‘The same. We had no idea about his shady past at the time but he led Briscoe Corporation very successfully, right up until they voted him out.’
‘So the board found out about Groom and threw him out?’ said Bree.
‘Not that I’m aware of. As far as I was told, Walter Groom’s secret life didn’t come out until after his death.’
Bree was puzzled: ‘So why did the board throw Groom out? He hadn’t done anything wrong. He ran the company successfully. They were making steady profits. Why upset the balance?’
‘You’d have to ask them that. I asked the new managing director, Clive Potter, but he just said it was time for Groom to go. I approached him about lodging an appeal but he said it would cost too much money for no result. I tried to explain to him how we could win, but he just cut me off. He wouldn’t even consider lodging an appeal.’
‘How’s the company going with Groom gone?’ asked Sam.
‘Check the newspapers. Their share price is down. Possibly due to the Groom scandal, possibly due to a board that isn’t being led too well at the present. It’ll pick back up in time. They have too many assets to fail completely. I won’t be selling my shares in the near future.’
Sam was at a loss as to what he could now ask. There didn’t seem to be any sign here of the case being deliberately mishandled.
Bree was also running out of questions. One occurred to her but she was reluctant to ask. Finally, with the silence dragging on, she blurted out: ‘Mr Collins, did you or any of your partners ever visit the Garden of Eros?’
‘What?’ Collins exclaimed. ‘That question is quite impertinent, young lady.’
‘Is that a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’, Mr Collins?’ asked Sam, coming to Bree’s assistance.
Collins spluttered: ‘No! Certainly not!’
Smiling to herself, Bree said: ‘Thank you Mr Collins. We’ll accept that answer, for now.’
Bree and Sam stood up: ‘Thank you for your time Mr Collins. If we have any further questions, we’ll be back.’
While his associate ushered the agents out, Collins stood and went to the window.
The associate returned and asked: ‘Are you all right sir?’
Without turning around, Collins waved his associate away. She left the room and closed the door. Hearing the door close, Collins turned, his eyes filled with tears.
Chapter Seven
As they reviewed their notes back at the shop Bree declared: ‘We certainly stirred him up at the end, but I don’t think Jade Green got to him.’
Sam nodded: ‘I agree. He was almost certainly one of Green’s clients, but he ran the case as well as he could. It wasn’t his decision to settle and let Brown get away with it.’
‘What about interference with the judge?’ asked Bree.
‘Not likely from what I can see. We’ll go over the transcripts to be certain that the judge didn’t push the hearing in any one direction, but I think it will only confirm what we already believe.’
‘So it comes down to the board of the Briscoe Corporation.’
‘A perfectly capable managing director is voted out just before a large settlement is made. A settlement that probably wouldn’t have taken place if an appeal had been lodged. It certainly does look suspicious.’
‘So we make inquiries at Briscoe Corporation.’
‘I’m looking forward to meeting Mr Potter and his friends.’
Clive Potter had come a long way in a short time.
Less than a year before, his position on the board of Briscoe Corporation had been largely to make up the required numbers. Few of the board members had had any purpose in life other than to rubber-stamp the decisions of the managing director, Walter Groom. Groom had been the man in charge for so many years, that no one else even considered the possibility that he should be replaced.
However, Groom had alienated most of the people around him with his attitude. To Groom, the company was his, and his alone. It always had been, and it always would be. No one else had any idea how to run the company and Groom continuously told them so in no uncertain terms.
Now, Clive Potter was the man in charge and he had no intention of falling for the same mistakes that Groom had. The company was too big for just one man to rule. He did what Groom had found it impossible to do, and that was to delegate authority. Potter was in overall charge, but now other members of the board were responsible for the various independent divisions of the corporation.
The first few months had been difficult, as shown by the drop in the value of their stocks, but the latest reports from the divisions had been very encouraging.
A grin of satisfaction creased his mouth as he read the figures.
He was still congratulating himself when his assistant ushered Bree and Sam into his office. Potter had been expecting them, but had no idea what Inland Security would want from him. Probably something to do with one of their industries that supplied the military.
Expecting two suited males, he was surprised to find the agents to be a casually dressed male and an expensively dressed, and beautiful, woman.
‘Well what can I do for Inland Security?’ he asked as they shook hands.
‘Frank answers to our questions would be a good start,’ replied Bree with an ingratiating smile.
Potter returned her smile.
‘Of course. Our company is always willing to co-operate with the authorities.’
The three continued with small talk for a while as the agents lulled Potter into thinking this was a periodic occurrence and not an actual investigation. The topics ranged around security procedures being adopted and the latest in security devices.
Finally, Sam decided the time had come. ‘I was wondering why the Briscoe Corporation decided to settle so quickly after losing your case with Toby Brown.’
Potter was taken completely off guard.
‘What?’
Bree smiled at him.
‘My partner asked why your company settled so quickly, after losing to Toby Brown.’
Potter didn’t know what was going on
‘What would make you ask a question like that?’
‘I’m asking that question because I would like to have your answer.’
‘But what has that to do with security?’
‘It has a great deal to do with security. However, we are not at liberty to discuss the details with you. We simply require you to answer the question. Do you want me to repeat it?’
‘I think the reasons are a matter of privacy.’
‘Would you like us to subpoena the corporation for transcripts of all board meetings for the relevant period?’ asked Bree. ‘I’m sure you don’t want to put your staff to that trouble. They might even read the documents as they photocopy them for us.’
Potter realised he had been backed into a corner.
‘It was a commercial decision,’ he blustered. ‘The sooner we settled the question of ownership, the sooner we could purchase the property from Brown, and the sooner we could commence sub-dividing it.’
Sam asked: ‘Why