CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Horace Carmichael the uniform Superintendent was once again in the Chief Constable’s office and not feeling particularly happy. The chief constable had not shared his recommendations to the Watch Committee with him and that in itself was ominous.
"I got a call yesterday Horace from the Clerk that looks after administration for the Watch Committee. He gave me some strong hints about what they are going to come out with after they looked at my suggestions and those from the C.I.D."
Carmichael asked nervously. "Can you tell me sir?"
"Remember this is just speculation based on the things he has been asked to do. They are looking at making a C.I.D rank that will equal that of the senior uniform and making sure that the uniform supervisor cannot become involved in C.I.D., work unless a direct request to the Watch Committee has been approved. They are also contemplating it going the other way and C.I.D asking for help from uniform."
"They can’t do that sir it would mean all my scheduling would be thrown out."
"Horace before you go making any noise think about what I have said, the C.I.D. Supervisor’s rank!" There was an anguished sound, "They couldn’t jump that sergeant or the Detective Inspector up to Superintendent. That would be unheard of. Even a two rank jump to chief inspector would be highly unusual but I suppose it’s not beyond their capability."
"Making it equal to the uniform rank Horace?"
"Oooooh!"
"Yes oh, and what if they consider that they don’t need a Chief Constable. I think we have to sing small for a little while and smile a lot!"
Celia Denson was definitely not pleased that her sister was getting married. It was not the marriage itself because she did not think Martin qualified as a desirable mate who could move with some authority in the Social Round. What caused her acute irritation was the fact that Caroline was getting married first and the favourable reaction of the local Community.
Martin and his mother had been asked to spend a morning with Trubman and Compton had been invited too. Caroline was there and saw them comfortably seated before Trubman came in and shook their hands.
"You must thank this young lady for her suspicion about the Estate which you husband left Mrs DeVere. We are also indebted to the sergeant for his foresight in making Marles transfer those assets before he attempted to decamp. Your husband was astute and saw the increased value which some of the city properties would experience after the war so he sank his money into real property.
I suspect that he must have inherited these funds himself because he purchased them nearly all at the same time and just before the war at the end of the depression when prices were low. When the lawyer gave you details of the will, interest probably centred upon the liquid assets and the steps that he had taken to make sure that you could stay in your home without any encumbrance Mrs De Vere.
The Lawyer gave his son Marles the responsibility for collecting the rents and maintaining the properties and he also started to give you Annual Statements, but he neglected to mention the income from the rentals or that there were in fact properties. He started to reduce the amount each year so that you would infer that this was interest on investments which were shrinking.
The money was held in a number of bank accounts which he set up at two Banks and this enabled him to transfer the Annual Interest into one of his own accounts and to remove extremely large payments for ’Cleaning and maintenance’ which were paid to a company called Canonsfield Maintenance.
This is a Limited Company which had a Bank Account into which these payments were made. The swindle...for that is what it was...comes to light when you find that Marles set up and registered this company and is it’s only shareholder. He withdraws large sums for ‘supplies’ and management fees.
Now you probably would be interested in the properties which you own Mrs DeVere, because he could not tamper with the freehold. There are two nice houses in the residential development that was completed just before the War. There is a Florist's in the High Street and there is Ivy’s."
Laura DeVere was shaking her head as if she could not take in what Trubman had said, but Compton and Martin had been following the account very carefully.
Martin was first to react. "Have these properties got reliable tenants sir?"
"The Florists people have been there for years and are highly thought of by their customers. A retired couple occupy one of the houses and seem to have looked after it. No rent was collected from the other house and when Caroline went out there she found that a young woman had been living there and the description fitted the girl in his office."
Compton interjected, "We always wondered about Ivy’s and the story that a mysterious military man had bought it then are true?"
Trubman lifted his head from the papers that he had been reading from.
"That was a most unusual situation. I asked Caroline to see if she could get to the bottom of it because as you discovered sergeant there seemed to be mystery surrounding it."
Caroline stood up and smoothed down her skirt. She addressed her comments to Martin.
"Your father was always very concerned about the welfare of his men so it should be no surprise that he approached the Ministry of Defence to see what arrangements they made for some of the more seriously injured war causalities.
I was able to find the gentleman who is now close to retirement and who explained to your father that the really seriously wounded have to remain in a hospital or Nursing Home where they can continue to receive treatment.
Those who are assessed to have recovered enough to go back into civilian life have to look after themselves. It was this kind of individual who would not be able to obtain employment and who would depend on an inadequate pension that he had sympathy for.
He looked for a suitable property and of course he found Ivy's. Your father and this senior Department of Defence individual drew up an agreement. Rupert DeVere would pay for the building to be brought back into a condition which would accommodate a dozen or so men who were wounded early in the war and who fitted this category.
He would hire the staff to look after these individuals and the whole expense would be submitted to the Department of Defence to be paid for by them. The Department would continue to pay these bills which would be submitted to them directly as if they were the owner but Rupert still retained the title.
There was no rental as such and I think it had the old description of a ‘Peppercorn Rent.’ This agreement was to continue as long as the residents at Ivy’s needed that accommodation.
There was a proviso and that was if Rupert died before the arrangement came to an end, the sum of one thousand pounds a month was to be retained by the Ministry and paid to his son when he reached his 25th birthday. As we know he was killed not too long after the agreement was drawn up and the house had been brought back into an acceptable condition. Martin would continue to receive this payment thereafter until all the residents were no longer living there."
Martin sat back and looked at the ceiling. "Mathematics was never my strong suit but that sounds like a lot of money."
Caroline nodded her agreement, "It is and fortunately Marles was not able to get his hands on it. We were able to get some of the rental money for the rest of the properties thanks to the action that was taken on the day we confronted Marles.
The interest and the payment to the paper company left with him but there is some hope that the money he had with him when he was searched at Newhaven may produce some of this. It will be all up in the air until his clients are traced and we find whether he has taken their money in the same way."
Laura DeVere showed her failure to understand what the others obviously gathered from the details they were given. "Can someone tell me what this means please?"
Martin was quick to grasp what had happened. "Mother, the Accountant that looked after things was a crook and he has now been found out. We won’t be able to get much of the money back that you should have received but there are rental properties whi
ch are going to provide you with a nice income so that you won’t have to worry about money again."
"Oh that’s nice dear and are Mr Trubman and Caroline going to look after things for me?"
"Not only that mother but if you don’t understand anything they will explain it for you."
Compton had been following everything closely. "I have understood you so far sir and you will look after the Government payments and see that Ivy’s is wrapped up properly when the time comes but I would like you to tell me that there is not going to be a massive tax bill at some stage."
"Sensible thought sergeant, and I will have to talk to Inland Revenue at some stage but I suspect the argument might well be that if the money was never received then it should be Marles that is taxed and I would not like to be him when they throw the book at him. If there is a lump sum of Government money to be paid we can mount an argument that tax should be applied on an annual basis in the year that it fell due. That should ease the burden considerably."
Compton eased himself up from his chair. "This young couple have much to thank you for. ‘The greatest good you can do for another is just not to share your riches...but to reveal to him his own.’"
Trubman said, "That sounds a little like some Asian philosophy."
Compton smiled widely, "I thought that you would have remembered a great statesman who had Jewish heritage...it was Benjamin Disraeli!"
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Hanson patrolled the streets of the West End of London as a 'bobby' in the fifties and then served as a detective in one of the busiest stations in the Metropolitan Police. This gives his writing and the reader an insight into human nature and police procedure when dealing with serious crime. He has been married for over fifty years and is now retired and living in British Columbia, Canada with his family. Watch for more thrillers from Hanson Publishing.
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