‘No. Actually, it’s a custody case I have coming up in front of Bernard. I know you don’t soil your hands with that kind of work now that you live in the exalted world of banking –’
He laughed.
‘I still retain a distant memory of it. What’s the problem?’
‘Well, I’ve got the wife. There are two children, aged seven and five, who are with her at the moment. Bernard has given her interim custody, but only because they are with her, and he’s made it clear that the final result may be different. He’s ordered a welfare officer’s report.’
‘What’s her complaint against the husband?’
‘That’s just it. She doesn’t really have one, except that he works far too hard and gets annoyed with her if she goes out for a night on the town with her friends.’
Aubrey raised his eyebrows.
‘That doesn’t sound like a particularly serious complaint. Did she leave him?’
‘Yes, and she took the children with her.’
‘I’m afraid that sounds rather like desertion to me,’ Aubrey said.
‘Well, she does say they had violent arguments and that he hit her a few times. But he denies any violence, and he comes across as a decent, hard-working kind of man.’
‘That doesn’t mean he didn’t hit her,’ Aubrey pointed out. ‘Domestic violence knows no social barriers.’
Harriet nodded. ‘Agreed, but –’
‘But you don’t believe her?’
‘I’m not sure I do. And it gets worse.’
‘Oh?’
‘The other side has been talking to her friends. Apparently, they’re saying that she drinks too much, and that recently she’s been taking hard drugs and associating with drug dealers.’
‘Is that true, do you think?’
‘Yes, I think it may well be.’
Aubrey looked up at the ceiling for some time.
‘Who’s on the other side?’
‘Jess Farrar.’
He smiled. ‘Mrs Ben Schroeder?’
‘Don’t be so sexist, Aubrey. You are as bad as Filby. She is Jess Farrar.’
‘Sorry, no offence intended. She’s very good, so I hear.’
‘That doesn’t get you off the hook. But yes, she is.’
He shook his head.
‘Well, if she can persuade Bernard that anything like that is going on – drugs and the like – you can wave goodbye to custody. He may not even allow her access except under strict supervision. You know how conservative he is about things like that.’
‘That’s my problem, Aubrey. I’m not sure the other side can actually prove any of it. A lot of it sounds like hearsay. But with Jess against me –’
The phone on Aubrey’s desk rang abruptly.
‘Give me a moment,’ he said, raising a hand. ‘Yes? What? Oh, yes, she is, Merlin. Just one moment.’
He handed the receiver to Harriet.
‘Merlin. There’s a call for you.’
‘You’re busy,’ she said. ‘I can have it transferred to my room.’
He shook his head. ‘That’s all right.’
‘Hello,’ she said. ‘Yes, all right, Merlin, put her through, please.’ She put a hand over the mouth of the receiver. ‘This is a coincidence. It’s Val Turner, my instructing solicitor in the case I’m telling you about.’
‘She must be psychic,’ Aubrey smiled.
He turned his attention for a moment to the document he had been reading when she came in. But the change in her face, as she listened silently, drew his attention back to her. Her complexion turned pale, then white, and then to a terrible grey.
‘I’ll call you back later,’ she whispered, handing the receiver back to him.
He stood.
‘Harriet, what’s the matter? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.’
For some time, he thought she had not heard him. She was staring vacantly at the wall above his head.
‘Harriet?’
‘He’s killed her,’ she said eventually.
‘What? What are you talking about?’
‘He’s killed her. The husband. He’s killed my client.’
She stood abruptly.
‘I’m sorry, Aubrey. I have to go.’