Free to Trade

by Michael Ridpath

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Hamilton. ‘I can’t work out his angle.’ He stroked his beard. ‘There’s not much downside from a credit point of view is there?’ he asked, looking straight at me.

  ‘No,’ I said, holding his stare. ‘Of course you can never be sure what is hiding in any company, but it looks to me that with the debt trading at twenty cents on the dollar, bankruptcy would be a good thing; the debt should trade up anyway.’

  Hamilton looked at me and smiled, with what seemed to me to be genuine affection. ‘I’m glad you are working with me on this. It’s nice to work with someone I can trust.’ The surprise must have registered on my face at such an unprecedented show of friendliness, as Hamilton, embarrassed, turned to look out of the window again. ‘I’m sorry you can’t work with me any more.’

  Just for a moment I felt a surge of pride at this display. But only for a moment. I gently smiled to myself at the irony. Hamilton may think me the only person he could trust; I would soon show him how wrong he was.

  We got back to the office and each went to our own desks. I rang Cash. ‘Didn’t Piper do a great job?’ he said.

  ‘Well that’s what I thought, but Hamilton is suspicious.’

  ‘Is he going to do it?’

  ‘Not in his current frame of mind,’ I said.

  ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘It all went fine to start with,’ I said. ‘He couldn’t resist the temptation to make a smart buck. But he doesn’t trust Piper and he doesn’t trust you. He’s sure you are up to something, but he doesn’t know what. And I don’t think he is about to risk real money to find out.’

  ‘Damn,’ said Cash. ‘Look, I’m sure I can talk him into it.’

  ‘It won’t work. I’m afraid Hamilton is suspicious of you at the best of times. You will just confirm his worst fears about the deal.’

  ‘Well, what if Piper has another chat to him? Or perhaps you could talk him into it?’

  ‘He won’t listen to Piper. And it would look odd if I came out in favour of the deal. Hamilton would think I had gone crazy.’

  We were both silent, thinking.

  ‘How did it go with Phoenix Prosperity?’ I asked.

  ‘Jack Salmon loved the idea,’ said Cash. ‘But he has to think about it. That means, check with Hamilton.’

  ‘And we all know what he will say in his current frame of mind. Call me if you have any ideas,’ I said, and put the phone down.

  I was annoyed. We were so close to carrying out our plan, but it looked like it wouldn’t work because of Hamilton’s last-minute suspicions.

  I was sitting there, racking my brains, when the phone flashed.

  ‘I’ve got an idea.’ It was Cathy.

  My pulse quickened. ‘Tell me.’

  ‘Hamilton might not believe Cash, or Piper or maybe even you, but he would believe me.’

  ‘You mean, if you told him to invest in the deal?’ I said doubtfully.

  ‘No, if I told him not to invest in it.’ She told me her idea. It sounded a good one.

  Cathy called at precisely half past three. I had made sure that I was talking to Hamilton at exactly that time, in the hope that he would let me listen in. Sure enough, once it became clear what Cathy wanted to talk about, Hamilton gestured to me to pick up.

  I heard Cathy’s clear voice speaking hesitantly. ‘Cash was very keen that I check to see whether you have made up your mind about joining the consortium.’ She managed to inject a hint of reluctance into her tone, as though she didn’t really want to know the answer.

  ‘I think it’s unlikely,’ said Hamilton.

  ‘Um, OK,’ said Cathy. ‘I’ll tell Cash. He will be very disappointed.’

  ‘You do that.’

  Hamilton was just about to put the phone down when Cathy blurted, ‘Can I just ask you one question?’ She sounded nervous.

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Why aren’t you going ahead with it?’

  Hamilton paused. He seemed to decide there was nothing to be lost by telling the truth, and said, ‘It smells funny. I don’t know why, but there is something else going on here that Piper didn’t admit to.’

  ‘Oh, I’m very glad you said that,’ Cathy gushed, relief in her voice. ‘You are quite right, it doesn’t seem at all straight. They are all absolutely certain that this takeover is going to happen. I don’t know where they got the information from, but I am worried it is not legal. I would much rather have nothing to do with the whole thing. I don’t know what to do. Should I report this to someone?’ Hamilton didn’t reply. Cathy went on. ‘Cash would kill me if he heard I had done that. And what if there is nothing wrong with the deal, after all?’

  Hamilton had tensed ever so slightly. He was listening carefully to everything Cathy said. ‘No, I wouldn’t report it if I were you. As long as you don’t know where they got the information from, you can’t be implicated.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Quite sure.’

  ‘OK, then.’ Cathy sounded doubtful.

  ‘What will Cash do if I don’t invest?’

  ‘Well, there is another investor in the States who is thinking about it, but if he doesn’t take it, then we have got Michael Hall at Wessex Trust lined up to take the whole forty million.’

  Hamilton’s eyes narrowed. Michael Hall was renowned in the City as smart money. He was often profiled in magazines, and lauded for his ability to buy and sell at the right time. Hamilton refused to give interviews, and claimed to scoff at Hall as a publicity-seeker, but the reality was, he envied him his reputation. If Mix N Match was indeed a golden opportunity, Hamilton would be incensed if Hall took it and he didn’t.

  ‘There is a small point I don’t quite understand,’ he said. ‘Why should Piper want to get me of all people in on this?’

  ‘Oh, he didn’t,’ said Cathy. ‘Cash insisted on this. In fact I think he is behind this whole thing. He sees this as a way of getting his key clients to make a lot of money. I think he is worried that since Paul left in such difficult circumstances, he might lose your account. He’s desperate to get you in.’

  ‘I see.’

  ‘So shall I tell Cash you are not interested?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Hamilton and rang off.

  Damn, I thought. Cathy had done an excellent job, but it looked like Hamilton still wasn’t biting.

  Rob strolled over. ‘Are we going to do this Mix N Match, then?’ Hamilton leaned back in his chair, stroking his beard. ‘That girl talks too much,’ he said.

  ‘I think she is scared,’ I said. ‘It’s a good thing we have let it go.’

  ‘I don’t think we will let it go,’ Hamilton said. ‘I believe her. I think Cash does know something, and showing a sure thing to his favourite customers is just the sort of thing he would do. And I am damned if I am going to let that prima donna Hall get his hands on this one.’

  ‘So we do it?’ Rob asked.

  ‘We do it.’

  ‘Great!’ said Rob.

  Hamilton rang Cash. When he answered, Hamilton said, ‘Cathy isn’t on the line, is she?’

  ‘No,’ said Cash.

  ‘Well, I think you should watch out for her. I just spoke to her and I think she is a little ah,’ Hamilton searched for the word, ‘concerned about this deal. Just for my own conscience, there is nothing illegal about this transaction or the manner in which you got the information relating to it, is there?’

  ‘Hey, Hamilton, you know I’m straight,’ protested Cash. ‘This deal is 100 per cent kosher, you have my word.’

  Hamilton didn’t believe him, of course, but he wanted to cover himself in case anything went wrong.

  ‘Good. Well, I’m in for twenty million. Send the documents round here by courier for me to sign. And don’t let Cathy find out I have committed. Get her off the deal somehow.’ He hung up, turned to me and smiled. ‘This is going to work,’ he said. ‘I know this is going to work.’

  I went back to my desk, and called Cathy. ‘Well done! You were brilliant!’ I
said.

  ‘You think he’s definitely going for it?’ she said.

  ‘Definitely.’

  ‘I am going to New York for four days tomorrow,’ she said. ‘I’m following up on some of the clients Cash and I saw when we were over there last month. Let me know what happens. Cash should be able to tell you where I am.’

  ‘Don’t worry, I will,’ I said. Something made me uneasy. ‘Cathy?’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Be careful of Waigel.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Just be careful. He’s dangerous. I would hate you to get hurt.’

  ‘Don’t worry. I won’t go anywhere near him. Besides, there is no reason he should be worried about me.’

  ‘OK, I suppose you are right.’ I wasn’t convinced.

  The documents were signed that afternoon, and Hamilton authorised $20 million to be paid into the account of the new SPV. Phoenix Prosperity also signed up that afternoon, and transferred $20 million into the same account. Cash said that Jack Salmon had been raring to go, and had been furious that his boss had not given him the go-ahead straight away. Piper signed the subscription agreement, but delayed transferring his $20 million subscription into the SPV’s account.

  So within twenty-four hours, the SPV was in existence and it had $40 million of funds at its disposal.

  I found it very difficult to concentrate, or even pretend to be concentrating on my work over the next couple of days. Hamilton was cool as ever, of course, just checking once to make sure that the prices of Mix N Match bonds hadn’t fallen.

  Once Denny, as trustee for the SPV, confirmed that the funds were in place, I acted. I didn’t have much time. I had to wait until the brief quarter of an hour when Hamilton was away from his desk buying a sandwich. Most of the others were at lunch as well, although Stewart, Debbie’s replacement, was at his desk, leafing through a bondmarket rag. He would probably hear what I was going to do. That was just tough.

  First, I called Denny. Over the recorded phone, I sold to the SPV the $20 million Tremont Capital position held by De Jong at par. Then I sold De Jong’s $20 million stake in the SPV back to it at par. It only took a minute. Stewart cast a quick glance at me whilst I was talking on the phone, and then went back to his magazine. He hadn’t been able to hear what I was doing.

  I then pulled out two sets of trading tickets and wrote in the details of the trades I had just completed. When the tickets were processed, they would ensure that the Tremont Capital bonds would be transferred from Chase, where they were held in custody for De Jong, to the SPV’s custodian, Barclays. Similarly, the share certificates for the SPV, which De Jong had just received from Denny Clark, would be sent back round there by messenger. More importantly, De Jong’s bank would be instructed to expect payment of $40 million from the SPV.

  I looked at the clock. A quarter past one. Just time for a sandwich.

  As I stood in the queue in the small sandwich shop I ran through everything in my head one more time. The net result of all this juggling was that De Jong had received back the $20 million it had paid for the bogus Tremont Capital bonds. The SPV now consisted of $20 million of assets in the form of Tremont Capital bonds, funded by $20 million of share capital, all held by Phoenix Prosperity. Since Tremont Capital’s only asset was its investment in Phoenix Prosperity, or ‘Uncle Sam’s Money Machine’, Phoenix Prosperity had just bought its own shares. When you unravelled all this, what had happened was that the $20 million that De Jong & Co. had unwittingly invested in Phoenix Prosperity via Tremont Capital, had been repaid. All very neat.

  Hamilton, Rob and I were due to go round to Denny’s office that afternoon, right after lunch. Denny had promised to have a reception committee for Hamilton. I was looking forward to that meeting.

  I was pleased with myself. I had taken Hamilton on at his own game, and beaten him. I couldn’t bring Debbie back to life, but at least her murderer would now face justice. De Jong would get their money back, and I would avoid a murder charge. All in all, a satisfactory outcome.

  I walked back to my desk clutching a ham-and-cheese roll in a paper bag in one hand, and balancing a black coffee in a polystyrene cup in the other. The coffee from the shop was much better than the stuff which dripped out of the machine in the corridor. Stewart had nipped out for a bite himself. The only two people in the room were Hamilton, who was buried in something, and Rob munching a sandwich over a copy of the FT spread out on his desk.

  I sat down, and reached for the trading tickets.

  They weren’t there.

  I scrabbled through the papers on my desk. I flipped through the pile of prospectuses. Had I taken them through to administration? No. Had I stuffed them in my briefcase? I was pretty sure I hadn’t but I checked anyway. No. Had I hidden them? No.

  I could remember what I had done with them. I had left them face-up in the middle of my desk. And they weren’t there.

  My heart began to beat faster. I took a deep breath and turned round.

  Hamilton was standing behind me, holding the tickets out in front of him. He was reading them.

  ‘What’s this, Paul?’ he said in a neutral voice.

  I stood up and leaned against my desk, facing him. I tried to make my reply casual. ‘These trades get back the Tremont Capital money for De Jong,’ I said.

  ‘Very clever,’ he said. He looked up and stared at me. His cold blue eyes looked right into me, piercing straight through my feeble attempt at nonchalance, uncovering the innermost workings of my brain.

  He knew I knew.

  ‘You set up Tremont Capital,’ I said. My voice sounded quiet and small, as though it belonged to someone else. ‘You killed Debbie.’

  Hamilton just stared.

  The anger erupted inside me. How could anyone do that to her? How could Hamilton do all this to me? The man who had guided me into my chosen profession, who had patiently taught me everything I knew about trading, who had encouraged me to excel, was nothing but a thief and a murderer. Despite, or perhaps because of, his coolness, Hamilton had been more than a boss to me; he had been a mentor, a role model, a father. And all this time he was manipulating me, until finally I had become too dangerous and he had abandoned me.

  ‘Why did you do it?’ I said between clenched teeth. I was so angry it was a struggle to get the words out. ‘Why did you have to do something so bloody stupid? Why did you ruin everything we have got here? And why did you kill Debbie?’ My voice cracked as I said these last words.

  ‘Calm down, laddie,’ said Hamilton. ‘You’re too emotional.’

  I lost it. ‘What do you mean, calm down?’ I shouted. ‘Don’t you understand what you have done? This is all a fucking game to you, isn’t it? We are all just pieces in some never-ending puzzle for you to fiddle about with. But we are people, and you can’t just get rid of us when we get in the way.’

  I paused for breath. ‘I respected you. God, how I respected you. I can’t believe how fucking stupid I was. I don’t know why you didn’t just kill me.’

  Hamilton’s stare didn’t waver. ‘You’re right,’ he said. ‘I should have killed you. That was an error. I was too soft. It was unfortunate Debbie had to die, but it was the only solution.’

  I had an urge to hit Hamilton as hard as I could, but I resisted it. I looked over to where Rob was sitting, bolt upright in his chair, watching us.

  ‘I suppose he’s in on it, too?’ I said with contempt. Hamilton must have told him to tell the police that I had killed Debbie.

  ‘Oh, Rob’s just a little scared insider trader,’ said Hamilton. ‘He made his five hundred pounds on Gypsum shares, and now he’s afraid he is going to lose his job, just like you. So I asked him to tell the police a little story. Mind you, he seemed quite happy to do it. I don’t think he likes you very much.’

  Rob reddened and shifted in his chair.

  ‘And I suppose you planted Debbie’s earring in my flat?’

  Hamilton just shrugged.

  I calmed down. ‘Well, anyway. I
t’s all over now.’

  A thin smile played across his lips. ‘No, it isn’t.’

  He sounded confident. ‘What do you mean?’ I said.

  ‘You are going to tear up those tickets.’

  No way was I going to do that. ‘Why?’ I said.

  Hamilton smiled again, and picked up the phone on the desk behind him. He dialled fourteen digits. America.

  ‘Dick? It’s Hamilton.’ A pause for a response from Waigel. ‘Listen, Dick. We may have some trouble here. I can’t explain it all right now. But if I don’t call back in five minutes, get hold of your friend and put our plan involving Cathy into action. Then get out of your office and disappear. Got that?’

  Another pause as Waigel replied quickly. Hamilton looked up at the clock on the wall. ‘OK, it’s one thirty-three here now. If I am not back to you by one thirty-eight, do it.’

  He put the phone down. He turned to me. ‘I have been concerned about Cathy ever since she told me she was thinking about telling her bosses about Cash and Piper. So, just as a precaution, I have had Waigel organise someone to keep tabs on her so that if we need to dispose of her in a hurry, we can.’

  I suddenly felt cold. Cathy! She would be somewhere in New York right now, but she wouldn’t be alone. Someone was following her, watching her, waiting for the signal from Waigel to kill her. I couldn’t allow that to happen, not after Debbie.

  But was Hamilton bluffing? I didn’t put it past him in a tight spot to come up with something like that. And if he was bluffing, I knew he would be convincing.

  Hamilton followed my train of thought. ‘I’m telling the truth, you know,’ he said. ‘Anyway, you can’t take the risk, can you? I may be lying, but you wouldn’t risk Cathy’s life on that outside chance.’

  He was right. We had been in enough situations where we had assessed risk together. It would be foolish to call his bluff, and he knew I wouldn’t do it.

  Hamilton’s stare never left my face, reading everything he saw. He smiled. ‘So, you’re fond of her, are you? She’s more to you than just another saleswoman?’ He chuckled to himself. ‘Well, well. You’ll definitely have to tear up those tickets now, won’t you?’