I then pulled out two sets of trading tickets and wrote in the details of the trades I had just completed. When the tickets were processed, they would ensure that the Tremont Capital bonds would be transferred from Chase, where they were held in custody for De Jong, to the SPV's custodian, Barclays. Similarly, the share certificates for the SPV, which De Jong had just received from Denny Clark, would be sent back round there by messenger. More importantly, De Jong's bank would be instructed to expect payment of $40 million from the SPV.
I looked at the clock. A quarter past one. Just time for a sandwich.
As I stood in the queue in the small sandwich shop I ran through everything in my head one more time. The net result of all this juggling was that De Jong had received back the $20 million it had paid for the bogus Tremont Capital bonds. The SPV now consisted of $20 million of assets in the form of Tremont Capital bonds, funded by $20 million of share capital, all held by Phoenix Prosperity. Since Tremont Capital's only asset was its investment in Phoenix Prosperity, or 'Uncle Sam's Money Machine', Phoenix Prosperity had just bought its own shares. When you unravelled all this, what had happened was that the $20 million that De Jong & Co. had unwittingly invested in Phoenix Prosperity via Tremont Capital, had been repaid. All very neat.
Hamilton, Rob and I were due to go round to Denny's office that afternoon, right after lunch. Denny had promised to have a reception committee for Hamilton. I was looking forward to that meeting.
I was pleased with myself. I had taken Hamilton on at his own game, and beaten him. I couldn't bring Debbie back to life, but at least her murderer would now face justice. De Jong would get their money back, and I would avoid a murder charge. All in all, a satisfactory outcome.
I walked back to my desk clutching a ham-and-cheese roll in a paper bag in one hand, and balancing a black coffee in a polystyrene cup in the other. The coffee from the shop was much better than the stuff which dripped out of the machine in the corridor. Stewart had nipped out for a bite himself. The only two people in the room were Hamilton, who was buried in something, and Rob munching a sandwich over a copy of the
I sat down, and reached for the trading tickets.
They weren't there.
I scrabbled through the papers on my desk. I flipped through the pile of prospectuses. Had I taken them through to administration? No. Had I stuffed them in my briefcase? I was pretty sure I hadn't but I checked anyway. No. Had I hidden them? No.
I could remember what I had done with them. I had left them face-up in the middle of my desk. And they weren't there.
My heart began to beat faster. I took a deep breath and turned round.
Hamilton was standing behind me, holding the tickets out in front of him. He was reading them.
'What's this, Paul?' he said in a neutral voice.
I stood up and leaned against my desk, facing him. I tried to make my reply casual. 'These trades get back the Tremont Capital money for De Jong,' I said.
'Very clever,' he said. He looked up and stared at me. His cold blue eyes looked right into me, piercing straight through my feeble attempt at nonchalance, uncovering the innermost workings of my brain.
He knew I knew.
'You set up Tremont Capital,' I said. My voice sounded quiet and small, as though it belonged to someone else. 'You killed Debbie.'
Hamilton just stared.
The anger erupted inside me. How could anyone do that to her? How could Hamilton do all this to me? The man who had guided me into my chosen profession, who had patiently taught me everything I knew about trading, who had encouraged me to excel, was nothing but a thief and a murderer. Despite, or perhaps because of, his coolness, Hamilton had been more than a boss to me; he had been a mentor, a role model, a father. And all this time he was manipulating me, until finally I had become too dangerous and he had abandoned me.
'Why did you do it?' I said between clenched teeth. I was so angry it was a struggle to get the words out. 'Why did you have to do something so bloody stupid? Why did you ruin everything we have got here? And why did you kill Debbie?' My voice cracked as I said these last words.
'Calm down, laddie,' said Hamilton. 'You're too emotional.'
I lost it. 'What do you mean, calm down?' I shouted. 'Don't you understand what you have done? This is all a fucking game to you, isn't it? We are all just pieces in some never-ending puzzle for you to fiddle about with. But we are people, and you can't just get rid of us when we get in the way.'
I paused for breath. 'I respected you. God, how I respected you. I can't believe how fucking stupid I was. I don't know why you didn't just kill me.'
Hamilton's stare didn't waver. 'You're right,' he said. 'I should have killed you. That was an error. I was too soft. It was unfortunate Debbie had to die, but it was the only solution.'
I had an urge to hit Hamilton as hard as I could, but I resisted it. I looked over to where Rob was sitting, bolt upright in his chair, watching us.
'I suppose he's in on it, too?' I said with contempt. Hamilton must have told him to tell the police that I had killed Debbie.
'Oh, Rob's just a little scared insider trader,' said Hamilton. 'He made his five hundred pounds on Gypsum shares, and now he's afraid he is going to lose his job, just like you. So I asked him to tell the police a little story. Mind you, he seemed quite happy to do it. I don't think he likes you very much.'
Rob reddened and shifted in his chair.
'And I suppose you planted Debbie's earring in my flat?'
Hamilton just shrugged.
I calmed down. 'Well, anyway. It's all over now.'
A thin smile played across his lips. 'No, it isn't.'
He sounded confident. 'What do you mean?' I said.
'You are going to tear up those tickets.'
No way was I going to do that. 'Why?' I said.
Hamilton smiled again, and picked up the phone on the desk behind him. He dialled fourteen digits. America.
'Dick? It's Hamilton.' A pause for a response from Waigel. 'Listen, Dick. We may have some trouble here. I can't explain it all right now. But if I don't call back in five minutes, get hold of your friend and put our plan involving Cathy into action. Then get out of your office and disappear. Got that?'
Another pause as Waigel replied quickly. Hamilton looked up at the clock on the wall. 'OK, it's one thirty-three here now. If I am not back to you by one thirty-eight, do it.'
He put the phone down. He turned to me. 'I have been concerned about Cathy ever since she told me she was thinking about telling her bosses about Cash and Piper. So, just as a precaution, I have had Waigel organise someone to keep tabs on her so that if we need to dispose of her in a hurry, we can.'
I suddenly felt cold. Cathy! She would be somewhere in New York right now, but she wouldn't be alone. Someone was following her, watching her, waiting for the signal from Waigel to kill her. I couldn't allow that to happen, not after Debbie.
But was Hamilton bluffing? I didn't put it past him in a tight spot to come up with something like that. And if he was bluffing, I knew he would be convincing.
Hamilton followed my train of thought. 'I'm telling the truth, you know,' he said. 'Anyway, you can't take the risk, can you? I may be lying, but you wouldn't risk Cathy's life on that outside chance.'
He was right. We had been in enough situations where we had assessed risk together. It would be foolish to call his bluff, and he knew I wouldn't do it.
Hamilton's stare never left my face, reading everything he saw. He smiled. 'So, you're fond of her, are you? She's more to you than just another saleswoman?' He chuckled to himself. 'Well, well. You'll definitely have to tear up those tickets now, won't you?'
I was furious. He was right, I didn't have a choice. But I hated it. I hated to be outwitted by him when I was so close to nailing him. There he was in front of me, smiling slightly, calculating all the angles and getting it just right. As usual.
I looked at the clock. One thirty-five. Three minutes before he had to ring Waigel.
Hamilton said. 'Now, after you have torn up those tickets, write some replacements purchasing Phoenix
