Resumen Novela Officially Dead

Officially Dead (Richard Prescott, 1999)

the meeting II
Colin Fenton and his wife Julie lived in Bath. They owned a computer software company, Julie was the

developer, and Colin took care of finances, the marketing and the training courses.

He was teaching a course in Brentwood, and by night he went to a pub. While drinking, he saw a man who

looked just like him, the same age, same hair style, as tall as him, and the same factions. He walked to the other

man, they introduced themselves and laughed. The other one, John Bentley, introduced his wife Linda to

Colin, and Colin told them about him. Before going away, Colin told he would be back in Brentwood, perhaps

they could meet again, and he left. The Bentleys argued because John was jealous. Linda told him Colin would

be useful to her plans of a big robbery.

the business II
Colin and Julie worked separated, they rarely saw each other. When Colin met Booker, the accountant, he was

told they owed a lot of money, and they had to get new software orders. Colin answered they expected a big

contract from Jackman, and he had arranged a loan.

Back at the office, he got a perfumed letter from Linda, inviting him to dinner. He kept the phone number and

threw the rest away, to avoid Julie to see it.

Linda lived in Glasgow with an aunt till her 18th, then she went to London. There she met John, who was a
lorry driver. He always hadplenty of money from thieving, and spent it in presents for her. She began to take
care of him, and they got married a year later. After being in prison, he had decided to go straight, and she got
a job for him, in the jewellery she was working.
A few weeks after the letter, Colin phoned Linda and they arranged a meeting for next Wednesday. Linda
knew his husband wouldn’t be home. They ate and drunk, and Linda offered him a 10.000 pounds job. He
expected another kind of offer. Then he kissed her and they spent the night together.
Next morning, Linda told Colin he could provide John a perfect alibi for a big robbery.
Weeks later Colin accepted the job. John turned jealous again when he was told about Linda’s second
meeting with Colin, but later she convinced him to see Simpson, who could fence the jewels for them. The
robbery’s day, Colin told Julie he would meet Jackman to talk about the software, and convinced her not to go.
Then he rented a room in Manchester as John Bentley, but he went to London instead. at night he met the
Bentleys, they exchanged cars and driving licenses, and arranged a meeting for next Tuesday to exchange
cars and licences again, and Colin to be paid.
As motorways were busy, Colin drove faster on smaller roads, till he lost car control in a curve and crashed
into a tree. Mark Ashwood, who drove behind him, saw the accident,and tried to help him. Colin asked him to
tell Julie he was sorry. Firemen took Colin out of the car, but doctors’ couldn´t help him. Mark told the police
Colin’s last wish, so policewoman offered to give him the dead man’s address.
In the meantime, John was ready for the robbery, and as waiting for John’s call, police arrived. John hid, and
police told Linda her husband had died. That was why she asked John to hide till the theft, while she had “her
husband’s” funeral.
Mark was an accountant and business consultant, he helped other companies to improve their profits.
Julie got angry on being told Colin hadn’t met Slater (Jackman), then she turned afraid, because she couldn’t
neither find Colin, nor phoning him. She reported her missing husband.
Linda identified “her” husband, and returned home with the money she had paid Colin. Another day, she left
Colin´s car in Heathrow airport. A few days later, police found it, and they said Julie his husband might have
left the country.
A few days later Julie met Booker, and he told her about their debts. By then, she already knew Jackman had
refused to buy the new software. That night she decided to put an ad with Colin’s photo and data.
After talking to the police, Mark went to Julie’s supposed address, and he could see a man who looked like
Colin, and noticed Julie was called Linda. When he saw thead, he thought that could be the woman he was
looking for. He met Julie and told her about the accident and his meeting with Linda, but she didn’t believe him.
The Bentleys rented a hotel room to take John out of his house. When everything was ready, they made the
robbery. John had the keys and he knew the alarm codes, the place and where the jewellery was. He also
broke some glasses and set some detonators perform / prepare his alibi. When Linda arrived, they put
everything in the van and left.
Next morning Linda went to work and she looked surprised on being told about the robbery. A few minutes
later the manager offered her to leave the job immediately.
In the meantime, Julie found Colin’s passport, and she knew he couldn’t have left. She met Mark, and as
talking they thought Colin and John could have exchanged documents and cars, and Mark could be right.
Then they decide to look for Linda, and ask her about Colin.
Linda left her house and met Frankie Simpson at the Red Lion, who gave her the money. Mark and Julie
arrived while she was leaving her house, and they followed her ‘till John’s hotel. Once there John got in and
they left.
As driving, Linda suspected she was being followed by a blue car, then she recognized Mark driving.
Suddenly she stopped the car, John fired and injured Julie. Mark jumped out of the car, and while he fought
withJohn, Linda hit his head, and the Bentleys drove away.
A few days later Mark woke up in a hospital and he told the police about the Bentleys. Police already knew the
robbery had been an inside job, and they suspected about the Bentleys.
After leaving hospital, Mark became Julie’s friend, then her accountant and advisor, and lastly, they fell in love.
Seven years later, Julie read in a newspaper the Bentleys had been caught and Linda had confessed. Finally,
Colin was officially dead.

Chapter 1. The meeting

Colin Fenton was in Brentwood, teaching a computer software course to the staff of Sutton Chemicals
Company. He didn’t like those courses, because they were dull and tedious. By the evening, he unsuccessfully
phoned his wife in Bath, and then he went for dinner to the pub he had earlier seen.
After the meal, he passed through the bar and bought a drink. The pub was crowded, but he didn’t care.
Suddenly, he saw a man at the other end of the bar, and walked towards him. The other man was looking at
him too. They faced each other and laughed. They were almost the same person, both in their thirties; they
had identical features and the same hairstyle too. They introduced themselves, and John Bentley, the other
one, invited Colin to meet his wife Linda. She was surprised to see that they could be doubles, or twin
brothers, like John said. On beingasked about him, Colin told his new friends that he lived in Bath with his wife
Julie, they owned a computer software company, and that he was teaching a course. He also told them he
looked after the company’s finances and the marketing, his wife was the developer. Both men drunk quiet
much, and he became talkative, as John was silent. When it was time to leave, Colin said he was coming
again to Brentwood in a month’s time, and they could meet again. Colin walked to his hotel thinking of Linda
Bentley instead of his course. The Bentleys went to their car arguing because John thought his wife had been
flirting with Colin. She told him that Colin was useful to her plans of a big robbery, and they had to meet him
again.

Chapter 2. The Business

Colin and Julie had their own jobs; they worked with separated cars and rarely see each other during the day.
Two weeks after meeting the Bentleys, Colin went to see Mr. Booker, the company accountant, and he
advertised Colin that they were spending too much money and they needed some large orders coming in
soon, or they would go out of business. Colin said to him they were expecting a big contract, and he had
arranged a loan at the bank.
When Colin arrived at the office, Julie was leaving. After asking him about his meeting with Booker, he told her
that Booker needed some papers, but didn’t tell her about theeconomic trouble.
Once at his desk, he opened the letters his secretary had left on it. The last one was from Linda Bentley. She
told him they would love to meet him again; they had enjoyed his funny stories, and she also left him her
phone number. Colin smelt the letter perfume, and doubted about the letter meaning, thinking it could be
embarrassing for him, so he tore it off, put the phone number in his wallet, the rest of it into the waste-paper
bin.

Chapter 3. The Plan

Linda Bentley didn’t know her father, and her mother disappeared when she was 12, so she learnt to look
after herself. Until her eighteens, she lived with an aunt and uncle in Glasgow, and then she went to London.
As working in a pub, she met John Bentley, who was an orphan, and that was common between them. John
didn’t know how to look after himself, so Linda tried to do it. By then, he was a lorry driver, and he always had
plenty of money that he spent on presents for Linda. A year after their first meeting, they got married.
A few months later, when he was sent to prison, she found that his money came from thieving. She was alone
again, but decided to search for another job and wait for John. When he got out of prison, Linda worked in a
jewellery shop. Her job was much better paid and more pleasant too. She convinced her manager to give John
a job, even though he knew abouthis past in prison.
A few weeks after sending the letter to Colin, Linda received a phone call. John was watching TV, so he
couldn’t hear the conversation.
The ring was from Colin, and they arranged to meet in the pub next Wednesday, and to have dinner at the
Bentleys house. Linda knew her husband would be away that night. John asked about the ring, but she said
that somebody had called a wrong number.
By next Wednesday evening, Colin was tired and didn’t want to see his friends, but it was too late to cancel
the meeting. When he arrived at the pub, Linda was waiting for him. She told him John was in Liverpool,
watching a football match. They talked and after a few drinks, Linda drove Colin to her house. As they ate and
drank coffee, they talked about each other, and suddenly he was looking straight to her eyes. She smiled and
looked down, pretending to be embarrassed. Then she asked him if he wanted to earn 10.000 pounds in a one
night’s job. He was expecting another kind of offer.
They didn’t discuss that. He only asked her to take him back to the hotel. She began to cry and said to him
that she had spoilt the night; then he kissed her and proposed her to take him back next morning. They spent
the night together.
Next morning, Linda drove him back. He asked about her offer; she said her husband was going to need an
alibi for one night, just tomake a robbery. Colin had to pretend being John Bentley and stay in a hotel using
that name, so police would not suspect from John. Colin said he needed to think about it and they said
goodbye each other.

Chapter 4. The Journey

A few weeks later Colin confirmed Linda he would do the job, and they arranged the robbery’s date for 10th
January. Then Linda had to tell John about the plan and her second meeting with Colin. John didn’t remember
Colin, but he got jealous and furious when he was told that Linda had met Colin as he was in Liverpool. They
fought, John hit his head and fell down; she went to bed. Half an hour later, when they both were in bed, she
convinced John to see Frankie Simpson, who could fence the jewels for them.
One morning in early January, while talking about Jackman’s project, Colin told Julie he would meet Slater,
from Jackman’s, in Manchester, and convinced her not to go with him.
On Tuesday 10th January he booked a hotel room in Manchester using John’s name, and put on casual
clothes not to look like a businessman, but as John Bentley as well. He didn’t drive directly to Manchester, he
went towards London instead. By 8 o’clock he met the Bentleys, they exchanged driving licenses and cars for
a perfect alibi, and Linda gave Colin 5000 pounds as half-pay. Colin had to phone the Bentleys later that
evening, and they also arrangedto meet them there again next Thursday, for exchanging again licences and
cars.

Chapter 5. The Accident

The motorways were busy and traffic moved slowly, so Colin left the motorways and drove on smaller roads
towards Manchester. As the road was clear, he accelerated. In a shape curve, he lost car control and after
rolling over, it crashed into a huge tree.
Another car travelled behind his, and Mark Ashwood, its driver, saw the accident. After stopping a lorry driver
and asking him to call 911, Mark returned to see Colin. Colin asked Mark to tell Julie he was sorry. Later, as a
fire crew took Colin out of his car and doctors checked him, Mark told the police what had happened. The
police gave Mark their telephone number, so Mark could phone them next Monday, to know Colin’s wife
address. Mark had to tell her what Colin had told him.

Chapter 6. The News

While her husband died, Julie was at home listening to music. Due to Colin had not phoned her, she went to
bed angry.
In the meantime in Brentwood, the Bentleys were expecting Colin’s phone call too. John was prepared for the
robbery. He was dressed in black; he had a gun and the equipment ready. Suddenly a police car stopped at
Bentleys, and John ran upstairs for hiding as Linda opened the door. Police told Linda that her husband had
died earlier in a car accident, so she had to recognize hisbody. She was very surprised, that wasn’t in her
plans.
After police left, John came downstairs and asked Linda if Colin had betrayed them with the police. She said
to him Colin was dead, but she would have her husband’s funeral, because no one knew that John Bentley
wasn’t really dead. Consequently John would have to be hiding until the robbery, then, they would go to Spain.

Chapter 7. The Wife

Mark Ashwood was not only an accountant but also a business consultant, that is to say he helped other
people, equally small companies, to improve their profits. Although he tried to work once at home after the
accident, he couldn’t stop thinking on the dead man’s last wish.
Next afternoon, while working, Julie received a phone call from Jackman. That was Slater, wondering about
Colin, because he hadn’t arrived yet, therefore he questioned Julie where he was. Due to that, she asked
Slater to wait for Colin’s ring. As a result, she got furious, she didn’t know anything about Colin, and neither
she nor Maggie the secretary knew which hotel he had stayed at.
As the day passed, Julie turned from anger to fear, because besides she couldn’t contact Colin, she didn’t
know if something had happened.
Next morning Julie reported to the police her missing husband. Police asked her about Colin’s description, his
cloth and car, how often he made trips like that,and also if they had been arguing or separated before. At last
police said if he didn’t want to come back, that was not of their business.

Chapter 8. The Funeral

The following days, John spent them hiding in his own home, even though he didn’t like it at all.
Linda had gone to identify “her husband’s” body, and after returning, she checked into Colin’s suitcase and
briefcase, till she recovered the 5.000 pounds they had given him. Another night, she drove Colin’s BMW till
Heathrow Airport and left it in the car-park, so that when police found it, they would think Colin had flown to
another country.
Due to the accident, many people went to Linda’s and sympathized with her. As John couldn’t leave his room,
he was angry with Julie, he used to play with a gun, and even aimed at her. After the funeral, Colin’s corpse
was cremated and the ashes scattered.
John was getting mad of being locked, so Linda said she first would advice her manager she would leave her
job at the month’s end, and then they would make the robbery. John’s alibi would be perfect, because he was
officially dead, therefore a dead man couldn’t rob. That night, they went to a small near village for a meal. They
were sure nobody would recognize them there.

Chapter 9. The Advertisement

As Colin’s body was cremated, Julie was working. First she prepared some files to Mr. Booker,and then she
saw Jackman’s fax refusing to buy the new software. Lastly, quite angry, she went to see Mr. Booker. Booker
told her he had been talking to Colin about their financial problems. Julie didn’t know about them. Therefore,
Booker said they owed 10.000 pounds, and after this, Julie said the contract was lost. Smiling, Booker said
Colin couldn’t accept failure, that’s why he had run away.
That night, at home, looking at Colin’s photo, Julie cried and wondered where he was. She didn’t care about
neither police nor Booker’s opinion; all she wanted was to have her husband back. Consequently, she decided
to put an ad with Colin’s photo in the newspapers. Perhaps someone had seen him, or knew about him.

Chapter 9. The Advertisement

The day Colin was cremated as John Bentley; Linda went to work very early. Even though she wasn’t used to,
she prepared the accounts to Mr. Booker. In addition, a fax from Jackman said they didn’t want the new
software, news like that wasn’t good. Once at Booker’s, he told Julie not only he had been talking to Colin
about the economic debts the Fentons had, but also he understood Colin’s runaway because of them.
Later, at home, while she looked at Colin’s picture and cried, she wondered where he was. Consequently, she
decided to put an ad in the newspapers with Colin’s photo and data. Perhaps someone had seen
himanywhere.

Chapter 10. The Search

First Mark phoned the police and learnt the name and address of the dead man. Then he arranged to go
climbing with his friends on the weekend. At last, next Monday he went to meet his new client, and by the
afternoon, he went to the Bentley’s, looking for Julie. Once there Linda invited him to come in, and suddenly
John, who was upstairs, asked if that was Linda talking. She said to Mark the man was a friend of her. Mark
first told her who he was, then what had happened on the accident’s day, and finally he left. He had noticed the
man upstairs looked like Colin, the woman didn’t look unhappy about her husband’s death, and also her name
was Linda, not Julie.
Earlier that day, Linda had been talking to Frankie Simpson, they had arranged a share to him for fencing the
jewellery, and he was surprised because he thought John would make the robbery, but he was dead then.
Next morning Mark saw Colin’s photo in the newspaper, and the ad said his wife Julie was searching for him.
Perhaps that was the woman Mark was looking for.

Chapter 11. The visit

After being called by the police, Julie went to the airport to look for Colin’s car. There was no luggage inside it;
therefore, perhaps he really had left the country. Later Julie answered Mark’s call and arranged a meeting. He
told Julie about Colin’s death, alsoabout his meeting with Linda, but she laughed at him. After that, he left his
card with a phone number and left.

Chapter 12. The Robbery

After Mark's visit, the Bentleys rented a room in a cheap hotel for John.
A Tuesday evening, they made the robbery. Linda drove to the back door of the jewellery shop, John got off
and she left. With the keys and using gloves, he got in and locked from the inside. He keyed both the alarm
code to reset it and the strong-room code to open it. Once inside, first he covered the video camera lens, then
filled and carried boxes with jewels and precious stones to the back door. After finishing, he put an explosive
charge with a detonator on the strong-room door, and set the timer. On the upper storey /ste-o:ri/ roof he used
a jack to smash the skylight's glass and tore apart the grille's bars. After this, he returned to the front part of
the shop, he opened some glass display cabinets and took the jewels, and then he broke the glasses with the
jack. The explosion broke the strong-rooms lock. When Linda arrived, he opened the back door, and they both
loaded the boxes and equipment in the van. Then he returned and reset the alarm locked and immediately
began ringing. He locked both door and shutter, and Linda drove fast away. John got off at the hotel; she drove
till the Red Lion, where Frankie Simpson helped her to getthe boxes into the pub. Then they checked them
and Linda went home.
It struck 6. At almost 9 she arrived at Sandwell’s to work, and tried to look surprised when she saw the police.
Linda asked what had happened, and she was told that some organized thieves got in through the skylight and
they were gone by the time the police arrived, 10 minutes after the alarms started.
As Linda was leaving her job at the weekend, Mr. Rose, her manager, offered her to leave the work then,
‘cause the shop would be closed for a few days, so she left.

Chapter 13. The Truth

On the Thursday evening, as doing some housework, Julie found Colin’s passport, due to that, she knew he
couldn’t have left the country. He should be somewhere, perhaps ill, or unconscious, in an accident. She
remembered the people who said they had seen Colin near to Mark’s accident place, that’s why she phoned
him for a meeting. Once at Mark’s, he made coffee and first spoke about the accident again, then told Julie
about his meeting with Linda Bentley, who wasn’t called Linda, and the man he saw very alike to Colin, who
might be John Bentley. He could also have exchanged documents and cars with Colin. Julie thought there
must have been a funeral, but for John, not for Colin, who had really died. Consequently they decide to look for
Linda, perhaps she could give the answers they wanted.Chapter 14. The Chase
While Mark and Julie travelled to London, Linda took some clothes and both passports, hers and John’s, and
got ready to leave her house. British Passport Authority didn’t know about John death, so he could travel, and
in Spain they could get new identities. She looked for Frankie Simpson at the Red Lion, he gave her the
money, and went back home to return the house keys.
Due to Mark and Julie arrived when Linda was leaving her house; they followed her to the hotel where John
expected for her. In the meantime, Linda began to suspect about the blue Volvo which was always behind her,
and she even recognized Mark driving. John left the hotel and Linda drove towards Dover, to get a ferry to
France.
Later, Linda got off the main road, and Mark followed her. Suddenly the Bentleys stopped and someone fired
a gun which injured Julie. Mark saw John running towards him aiming at him. As he was close enough, Mark
threw the door open, smashing John. He got out the car and began fighting with John, holding his arm so he
couldn’t fire. Suddenly Linda came and hit his head, as he fell unconscious the Bentleys drove away to Calais.
Later they took a train to Spain and to freedom.
Hours later, Mark woke in a hospital. A few days later Mark was told he and Linda had been found by a
motorcyclist who had also called the police.
Mark told the policeabout Colin and the Bentleys, which helped to connect the Bentleys with the robbery
‘cause police had found that it had been an inside job. Due to thieves had keys and they knew the alarm
codes, police noticed no footprints on the roof, the skylight had been broken by the inside, and the jewellery
had been taken before breaking the glass.
London police reported the crime to Interpol, though it was too late, they would be in Spain, and they’d
probably changed names appearances.

Chapter 15. Officially Dead

After leaving hospital, first Mark made friends with Julie, and then he became her accountant and advisor, and
also suggested to sell licences to different companies for using the software, instead of selling a program to
only one client. Another good idea was to leave renting offices, and to work independently at home with
regular meetings. Soon after, Mark became financial director of C.J.F., and as they were in love, they went
living together.
Seven years later, reading a newspaper, Julie began to cry. She and Mark read that the Bentleys ahd been
arrested in Spain, charged of robbery and murder. They were discovered when Linda tried to claim an aunt
property using her real name. She also recognized the cremated man was Colin Fenton, and her husband was
alive.
At last, Julie knew Colin had his own name again, and he was officially dead then.