‘But what if I’d said the deal is off unless you can come up with the full amount?’
‘She would have returned to New York that night, transferred her half million back to Chase, and you would never have heard from her again.’
‘Whereas she pocketed three point one million dollars of our money and held on to her own $500,000,’ said Tom.
‘Correct,’ said Nat, ‘and by the time the banks open in San Francisco this morning, that money will have disappeared off to the Cayman Islands via Zurich or possibly even Moscow, and although I’ll obviously go through the motions, I don’t believe we have a hope in hell of retrieving one cent of it.’
‘Oh, God,’ said Tom, ‘I’ve just remembered that Mr Cooke will be presenting that cheque this morning, and I gave him my word that it would be cleared the same day.’
‘Then we shall have to clear it,’ said Nat. ‘It’s one thing for the bank to lose money, quite another for it to lose its reputation, a reputation which your grandfather and father took a hundred years to establish.’
Tom looked up at Nat. ‘The first thing I must do is resign.’
‘Despite your naivety, that’s the last thing you should do. Unless, of course, you want everyone to find out what a fool you’ve made of yourself and immediately transfer their accounts to Fairchild’s. No, the one commodity I need is time, so I suggest you take a few days off. In fact, don’t mention the Cedar Wood project again, and if anyone should raise the subject, you simply refer them to me.’
Tom remained silent for some time, before he said, ‘The true irony is that I asked her to marry me.’
‘And her true genius is that she accepted,’ replied Nat.
‘How did you know that?’ asked Tom.
‘It would have all been part of her plan.’
‘Clever girl,’ said Tom.
‘I’m not so sure,’ said Nat, ‘because if you two had become engaged, I was ready to offer her a place on the board.’
‘So she had you fooled as well,’ said Tom.
‘Oh yes,’ replied Nat, ‘with her grasp of finance she wouldn’t have been a passenger, and had she married you she would have made a lot more than three point one million, so there must be another man involved.’ Nat paused. ‘I suspect he was the one on the other end of the phone.’ He turned to leave. ‘I’ll be in my office,’ he said, ‘and remember, we only ever discuss this matter in private, nothing in writing, never on the phone.’
Tom nodded as Nat closed the door quietly behind him.
‘Good morning, Mr Cartwright,’ said Nat’s secretary as he walked into his office, ‘did you have a good vacation?’
‘Yes I did thank you, Linda,’ he replied cheerily. ‘I’m not sure who enjoyed Disneyland more, Luke or myself.’ She smiled. ‘Any real problems?’ he asked innocently.
‘No, I don’t think so. The final documents for the takeover of Bennett’s came through last Friday, so from January 1st, you’ll be running two banks.’
Or none, thought Nat. ‘I need to speak to a Mrs Julia Kirkbridge, the director of...’
‘Kirkbridge and Co,’ said Linda. Nat froze. ‘You asked for the details of her company just before you went on vacation.’
‘Of course I did,’ said Nat.
Nat was rehearsing what he would say to Mrs Kirkbridge, when his secretary buzzed through to tell him that she was on the fine.
‘Good morning, Mrs Kirkbridge, my name is Nat Cartwright, I’m the chief executive of Russell’s Bank in Hartford, Connecticut. We have a proposition we thought your company might be interested in, and as I’m in New York later today, I hoped you would be able to spare me a few minutes.’
‘Can I call you back, Mr Cartwright?’ she replied in a crisp English accent.
‘Of course,’ said Nat, ‘I look forward to hearing from you.’
He wondered how long it would take Mrs Kirkbridge to discover that he was the chief executive of Russell’s Bank. She was obviously checking, because she didn’t even ask for his telephone number. When the phone rang again his secretary said, ‘Mrs Kirkbridge on the line.’
Nat checked his watch; it had taken her seven minutes.
‘I could see you at two thirty this afternoon, Mr Cartwright; would that suit you?’
‘Suits me just fine,’ said Nat.
He put the phone down and buzzed Linda. ‘I’ll need a ticket on today’s eleven-thirty train to New York.’
Nat’s next call was to Rigg’s Bank in San Francisco, who confirmed his worst fears. They had been instructed to send the money to Banco Mexico only moments after it had been deposited with them. From there, Nat knew it would follow the sun until it finally disappeared over the horizon. He decided it would be pointless to call in the police unless he wanted half the banking community let in on the secret. He suspected that Julia, or whatever her real name was, had also worked that out.
Nat got through a great deal of the backlog caused by his absence before leaving the office to catch the train to New York. He made it to the offices of Kirkbridge & Co on 97th Street with only moments to spare. He hadn’t even had time to take a seat in reception before a door opened. He looked up to see an elegant, well-dressed woman standing in the doorway. ‘Mr Cartwright?’
‘Yes,’ he said, rising from his seat.
‘I’m Julia Kirkbridge; would you like to come through to my office?’ The same crisp English accent. Nat could not recall how long ago it was that a director of any company had come to collect him in the reception area rather than sending a secretary, especially one working out of New York.
‘I was intrigued by your call,’ said Mrs Kirkbridge as she ushered Nat through to a comfortable seat by the fireplace. ‘It’s not often a Connecticut banker comes to New York to visit me.’
Nat took some papers out of his case, as he tried to assess the woman sitting opposite him. Her clothes, like those of her impersonator, were smartly tailored, but far more conservative, and although she was slim and in her mid thirties, her dark hair and dark eyes were a total contrast to the blonde from Minnesota.
‘Well, it’s quite simple really,’ began Nat. ‘Hartford City Council has put another site on the market that has planning approval for a shopping mall. The bank has purchased the land as an investment and is looking for a partner. We thought you might be interested.’
‘Why us?’ asked Julia.
‘You were among the original companies that bid for the Robinson’s site, which, incidentally, has proved to be a great success, so we thought you might want to be involved in this new venture.’
‘I’m somewhat surprised that you didn’t think of approaching us before you made your bid,’ said Mrs Kirkbridge, ‘because had you done so, you would have discovered that we had already considered the terms far too restrictive.’ Nat was taken by surprise. ‘After all,’ continued Mrs Kirkbridge, ‘that is what we do.’
‘Yes, I know,’ said Nat, buying time.
‘May I ask how much it went for?’ asked Mrs Kirkbridge.
‘Three point six million.’
‘That was way above our estimate,’ said Mrs Kirkbridge, turning a page of the file on the table in front of her.
Nat had always considered himself a good poker player, but he had no way of knowing if Mrs Kirkbridge was bluffing. He only had one card left. ‘Well, I’m sorry to have wasted your time,’ he said, rising from his place.
‘Perhaps you haven’t,’ said Mrs Kirkbridge, who remained seated, ‘because I’m still interested in listening to your proposal.’
‘We’re looking for a fifty-fifty partner,’ said Nat, resuming his seat.