Page 91 of Behind Frenemy Lines

Did he think I’d done it? Would be better than it being pinned on Kriya. Should I say it was me?

But did this leak have anything to do with Kriya? She’d talked about it, but that didn’t mean she’d done it. Besides, I couldn’t imagine she’d agreed to pass Shaw’s number to Helen Daley, so Daley could ring Shaw and give her away.

Shaw: “There must be something we can do. Can we sue whoever leaked the number? It must be some kind of, what d’you call it, a data protection crime?”

CG: “We’d have to think about what the cause of action would be.” That’s the formula Farah uses when she meansYou haven’t got a case.“Though we’d have to know who it was, in order to mount a claim.”

Shaw: “That’s what I’m saying. There’s got to be a leak somewhere.Ididn’t give the bloody woman my number.”

We’d come to the end of the hoardings. The brown waters of the Thames could be seen past the low wall on the other side of the road. We crossed the road.

Shaw came to a stop by the wall along the river. We were opposite the Oxo Tower, its grey tower rising up from the brick façade. The sun had emerged, shining down through chinks in the clouds, sparking light off the waves.

Was sweating in my jacket. Shaw unbuttoned his cuffs and pushed up his sleeves.

Shaw: “That Indian girl you were with on Monday. She’s Malaysian, yeah?”

CG: “I believe so.” Said it quite naturally, as though I didn’t know for certain.

Shaw: “You didn’t mention her before.”

CG: “She stepped in to help get the advice note over the line. There wasn’t much spare capacity in the team, and she volunteered.”

Would have said something about Kriya’s cross-border experience in the ordinary course of things, to make it sound less like she was a warm body we’d chucked at our resource problem.

But this wasn’t an ordinary conversation. Whatever it was Shaw was driving at, I didn’t want Kriya to have any part in it.

Shaw: “She hasn’t been with the firm for long. I looked her up online.”

CG: “No, she was a recent hire, from Brown, Rosenburg and Cushway.” That much he already knew, if he’d seen her LinkedIn profile.

Shaw was smiling. Familiar feeling: He was in on the joke, and I wasn’t. Because I was the joke. “You’d vouch for her?”

CG: “Yes. She’s an excellent lawyer.”

Shaw: “You’re wondering why I’m asking all these questions.”

Wasn’t the only thing I was wondering. Was chiefly ruminating on what a psychiatric assessment would make of Shaw.

Shaw: “I pride myself on my judgment of character. It’s never let me down. And I trust you, Charlie. But this Kriya… I’m not so sure about her involvement. You know, she might think she knows more than she does.”

CG: “She’s leaving the firm, so she won’t be involved in this matter going forward.”

Shaw raised his eyebrows. “Oh, is it? Now, see, this is why we came to you.” Clapped me on the shoulder. Seemed genuinely pleased. “You anticipate what we want, and you make it happen.”

CG: “Kriya resigned for unrelated reasons.”

Shaw: “Sure, sure. Just make sure nothing like this happens again, eh? You want people who are objective on the case. We don’t want any risk of bias, you understand me?”

He took a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, offering me one. I declined.

Shaw lit up. “I’ll be honest with you, I wasn’t sure about Swithin Watkins. Rob was pushing us to go with you guys, but there are other firms with better credentials, for what we were looking for. When I remembered you work there, that’s what swung it for me. Relationships matter to me. They’re what it’s all about—working with people you know and trust. I can trust you, right, Charlie?”

CG: “We always hope to be a trusted advisor to our clients.”

Knew it sounded priggish.

Shaw chortled. “That’s the Charlie Goh I know! You know, Ba used to say to me, ‘Why can’t you be like Goh Boon Ean’s boy? His father and mother don’t have to worry about him. He knows how to behave himself. None of this partying or fooling around with girls.’ Drove me crazy. Just because you never had fun and couldn’t get girls, I had to suffer.” He grinned toothily. “But who’s paying whose fees now?”

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