‘Hello Ewan. Can you attend a briefing and strategy meeting here at 8 p.m.?’
‘My pleasure. See you then.’
The phone line went dead.
‘Right, you’ve got until 8 o’clock to find me the missing targets,’ said the commissioner.
Kate looked at her team, seated around her in the fourth floor office. They looked exhausted. She had to keep their adrenaline flowing. ‘We have less than two hours to find a way to get confirmation that the fifth missile launcher is on board Golden Sundancer, and we have to find the missing properties. Emma please chase up Rick in Manchester. In the meantime, Rafi please decide on who you want on the economics team The commissioner has put his head on the block. Time to tie up some loose ends! We have to deliver!’
Emma phoned Rick Feldon in Manchester. After a brief conversation it transpired that the word search of the computers had revealed nothing relating to the missing development properties.
‘Wesson is being as uncooperative as ever. He has a huge persecution complex. How long have we got?’ asked Rick.
‘Well, put it this way, by dawn tomorrow it could be too late.’
Rick went quiet for a moment. ‘I’m really getting nowhere with Wesson. He’s cantankerous and tired; if I push him any more I reckon he will go into his shell and won’t come out again for a long while. And Stone has clammed up and is refusing to talk to anyone.’
‘Good luck,’ said Kate, and hung up.
Rafi’s thoughts had turned to the economics team when Kate came and sat on the edge of his desk.
‘How do you think the briefing went?’
‘Rather well,’ Rafi replied. ‘You were outstanding.’
‘Thanks. This economics team of yours – I’m looking forward to meeting them, especially if they’re anything like you and Aidan!’ she said with a twinkle in her eye.
Rafi nodded, but his thoughts were already back on the economics team.
Sensing that his mind was elsewhere, Kate returned to her desk.
Rafi started with the easiest choice: the real estate analyst. It would have to be Bob Tieson. Bob worked for one of the big US banks and Rafi spoke to him on a regular basis at work. His knowledge of European and North American REITs, and the real estate investment trust sector was second to none. Yes, Bob was his first choice.
He called across to Jeremy who was sorting out a supper order with Luigi’s. Jeremy sensed that he was needed and gave Luigi carte blanche. ‘Supper for, say, ten… No make that fifteen, please. Something we can eat whilst working. And orange juice, water and some strong coffee, please, delivered in, say, three quarters of an hour? Great, thanks Luigi.’
Jeremy put down the phone and looked across at Rafi. ‘What can I do for you?’
‘I’ve five people that I need brought in to work with Aidan. Kid gloves approach, but no taking no for an answer. OK?’
‘Who did you have in mind?’
‘The first person is Bob Tieson.’ Rafi passed Jeremy the contact details. ‘I’ll let you have the next four names in a couple minutes.’
‘Good,’ replied Jeremy, ‘That’ll give me time to track him down.’
Now for the financials analyst, Rafi thought. He wondered who Callum would have picked. His first idea was the sector’s star analyst, Steven Moreland, but both Callum and he viewed him as a bit of a prima donna and he was not really a team player. Rafi moved on to the next name: Matthew Wilson – who worked for a large European bank. Yes, he was highly regarded, very bright and would work well with others under pressure. And he’d been around for long enough to understand how painful extended bear markets could be.
Rafi passed Matthew’s details to Jeremy. He now had two excellent people, but neither had any experience of dealing with the Treasury mandarins or the Bank of England. The economist would have to be someone to whom they’d listen. Rafi had a choice of five or six individuals. Then it came to him: why not get someone from the inside? Yes, Alex Lynton – the relatively new senior economist at the Bank of England. Before joining the Bank he’d held down impressive posts in the private sector and in academia. Was Alex a gamble? What if he’d become institutionalised and unwilling to take painful decisions? The more Rafi considered him, the more sure he became of his choice and passed Alex’s details to Jeremy.
For the corporate finance specialist – he needed someone who understood real estate investment vehicles. Rafi thought of a name straight away: Donald Hollingsworth. He was a friend from his from his corporate finance days, where he had been Rafi’s boss. He still ran a very successful corporate finance team. Several years ago he had become a non-executive director of a leading listed property company. Donald knew his way around the corporate finance market blindfolded and had a good working knowledge of the commercial property market. His experience would be a great help and he was undoubtedly very well connected in financial circles.
Jeremy took the fourth name and what Rafi could remember of Donald’s contact details.
‘How are you getting on?’ enquired Rafi.
‘We’ve tracked down Matthew and my colleagues are working on Bob‘s whereabouts as we speak.’
The fifth member of the team needed to be able to think out of the box and have a clear and incisive mind. A thought came to him… His sister fitted the criteria perfectly. He scribbled a note for Jeremy. ‘Here’s the fifth name.’
Jeremy looked at it. ‘Saara Khan of Birmingham University. Ah, your little sister; our background research shows her to be an impressive academic and just as unassuming as you are! She’s in Birmingham… Do you think that she would prefer a smart squad car or a helicopter?’
‘Which do you think would be the faster?’
‘Let me make a call.’ A few minutes later Jeremy replaced the phone. ‘They have arranged a car with a couple of motorbike outriders to keep the road in front clear.’
Jeremy then spoke to his colleagues back at MI5.
‘Rafi, we’ve traced the other four: Donald Hollingsworth and wife are on their way to Dorset, where they have a cottage. We’ve sent a helicopter down in the direction of the A303 and have the traffic police between here and Yeovil looking out for their car. John has left to collect Bob Tieson; he is working late at his office in the Docklands. I’m collecting Alex Lynton from the theatre – I hope the performance hasn’t started! And last but not least, Matthew Wilson is flying into Heathrow. He’s been working in Frankfurt. I’ve arranged for him to be met by a colleague and taken through Immigration and Customs the VIP way.’
‘Excellent,’ said Rafi with a smile.
Jeremy called across to Kate. ‘Do we have any cars left?’
‘Of course, but heaven only knows where,’ came the reply. ‘If you go down to reception I’ll get you one.’
‘Thanks.’
Rafi sat there, thinking. Would this team of five plus Aidan have sufficient gravitas to stand up to the new Chancellor of the Exchequer? He was a serious politician, but with only a few months’ experience of the job it was difficult to predict whether he had become influenced by the highly PR conscious Treasury team. And how would he react when the pressure was really on? Would he understand the seriousness of the huge risks facing the country, or opt for the easier strategy of procrastinating?
‘Where have we got to on the London property front?’ asked Kate.
‘I’ve been trying to find out the address of the London or South of England property that the fish processing business owns,’ replied Emma. ‘I’ve spoken to Land Registry again. Sadly, their system isn’t set up for this type of general enquiry. I spoke to Justin again and he’s been trawling through their property databases. He says that there are too many permutations, even if you try to narrow down the search criteria, and that it’s likely the deal would have been done subject to a confidentiality clause, so wouldn’t even be on the databases!’
‘Emma,’ Kate called across to her, ‘the immigration officer, Roger Harewood – the man who keeps the notebooks – is en route back from the West coast of the United States. Could you find the airline and flight number? There can’t be many long haul planes from the USA landing at Manchester Airport early tomorrow morning. Then arrange for us to speak to him, in case he can remember something.’