Chapter 56

“I took advantage of you back there and in return I am indebted to you,” admitted Dad, “although I’d be grateful if you didn’t ask for too much in return.

“Confidentiality is a major feature of our secure storage facility and staff are not supposed to ask questions about what is being deposited. Clients complained to me that they’d been pressed for information. I suspected Cedric Pflingar but had no evidence. When Cedric failed to recognise me as a fellow employee, I realised I had an opportunity. I used a trick Kathy told me about and used my mobile phone to record him trying to browbeat you.”

No guesses where Mum picked had learned that trick!

“Cedric Pflingar is a relative of a board member and major shareholder who called in a favour to get him a job with the company,” Dad continued. “As such he’s virtually unsackable. Although my recording was illegal and inadmissable as evidence, at least now he’ll be moved somewhere where he won’t have customer contact.”

Then Dad and I both started speaking at the same time. We laughed, then Dad indicated I should go first.

“Why did you ask me about the safe deposit box insurance limit?” I asked.

“You’re right I shouldn’t have put that upon you since you weren’t expecting it,” said Dad. “Austin Darbyshire is a straight arrow but he does have a tendency to be a bit pompous. Your reply was perfect: I didn’t have to enlighten him further about the value of your deposit. You could have a bright future in the cut and thrust of the financial world if you want.”

I let my grimace express my displeasure at that thought. “That was a neat trick with the bags of coins,” I said, quickly changing the subject. “How did you come up with that idea?”

“Actually, the idea came from a client who stored an old brick with his contents for the same reason. Although the safe deposit boxes are supposed to be x-ray proof, I thought coins would be a better alternative just in case. In your situation even more so, because your coin would appear as just one among many. Nowadays I always carry around a few bags of coppers in the boot for just such an eventuality. My contribution to your safe deposit box is worth the princely sum of about four pounds, which I expect to get back at some point.

“Now it’s your turn,” continued Dad. “How on earth did you get that box number from Janey’s birth date?”

I explained the simple encryption I had used.

“Ingenious,” said Dad. “I’ll have to remember that. No wonder Janey calls you a nerd.”

I was secretly pleased he hadn’t said ‘dork’. I felt only Janey had the right to use that word for me.

When we were drawing close to town, Dad asked, “Would you like to stop somewhere for something to eat, should I take you home, or is there somewhere else you’d rather go?”

“Much as I’d like to stop somewhere for food, I think it would be best if you dropped me back home,” I replied. “I’ve got a lot to do this afternoon and the sooner I make a start, the better.”

“No problem,” said Dad, looking relieved.

About ten minutes later Dad pulled up outside our house. I thanked him for everything he’d done for me that morning, then got out of the car and went indoors. As Dad drove away, I realised he still had my safe deposit box key. I knew he could work out the box number because I had explained how I’d derived it from Janey’s birth date. Did he know the combination I’d used to lock the box? I hadn’t made any attempt to hide it but I didn’t know how carefully he’d been watching.

I berated myself for my paranoia. Dad had seemed almost back to normal since his HR Manager had resigned, apart from still being a little tentative around me.

I had a quick lunch of sandwiches followed by ice cream, then while washing it down with a mug of tea, I pondered what to do for the rest of the day. Despite my excuse to Dad, catch-up schoolwork somehow didn’t seem so important now that summer catch-up lessons were likely. Ms Edgeway wanted me to call her to arrange a meeting, and that meant I’d soon have to give her back the phone she had lent me, plus the three Russian doorstop novels. For that reason, I decided to prioritise reading the third Russian doorstop novel over my rather neglected medical textbook birthday present. But first I put my metal detector on to charge, ready for the weekend. Finding that headband again was still a priority!