by Ian Hamilton
“Ava, what are you doing out here?”
She turned to see Derek standing only a few feet away. “We’ve finished round one of the meeting. The lawyers are going over our documentation now. When they’re done, we’ll resume.”
“How did it go?”
“They listened to what I had to say, but their lead lawyer isn’t happy with our deadline. I suspect that won’t be the only thing he doesn’t like.”
“Speaking of intense, I called out to you a couple of times, but you seemed really involved in that phone conversation.”
“Sorry. I was speaking to Randy Simmons, and I guess I didn’t hear you,” she said.
“How did it go with Simmons?”
“He’s not very happy with me.”
“Is that a good thing?”
“Most definitely,” Ava said.
Her phone rang again. “Ave Lee,” she answered.
“This is Eddie,” he said. “They’re ready to resume the meeting.”
“Derek has just joined me. We’ll be right there,” she said.
(47)
Todd Howell was waiting at the reception desk when they returned to the tenth floor.
“How is the mood in the boardroom?” Ava asked.
“Serious, but I wouldn’t call it grim. They left the door partially open, and my assistant kept an eye on them. Greg and Lisa went through the paperwork, and Campbell spent a lot of his time on the phone, likely with Cunningham or Rogers. Campbell sent Greg to tell us they’re ready to talk, and he seemed calm enough.”
“They didn’t take a lot of time.”
“The paperwork was well organized and self-explanatory,” Howell said, and then he smiled at Derek. “Glad you could make it.”
They entered the boardroom to find Campbell standing with his back to them and talking on his cellphone. “Shall we come back when he’s finished?” Howell asked.
“That won’t be necessary. I’m done,” Campbell said, returning to the table.
“Let me introduce Derek Liang,” Ava said. “He’s a friend who has been helping with this case.”
Campbell nodded to Derek. “Patrick Cunningham mentioned you. Is it true your father-in-law committed suicide?”
“He did. He was one of the victims of the Harvest Investment Fund theft.”
“How tragic. You have our condolences,” Campbell said to him. “But tell me, when Ms. Lee says you helped her with the case, does that mean you’re familiar with all the details?”
“It does.”
Campbell looked at Howell. “This could be a complication.”
“What do you mean?” Howell asked.
“Sorry, I’m leaping ahead of myself,” Campbell said. “Do you still represent the investors in the fund?”
“I never stopped representing them, though the case was no longer being actively pursued.”
“As I understand it, Ms. Lee approached you and you shared your files and your opinions with her, at which point she undertook an independent investigation.”
“That’s correct,” Howell said.
“Do your clients know that she was involved?”
“No. I had the authority to contract with Ava on their behalf. I didn’t consult with them.”
“What kind of contract was that?”
“I gave her full authority to represent our interests as they related to recovery of the stolen money.”
“So she was working for you?” Campbell asked.
“And on behalf of the clients I represent, including Mr. Liang’s wife and mother-in-law.”
“Do you have a financial arrangement with Ms. Lee?”
“I do, but I’m not going to share the details.”
“I don’t need them. It’s enough to know that you two are contractually bound.”
“Hugh, where are you going with this?” Howell asked.
“I just want to be clear about who knows what.”
“The people at this table are the only ones from our side who know anything.”
Campbell pursed his lips. “Under those circumstances,” he said slowly, “my clients are prepared to attempt to reach a settlement.”
“Who exactly are your clients? You haven’t been clear about that,” Ava said.
“Harvest Table Bible Chapel and its senior officers,” Campbell said, apparently surprised by the question.
“And what are the circumstances that could lead to a settlement?” she asked.
“You are unrelentingly straightforward,” Campbell replied.
“That’s the second time I’ve been told that in the past hour,” she said.
“And Ava’s question is to the point,” Howell added.
“I was commenting on her style, not objecting to the question,” Campbell said.
“Then please answer it,” Howell said.
“Of prime importance, my clients insist that whatever settlement we reach must be maintained in the strictest confidence.”
“You want a non-disclosure agreement?” Howell said.
“Yes, and one that is strict about penalties if it is broken.”
“What can’t be disclosed?”
“All that information,” Campbell said, pointing to the whiteboards. “And all of this,” he said, touching the file folder. “And anything else you know about this nasty piece of business. None of it can ever see the light of day.”
“Would this settlement include admission of guilt or wrongdoing?” asked Howell.
“It most definitely would not. My clients have no guilt, although the pastor does rue the day he met Malcolm Muir.”
“So they are laying the entire responsibility at the feet of Muir?” Ava said.
“Not entirely. The woman Jasmine Yip, whom you identified as managing various bank accounts, has some accountability,” he said. “And I’m told that the local Chengdu woman, Su Na, who manages the warehouse, is another of Muir’s associates.”
“Yip only did what Muir told her to do, and she didn’t know Muir until Patrick Cunningham’s wife introduced them,” Ava said. “Su Na distributed drugs for the chapel under conditions of a contract signed by Pastor Rogers.”
“I didn’t see a copy of any such contract in the paperwork you gave us.”
“We don’t have a copy, but Su Na saw it.”
“Does she have a copy?”
“No.”
“Of course she doesn’t. It doesn’t exist.”
“This is getting absurd,” Ava said.
Campbell smiled. “It’s certainly becoming counterproductive, and I think we’re wasting time with these suppositions. Let’s go back to square one. You’ve been given the basis for a settlement. Do you want to pursue it or take another path? Frankly, I don’t see another way forward. And I have to add that, if I had my way, there wouldn’t be an offer of a settlement at all. You have shown me nothing that connects the pastor to this business, while Muir’s name and activities are all over it.”
“If you believe that, why are you offering a settlement?” she asked.
“Harvest Table is Pastor Rogers’s life’s work, and he doesn’t want to risk having its reputation sullied.”
“Excuse me, Hugh,” Berry said softly, and then whispered something to Campbell.
“Apologies. Greg has just reminded me that our clients also want a statement attesting that none of the signatories of the non-disclosure agreement assigns one iota of guilt to the chapel or its senior officers.”
“That’s going a bit far, isn’t it?” said Howell.
“That’s what my clients want. They won’t pay you ten cents without it.”
“Who would be party to the non-disclosure?” Ava asked.
“All of you.”
“And in return the chapel pays thirty-five million dollars?” Ava asked.
>
Campbell shifted in his chair and leaned forward. “In truth, we think your demand is wildly excessive,” he said to Ava. He turned to Howell. “We’re asking you to be reasonable. We can pay less money immediately as payment in full, or we can pay more over an extended period of time.”
“What is less money?” Ava asked.
“My clients can’t raise more than five million dollars right now, and that’s with tapping every resource available.”
Howell interrupted before Ava could speak. “And what do you have in mind as a larger payment over more time?”
“Ten million over three years,” Campbell said.
Ava put her hands on the table and started to rise. Howell touched her lightly on the wrist. “Ava, before you say anything, I think we should take some time to talk.”
“That’s very good advice, Todd,” Campbell said. “And I want to stress, Ms. Lee, that I don’t doubt you are a woman of your word and that your demands are sincere. But we are in the business of determining a middle ground between what one party wants and what the other is prepared to give. I advised Pastor Rogers not to give you anything. For the reasons I’ve mentioned, he decided an offer should be made, and I think it is a generous one. There’s a saying about a bird in the hand being worth two in the bush, and I think this is one of those occasions.”
“Jesus,” Derek said, looking at Ava.
“I know,” she said to him.
“You know what?” Campbell asked.
“It isn’t important,” Ava said, and turned to Todd. “Okay, let’s talk.”
A cellphone buzzed. Campbell took his from his pocket and looked at the screen. “Excuse me, I have to take this. It’s the pastor, and who knows — he may have decided to listen to me and take his offer off the table.”
“Go ahead,” Howell said.
Campbell walked to the far corner of the boardroom and turned his back on them. The conversation lasted several minutes. When it ended, he returned looking slightly uncomfortable. “He hasn’t changed his mind, but there’s one more thing to factor into your deliberations,” he said. “This is a request and not a demand, but if we can reach a verbal agreement today, as a show of good faith my client would appreciate it if you would remove the people you have employed from the premises of the Simmons Christian Mission in Chengdu.”
“We’ll talk about that as well,” Ava said.
“Excellent. my colleagues and I will leave you to it,” Campbell. “Call me when you are ready to resume our talks. We’ve set aside the rest of the day and the evening for this, so we can be here in a jiffy.”
(48)
No one spoke until the Campbell lawyers had left the boardroom, and then it was Howell who said to Ava, “I know you don’t want to hear this, but I have to congratulate you.”
“Are you serious?”
“Campbell wasn’t as overbearing as I’ve seen him before. But he was certainly trying to provoke you, and I thought your calm in the face of it was wonderful.”
“I hardly deserve a compliment for containing my temper,” Ava said.
“Perhaps not, but you do for getting a settlement offer from these people,” Howell said. “I spent months chasing after that money with no results. I would have been thrilled to get five million dollars to split among the investors, and five million in this case may not be the final figure.”
“Do you think there’s room for negotiation on the amount?” Derek asked.
“It was an opening offer. I’m sure he’s expecting us to counter.”
“What should we counter with?” asked Eddie.
Howell looked towards Ava. “I think that’s up to Ava to decide.”
She sighed and looked at each of them in turn. “You know I hate having to back down,” she said.
“What are our options?” Howell asked.
“We could tell them to go fuck themselves and move to Plan B,” Derek said.
“After listening to Campbell, he might like it if we did,” Howell said. “I believed him when he said he didn’t want to settle. He’s normally combative, but even more so when he senses weakness in the opposition’s position.”
“What’s our weakness?” Ava asked.
“Can I hypothesize without offending you?”
“We’re in this together. Be blunt.”
“Well, Campbell did make a good point in that you haven’t actually connected Rogers to the operation in Chengdu, or to the money in any way,” Howell said.
“The chapel’s debt was paid down by sixty million dollars. Where else did that money came from?” Eddie asked.
“Even if we can disprove Cunningham’s story that the money came from wealthy donors, they can still claim that Rogers knew nothing about the chapel’s finances,” Howell said. “Cunningham is the chief financial officer as well as the chief operations officer. They could say he has complete control of all the chapel’s money and that Rogers has only vague knowledge of their financial situation.”
“Wouldn’t that mean throwing Cunningham overboard?” asked Eddie.
“Maybe they’re prepared to do that to protect Rogers and the chapel,” Howell said. “But I can envision a nudge-nudge, wink-wink kind of deal, where Cunningham takes some of the blame but his involvement is characterized as a sin of omission rather than commission.”
Ava nodded at Howell. “In other words, his only failure was to be too trusting.”
“Exactly. He believed his old friend Muir and his wife’s cousin when they told him the business was legal, and he had no idea what was actually going on.”
“But Cunningham knew Muir stole from the fund,” Derek said.
“He knows we claim it was stolen. What if he says Muir told him it was lost through bad investments and offered up his bankruptcies as proof? Who’s to say Cunningham wouldn’t buy a story like that? Moreover, what if he thought his old friend was genuinely contrite and deserved a second chance?”
“I’m glad you aren’t representing the other side,” Ava said.
“All I’m doing is getting into Hugh Campbell’s head,” said Howell. “I can hear him making all these arguments.”
“They’re fiction,” Derek said.
“I know, but that doesn’t prevent them from being peddled by two brilliant communicators — Rogers and Campbell.”
“But we have the facts,” said Derek.
“Facts only matter if someone is willing to listen,” Ava said. “Todd is right. If nothing else, the other side can sow doubt and confusion.”
“The RCMP would listen,” said Derek.
“Probably, but then we’d be into a legal process that would take years, with an uncertain outcome. The investors still might not get any money back,” she said. “Cunningham blamed Muir this morning. If Muir picks up and leaves the country, who’s left to say that Cunningham’s version of events isn’t wrong? The only other person with direct knowledge is Jasmine Yip, a woman who lives in Singapore, and outside Canada’s legal jurisdiction.”
“How about the media?” he asked.
“I guarantee that every major news outlet you approach will go to the chapel for confirmation. At that point Hugh Campbell and his team will issue denials and threaten to sue anyone who runs a story,” Howell said. “That’s one of the things I meant earlier when I said Campbell might like us to try Plan B. His number of billable hours could skyrocket.”
“Ava still has leverage if she keeps the distribution centre in Chengdu closed,” Derek said.
“Can you do that indefinitely?” Howell asked her.
“For a while at least, but obviously it isn’t a permanent solution. They’d eventually find someone else in China to supply them with pills, and they’d find another warehouse somewhere.”
“I’m not trying to be negative with all this, and everything we’ve discussed is hypothetical, of course, but i
t had to be said out loud,” Howell said. “What we need to do now, I believe, is find out how much Campbell and Rogers are really prepared to pay. Which brings me back to the subject of a counter-offer.”
“I still don’t like it, but you’ve made some good points. So yes, let’s find out where we stand,” Ava said.
“What would be an acceptable number for you?”
“Let’s ask for twenty million. That’s meeting them not quite halfway.”
“Considering he started at five, I think that’s a bit rich,” Howell said.
“Then he’ll say no.”
Howell signalled his discomfort with a heavy sigh. “Why don’t we try fifteen?”
Ava pursed her lips and slowly moved her head from side to side, as if struggling with the number. “Okay, fifteen. But we want all of it in one payment,” she said finally.
“Do you have an issue with the non-disclosure agreement and the statement that we don’t attach any guilt to Rogers or the chapel?”
“If they give us fifteen million, I don’t care about those things.”
Howell reached for the phone on the table. “I’ll tell them we’re ready to meet.”
“Why bother? Let’s do it by phone,” Ava said.
“All right,” Howell said.
Derek smiled encouragingly at Ava. “Fifteen million is a good number if we can get it,” he said.
Howell put the phone on speaker mode as he called Campbell.
“Todd, are you ready to sit down again?” Campbell asked when he answered.
“We thought we’d do it by phone. We’re all here on speaker.”
“That’s not a problem. Give me a minute to round up Greg and Lisa.”
“Do you want to handle this?” Howell asked Ava.
“You do it.”
Ava stared out the window as they waited for Campbell to return. All her instincts told her it wasn’t going to end well. Was she just following Uncle’s advice to expect the worst and be grateful for anything better than that?
“You have our full attention,” Campbell said finally.
“Well, Hugh, we want to settle this, but we don’t think the offer on the table is sufficient,” Howell said.
