Free Lessons in Power by Charlie Cochrane Page A

round. “Thank you for the meal and for being so kind. I’ll tell Alistair that everything is being done for him.”
    Orlando watched the girl’s departure with such concentration he might have been timing it. The
    moment they were sure she was out of earshot, he leaned forward. “I’d love to know where she was the
    night of the murder. Has anyone considered the possibility that she took matters into her own hands?”

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    Charlie Cochrane
    “Then why on earth should she want to get help for her brother? Surely there would be the chance that if I employed competent people, her part in things would come to the fore?” Matthew was a straightforward man and the machinations of other people’s minds were often a puzzle to him.
    “Could be a very clever double bluff if she were absolutely sure she’d covered her tracks.” Orlando
    nodded, as if his view were definitive. “Or it could simply be that she expected us to be incompetent.”
    “She’d have to be a good actress, though,” Jonty chipped in. “She seemed absolutely sincere in
    everything that she said. There was just the part about putting ‘misgivings in the jury’s mind’ being the best that could be hoped forwhich might tie in with her being guilty, but that’s about all. Now, what time will Mr. Collingwood join us, Matthew?”
    “Any moment now, I hope. He can only spare us half an hour, en route from his maiden sister to a
    rather more affectionate lady, by which I mean a widow living near Regent’s Park. He’s happy to delay pleasure for business, but only up to a point.”
    An obliging waiter with a marvellous sense of timing opened the door to their small room and ushered
    the solicitor in. Collingwood was a fine-looking chap in his fifties, with a military bearing and a sharp eye.
    He shook hands all round as Matthew made the introductions.
    The solicitor listened to all that Orlando and Jonty had to say, his eyes bright and keen. He pinpointed exactly where he could set his own bloodhounds on the trail and seemed surprised when Orlando made
    such a point of stating that he wanted Angela’s movements accounted for, although he noted that down as well. After some discussion about proprieties, it was agreed that he should communicate directly with the Cambridge men and he was allowed to set off to see his piece of Sunday delight.
    “I wonder,” Matthew began to question his friends as soon as Collingwood had left, “what Angela
    Stafford can have said to produce such feelings of suspicion in your mind?” He was certain he’d been
    deliberately delayed in the bar with the offer of a cigar and a discussion on the prospects for the Grand National.
    Orlando started a stammering explanation, but was relieved when Jonty smiled and tapped his nose
    saying, “Client confidentiality, Matthew. It’llall come out if it’s relevant.”
    “I will tell you this.” Orlando regained his composure. “When I was young I was brought up to
    believe that women were just a little lower than the angels, although I never saw a lot of evidence of it from those of my acquaintance. My eyes have been well and truly opened this last year or so—I now regard
    them as being a most dangerous and vexatious breed. Mrs. Stewart, Miss Peters and our own housekeeper excepted,” he added with a grin.
    “Oh, I’d figure my mother as deadly and annoying as any of them, Dr. Coppersmith, she just treats
    you with a ridiculous amount of deference.”
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    Lessons in Power
    “I shall be meeting your mother again soon, Jonty.” Matthew had met Helena Stewart before and been
    impressed. Like Orlando before him, he was also eager to encounter the formidable husband who had
    tamed this Amazon. “It’s something I greatly look forward to.”
    “It will be her pleasure, too. She’s mellowed considerably in her middle years and no longer thumps
    anyone as regularly as she did in her youth. Just lashes them with her