The change of subject took Lockwood by surprise, and he had to turn several pages before he could respond. ‘Three, as unfortunately Lord Harvey, Sir Derek Sinclair and Captain Havens all resigned following your father’s death.’
‘I’m glad to hear that,’ said Hugo. ‘It will save me the trouble of sacking them.’
‘I presume, chairman, you would not wish me to record those sentiments in my minutes of this meeting?’
‘I don’t give a damn if you do or don’t,’ Hugo said.
The managing director bowed his head.
‘And when are you due to retire?’ was Hugo’s next question.
‘I’ll be sixty in a couple of months’ time, but if you felt, chairman, given the circumstances-’
‘What circumstances?’
‘As you will only just have got your feet under the table, so to speak, I could be persuaded to stay on for a couple more years.’
‘That’s good of you,’ said Hugo, and the managing director smiled for the second time that morning. ‘But please don’t put yourself out on my account. Two months will be just fine by me. So what’s the biggest challenge we’re facing at the moment?’
‘We have recently applied for a major government contract to lease out our merchant fleet to the navy,’ said Lockwood once he’d recovered. ‘We’re not the favourites, but I think your father gave a good account of himself when the inspectors visited the company earlier this year, so we should be taken seriously.’
‘When will we find out?’
‘Not for some time, I fear. Civil servants aren’t built for speed,’ he added, laughing at his own joke. ‘I have also prepared several discussion papers for your consideration, chairman, so that you will be well briefed before you chair your first board meeting.’
‘I don’t anticipate holding that many board meetings in the future,’ said Hugo. ‘I believe in leading from the front, making decisions and standing by them. But you can leave your briefing papers with my secretary, and I’ll get round to them when I find the time.’
‘As you wish, chairman.’
Within moments of Lockwood leaving his office, Hugo was on the move. ‘I’m going to visit my bank,’ he said as he passed Miss Potts’s desk.
‘Shall I call Mr Prendergast and let him know you’d like to see him?’ Miss Potts asked as she hurried after him down the corridor.
‘Certainly not,’ said Hugo. ‘I want to take him by surprise.’
‘Is there anything you need me to do before you return, Sir Hugo?’ Miss Potts enquired as he stepped into the lift.
‘Yes, see that the name on my door is changed before I get back.’
Miss Potts turned round to look at the office door.
The lift door closed.
As Hugo drove into the centre of Bristol, he felt that his first few hours as chairman could not have gone better. All was finally right with the world. He parked his Bugatti outside the National Provincial Bank in Corn Street, leant across and picked up a packet he’d left under the passenger seat.
He strolled into the bank, past the reception desk and headed straight for the manager’s office, giving a little tap on the door before marching in. A startled Mr Prendergast leapt up as Hugo placed a shoebox on his desk and sank into the chair opposite him.
‘I hope I’m not interrupting anything important,’ said Hugo.
‘Of course not, Sir Hugo,’ said Prendergast, staring at the shoebox. ‘I’m available for you at any time.’
‘That’s good to know, Prendergast. Why don’t you begin by bringing me up to date on Broad Street?’
The bank manager scurried across the room, pulled open the drawer of a filing cabinet and extracted a thick folder, which he placed on the table. He sorted through some papers before he spoke again.
‘Ah yes,’ he said eventually. ‘Here’s what I was looking for.’
Hugo was tapping the arm of his chair impatiently.
‘Of the twenty-two businesses which have ceased to trade in Broad Street since the bombing began, seventeen have already accepted your offer of two hundred pounds or less for their freehold, namely Roland the florist, Bates the butcher, Makepeace-’
‘What about Mrs Clifton? Has she accepted my offer?’
‘I’m afraid not, Sir Hugo. Mrs Clifton said she wouldn’t settle for less than four hundred pounds, and has only given you until next Friday to accept her offer.’
‘Has she, be damned. Well, you can tell her that two hundred pounds is my final offer. That woman has never had a brass farthing to her name, so I don’t expect we’ll have to wait too much longer before she comes to her senses.’
Prendergast gave a slight cough that Hugo remembered well.
‘If you succeed in purchasing every property in the street except Mrs Clifton’s, four hundred pounds might turn out to be quite reasonable.’
‘She’s bluffing. All we have to do is bide our time.’
‘If you say so.’
‘I do say so. And in any case, I know exactly the right man to convince the Clifton woman that she’d be wise to settle for two hundred pounds.’
Prendergast didn’t look convinced, but satisfied himself by asking, ‘Is there anything else I can do to assist you?’
‘Yes,’ said Hugo, removing the lid from the shoebox. ‘You can deposit this money into my personal account and issue me with a new cheque book.’
‘Of course, Sir Hugo,’ said Prendergast, looking into the box. ‘I’ll count it and issue you with a receipt and a cheque book.’
‘But I’ll need to make an immediate withdrawal, as I have my eye on a Lagonda V12.’
‘Winner of Le Mans,’ said Prendergast, ‘but then, you’ve always been a pioneer in that particular field.’
Hugo smiled as he rose from his chair.
‘Give me a call the moment Mrs Clifton realizes that two hundred pounds is all she’s going to get.’
‘Do we still employ Stan Tancock, Miss Potts?’ Hugo asked as he marched back into the office.
‘Yes, Sir Hugo,’ replied his secretary, following him into the room. ‘He works as a loader in the stock yard.’
‘I want to see him immediately,’ said the chairman, as he slumped down behind his desk.
Miss Potts hurried out of the room.
Hugo stared at the files piled on his desk which he was supposed to have read before the next board meeting. He flicked open the cover of the top one: a list of the union’s demands following their last meeting with management. He had reached number four on the list, two weeks’ paid holiday each year, when there was a tap on the door.
‘Tancock to see you, chairman.’
‘Thank you, Miss Potts. Send him in.’
Stan Tancock walked into the room, removed his cloth cap and stood in front of the chairman’s desk.
‘You wanted to see me, guv?’ he said, looking a little nervous.
Hugo glanced up at the squat, unshaven docker, whose beer belly didn’t leave much doubt where most of his wage packet went on a Friday night.
‘I’ve got a job for you, Tancock.’
‘Yes, guv,’ said Stan looking more hopeful.
‘It concerns your sister, Maisie Clifton, and the plot of land she owns on Broad Street, where Tilly’s tea shop used to stand. Do you know anything about it?’
‘Yes, guv, some geezer offered her two hundred quid for it.’
‘Is that right?’ said Hugo, removing his wallet from an inside pocket. He extracted a crisp five-pound note and laid it on the desk. Hugo remembered the same licking of the lips and the same piggy eyes the last time he’d bribed the man. ‘I want you to make sure, Tancock, that your sister accepts the offer, without the suggestion that I’m in
