“We — he, rather, because it was all his idea — he decided we were going to piggyback you.”
George’s forehead was creased in perplexed lines.
“What?”
“Well, to put it simply, Gordon said, we’ve got a chap here who’s milking the company a little, why don’t we up the ante, and make him milk the company a lot?”
“I’m out of my depth, I’m sorry, what exactly does that mean?”
“Gordon decided that with very little effort, we could take some for ourselves. And we could do it quite without risk, if it was done in the right way, because if it ever came to it, it would appear that you’d been doing the taking. Piggybacking, you see. Riding on your coattails, as it were. So to speak.”
George said, “He always was a slithy tove.”
“Oh, I agree absolutely. A total swine. But a brilliant total swine.”
“So how did he work it, this wheeze of his?”
Walker shrugged. “Well, at first, he simply duplicated all of your little operations. He used all of your techniques, used all of your channels, your very clever channels, may I say, for diverting money and then hiding it. Of course we had to bring a couple of people into it, it was too complicated to work by himself. People we could trust, like-minded people, you get the idea. Bernie Middleton, the head of the Chemicals Division, was one, Dick Broom from Bramwells was another.”
“Bramwells? The auditors?”
Walker smiled. “If you’re poaching,” he said, “it’s good to have the gamekeeper on your team. And Dick Broom had his problems like the rest of us.”
“You said, ‘at first.’ What does that mean?”
“Well, the problem was, you were retiring in a few months. What were we going to do after that? Well, then Gordon came up with a real corker. He set up a whole new nonexistent subsidiary, operating out of Andorra.”
“Ah.”
“Precisely. Ah. Set it up with you as Chairman and Managing Director, did it all by post and Internet, and then he really got to work. Intercompany loans, lots of cross-invoicing, and all with your name on the letterhead. As a matter of fact, it’s still operating.”
George’s face was creased in admiration.
“Nice one. And my footprints are all over this — subsidiary.”
“’Fraid so, George. Yours is the only signature that ever appears on the memorandum and Articles, and if anyone ever looks really closely at the signatures of the company officers—”
“They’re clearly in my handwriting.”
Walker nodded.
“And how much did you — as you put it — squirrel away in the end?”
“I’m afraid you’re down for four million, give or take, if it ever comes out, George. And I’m very much afraid it’s going to.”
“Why’s that?”
Walker’s face wrinkled with either pain or amusement, or a little of both.
“Gordon had a massive coronary. In June. Hardly surprising given the way he was carrying on. He’s still in hospital. Due for a triple bypass any day now. If he lasts.”
George laughed. “That must have given you a heart attack as well.”
Walker smiled sourly. “Almost. But I haven’t told you the worst. In view of the fact that he’ll never be fit again, the Board decided to retire Gordon with a fat payoff, and they hired someone else.”
“Who?”
“Gerstein. The New York bloke.”
An appalled look swept across George’s face.
“Gerstein? The Glitchfinder-General?”
“That’s the one. He’s due to take over next week.”
“Oh my God, but he’s dreadful,” said George. “I’ve heard some really terrible stories about Gerstein. He’s vicious, and he’s clever, and he’s a computer genius. Did you ever hear the stories that came out of that Shanghai bank? He went back through eleven years of accounts. Eleven years. Three people went to prison and there were scores of sackings.”
Walker waved a hand.
“That’s all academic, George. I know all that. He’s already been around. According to what I heard, he’s going back five years.”
George said, “Well, you’re done for, that’s all there is to it.”
Walker paused.
“Well, not necessarily, George. You see, he’s going to come after you, isn’t he?”
“He’ll have to find me first.”
“I found you. And as you say, your footprints are all over this thing. He’ll have blood in his eye and it’ll be your blood.”
“Yes, but you don’t think I’m going to admit to a four-million-pound fraud? If it came to it, I think I’d confess to the little bit I did and tell them the rest, what you’ve told me.”
Walker said, “You might get away with it. We’d deny everything, you’d expect that.”
“Gerstein’s good. Once he heard my side, he’d sniff out something. There’ll be some little thing, some tiny thing that I couldn’t possibly have done that will prove somebody else was involved.”
“You’d have to be pretty sure of that, George. I must say, I wouldn’t bet my life on it.”
George considered.
“You said — at the beginning — you said you had a suggestion. What was it?”
“We don’t want unpleasantness, we don’t want more sniffing around, we don’t want you to go to jail, George. What we need is for you to be not so easy to find. I found you, with very little trouble. The Fraud Squad would probably have even less trouble than I did. And arresting you in France and getting you back to England — no problem.”
“So Gordon’s come up with a wheeze, is it?”
“Wheeze is all he does these days. Rather painful talking to Gordon these days, tell the truth. But yes. We’ve got a proposition. We want you to make yourself impossible to find. Do a runner. Tuck yourself and Hilda away in some other corner of the world where you can’t be traced and if you are, you can’t be got back. South America’s nice, I’ve heard.”
“You mean, just drop everything and go? Just like that?”
“Naturally there’d be some compensation; we realise the inconvenience involved would be considerable.”
“How much?”
“Two hundred thousand.”
“Two hundred thousand out of four million?”
Walker smiled ruefully.
“Most of it’s gone, I’m afraid, George, on this and that. But with what you have tucked away already, and the house and everything, you should have a nice little sum. Enough to live on comfortably in the sun for the rest of your days. Easily enough.”
“So, I’d be the only obvious guilty one and the dreaded Gerstein would look no further. Is that it?”
“In a nutshell, that’s it.”
George poured Calvados into both their glasses. He sipped at his for long moments, staring off into the distance.
He said, “How long do I have? To decide, I mean.”
“Not very long, I’m afraid,” said Walker, “not very long at all. This afternoon’s about the limit, in fact.”
George nodded and drank some more Calvados.
“South America,” he said musingly, “South America.”
“Doesn’t have to be South America,” said Walker. “There are lots of little corners of the world.”
“No,” said George suddenly.
“What?”
“No.”
Walker sat up very straight. He was pale.
“Now look, George, think about it.” There was a slightly panicky edge to his voice. “Don’t say no just straight out like that. Think about it, man. The offer on the table’s very generous. Even you have to admit that. And I suppose we could spice it up a bit if we had to. Say two hundred and fifty. Be reasonable, George. The alternative doesn’t bear thinking about.”