Trading Reality

by Michael Ridpath

  ‘Welcome,’ I said.

  ‘It’s great to be here again,’ replied Yoshi. ‘Thank you for seeing me at such short notice. It’s a shame I have to rush in and out like this. I like it up here. And I don’t even get time for a round of golf.’

  ‘Do you play?’

  ‘Oh, sure. All the time. And I hear there are great courses around here.’

  ‘There are, I believe,’ I said. ‘Although I don’t play much. How about you, David?’

  I was curious to hear what David did with his spare time.

  ‘I haven’t played for a long while,’ said David. ‘There’s too much to do around here.’

  Of course, macho MBAs didn’t play golf. That was for the dead wood. For the first time since I had moved up to Scotland, I thought about taking it up.

  I sat next to David, with Yoshi opposite. ‘Now, how can we help you?’

  ‘I wanted to touch base with you on a couple of things,’ Yoshi began in casual American, ‘First of all, I want to update you on how we are progressing our strategy in the virtual entertainment market. It only seemed fair that we should keep you in the loop, given our earlier discussions.’

  He paused, looking at me. I motioned for him to continue.

  ‘We have linked up with a small outfit in Japan who are developing a VR simulation manager that we can use as a basis for our virtual entertainment software. It’s not quite as good as yours, but it’s close. It will certainly be adequate for our needs.’

  He’s bluffing, I thought. He wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t. But I would play along. ‘So, you no longer need to deal with us?’ I said evenly.

  ‘That’s right, Mark.’

  ‘Well, I’m glad you’ve found a suitable solution to your problem,’ I said with no trace of concern. ‘But, in that case, I don’t understand why you’re here.’

  Yoshi looked at me closely for a few moments. He had clearly hoped for something more from me. He knew we were in trouble, and he was trying to use that as leverage. But I wasn’t going to let him. It was pride as much as anything else. And I thought he was bluffing. ‘We know that FairSystems is in play,’ he said at last, ‘and that Jenson Computer is building a stake.’

  He glanced at me for confirmation. I didn’t give him any.

  ‘It’s likely that you will lose your independence soon,’ he continued. ‘The reason I’m here is that I want to make an offer for your company. We could discuss a friendly deal of course, with continuing involvement for yourself and all your people should you wish it. We feel that FairSystems and Onada Industries tries would make a great fit.’

  So there it was on the table. The predators really were showing themselves now. Yoshi was looking for a reaction. He got it.

  ‘No,’ I said.

  He pressed on. ‘The arbitrage community is getting involved,

  Mark. FairSystems’ days as an independent company are numbered.’

  ‘No,’ I said again.

  Yoshi took a deep breath. ‘There would be many synergies between our companies. With your VR software and our hardware technology, Onada could soon overtake Sega in the electronic entertainment business. They have nothing close. Think about it.’

  ‘No.’ I was beginning to enjoy this.

  Yoshi tried a different tack. ‘I can assure you, you’ll be much better off as part of a Japanese group than falling for a US company. American companies fire people and cut costs. The Japanese invest for the long-term. That’s why Japanese companies dominate the world electronics industry.’

  ‘No.’

  Yoshi sighed. His eyes flickered towards David, who hadn’t said anything, and who wore a perfect poker face.

  ‘OK,’ he said. ‘I get the message. But our offer won’t be on the table for ever. Once we hook up with this other company, we won’t need you. It will be too late. And either you’ll go bankrupt, or Jenson Computer will suck you dry of all your technology, and close your factory down. You don’t have much time to choose.’

  He stood up to leave, and we shook hands. ‘I’m sorry you’ve wasted your journey,’ I said.

  ‘Think about it,’ said Yoshi, and David Baker saw him out.

  I closed my eyes. Jenson Computer and now Onada Industries. I wondered how many other companies there were whose biggest customers were their biggest enemies.

  22

  I loitered in the corridor for David. I had to wait at least ten minutes. He and Yoshi obviously had a lot to talk about.

  He tried to turn back when he saw me, but he was too late. I pulled him into the conference room. He shuffled impatiently from foot to foot.

  ‘Why did you lie to me, David?’ I began.

  David’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Lie?’

  ‘Yes, lie. I know you had breakfast with Yoshi at Balbirnie House this morning. Walter Sorenson saw you.’

  For a moment I saw anger in David’s eyes. He didn’t like to be caught out. Then he pulled himself together. ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you about that,’ he said coolly.

  ‘And why couldn’t you?’

  ‘Yoshi said he wanted a meeting with me alone this morning. I couldn’t really argue with him, since he’s such an important customer. He was adamant that you should know nothing about it.’

  God, David was smooth. And quick on his feet. ‘And what did he want to discuss?’

  David was in his stride now. ‘He told me Onada Industries were about to make an offer for FairSystems, and he wanted to know my reaction.’

  ‘And what was your reaction?’

  ‘As you know, I’ve consistently been in favour of selling the company. I told Yoshi that, but I said your response would probably be negative.’

  So far, so plausible. Yet it was much more likely that David had arranged this meeting with Onada believing it would fall the day after the announcement of his appointment as managing director. That shouldn’t have been too embarrassing to admit to. But David didn’t look embarrassed. He was brazening it out. He was hiding something, I was sure. What?

  Then I remembered the thought Rachel had had when David had been adamant that we should sell the company. We had been suspicious of Jenson Computer then, not Onada, but the thought might still prove to be correct.

  ‘David, have you done a deal with Onada?’

  Got him! David’s eyes flickered for a moment, and then his face took on a pose of puzzled innocence. ‘A deal? No. What sort of deal?’

  ‘Oh, I don’t know. A deal whereby you deliver FairSystems to Onada Industries, and in return they make you managing director.’

  ‘No!’ said David, with too much righteous indignation.

  ‘You bloody well have, haven’t you?’ I moved closer to him. ‘Haven’t you?’

  Suddenly we were no longer two business rivals, but two men staring each other down. I was taller than David and stronger. And he suddenly thought I would use that.

  He knew I knew.

  He backed off, or rather pulled away. He walked to the far corner of the room, and turned round. ‘So what if I did? This company would have a real future with Onada. The Japanese will dominate virtual reality in five years anyway; if they set out to do something, they always succeed. You’re only an amateur manager, you have no idea what you’re doing. The firm would be much better off with me running it. It’s obvious; certainly to the Japanese.’

  ‘So how much have you told them about the company, David? Do they know about all our development plans?’ Suddenly I was very glad that David didn’t know the details of Project Platform. I felt total contempt for him. ‘You make me sick! You’ve betrayed everyone who works here. You’re fired. Now get out of the building!’

  ‘Fuck you! I was just doing what made commercial sense. If you and Richard didn’t like it, then that’s your problem!’

  Richard didn’t like it. Richard? I remembered the big row David had had with Richard the day before he’d died.

  ‘Richard knew you were negotiating with Onada behind his back! He talked to you about it, did
n’t he?’

  David was quiet now.

  ‘I bet he fired you that afternoon,’ I went on. David’s face was impassive. I thought I caught a flicker in his eye. ‘But he never got a chance to do anything about it before he died. That was convenient, wasn’t it?’

  David just looked at me.

  ‘Did you kill my brother?’ I asked quietly.

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ said David scornfully.

  ‘You heard me. Did you kill my brother?’ I repeated.

  ‘I don’t have to listen to this,’ he muttered, and pushed past me.

  I grabbed hold of his sleeve. ‘Hold on, David. Answer my question!’

  David turned to me. ‘No, I didn’t kill your brother. I don’t know why he was killed. But I can guess. He got in the way of someone who wants to own this company. Now you’re in the way. And when you get killed, I won’t shed any tears, believe me.’ With that, he pulled his arm away, and pushed through the door.

  I watched him go, breathing heavily. I was sure David had betrayed FairSystems to Onada. I had been right to keep him on, if only to make certain of that. But had he killed Richard? I couldn’t tell from his response. It was possible.

  I slumped into my chair. A cold feeling crept over me. I had never completely trusted David, but I hadn’t really imagined that he could have been so contemptible. And if he had killed Richard . . . Then again, had he been threatening me in that last outburst?

  I didn’t know.

  I went to Rachel’s office. ‘We won’t be seeing much more of David,’ I said.

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I fired him.’

  ‘You what! Why?’

  ‘You were right. He had done a deal to deliver FairSystems in return for being made MD. But it was with Onada, not Jenson Computer.’ I explained all about our meeting with Onada. ‘And my guess is that Richard discovered this just before he died.’

  ‘Jesus!’ said Rachel. She thought it through. ‘Oh my God. Do you think he killed Richard?’

  ‘I don’t know. Maybe.’

  ‘Well, be careful, won’t you. I’ve been scared about you since you were attacked and you got that sick message. I mean, if David did kill Richard – ’

  ‘He wouldn’t be stupid enough to kill me as well.’

  Just then Keith popped his head around the door.

  ‘Did you get the pictures?’ I asked.

  ‘Yeah. I’ll get them developed now. You should have them this evening.’

  Rachel raised her eyebrows. ‘I just wondered whether anyone at the Inch Tavern would recognise our friend Yoshi,’ I explained.

  ‘Now that would be interesting.’ Rachel shook her head. ‘I still can’t believe David did that deal with Onada.’

  ‘Well, he did. And he’s gone now. And we’ll make Onada regret it, too. What do you think about this Japanese company with the new simulation manager?’

  ‘It’s bollocks.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘They’re bluffing. Yoshi said the simulation manager was in development, did he? If that’s the case, it could be months away from final testing. Maybe even years. If there was a Japanese company with a better product than ours ready now, we’d never hear from Onada again. And I would have picked up the rumours by now.’

  ‘So we hold all the cards?’

  ‘For a change, yes, we do. They need a simulation manager that works right away if they’re going to launch a credible product.’

  ‘Good,’ I said. ‘Let’s make them sweat then.’

  I liked talking to Rachel. At that moment my girlfriend, my chairman, my colleagues, and my customers all seemed to be turning against me. She, at least, was an ally. Since our victory at the EGM, she had been a lot warmer towards me. Once again, I found I looked forward to talking to her. The snide comments had stopped, and she didn’t mention Karen at all. She was throwing herself wholeheartedly into saving the company, and she was enjoying it.

  Kerr looked, if anything, more tired than usual. He arrived with a note-taking detective constable.

  ‘OK. Tell me what happened.’

  I ran through what David had said to me. They wanted his exact words. As I spelled them out, it became clear that he hadn’t admitted to anything more sinister than having breakfast with Yoshi without my permission. But Kerr was grateful for the lead.

  ‘This will give us something new to work on. And by God we need it. Doogie Fisher’s not going to crack. In fact the harder time we give him, the more he enjoys it. The bastard likes to feel he’s persecuted.’

  ‘Do you think David might have killed Richard?’

  Kerr gave a world-weary sigh, and stretched. ‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘But we’ll ask the questions.’

  It had been a long, tough day. I was pleased David had gone. And it was good to have my position as managing director unquestioned. But there was still a lot to be done.

  I went for a pint at the Inch Tavern, taking the photo of Yoshi with me. That gave the regulars something to chat about. Once again, the friendly atmosphere did its work. I left at about ten. It was just getting dark. I walked down the hill to the little bridge over the burn.

  The bridge was poorly lit, and shadows reached out across the road. I could hear the stream gurgling mysteriously under the stone arch. I looked behind me. There was no one around. The nearest house was thirty yards away, and had no lights on.

  Suddenly, I felt afraid. I stopped. What was I doing here? Was I mad? I had nearly been killed at this very spot. I should have driven, or walked back to my house with someone else.

  I had been drunk then; I was sober now. I could walk back to the pub and ask for an escort. No. That was ridiculous.

  Someone was playing with my life. Someone had killed Richard. Someone was trying to ruin FairSystems. Someone was thinking hard about killing me.

  Was it David Baker? Doogie? Someone I didn’t even know?

  Whoever it was, was he going to scare the hell out of me from now on?

  No, he wasn’t.

  I looked across the bridge. There was almost certainly no one there. And if there was, he was hiding in the gully of the stream itself. If I walked rapidly across, I’d hear him, and I would be able to run before he reached me.

  What if he had a gun?

  Ridiculous. People just didn’t carry guns in Kirkhaven.

  So, I took a deep breath and walked rapidly across the bridge. Nothing moved. All I heard was the sound of the sea and the burn.

  If someone was trying to scare me, he was succeeding.

  I had half a dozen e-mails waiting for me the next morning. Two were interesting. One was from Susan saying Steve Schwartz had called. He didn’t want me to call him back, but he wanted me to be sure to drop in to see him when I was next in London.

  Intriguing.

  The second was from Sorenson.

  I find it incredible that David really has been involved with Onada in the manner you describe. But if he has, you are right, he has got to go.

  He leaves a serious gap in management. Given his departure, I am even more worried about the solvency of the company. I have spoken with Graham Stephens who shares my concerns. So, if you can’t come up with some more funds by next Wednesday, unfortunately, I will have to appoint a receiver. I hope this won’t be necessary.

  Good luck.

  I sighed deeply. There was no escape. It was Thursday, and no miracle was going to happen in the next six days. I dialled my Personal Account Executive.

  I told him I wanted to draw down the loan we had spoken about. Ninety thousand pounds. It would mean taking out a mortgage again on Inch Lodge. And taking the borrowing on my own house up to the limit. With my existing mortgage, it added up to a hefty monthly interest bill. I reassured him that I had more big bonuses from Harrison Brothers to come. The funds would be available within a week. The documentation I had given the bank for the original mortgage was still recent enough for him to work on.

  I put the phone down and closed my eyes.
I knew I was making a classic trader’s mistake. Betting everything on a trade that was going wrong.

  According to Willie’s cash flows which were etched on my brain, the ninety thousand pounds would, with luck, buy another month, giving us until July’s pay day, and it might even take us into August. We were expecting some money in from two customers in the last week of June, which would help. God, I hoped the bastards paid up on time!

  I was betting everything, but I didn’t mind. This had long ago ceased to be simply a large-scale trade. I was emotionally, psychologically and financially wedded to FairSystems. I would either live or die with it. And that knowledge gave me the grim thrill of the chronic gambler.

  I went to Willie’s office, and got him to draw up a subordinated loan note issued by FairSystems plc to me, maturing in six months’ time. The amount was ninety thousand pounds.

  ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ he asked, looking at me as though I were mad.

  Well, I was mad. I nodded. He wasn’t really surprised.

  Back to more immediate problems.

  Onada Industries.

  So, Onada were going to acquire FairSystems, were they? They thought they had all the cards, that we would flee the evil Americans and fall into their arms? Well, they were wrong.

  For once in my brief career at FairSystems, I had the upper hand, and I was going to make full use of it. If I was lucky, I might find a longer term solution to FairSystems’ cash-flow problem as well. By longer term, I meant three months, rather than three weeks.

  I sought out Rachel.

  ‘Now, you’re sure Onada don’t have any alternative to Fair-Sim 1?’

  ‘Not if they want to succeed in the entertainment market,’ she said. ‘And believe me, they want to do that.’

  ‘Good. Then help me draft a couple of faxes.’

  They went to the top two electronic entertainment companies in the world: Sega and Nintendo. They mentioned that we had been in discussions with Onada, but that these had fallen through, and we were looking for another Japanese partner. I asked for an early response if either company had any interest in talking further. I wasn’t looking for anything concrete. Just enough to scare Onada. Then I called Yoshi at his London office.