The Half Truth(80)

Tina shook hands. She was surprised that the branch manager himself should greet her. Sasha must have been a valued customer. It sat uncomfortably with her. ‘Highly valued’ in the banking world usually meant high net worth. In Sasha’s case, this meant laundered money. She shrugged the thought away, replacing it with that of Nikolay. She was doing this for a young boy who needed lifesaving treatment, which could only be paid for by this means. It eased her conscience. Just.

Tina followed Mr Thomas into a small interview room situated on the other side of the lift doors.

‘I do need to go through some security checks, if that’s all right with you, Mrs Bolotnikov?

‘Of course.’ She wouldn’t have expected anything else. Sasha had told her it would be very straightforward, there were no trick questions or answers. She would know all the right responses, for they were the truth. The only thing she needed to remember was the password.

She handed over her passport as photographic identification. Mr Thomas tapped away at the touch-screen computer in front of him, recording her passport number.

‘Can you confirm you mother’s maiden name, please?’

‘Morris.’

‘Mr Bolotnikov’s date of birth and full name?’

Tina answered the questions duly, each time Mr Thomas nodding and tapping at the screen.

‘Finally, can you confirm password one?’

‘Windermere.’

‘And password two?’

‘Pier. As in Brighton Pier.’

‘Thank you.’ Mr Thomas looked up from the monitor. ‘I’m pleased to say that you’ve passed all the security checks. Everything is in order. Can I take this opportunity to offer you my condolences? It is with sadness that we meet. Your late husband made provisions that you would only come here to collect the safe-deposit contents in the event of his death. I was, of course, hoping this meeting would never take place.’

‘Thank you,’ said Tina.

‘I trust you have the key with you,’ said Mr Thomas. ‘We only issued the one key.’

‘Yes, I have it right here.’ Tina took the silver key from her purse. The key to Sasha’s heart. God, had she been so naïve to believe all his lies? She hated that she now had such conflicting feelings about him. Before he came back she only ever had love and respect for him. Now her emotions swung back and forth like a pendulum.

Tina followed Mr Thomas through a series of corridors, CCTV tracking their every step. Finally, they reached the vaulted strong room. A security guard was there to meet them. Tina was escorted into a room about the size of an average bedroom. Three walls were lined with drawers of varying sizes; smaller letter-sized drawers to her left, gradually increasing in size until the ones on her right were the size of a small suitcase. A table and two chairs occupied the middle of the room.

Mr Thomas pointed out drawer number eighty-six. ‘That’s yours there, Mrs Bolotnikov. We will leave you in private now. If you need anything, please ring the bell here.’ He pointed to a doorbell on the wall next to the door. ‘Likewise, when you’ve finished, ring it and we will let you out.’

Tina waited for the two gentlemen to leave and closed the door behind them. She ignored the claustrophobic sensation of being shut into a small space with her only way out dependent on someone else opening the door.

She put her bag on the table and approached box eighty-six. Turning the key, the door opened with ease. Tina’s hands shook as she reach in and pulled out a cardboard shoebox. Men’s shoes. Size 10. Sasha’s size. A picture of a pair of desert boots was printed on the end of the box. She remembered the boots well. He had worn them a lot.

The box felt heavier than she had expected. Holding it with two hands, she gave it a small shake, but there was no sound or feeling of movement.

Tina placed the box on the table. The lid had been taped down and, using the edge of the key, she sliced around the lip of the box. She wiggled the lid free. She knew there was going to be cash in the box, Sasha had told her so.

Pink and purple bundles of notes filled the box, an elastic band keeping each one neatly in place. She ran her fingers across the money, pushing thoughts of its origin from her mind. She focused on the picture she had seen of Nikolay. A small innocent boy. If this money could be used to save his life then neither Sasha nor the police officer would have died pointlessly. She had to make something good come out of something bad.

Tina began taking the bundles of notes from the box, transferring them in to the rucksack she had brought with her. She didn’t count the money, but estimated each bundle contained around five thousand pounds. She would wait until she got home to count it properly and check it matched Sasha’s figure. There was no CCTV in the room, for which she was grateful. She didn’t want to imagine what she must look like as she stuffed bundle after bundle into her bag.