Best Kept Secret (The Clifton Chronicles, #3)(53)

‘How much could we lose?’

‘I’m afraid it might be as much as twenty to thirty thousand pounds. But at least this time we’ve chosen the date of the battle, and the battlefield, so you should break even at worst, and you might possibly make a bob or two.’

‘If it means replacing Fisher on the board,’ said Giles, ‘as well as spiking Virginia’s guns, thirty thousand pounds would be a cheap price to pay.’

‘While we’re on the subject of replacing Fisher as a board member . . .’

‘I’m not available,’ said Giles, ‘even if I do lose my seat at the election.’

‘I wasn’t thinking of you, Sir Giles. I was rather hoping Mrs Clifton might agree to become a member of the board.’



‘The prime minister, Sir Anthony Eden, visited Buckingham Palace at four o’clock this afternoon, for an audience with Her Majesty The Queen. Sir Anthony asked Her Majesty’s permission to dissolve Parliament in order that a General Election could be held on May 26th. Her Majesty graciously agreed to his request.’

‘Just as you predicted,’ said Virginia as she switched off the radio. ‘When do you intend to tell the unfortunate Mr Dunnett what you have in mind for him?’

‘Timing is everything,’ said Fisher. ‘I thought I’d wait until Sunday afternoon before I asked him to come and see me.’

‘Why Sunday afternoon?’

‘I don’t want any other members of the committee to be around at the time.’

‘Machiavelli would have been proud to have you as chairman of his committee,’ said Virginia.

‘Machiavelli didn’t believe in committees.’

Virginia laughed. ‘And when do you plan to ring our friend in Hong Kong?’

‘I’ll call Benny the night before the AGM. It’s important that he places the sell order the moment Buchanan rises to address the meeting.’

Virginia took a Passing Cloud out of her cigarette case, sat back, and waited for the major to strike a match. She inhaled a couple of times before she said, ‘Don’t you think it’s a coincidence, major, that everything is falling so neatly into place on the same day?’





21


‘DUNNETT, IT’S GOOD of you to drop in at such short notice, especially on a Sunday afternoon.’

‘My pleasure, Mr Chairman. I know you’ll be pleased to hear how well our canvassing is going. The early returns suggest we should win the seat by over a thousand votes.’

‘Let’s hope you’re right, Dunnett, for the party’s sake, because I’m afraid my news is not so good. You’d better have a seat.’

The cheerful smile on the candidate’s face was replaced with a quizzical look. ‘What’s the problem, Mr Chairman?’ he asked as he sat down in the chair opposite Fisher.

‘I think you know only too well what the problem is.’

Dunnett began biting his lower lip as he stared at the chairman.

‘When you applied for this seat and supplied the committee with your CV,’ continued Fisher, ‘it appears you weren’t entirely frank with us.’ Fisher had only ever seen a man turn that white on the battlefield. ‘You’ll recall that you were asked to state what role you played during the war.’ Fisher picked up Dunnett’s CV from his desk and read out loud: ‘Because of an injury sustained on the rugby field, I had no choice but to serve in the Royal Ambulance Corps.’

Dunnett slumped in his chair, like a marionette that had had its strings cut.

‘I have recently discovered that this statement was at best misleading, and at worst duplicitous.’ Dunnett closed his eyes. ‘The truth is that you were a conscientious objector, and served six months in prison. It was only after being released that you joined the ambulance service.’

‘But that was more than ten years ago,’ said Dunnett desperately. ‘There’s no reason that anyone else should find out.’

‘I wish that were the case, Dunnett, but sadly we’ve had a letter from someone who served in Parkhurst with you,’ said Fisher, holding up an envelope that contained nothing more than a gas bill. ‘If I were to go along with this deception, Dunnett, I would be condoning your dishonesty. And if the truth came out during the campaign or, even worse, when you were a Member of Parliament, I would have to admit to my colleagues that I already knew about it, and they would rightly call for my resignation.’

‘But I can still win this election, if only you’ll back me.’

‘And Barrington would win by a landslide if the Labour Party got to hear of this. Don’t forget that he not only won an MC, but escaped from a German prisoner-of-war camp.’

Dunnett bowed his head and began to weep.

‘Pull yourself together, Dunnett, and behave like a gentleman. There’s still an honourable way out.’

Dunnett looked up, and for a moment an expression of hope flickered across his face. Fisher pushed a blank sheet of the constituency’s headed notepaper across to Dunnett, and took the top off his fountain pen.

‘Why don’t we work on this together?’ he said as he handed the pen to him.

‘Dear Mr Chairman,’ dictated Fisher, as Dunnett reluctantly began to write. ‘It is with great regret that I find it necessary to tender my resignation as the Conservative Party candidate at the forthcoming general election –’ Fisher paused before adding – ‘for health reasons.’