Legacy. Jeff Edwards

mercies.

      Suddenly, she was front-page news.

      ‘Ex-Madam Slays Former Partner’ screamed the headlines.

      Overnight, the public was reintroduced to the infamous Jade Green, former owner of the bordello named the Garden of Eros and its reputed client list of the famous and not-so famous of the time.

      A generation that had missed the story the first time was told how Green had been video-taping her clients when she was arrested, and provided with details of the infamous murder that had followed.

      Speculation was again rife as to who her regular clients had been. She had never revealed that information, even under oath, and had been jailed as a result.

      The newspapers speculated as to whether those legendary tapes still existed.

      Walter Groom’s death at her hands was fully investigated and Green was found to have acted in self-defence. No charges were laid.

      Groom had been regarded as an upstanding member of the community, but when his business relationship with Green had been revealed the entire range of his less-than-legal activities finally came to light. His grieving family quickly and quietly disowned him, and the police moved in to seize many of his assets as the profits of crime.

      The President of the USA called on his security advisor and ordered him to move their surveillance of Green to a higher level.

      At the same time, the Prime Minister was also raising the topic of Jade Green with his cabinet.

      As usual, Prime Minister David Foster entered the room surrounded by his numerous secretaries and took his seat at the head of the conference table.

      Moving through the meeting’s agenda, they finally reached the final topic – Jade Green.

      ‘What are we going to do about her?’ he asked his Minister of Inland Security.

      ‘There’s not a great deal we can do at present. She hasn’t done anything. If she had broken the law, then we could put some pressure on her. As it is, we were only able to talk to her in conjunction with the death of Groom. She did finally admit that Walter Groom was her silent partner in the Garden of Eros,’

      ‘What about the video-tapes?’ asked the Health Minister on the opposite side of the table.

      The Prime Minister raised an eyebrow at the minister in question and then realised that he was probably of an age to have had personal experience of the Garden of Eros.

      ‘As far as we know, they no longer exist, or never existed in the first place. It’s possible that they’re just a legend.’

      ‘Rubbish,’ exclaimed the Health Minister. ‘She was found video-taping when she was arrested.’

      ‘You seem to know a lot about this matter,’ commented the Prime Minister dryly.

      The Health Minister blushed guiltily. ‘A friend of mine told me all about Green and her house of ill repute,’ he blustered.

      ‘Did he get the tape back?’ asked another minister.

      ‘No. Inland Security still has it,’ replied the Minister for Inland Security.

      ‘Don’t you think it should be returned?’ asked the Prime Minister.

      ‘We’re still keeping it for evidence. Other tapes may turn up and we need to keep this one for comparison.’

      ‘I don’t see what the fuss is all about,’ said the young Minister for Education. ‘This all happened years ago. It’s ancient history.’

      Foster rose to speak. He had to let his Cabinet know just how important the matter had become.

      Looking at the Minister of Education he said: ‘You might have been correct if the tapes had come to light immediately after Jade Green’s arrest. True, if it had happened at that time, there would have been great controversy, figures of importance would have been shown to have feet of clay, reputations would have been lost, futures ruined, marriages broken, but it would all be out in the light, finished, done with. Life would have moved on.

      ‘As it stands now, we are looking at a potential for universal disaster. The people in those tapes are older now. They have gone from being young, thoughtless, Lotharios to being the current leaders in this, and other, countries. They now hold positions of power in politics, religion, business and the military.

      ‘Imagine what would happen if those tapes were to fall into the wrong hands. Whoever controls those tapes will be able to exert power over our entire nation and, I believe, over numerous other nations as well. Unless those tapes can be found, then this country is at the mercy of whoever has them.’

      He sat down and looked around the table. The Minister of Health stared down at the table, unable to meet anyone’s eye. The others were also deep in thought.

      The Minister of Education spoke up: ‘But I wasn’t even around back then. It can’t affect me.’

      The Prime Minister turned to him with a sigh: ‘It may not affect you personally, Minister, but can you vouch for everyone on your staff, or in your family. It only needs to be one person in your circle. That person can be forced to bring undue pressure to bear, and vital decisions could be influenced, one way or another.’

      The Minister nodded, finally conceding the importance of the matter. ‘What do we do?’ he asked.

      The Prime Minister took a deep breath and began: ‘We have to get our hands on the tapes before anyone else does. Then we have to evaluate what is on them. After that, we’ll make a decision what is to be done with them.’

      ‘Surely we destroy them,’ said the Minister of Health.

      The Prime Minister smiled at his discomfort: ‘We probably will destroy most of them, but it would be entirely remiss of us not to use some of those tapes to benefit our own country.’

      ‘You mean blackmail,’ said the Minister of Education.

      ‘We would simply use them to guide outcomes that would be beneficial to our country and world peace as a whole,’ countered the Prime Minister.

      Put in such well meaning terms, the ministers readily agreed to the policy, and passed the responsibility for getting their hands on the videos to Inland Security.

      Chapter One

      Following the meeting, the Minister for Inland Security called on his department head, the long-serving spy-master, John Thorpe.

      Thorpe had been waiting. After all these years Jade Green was back on the security agenda, as he knew she would be, eventually. The Prime Minister had heard about the matter from an old school friend. At the time of her imprisonment Thorpe had tried to get her to reveal the whereabouts of the videos, but she had remained defiant. Time and again, he had interrogated her. Eventually his superiors had ordered him to give up and move on to other assignments.

      Now he was being given a second chance to pit his wits against an old foe. This time he would succeed; he would find the legendary videos. It was all unfinished business to him.

      The matter was discussed in depth and it was agreed the tapes must be located and secured intact. If anyone else were to be found to be searching for them, they must be discouraged at all costs.

      ‘What about Jade Green herself?’ asked the department head.

      ‘The Prime Minister is not inclined to make any move against a citizen of this country unless they are acting in a manner that threatens the welfare of other citizens, or security as a whole. So far Green has given us no reason to take any sort of overt or