De Jersey planned to fabricate a plausible reason for occasional trips to London after Christina returned. Raymond Marsh was a frequent visitor to the apartment now, guiding his experiments. As de Jersey got to know the odd man, he admired him more. Marsh was not only a top cracker but a phacker. He was adept at disrupting and illegally tapping into phone systems via his computer. De Jersey felt sure all his experience would come in handy. When Marsh left, de Jersey would set timers on the lights to make it appear that the flat was constantly occupied, then travel back to his estate to carry on his work there.
Slowly he began to formulate a plan for the robbery. In order to visit the ex-security guard in Franklyn Prison, he had to acquire fake documents. He researched Hunting and Letheby, the firm of solicitors who had dealt with Jones’s case and printed out an imitation of their headed notepaper, then wrote to the prison requesting a visitor’s pass for the solicitor handling the man’s appeal.
Next he had to hunt down another ex-employee of the Royal household, someone who could provide inside information on protocol. He placed a message on various electronic bulletin boards: “U.K. novelist wishes to contact any employees (or recent ex-employees) of Royal household for confidential information.” He was astonished at the number of replies. He knew that a vast percentage would be from idiots messing around, but after a while it became easy to assess them, and he made lists of those he would contact. It was time-consuming work, though, and the pressure was on.
De Jersey had been occupied at the stables virtually all morning. He discussed forthcoming racing events with his trainers, the twelve mares in foal, and various veterinary matters. A three-year-old colt that had cost him almost three-quarters of a million pounds had not been fit enough to race yet, and the strangles bacteria had struck a wing of the yard that stabled eighteen horses. Veterinary bills were always high, but this winter they were astronomical. And foot-and-mouth restrictions still held up traveling. The good news, however, was that his pride and joy, Royal Flush, was in fine health and training for the season, which, de Jersey hoped, would place him on track for the Derby.
De Jersey had only just returned to his office when he received a call from David Lyons’s widow. Helen asked if he would see her that afternoon, on a personal matter that she preferred not to discuss over the phone. De Jersey agreed.
Helen waited outside her house for him. Her face was white and drawn, and she was not wearing any makeup. Usually an immaculate dresser, she was wrapped in a drab brown coat with a fur hat pulled down roughly over her hair. “Thank you for coming, Edward,” she said, her eyes brimming with tears. “I had no one else to turn to.” She led him inside the house, poured coffee, and they sat down at the kitchen table, where she fiddled with a teaspoon. Her eyes had the lost look of the recently bereaved. “I don’t know where to begin. It’s to do with David’s death.” She reached for a tissue and blew her nose. “He left everything to me. I’d always believed we were comfortably off, but…” She stopped.
“Go on, Helen,” he prompted quietly.
“David borrowed on the house. He liquidated almost everything we possessed, and I don’t know what trouble he had got himself into, but the savings accounts…” She took a deep breath. “David withdrew every penny we had. My sister, who’s been overseeing everything for me, says he took out almost two million pounds. It’s all gone.” De Jersey said nothing. “I’m not asking you for money, please don’t think that. I’ve still got a few thousand in my own account. I’ll be all right.” She twisted the sodden tissue. “I don’t know what he was doing, I really don’t. His assistant is devastated, and they’re closing the office. My sister took a week off work to help sort everything out.”
De Jersey was feeling edgy, but he gave nothing away.
“She is an accountant too. In fact, David and I met through her. She’s gone through all of his business accounts. It seems he had invested in an Internet company based in New York, leadingleisurewear. Many of his clients also invested in this company.” She glanced toward de Jersey. Although he didn’t show it, de Jersey was furious at David’s indiscretion. “My sister was stunned at the amount of money you and David put in, and those others, a man called Wilcox, and I think Driscoll.”
De Jersey’s mind was racing. This was probably the only time that their names had been linked. He smiled. “I had presumed I was the only unfortunate gambler.”
“I am so very sorry,” she said, patting his hand. “The reason I asked to see you was because Sylvia-”
“Your sister.”
“Yes. She works for an international investment company. This company had invested in a similar venture and lost a considerable amount as well. So she did some checking for me; she’s thinking of hiring an investigator over there to help.”
“Checking into what exactly?”
“Into leadingleisurewear. It was started by a young man called Alex Moreno. Now he and another leadingleisurewear ex-employee have been trying to set up another Internet deal. Sylvia couldn’t believe their audacity. I said to her that if I told you this you’d want to do something about it. Sylvia said if there was a possibility of getting some of the money back, then I or you or the other men should contact this Alex Moreno and find out what’s going on.”
De Jersey leaned forward. “My new financial adviser has told me there is no possible recourse and that I simply have to accept I made a poor judgment.”
“But you can’t just accept it!” she exclaimed.
“I am afraid, Helen, that that is what I have to do. We are a part of a worldwide Internet collapse. There are not just a few losers but thousands. Many Internet companies have gone bust.”
“You could find Moreno.”
“I’ve accepted my losses.”
“You’re just going to walk away?” she asked, aghast.
“I’ve been advised that I have little or no hope of recouping them.”
She looked at her hands. “Sylvia has consulted a private investigator in New York to try to trace Moreno.”
De Jersey felt his gut tighten. “Has she succeeded in finding him?”
“No. It would seem he’s disappeared. She thinks he has probably stolen a lot of the funds. She found a letter from the auditor dated shortly before leadingleisurewear collapsed, questioning the figures of the annual audit.
“And Sylvia found out that he sold his apartment in New York. The doorman said it went to a German. But Moreno has a house in the Hamptons too.”
De Jersey was seething inside but reached across the table for Helen’s hand. She gripped his, and the tears started again. “I feel so bad about what happened,” she said. “I should try to trace the other men involved.”
He released her hand. “The investors have never publicly admitted their losses, as I have not. It is highly confidential information. I can’t advise you, Helen.”
“But don’t you think they would want to know what my sister has discovered?”
“I can’t speak for them,” he said quietly.
“Don’t you want to find out about Alex Moreno?”
He chose his words carefully. “Hiring an investigator in another country is not something I have considered doing. I am sure if David believed he could retrieve any of the money, he would not have taken such a drastic way out.”
“Would you look over some of the documents I found?”
“Of course. But I want my involvement with this company kept from the press. This could all blow up if the investigator’s discoveries were ever made public.”