daughter and son-in-law out with their mortgage, you see, and I haven’t been able to pay it for four months. She, my daughter, is eight months pregnant and in a nervous state, and all my son-in-law will do is blame me for taking the job on. That’s why, the moment I heard you were on your way back, I said to myself that you’d help me even if Max has washed his hands of it. I want you to find those dodgy dealers and make them pay up.’
    Tired as she was, Bea shot up out of her chair. ‘Coral, no! I couldn’t.’
    Coral folded her arms. ‘Why not? If anyone can do it, you can.’
    â€˜What? We’re not a detective agency. We don’t hunt down criminals or follow erring wives or husbands. Besides, the agency is being closed down.’
    â€˜I’ll believe that when the moon turns blue.’
    â€˜What?’ Bea put her hands to her head. ‘Which bit don’t you understand?’
    â€˜You’ve never in your life turned your back on a job half done. How long have we known one another? Twenty years, maybe more. You and Mr Hamilton, God rest him, you’ve never let a client down.’
    â€˜Oh, come off it. There’s been times when we’ve had to say we couldn’t take a case, and when things haven’t worked out quite as we’d have wanted them to.’
    â€˜And were there times when Mr Hamilton asked me to do a job without vetting the client properly?’
    Well, no. Hamilton had never done that. Check, check and check again; that was his motto. Bea knew, because she’d mostly been the one to do the checking when she’d worked for the agency. If what Coral had said was true, Max had not only failed to check the credentials of the ‘charity’ but then declined all responsibility in the matter. Which pressed the ‘Ouch’ button for Bea.
    She pulled a face. ‘Listen, Coral. I’m really, really sorry, but you must know that I haven’t worked in the agency for years, and now it’s being wound up I couldn’t interfere, even if I wanted to.’
    â€˜Of course you could. You know right from wrong, same as I do, and you know this is wrong. As for young Max saying the agency’s dead, well what’s that to you? Who founded it, you or him?’
    â€˜Well, actually it was Hamilton who—’
    â€˜Inherited