CHAPTER 49
Mark Dobson met Isobel and Eddie off the plane from KL and they shared a taxi to the hotel in Lat Krabang.
Traffic was so heavy and progress so slow that Mark decided to use the time to play the recording Jeffrey had made in Johor Bahru. Throughout it all, while Isobel shook her head in disbelief, Eddie nodded as if it was exactly what he’d suspected all along.
When it was over, Mark asked for her thoughts.
“I suppose I’m not completely surprised,” she said calmly. “It just adds weight to my feeling we have a problem with him.”
Mark, sitting in the front next to the taxi driver, leaned over to face her and Eddie. “There’s much more than that, now,” he said.
Isobel raised her dark eyebrows and frowned.
“Easy Trading,” he added.
“What about them? They are import agents. We’ve used them for several years. They’re local, based in Wallingford.”
“Did you know that Easy Trading is the trading name for a company registered as Vital Trading Ltd?”
Isobel looked askance. “Is that just a co-incidence?”
“Not at all. Peter Lester is a director.”
“Ah, I see.” She was trying to let the fact sink but Mark didn’t give her time.
“The other directors of Vital Trading Ltd are Nick Carstairs, Boris Hamilton and Donald McVie. “
Eddie sat forward and Isobel’s hand shot up to cover her red lips. “Oh my God,” she said. “I didn’t know.”
“Neither did we until Colin went back over our past research.”
“So, they are all involved?”
“Let’s say they have an interest in continuing to use Easy Trading as your sole importer.” He paused. “When we get to the hotel there’s much more to discuss, Isobel.”
But with the taxi stuck in another long line of almost stationery traffic, Mark couldn’t wait for that. He turned around again. “Take me back six years,” he said, “To when your sister, Kathrine, bought what was then Vitality Hand Creams. Who was that company’s import agent?”
Isobel, still coming to terms with other directors being involved, struggled to remember. “When I joined, I remember everyone referring to them as Easy Trading,” she said. “They still do and I have never felt it necessary to question it.”
Eddie was sitting next to Isobel, listening with his arms folded across his chest. “That explains the problem with your raw materials,” he said. “And the apathy and the reluctance to answer questions.”
Eddie was right of course but Mark didn’t want to pursue that right now. He changed direction. “Why did Kathrine ask you to become Chairman?”
“She was concerned that if I didn’t Peter would.”
“Was Kathrine concerned about Peter?”
“They weren’t getting on well. They constantly argued about business. On the day Kathrine sold me the bulk of her shares I also became company chairman.”
Mark hadn’t known that, but it was important. “Was Kathrine trying to edge Peter out of the company and reduce his influence?”
Isobel thought about that. “Probably,” she admitted.
“They live separately, yes?”
“I believe so.”
“Do you not talk to your sister?”
“Not often.”
Mark turned away leaving Eddie and Isobel sitting silently behind him. The taxi driver, bored by the slow-moving traffic, was listening to something on his headphones. A minute later, Dobson felt a tap on his shoulder.
“Mark,” Isobel said quietly, leaning forward. “In the recording, Peter mentions Maria and Enzo refers to her as his cousin. Who is Maria?”
Mark turned again. “Maria?” he repeated. “Maria Stephanie Benelli is a director of your sister’s company, KRJ Capital. She is also a director of a company called Parklands Capital which has only one other director, Peter Lester. She is also a director of Scatolifici Santo in Trieste, which we believe is SCAZ, the Russian mafia-run company in Bangkok. It’s unlikely Kathrine knows any of this.”
“Oh my God,” Isobel said. Eddie shook his head.
Mark Dobson continued.
“Maria Benelli is Enzo Grassi’s distant cousin,” Mark went on. “And Maria Benelli has other offshore companies with Maxim Novak, Valeri Pavlyuchenko and probably other Russians. The one we know as Olga is also involved somehow. And of course, Maria Benelli and Peter Lester are, or were, involved on a much more personal basis. An affair is the word that comes to mind.
“You should talk to your sister, Isobel. We’re reaching a crunch point but it’s not over yet.”
They were, at last, heading east along Lat Krabang Road towards the Survanabhumi hotel when Mark Dobson’s phone rang again. It was Jeffrey. He listened, thanked Jeffrey, switched off and then turned to the back seat.
“The Police have just raided PJ Beauty Supplies,” he said. “They’ve arrested Ho Chiang and detained Bella Tong and Jimmy. Jeffrey has pleaded with the police to keep things low key for a while for the case to build or these criminals will realise things are going wrong and scatter.”
Eddie piped up. “Quite right. If you scatter thorns don’t walk in bare feet,” he said as if a short piece of profound philosophy was called for at that moment. “And Jimmy’s innocent,” he added as if the warehouseman was an old and dear friend.
“Have the Malay police spoken to the Thai Police?” Isobel asked.
“They wouldn’t say though I suspect there may have been some high-level contact. The problem is the Thais have nothing to act on until we produce something. Ritchie and Colin still have things to do and Sannan and I have three, full 7-Eleven plastic bags to sort through. When we’re ready we’ll deal with the Thai side. Meanwhile I think you should both return to the UK.”