The Reckoning Page #5

Hello Marler. Mine's a whiskey and soda.

Get your own bleeding drinks.

Are you drunk?

Mais oui.

Telephone Mr Marler.

Did you eat them?

Yes, of course.

It's late.

Hello?

Am I speaking to Mr Michael Marler

of Virginia Water?

That's right.

Burke here... Aloysius Burke... Cocky!

Cocky! What news?

Your friends, the English police,

be deciding on your father today.

I hope they never have an inquest on me.

What... what's the verdict?

They didn't want to know. You could see

it written all over their faces.

Mr R. J. Bingham, not the standby coroner.

Decided on the advice of creepy Carolan

and the local bobbies.

That your old man died of natural causes.

You must be joking.

By Jesus, I'm not.

I mean, to hear them talk, he dropped

dead watching a football match.

I imagine i's a question of what WE are

going to do about it?

Not forgetting Mick. You're the only

one who can do anything.

I'll see you on Saturday, Cocky.

Thanks for ringing.

Hello Michael.

I see your profits are down

on the half-yearly.

Just pausing for breath.

Reorganizing.

Putting a bit of method into the

deadbeat firms we bought last year.

That's how we get the kind of

profits that you boys don't.

What exactly do you do

at Grenfells Mr Marler?

I'm the man who does the dirty work.

That lot over there are all gentlemen.

English gentlemen with very clean hands.

And when they tell me to,

I snap my fingers just like that.

And hundreds of yobbos are queuing up on

the dole to keep them in Mercedes.

Freddy says, a little unemployment

never did anybody any harm.

Except my dad.

What?

Except my dad. He was unemployed

for most of his life.

Really?

Really.

Let me tell you about my dad.

Let me tell you!

Quite early on..

On Monday morning..

High... above.

Shut up!

Leave it!

Mrs Marler asked me to play.

Leave it!

Just a lad of eighteen summers.

And there's no-one can deny.

As he walked to death that morning.

He proudly held his head on high.

Just before they hung young Kevin.

In his lonely prison cell.

British soldiers tortured Barry.

Just because he would not tell.

Marler!

What?

I never knew you were an Irishman.

Get out!... Get out!

Out!

I've just left you.

As he walked to death that morning.

He proudly held his head on high.

Have you gone quite mad?

You assault the director of this company

and behave like a guttersnipe.

And you let yourself run amok

like a drunken navvy.

Bishton is contemplating legal action

you know. and Grenfells are behind him.

Why bring Grenfells into this?

I got drunk. I quarreled with my wife.

I thumped somebody for being plain

bloody rude. It all happened in my house.

It's got nothing to do with Grenfells.

Come to think of it, you may be creating

a dangerous precedent.

You wouldn't be telling me what to do,

would you Marler?

I've been doing that for years.

I don't see why I should stop now.

I don't care how good you are Marler,

but I won't be spoken too like that.

Suit yourself.

There will be a place for me at Acolts,

Van Der Polders, or Veldrums. I'll manage.

Should you decide to give me the boot.

I won't be blackmailed, Marler.

Acolts and Van Der Polders may be business

rivals, but we have our contacts with them.

You'll find it very hard, I promise you.

You're under suspension as from now.

Mr Moyle will see you next Tuesday.

When he gets back from Chicago, and I

have no doubt what his decision will be.

He who lives by the boot will die

by the boot Marler!

You pin-striped git!

Don't! You've done quite enough damage

already Marler.

I hope you die a long, slow, lingering,

painful, death.

So... I'm out.

Hilda, could I..?

Rosemary.

Rosemary!

Rosemary.

I've had the sack.

I'm surprised. Bishton wasn't

all that popular.

I'm suspended until Moyle gets back.

Hazlitt?

Most of the others would have promoted you.

I don't want you to go you know.

You and I both manage to live very close

to the borders of sanity, Michael.

Last night you went right over.

It frightened me.

You didn't seem to know what you were

doing for the first time since I met you.

You think you really know me, don't you?

You get more and more like

Rasputin every day..

An uncontrollable peasant

come to kill us all!

You know, with you, the class war

becomes something very personal.

That's because we're both traitors in it.

Ha!

Given a choice, I'd rather be a traitor

for love, than for money.

Love?

Get out!

It was love, Michael.

Not the sort you write poems about.

The sort you make.

Well, we made it and we fought and

we stayed ourselves.

We didn't get sludged up in the

old matrimonial soup.

So now we can both get out. Intact.

I'll miss you.

Why don't you stop being so bloody modern

and throw something?

You really did revert to type out there

didn't you?

No... no... no more Mr Marler.

Here's to the old days.

Good morning. I'm looking for a room.

I've got a room for a day or two, but it's

a double. You'll have to pay for a double.

That's okay.

"Commercial", are you?

That's right.

I sell dental equipment to vets.

There's one over there Mr Marler.

The blue one.

Oh that'll be fine.

I've got one or two calls to make

in the area. I'll be back before Monday.

Official is it?

Listen Bottomley.

If it wasn't for me you'd still be a shop

steward arguing the toss for car-washers.

I ain't forgotten Mr Marler.

Here's the keys. Glad to be of service.

Good.

I'll pick it up some time tomorrow,

if that's okay.

That's perfectly okay by me, Mr Marler.

Having a bit of run around are you?

Well, while the cat's away..

Hello. Aunt Tess isn't it?

Michael! Oh Jesus, Mary and Joseph,

who'd have known you?

Come on in.

It's Michael.

Mick.

You know Nellie and Christina from

Ireland, don't you?

Yes.

Michael, there you are!

Hello, aunt Maggie.

You'll be ready for a cup of tea now.

Don't you bother, I can nip through

and fix it myself.

Not at all..

I insist. Is Katherine in?

Yes, she is.

They're great at making cups of tea,

but not so good at washing up here.

Did you see the inquest in the Echo?

Our noble Dr Carolan didn't distinguish

himself in the face of the enemy then.

Nobody cares. The police least of all.

Carolan does what's expected.

Does this lot know what really happened?

No. Nor does Ma.

Do you?

I can guess. Do you know who it was?

Hey, where you off?

Have no fear. I'm merely escaping the camp

when she's at the theater.

I'll have a word with Carolan because

if he won't change his mind..

If you think you're going to get that fellah

to stick his neck out, you're mistaken.

I can always try.

You want me do something, don't you?

Well, if you don't, I will.

See you later kid.

Hey, be careful Mick.

Now look Michael. You see. I pulled you

into life with these. You see?

Well I don't quite see what that has

to do with it, Doctor. My old fellah..

It's got this to do with it Mr Marler from

London, or wherever you scuttled off to.

I use these hands to bring people into

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