"She was so persistent!"
The final barrier, then. To success? Or to being what you really are, David?"
Winterborne moved closer to Aubrey, his back turned to Baird. He was tangibly pleased at the slight flinch of Aubrey's old frame.
"I was fighting for my very existence. For the survival of everything I had built up over a decade and more."
His voice was an intimate, hard whisper.
"I did not intend to lose any of it." His eyes registered Aubrey's contempt and he turned away sharply towards the window.
"I'm tired of this, Kenneth. It serves no purpose."
"No," Aubrey sighed.
"Perhaps I did come to gloat. To watch you fall."
"You wish."
"Strickland has been very cooperative in great detail. The FBI are determined.
Links will be forged, connections made. It is over, David."
Winterborne was silent for a long moment, then he said, without turning from the window and its view of the square:
"Shall we go? As soon as I have called my solicitor?"
"Yes, I think so. I–I'm lunching with your father…"
Winterborne's shoulders twitched, then in a calm voice he said:
Then you will have a very uncomfortable task to perform. An entirely indigestible one. I wish you good luck. Now, excuse me while I make my call—" As he stood beside the ornate French desk, the morning sun glared in at the window. He was haloed by the light, his shoulders unbowed, his tone easy as he spoke to his solicitor. Aubrey felt an overwhelming desire to break his walking stick across David's back.
Instead, he reminded himself of the Special Branch officers downstairs and Baird's silent presence in the room. The cars parked outside in the morning sunlight. It was over. At least to the extent that Gant had been cleared of all charges, all suspicion. When the story broke, very soon now, in the US media, his Medal of Honor would be mentioned, his service record. He would be entirely rehabilitated… presumably to return to his chosen career.
And David would know that he had been beaten by Marian, Gant, Giles, himself. He would probably, if only for a short time, go to prison. He would become untouchable by people of influence, by financial institutions, by governments… It did, after all, seem sufficient punishment, a proper justice.
The thought stimulated him as he waited for Winterborne to finish his conversation.