‘Why’s that?’
‘Because it’s the smart thing to do.’
‘Viktor’s smart.’
‘If Viktor was really smart he’d get a smaller yacht. One that doesn’t draw attention, like yours. No, you’re smarter. Besides, The Times said so when it interviewed you. You were described as one of the most high-profile lawyers in the UK. But from what you said it was my impression that you’d much prefer to be low profile. That you’re the grey eminence behind this particular cardinal.’
‘You’re pretty smart yourself, Scott. I don’t know many football managers who know books by Aldous Huxley.’
‘There’s me and there’s Roy Hodgson. Only don’t tell anyone. Being smart in football is only one down from being gay. So?’
‘You know, it might have been my idea — I can’t remember for sure. However, if there’s one useful piece of advice I can give you, it’s this: at our football club, if you’ve got a good idea — if there’s something important you want done around here — then it’s usually best to make sure you let Viktor think it was his good idea first.’
‘All right. Was it Viktor’s idea to get Zarco to slag off the World Cup in Qatar, or yours?’
‘Who told you that?’
‘Toyah.’
‘Okay.’ He nodded. ‘It was my idea.’
‘Why?’
‘You know that we still haven’t sold the stadium naming rights. Or acquired a shirt sponsor. But we’d negotiated a deal with a Qatari bank. The Sabara Bank of Qatar. A deal worth about two hundred million pounds.’
‘Yes, I can easily see why you’d want to piss them off — sure.’
‘As a matter of fact that’s exactly what we wanted. To piss them off, big time. We’d agreed a deal with Sabara. And then, just before the deal was announced, Viktor found another willing sponsor. Jintian Niao-3Q Limited.’
‘Catchy. I can see that on a football shirt. But only if we buy a few really fat players — like Bekim Develi.’
‘According to Forbes, Jintian is the largest mobile phone operator in China. Bigger than VimpelCom and worth about thirty billion dollars. And they’re about to launch a new smartphone and a new 4G network in the UK. Jintian was willing to pay us five hundred million pounds for a ten-year deal. So we hit on a scheme that might persuade the Qataris to change their minds and cancel their sponsorship. That’s where Zarco came in with his comments about the 2022 World Cup. It was working, too. The Qataris were royally pissed off with us. And the Doha stadium looked like it was never going to happen.’
‘Until yesterday. When Zarco was killed.’
‘I fear so. Now the only impediment to their completing the deal has been removed.’
‘You know that’s a pretty big motive to kill someone right there, Phil.’
‘I wouldn’t have thought the Qataris had anything to do with it. They were pissed off, sure, but not that pissed off.’
‘Two hundred million pounds being the kind of insignificant sum anyone could overlook.’
‘I know these guys. I’ve had dinner with them. This kind of thing just isn’t their style.’
‘If you say so. Phil, I’m just guessing here, but I assume this is the kind of information we’re hoping to conceal from the law.’
‘Very much so. It’s not that there was anything illegal, mind. It’s just an issue of commercial sensitivity.’
‘I can see what was in it for Viktor. And perhaps for you. But what was in it for Zarco?’
‘Football is becoming more and more expensive, Scott. Three hundred and fifty million quid spent this summer in transfer fees by English football clubs. Another record signing at Real Madrid. That extra sponsorship money from the Chinks would have come in very handy. Even for someone as rich as Viktor Sokolnikov.’
‘Every little helps, eh? I bet he shops at Tesco, too.’
‘You know in five years, I’m betting three hundred million won’t be enough to pay the top transfer fee.’
‘You could be right. Let’s hope it’s us who are doing the selling, eh?’
Phil stood up and walked to the door.
‘Before you go,’ I said, ‘I’ve got a Russian name for you: Semion Mikhailov.’
Phil stopped halfway there. ‘What about him?’
‘He was seen in the stadium yesterday afternoon.’
‘Seen by who?’
‘Someone who works here. I’ve heard he’s dangerous.’
‘Very dangerous. But not dangerous to us. And you can take my word for that. Viktor’s taking Bekim Develi from him in part-payment for a debt when he travels to Russia tomorrow. Mikhailov isn’t about to do anything to spoil that.’
‘You know, if I’m going to find Zarco’s killer before the cops do then it would help if I knew what you know.’
‘Fire away.’
‘Did Zarco have any reason to be afraid of Viktor?’
‘Why would Zarco have been afraid of Viktor?’
‘Not just Viktor, perhaps. You too, Phil.’
‘Me? What on earth makes you say that?’
‘Because Viktor knows some shady people, people like Semion Mikhailov; and so do you.’
‘This is Toyah again, isn’t it? You can tell she used to be an actress — she has a very vivid imagination. Look, Scott, why would Viktor and I ask you to look into Zarco’s death if we had anything to do with it?’
‘Sometimes if you want to stop the other side from scoring, you park the bus in the goal-mouth. Similarly, asking me to look into Zarco’s death just frustrates the police, makes it hard for them to get a result. That’s how it works. If all we want to do is not concede, then we severely reduce their chances of winning.’
‘True. But I think Viktor mentioned bonuses, didn’t he? Maybe I need to mention them again. Thanks to your father, you’re already minted, of course. But I know you well enough to believe that you’re someone who wants to succeed in your own right. This football club is going to be one of the great clubs, Scott. You can achieve great things at London City. Things you weren’t ever able to achieve as a player with Southampton and Arsenal. All you have to do is prove that you really want to manage here.’
24
Just after eleven o’clock Sarah Crompton appeared in my office to show me a draft of the press release announcing that I was to be the new City manager.
Sarah was a great-looking brunette in her forties, slim and elegant, and always dressed in a two-piece suit from somewhere like Chanel or Max Mara. Before joining London City she’d worked at Wieden + Kennedy in Amsterdam, an American-owned advertising agency responsible for Nike’s ‘Write the Future’ campaign, which hit cinemas before the 2010 World Cup. That’s the one with a bearded Wayne Rooney living in a caravan because Frank Ribery had stopped his shot going in. Sarah was smart and articulate and while I was speaking to her, even with Maurice McShane still in the room, it wasn’t obvious to me what she and he had in common beyond a love of sports; Sarah was an accomplished golfer and with a handicap of just six she could easily beat me. I had a lot of time for this woman. For any woman with a brain like hers. In many ways she reminded me of Sonja.
Since Viktor and Phil had already approved the press release I had little to add to it except the fact that I wasn’t ‘looking forward to the challenge’. I suggested that ‘trying to live up to the example set by one of the great managers of all time’ was a choice of words that suited me rather better — there were quite enough clichés in football reporting without me adding to the already enormous ziggurat.
I also told her I didn’t want to do any interviews until well after Zarco’s funeral.
‘I don’t want to make your job more difficult or anything,’ I said, ‘but I’m upset by what’s happened and I’ll need a little time to get over it. Also, I’ll need a little time to grow into the job before I feel even half comfortable talking about myself as the manager of this club.’