Chapter 2

Tuesday 16 September 1975, 5.30am

When I awoke with a short start, I found that I was spooning with Gina in a fetal position, both my arms wrapped around her, with one arm going dead with no feelings in it, the other palm resting on a warm, plump breast, my morning wood laying firmly like a log along the crack of her lovely bum. It took me a couple of seconds to be fully aware of where I was and who I was with. She seemed to be breathing lightly and steadily and I breathed a shallow sigh of relief that she was still asleep. My arm resting on her breast had her arm resting on it, so very slowly I straightened out my legs, then rolled away from her, pulling my hand away from her breast, but I could do little about my buried arm, although the slight movements I made started off a bout of excruciating ‘pins and needles’ as the blood started to reflow and my nerve ends started to wake up and let me know that they hurt. Gina snuffled a tiny moan at my movement, but didn’t appear to waken. I shuffled my bum away from her, then turned back towards her and lifted my upper torso, leaving me room to pull out my dead arm. I did that quickly in one movement, then rolled away so my back was towards her. My released arm was now a paroxysm of pain as every nerve ending signalled its displeasure of rude awakening, and I flexed the arm, wrist and fingers to speed up the process.

Gina woke, her breathing pattern shortened and shallower. I pretended to breathe slowly and deeply, though my heart was racing like a Husqvana on a steep and slippery hill climb. Gina sighed and moved, rolling onto her back, so her shoulder touched my back and her arm that had previously cuddled me, explored the space between us and settled on the upper cheek of my bum.

“Harry?” Gina enquired softly, tentatively.

“I’m awake, Gina. You sleep well?” I said as I turned, my arm still half asleep and felt like a log smouldering internally.

“Yes, I slept like a log, thank you, H. While this is lovely, though, I must get up, before we’re discovered.”

As she threw the covers off her and scrambled out her side of the bed, she said, “Don’t forget, you’re taking me to work this morning, I like to leave about twenty to eight?”

“No problem.”

“Well, have a lay-in for another hour, it’s only five-thirty. See you later.” And she was out of the door and gone.

I turned back and rolled myself into the warm area she had just vacated. I luxuriated in her smell that clung to the sheets and pillow and lay there until the intensity of her presence faded. I showered and dressed, repacked my papers in my slim briefcase and took the back stairs down to the kitchen.

“Good morning Linda, Tom,” I greeted the couple who were sitting at the kitchen table drinking tea.

“How did you sleep, Mr Harry?” Linda asked with a knowing smile as she rose up out of her seat, “Bed not too ... lumpy was it?”

“No, I slept well and the bed was absolutely perfect. And just call me Harry.” I wondered how on Earth it was possible to keep secrets in a well-established household, where probably every creaking board in every corridor was known to those who’d lived there longest.

“Tea or coffee, Harry?”

“Tea please.”

“I’ll pour it,” Tom said from the table, “come and take the weight off,” as he turned an upturned cup in a saucer, “milk?”

“Please.”

“Sugar?”

“Yes, two, please,” I sat myself down on a spare chair at the table.

“What do you want for breakfast?” Linda asked, “we’ve got various cereals or porridge to start with, grilled bacon, eggs how you want them, toast, black pudding, sausages, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, and toast.”

“I’ll have some cornflakes, then bacon, poached or scrambled egg, and a round of toast, please.”

“Young Tom took the liberty of taking your keys and parking the Rolls-Royce in the garages at the back.” Tom said, “while you were dining last night. He’s washed and polished it ready for you today. Tonight you can park it in that same space in the garage, the combination lock on the garage door is 3971. Hope you don’t mind?” He put the keys on the table.

“Not at all, but I prefer to be asked,” Harry said quietly, “I’m very protective of my car.”

“Of course, it is a beautiful motor,” Tom said, bowing his head slightly. “I would have asked but it had just started to rain and by then you were in the library conversing with Mr King and he doesn’t like to be disturbed.”

“Yes, and I am not used to drinking so much whisky before a working day, I’m looking forward to a dry night tonight.”

“Mrs Tremblett has informed us that you will be dining at five sharp tonight, Harry,” Linda said as she set down a glass of fresh orange before him, “Thank you for driving her to the hospital, she often returns quite upset and we fear for her on those roads late at night.”

“She’ll be safe with me, Linda.”

Both the servants smiled. “We know,” they chorused.

Gina explained the week’s itinerary, “Tonight and Thursday evenings I will be visiting Eric—”

“We ... will be visiting Eric, both nights.”

“Yes, thank you, Harry. On Wednesday evening, well, late afternoon really, we have the weekly Tremblett board meeting in head office in Mayfair. Daddy tells me we need to leave here between three o’clock and three thirty,” she looked at me from the passenger seat, “if you could...”

“I could. Just go through your itinerary. The only cast iron dates coming up is next Tuesday and the following Saturday when I need to go back to Brum.”

“What for?”

“We are playing local derbies against Wolves and Birmingham City. I would hate to miss those two games.”

“All right,” Gina consulted her list, “I can make both of those dates, by moving Eric’s visit to Monday that week.”

“Gina, I don’t have access to an executive box for those games, I’m just a season ticket holder of a single numbered seat in the stand for our home game and I have a standing room only ticket in the terraces for the away match. There probably won’t be any more tickets available this late in the day, as both grounds will be filled to capacity. They always are for local derbies.”

“I’ll phone Daddy and see what he can arrange. He knows a lot of people, including Birmingham. You are offering to attend my events, so I want to attend yours. It’s only fair and I know that I will enjoy the experience with you. I love the excitement of live sport. Now, on Friday, most of the office staff go down to The Four Horseshoes in town for a pint after work. Some of the staff are in constant contact with Head Office and, seeing us together, and knowing that we have only just met, will definitely get back to head office on the gossip telegraph quicker than it being on the front page of the Daily Mirror. Then, on Sunday afternoon there will be a garden party fundraiser for the local Conservative Party and our MP will be there along with most of the businesses in the constituency, so you may pick up some useful contacts. Next Monday we could visit Eric, leaving us free to drive up to Birmingham on Tuesday afternoon.”

“If we go up early afternoon, I can call into the offices and get my paperwork filed and pick up my files for next week. I was going to cover the Bristol area next week, but will do Reading and Slough instead so I’m handy.”

I dropped Gina off at work, leaving her the telephone numbers of the offices I was due to visit that day, then drove off to Tewksbury followed by Gloucester, which were follow up visits to existing customers to check how they were doing and having a nose around to look for any potential opportunities to cold call on. At my second appointment, the Receptionist passed me a message to call Gina.

“King & Son, how can I help you?”

“Good morning, it’s Harry Crab—”

“Hello, Harry, I’ll pass you straight through to Gina.”

“Thanks Polly.” I waited a moment, glancing at the Gloucester Receptionist in front of me, who smiled at me, knowing I was waiting to be connected.

“Do you want a coffee?” she whispered.

“Ooh, please, black, two sugars.”

She nodded, “I’ll tell Mr Brown you’re here when you’ve finished your call.”

“Thanks, Denise — Oh, hello, Gina, it’s Harry, you wanted—?”

“Yes, H, got a couple of things for you,” she said. “Are you still in Gloucester this afternoon?”

“Yes, I was going to cold call into two or three places, no set appointments.”

“You’ve got one appointment now, at 2 o’clock, Mr Tomlinson at Rawlings & Smith, do you know where they are?”

“Bloody hell, yes, been trying to get in there for years but can’t make any headway, Tomlinson wants some significant greasing just to get an appointment and I’m not prepared to play his games.”

“Well, the instruction to see you has come directly from the board room. Daddy knows them well from when he was chairman of the trade association. Greasing? What does that mean?”

“Backhanders, greasing palms, if you don’t give Tomlinson what he wants on the side you’ve no chance of a contract ... he’s notorious, not paid for a stick of furniture or white goods in his house, nor paid for a holiday since his in-laws paid for his honeymoon twenty years ago. Normally, I’d hate to have to deal with him, but if I can just get in to see him without paying for it, that would be a treat in itself, just to see him squirm. And if I do get a chance to quote for what they need, I could always post it to the member of the board your father knows instead and blame the transmission on a clerical error.”

“So he’s notorious for it, is he, this greasing, and not just for the supply of nuts and bolts?”

“No, he buys everything that Rawlings needs. They make electric motors, milk floats, motorised bicycles, mobility wheelchairs, etc and I’ve heard from a reliable source that his wife’s new car was paid for by the company Rawlings get all their batteries from.”

“Interesting. You’ll have to let me know how you get on later tonight. Oh, and you can resell your Wolverhampton Wanderers stand ticket as we both have invitations to the VIP lounge as personal guests of a Mr Stan Cullis. And we also have invitations to the VIP box at Villa Park for the Birmingham City match as guests of a Mr Pat Matthews.”

“Wow! Your Dad’s been busy. Tell him I really appreciate it.”

“I think that he’s just been having fun, Harry, enjoying himself by contacting old friends and calling in a few favours.”

When I reached Rawlings & Smith that afternoon, I introduced myself and told the Receptionist that I had an appointment with Mr Tomlinson. I was informed with a sly smile from the Receptionist that I was definitely expected but that Mr Tomlinson was no longer with the company and that Mr Edmunds, a senior director, was seeing me instead.

“When did Mr Tomlinson leave?” I asked after she had spoken to Mr Edmunds’ secretary at the other end of the line.

“About an hour ago, he left in high dungeon,” she whispered. I smiled at her common mistake of ‘dudgeon’.

“Unexpected was it?” I whispered back.

“Came in this morning, his usual half-hour late but before the MD, full of hisself as usual and three hours later most of the board of directors turned up out of the blue. Mr T was called to the board room and next we see he’s been escorted out the door with all his personals in a small cardboard box.”

“Sorry to see him go?”

“No, not at all,” she whispered, looking around to check the Reception area was empty. “Thomlinson was not well liked, too haughty for words, like he was always smirking as he checked to see if my blouse was transparent. Fair gave me the shivers, he did.”

I smiled, “Sounds like his marching orders couldn’t have happened to a nicer bloke.”

She giggled back, “Yeah, that’s what we’ve all been saying.”

Just than a secretary rushed through the door and urged that I follow her up to the offices.

I turned to the Receptionist and bade her an interesting rest of the day, and she wished me the best of luck with a beaming smile.

I was ushered into a comfortable office, dark wood-lined in oak, with old pictures of the Victorian founders of the ancient company and pictures of old steam engines and a factory floor with pulleys and overhead leather belts driving the old machinery. Sitting at a heavy and ancient desk was a tall, older and distinguished-looking man with a grey moustache, who stood up smiling, walked around the desk with hand outstretched and grabbed my hand firmly. My first thought was that his picture wouldn’t look out of place alongside those fine Victorian gentlemen.

“Stan Edmunds, Harry, glad to make your acquaintance. I suppose you heard from Amanda the dramatic to-do we’ve had early this afternoon?”

“Er...”

Stan laughed, “Don’t worry, Amanda’s an inveterate gossip, which is sometimes used to our advantage. For one thing, it meant that you had a chance to absorb the idea of Tomlinson going before you got up here.”

“Yes, I assumed he had been caught out and, well, I suspect that Fred King has been speaking to you?”

“He has, and on his tip-off we’ve had our finance director climbing all over it. Naturally, you’ve only just heard about it for the first time from Amanda, so no blame for any tip-off will remotely gravitate in your direction.”

“I appreciate the thinking behind that thought.”

“Right, first things first, what’s your poison? And if you’re going to hesitate joining me, let me tell you that what we’ve discovered and had to deal with today I need a really stiff one myself and was only holding off indulging by awaiting your arrival.”

“I’m hospital visiting tonight with a young lady, so I don’t want to drink too much, or have the smell of drink on my breath. But I don’t mind sharing a moderate dram of malt whisky with a drop of water with you, Mr Edmunds.”

“Good man, call me Stan, everybody else up here in the gods does. Park yourself in one of the armchairs.” He busied himself with the drinks while I seated himself. Stan brought the drinks over and we exchanged cheers, clinking glasses together.

“You helped us a lot with getting rid of a cancer in our midst. We were aware of the odd Christmas box but had no idea of the full extent of his corruption. I won’t tell you how we managed it of course, but within the hour we had faxes of his bank statements, deposit accounts, etcetera, now all frozen by his bank until we release them. We didn’t wait for the courts to freeze his accounts, but the bank is cooperating with us but will deny any involvement. After we told Tomlinson what we had on him, he had to write us a substantial cheque in compensation before we let him leave here without calling in the police. We will unfreeze his deposit accounts, transfer the balances to his current and restore the funds to our coffers before we unfreeze his.”

“It’s refreshing to see justice served, Stan, cheers!”

“Cheers to you Harry. Now, down to business. Would you care to take a look at this list?” Stan picked up one of two sheets of foolscap lying on the coffee table by the armchairs. “This is a list of fixings, nuts and bolts and self-tapping screws that we mostly use, along with quantities we need urgently, which equates to about a normal month’s supply. Would you be able to give us some ball park prices on these this afternoon and an idea when you could deliver these quantities soonest?” He handed the list of about twenty items. “And then let us know what your normal price for regularly monthly supplies would be for these quantities?”

I looked down the list of 22 numbered items quickly but carefully, taking into account the quantities required for each. With one or two exceptions, they were mostly listed in order of usage, with larger numbers at the top and lower at the bottom.

“This item 21 near the bottom, we don’t have much demand if any for these in Class 2A 70 stainless steel, so I know we won’t have any stock. I will ring the office and get an idea of the chances of producing some by the end of the week. Items 1 to 10 I would guess we could supply all but two or three of them in this quantity by the Friday, the exceptions we could get you at least half by Friday and the balance early next week. All the other items listed you could definitely have those quantities this week.”

As I took a slim notebook out of my pocket, along with a ‘screws ready reckoner’ booklet, Stan nodded with a smile that he understood the estimation and my confidence in the supply. I quickly jotted down a list of figures on the foolscap from top to bottom, after referring to my notebook, then I used the ready reckoner to write down a second set next to the first set of figures until I finished and handed the sheet back to Stan. The exercise took no more than about three or four minutes.

“The first row of figures is my company’s basic price per thousand of each of these items, the second figure is the price we would offer them at the monthly quantities you require them, including the first delivery. This discount ranges from 10% across the larger items, down to 2% at the bottom, although those prices are more based on the overall level of supply rather than if you only opt to buy those individual items. Look over those figures and compare with what you have on your list and I’ll speak to my office about getting you the supplies delivered from stock and getting these stainless steel bolts into production.”

“I understand, Harry. Use the phone at the desk, just dial ‘9’ for an outside line, wait for the tone and dial your number. I’m going to call in our accounting manager, she’s more adept on the calculator than I am and the prices I’ve got on my copy of the list here are what we pay for each month’s quantity. But go ahead on making those steel bolts, if nothing else we’ll readily pay whatever it costs for those. What I will tell you is that we have told the current suppliers that Tomlinson has admitted he took bribes from them for years and we would have expected them through professional curtesy to have been informed about this criminal activity at least at Director level. They’ve been told that, as they are all in clear breach of contracts, that they will collect every single item they supplied that we hold in stock and they will reimburse us what we paid for them within seven days, or we will announce this turn of events and the newsworthy reasons behind it to the general public. They will be collected on Friday and they have already delivered a banker’s draft with the signatures still wet, to repay us for every nut and bolt we have estimated we hold in stock. We took the opportunity to return all the non-metric stock which we no longer use, on the basis that they supplied that stock while they were bribing our employee and charging us inflated prices.”

I had to smile, “I’m sorry that casual remark, made in exasperation to Fred’s daughter, had caused you so much upheaval.”

Stan said, “Well, it’s going to be interesting around here for a while as we adjust to better ways of working, Harry, and you don’t need to apologise for a thing.”

I rang my office, okayed the stainless steel job initially with the sales director, who was delighted to have any inroad at all into Rawlings & Smith, knowing what a hard nut it had been to crack, and was put through to the production manager, Bob Andrews, who I have always had a great relationship with. I explained the material and size specification of the nuts and bolts, with the quantities needed on a monthly basis, and I was assured that he could get the raw material in overnight and start production late Wednesday or early Thursday and may even manage to produce the required quantity during overtime on the Thursday night. The production manager would check out the order for all the rest of the supplies when it came through over the fax and confirm delivery first thing Friday morning. When I told him about the two or three items I had supply concerns about, he told me leave it with him, saying he wouldn’t led me down if he could help it.