Richard Britten -The Trustee

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About the Author

Richard Britten has been an accountancy professional and

seasoned commuter for many years. The endless hours of travel and commuting from the West Country to the

Thames Valley led to a passion for losing himself into

thriller novels of all shapes and sizes. Married ith to

children and a dog he no or!s" rites and lives in the

Aberdeenshire countryside.


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To Margie" Will and Timmy


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Copyright # Richard Britten $%&'()

The right of Richard Britten to be identified as author of this

or! has been asserted by him in accordance ith section ** and

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publishers.

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publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims

for damages.

A C0- catalogue record for this title is available from the British

1ibrary.

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Prologue

The Grand Hotel, St Moritz

The meeting had been long and tiresome having !ic!ed off

very early on in the morning" ith the sun not even visible

then over the pea!s of the mountains. All three of the Trustees

ere there as usual together ith their teams of advisers ho

had been pouring through business issues" the accounts and

many sensitive matters of corporate strategy. By the time all

outstanding items of business had been dealt ith it as lateon in the afternoon and a lot of people around the table ere

getting visibly restless" loo!ing at their atches and stifling

yans hoping not to give themselves aay.

Through the indo it as still bright and crisp outside"

as the curious iridescent Alpine sunshine as by no stream;

ing into an already arm room and causing the atmosphere in;

side to become stifling" the attentions of most of the people inthe room started drifting to more en and their thoughts ere of coldblooded murder.

The :rand as a hotel that as alays in great demand

throughout the year" but this time perhaps more than most as it

as the height of the s!iing season. 0t as a lu?urious hotel

having a global reputation for being a playground to the rich

and famous and as to be found perched high up on a moun;

''


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tain top in the beautiful 2iss Alps around 2t Moritz. The glit;

tering clientele of celebrities and corporate roc! stars ould

fre7uently be disappointed hen they ere unable to reserve

their favourite suites" or any suite at all on occasion@ such as

the reputation of e?clusivity that ent before The :rand. But

for the group of three men in that room" !non only as the

Trustees" onership had its benefits and so every year they

ould return to The :rand to occupy the very best of the

suites that the hotel had to offer.

And so gentlemen" concluded the pale faced man in a

breathless voice" as e endeavour to bring The 6oundation

out of the past century there remains much for us to do" butabove all it is vital that e eed out the old practices that e

have tolerated for too long and strive to lead both commerce

and governments don a road of enlightenment. 5e stopped

clearly drained of energy" and ith a gesture of his right hand

one of his aides stepped behind him easing his heelchair

aay from the table.

Very good" said the Chairman" ell draft the minutesfor circulation to all three Trustees@ youll be able to retrieve

these from the virtual office over the coming days > and may 0

also say that as e no go our separate ays ho much 0

loo! forard to meeting you both again ne?t year. 5is smile

suddenly froze giving ay to embarrassment. 1oo!ing don

at his hands he started ringing them together in discomfort

realising the insensitivity of his remar!s. Meeting ad


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e?travagant floral display in front of a half;length mirror. :az;

ing through the floers the reflection that he sa peering bac!

at him as almost unrecognisable > he no had hollo

chee!s his features gaunt and


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They ere alone" the others careful of giving -aul time

and space after such a long day. 1i Wei pushed him toards

the large picture indo in the living area hich overloo!ed

the ma


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of poer as shifting. /o it as once hes gone 0 mean.

After a brief pause he continued. 0m sorry 0 !no thatsounds a bit indelicate li!e" but y!no eve got to be real;

istic" e must thin! about The 6oundation. And 0 honestly

have to say that personally 0 dont thin! that this is any time to

be tal!ing about changing the ay that e do things@ the bal;

ance of society needs both positive and negative influences.

5e ble out a long ribbon of blue smo!e" slapping his long

arms over the bac! of the sofa > a trail of ash falling from his

cigar over the green leather.

0ts not common !noledge but there as tal! of an heir

sometime in the past. Commented the Chairman. Df course

it might


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beteen us. 0ts for the good of continuity I if you get my

meaning Mr Chairman.

The Chairman cautiously nodded his agreement.

6inishing his cognac the Te?an got up and offering hishand shoo! the Chairmans hand in a vice li!e grip.

0 have no doubt Mr Chairman that e ill be in touch"

0m sure matters ill develop sooner rather than later and

ere gonna have to be ready to bring matters to a head > 0

loo! forard to seeing you again ne?t year" sir.

And ith a formal nod of his head he left the room. Jn;

li!e -aul and the Chairman" the Te?an had arranged to imme;diately leave the hotel ta!ing the e?press elevator don into

the private underground par!ing lot. A uniformed driver as

already standing to attention alongside a slee! blac! Mercedes

sedan@ he held the door open as the Te?an got into the car.

Within seconds they had pulled out of the hotel grounds

and onto the main mountain pass. The big man asted no time

punching a series of numbers into his mobile. 5e !ne that itas a secure line and that he could spea! openly > the phone

only rang once before being ansered=

6ind the heir" he bar!ed" and hen you find em I !ill

em.

'K


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One

The television as tuned in to the local nes channel display;

ing a grainy image on the small" unatched screen. The cam;

era captured the scene of the beach at 2t Cyrus" tenty miles

south along the rugged coastline from Aberdeen@ the 2ilver

City. 2eeping dunes fringed a vast" unoccupied beach cut off

by soaring red cliffs at the far end. The eather had steadily

orsened throughout the day and no as the lo grey cloudshad bloc!ed out much of the remaining daylight they appeared

to reach don to the horizon here they became indistin;

guishable from the grey sea rising up to meet them. The beach

itself as unoccupied" not only because of the ind and rain

driving off of a /orth 2ea flec!ed ith needles of sleet" but

also because of the trail of blue and hite plastic police tape

that cordoned off all the entry points to the beach. An army of

police officers and 2DCDs could be seen in the bac!ground of

the camera shot. They flitted in and out of the temporary

structure that had been hastily erected over the corpse that had

been ashed up and unceremoniously dumped on the sand"

here it had aited hours to be found by the early afternoon

dog al!er.

...little is known of who the victim was or how he came

to meet such a tragic end." said the indsept reporter only


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to late twenties and appearing to be of eastern European ori-

gin. No identification has been made as yet, but unnamed

sources have suggested that the man may have been working

illegally on the North Sea which may go some way in explain-

ing why nobody has come forward with any information for

fear of prosecution or reprisals. e are expecting a formal

comment from the investigating officer within the hour. !n the

meantime back to you "ugh in the studio ... The static

droned out the sound as 6loyd thumped the top of the televi;

sion finally giving up and heading for the sofa.

What a pile of rubbish" not sure hy 0 dont


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that maybe e could grab a ta!eaay and open a bottle of that

plon! you brought bac! from Calais last ee!. What do you

thin!F There as often something special around the place

after one of Gvettes trips@ he had to admit it she alays had

great taste.

0d li!e nothing better" hon. 2he often used that transat;

lantic ay of spea!ing" he asnt too sure here she had

pic!ed it up from@ but he did li!e it.

2he had his full attention by no as she smoothed her

stoc!ings draing both of her hands up her legs" first the left

and then the right" she then stepped into her shoes slipping

them on effortlessly.

But 0 really do have to go in tonight" babes. 1arry ould

normally be able to cover the bar area on a Thursday night but

its the last real chance 0m going to get ith this shift to do a

run through > sorry.L

6loyd still needed to pinch himself hen he thought

about it to convince him that he asnt dreaming. 5is head

as still spinning at the luc! of falling for a girl li!e Gvette

...and perhaps more to the point her falling for him. This as

the real deal.

6loyd alays felt that he asnt a bad catch" but had to

admit he never really had a great deal of success ith girls.

Ges he as reasonably good;loo!ing to some" pretty average

to most really@ he as in his late tenties and already display;

ing a fe strea!s of grey ma!ing their ay from his templesand over his ears. 8verything else as average" safe"


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0t had been such a hirlind romance since their first en;

counter. But sometimes you


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through the hallay and chased after Gvette. 2lamming the

front door of the apartment shut behind him he too! the com;

munal stairs to or three at a time don the to floors. 5ed

have to be 7uic! if he as going to catch her before she

reached her car. 5e sprinted into the night.

Gvie Gvie" youve forgotten your phone" he called gal;

loping along the path toards her. /o regretting his haste as

he only had soc!s on his feet" he needed to be careful to avoid

the puddles folloing the earlier donpour of rain.

5e could see her a hundred yards further along the road.

2he as no standing by her car hich as in a long ro of

cars par!ed up road side for the night. 6ortunately her car as

also directly under a street lamp and in the yelloy tinge of its

glo he could ma!e out that she as loo!ing for her car !eys

in her bag hile simultaneously spea!ing on a telephone

clutched against her ear by her bunched up shoulder. That

cant be right" he figured" loo!ing at the mobile telephone in

his hand.

5e called again trying to be heard over the sound of asiren ailing along the street at the far end of their road" but as

he approached her she seemed rapped up in hatever it as

that she as doing and failed to ac!noledge him. :asping

for breath he reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder

about to ma!e some chee!y remar!.

2urprised by the une?pected touch of his hand Gvette

hipped around suddenly.What the hell ... she yelled her face contorted in anger"

but she managed to pull herself up 7uic!ly hen she sa that

it as only 6loyd ith her telephone in his outstretched hand.

6loyd as ta!en abac! by the sheer aggression in her voice

stepping bac!ards he held up his hands as if in moc! sur;

render. At the moment that her head turned around to see him

his mind too! a snap shot of the ferocity in her e?pression the

intensity of hich shoo! him" it as a side to his 8nglish Rose

that he had not seen before. And" as 7uic!ly as it had surfaced

the shado passed over her face and as gone. 5er e?pres;

sion 7uic!ly replaced ith the pretty angelic features he !ne

%'


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and loved. Gvette too! a step toards him and using her right

arm embraced him folloed by a pec! on the chee!. What

as unseen to 6loyd as her other hand as she slipped an ob;

or perhaps youd

li!e me toF 2he cooed tilting her head to one side pouting li!e

a 6rench model.

Why" Miss 2emple" 0 do believe you are flirting ith

me. 6loyd 7uipped trying to compose himself" Catch you

later.

As he al!ed bac! to the apartment along Jnion :rove

he could hear the sound of her sports car turning onto 2t

2ithin 2treet and accelerating aay rapidly. 0t as 7uieter

no and in a moment of solitude 6loyd briefly considered


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picture scrolled don the screen. 2atisfied ith the result

6loyd flic!ed though the channels hoping for something light;

hearted and funny to pic! up his mood. 5aving made a bre

he sat bac! don and atched a stern;loo!ing senior police

officer spea!ing into a microphone as he ansered a reporters

7uestion. 6loyd could

Richard Britten -The Trustee

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