the same Toby Brown that Jade Green had been with when she first reappeared in public. He had found out that Brown had even been living with her at the time her house was destroyed by fire, and now there had been another fire, this time not only destroying the place where Toby Brown worked but also the offices of Grant & Associates as well. That was the office of Brian Reynolds, Jade Green’s next-door neighbour whose home had suffered extensive damage under still more mysterious circumstances and who was also a close friend of Jade Green.
Sloane had a circumspect nature and did not subscribe easily to conspiracy theories, but this was all just too much!
Printing out the news item regarding the fire, Sloane strode into the chief editor’s office and spent the next half hour convincing the man to give him free rein on following up the story.
Unfortunately, the editor had just recently come from a budget meeting and was not in a position to give Sloane the sort of leeway he sought. ‘We can’t give you any more than a couple of weeks to work on this. If you can’t turn up enough in that time to make a decent story out of it then we’ll have to pull the plug and move on to other things.’
Disappointed, Sloane accepted the restrictions and made his way home to where his files on Jade Green were scattered throughout his cramped flat.
Settled once more on his battered lounge, Sloane reviewed his notes.
At one time he thought that her death would be the end of his story, but now it seemed the mystery continued through her friends.
Or had they been involved all along?
After much searching, Sloane had obtained a probated copy of the will of a Janice Patricia Symes (nee Green). He was totally stunned at the vast amount of money that she had bequeathed and made a note to contact each of the recipient organisations to see if they could shed any light upon the life of their benefactor.
However, the details of the main part of the bequest were missing and no amount of searching on behalf of court staff had been successful in locating those details. All that remained were the names of those receiving her legacy.
With no known relatives, four of the names came as no surprise to Sloane. They were Toby Brown and his wife Suzie as well as her former next-door neighbours Brian and Lana Reynolds.
However, it was the third couple, Ali and Nori Akuba, that shocked him. What was the connection between Jade Green of Walton Village and a married refugee couple from Nigeria who operated a taxi business in the city?
The more Sloane searched the more questions that remained unanswered.
He took a swig of the whiskey and contemplated his next move.
Sloane realised that he needed to find more information on the six people who inherited Green’s fortune. Who were they really and why did Green select them? What would they do with the money? So far as he could tell none of them had shown any sign of lavish spending. Why not? ‘If I inherited millions the first thing I would be doing would be to spend a bit of it on myself, and Pamela.’
Sloane decided that he would begin by talking to Toby Brown and his wife and arose early the following morning to drive out to Walton Village, hoping to catch the couple at home before they both left for work.
As he entered the street where they lived, he saw them both emerge from their building and climb into a battered truck parked at the kerb.
Deciding to follow and catch up with them when they parked, Sloane was in the middle of attempting to turn his car around when another car nearly slammed into him as it hurriedly pulled away from the kerb and tried to catch up with Toby Brown’s truck.
Sloane had slammed on the brakes to avoid the inevitable collision and was about to blast his horn at the retreating car when he thought better of it. He had noticed that there were two very heavily built men in the front seat and had no wish to become involved in a confrontation. Instead, he followed both cars from a distance as they made their way towards the city.
A short time later Sloane noticed a second car insert itself between the car containing the two large men and Brown’s truck. Then the now third car in line allowed Sloane to overtake them and settled in behind him.
Sloane was able to get a good look at the occupants in his rear-view mirror and it seemed to him that both men appeared to have been poured from the same mould. Wide shoulders and no neck, with close-cropped hair and wearing regulation grey suits.
Sloane’s gut told him they were police or something similar and he settled down to see what was about to happen, memorising everything for a future story.
Sure enough, the cars switched positions a short time later and true confirmation of their intent came not long after they reached the outskirts of the city.
As Toby Brown’s truck pulled up to a red light Suzie Brown opened the passenger door and stepped out. Much to the surprise of the chasers she broke into a sprint and sidestepped her way between oncoming traffic to the diagonally opposite side of the intersection.
Sloane watched with interest as the two chasing cars disgorged their passengers who rushed to catch up to their fleeing target.
But he couldn’t help but laugh as he saw Suzie Brown quickly purchase a newspaper and then run back past her pursuers, through the traffic, and hop back into the truck just as the light turned green which allowed Toby Brown to drive off.
The chasers now had to change direction in the middle of the intersection and rush back to their cars where their drivers waited while the traffic banked up and honked their horns at them.
Sloane couldn’t help himself and joined in the chorus of horns as the suited men clambered back into their cars and sped off to resume the chase while Sloane followed at the rear of the cavalcade.
Obviously the chasers knew where their quarry was going as they had no trouble in relocating Brown’s truck and resuming their positions.
Eventually Toby Brown found a parking spot and the chasers took up new vantage points further down the street where they could maintain a close eye on the building into which the couple had disappeared.
Sloane continued on past the building and parked around the corner. Taking out his notebook he started to write down as much information as he could recall about the chase before locking up his car and walking back around the corner.
He casually made his way past the cars occupied by the watchers and took down their registration numbers while getting a closer look at the occupants and fixing their faces in his mind. He then retraced his steps and made a casual examination of Brown’s building.
The outside of the premises still showed where the sign advertising itself as a bank had once hung. Now there appeared a much smaller brass plaque with just the words: ‘THE FUND’.
Curious, Sloane stepped inside and found himself in what had formerly been the main banking chamber and which now appeared to be divided down the middle. One side was fully occupied by some sort of business while the other half was vacant.
The side which Sloane presumed was occupied by The Fund consisted of a small gift shop selling goods of an environmental nature and many racks containing free information pamphlets. Beside the shop a receptionist sat behind a desk while on the wall behind her was a finely carved wooden plaque displaying the logo of The Fund. Beyond the reception desk were numerous work stations where enthusiastic young men and women were busy at tasks that Sloane could only guess at.
He was startled by a tap on his shoulder. Spinning around, he found himself looking into the deathly white face of a young Goth.
‘Can I help you, sir?’ she asked politely.
Taken aback by her appearance, Sloane was suddenly at a loss for words.
The girl behind the make-up fixed him with a cold stare: ‘Have you come to make a contribution to The Fund?’ she asked.
‘Uh no. Actually, I wanted to have a word with Mr Toby Brown and his wife.’
Disappointed, the girl replied,