Free To Trade

In the taxi back to the office Hamilton sat in silence. He stared out of the window at the flashes of red, black and grey as buses, taxis and suits milled back and forth. After five minutes he muttered something, which I didn't quite catch.

'Sorry?' I said.

'I don't like it,' said Hamilton.

I pondered his statement for a moment. 'What don't you like about it?'

'It's too easy. It doesn't smell right. And Piper was lying about how he heard about the deal. I don't know what his game is, but he is up to something.'

I didn't like the sound of this. Piper had seemed perfectly convincing to me, but he hadn't fooled Hamilton. I didn't want to seem too eager to persuade Hamilton to do the deal, but on the other hand, I desperately wanted him to commit. 'What can he do?' I asked. 'The documentation is watertight.' Indeed it was. There was virtually nothing that Piper or anyone else could do with the SPV without asking De Jong & Co. first. De Jong had a right to veto the transfer of any assets in or out.

'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.

'Urn, 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.