The Manganese Dilemma

by Ian Miller

  "Now, here is the weirder part. Kapralov complained to us, and we . . ." The General paused to let Maslov complete the sentence.

  "Told him, tough luck, and advised him to bring the rest back before he lost that as well?"

  "Something like that," the General admitted, "but then guess what? All the money was returned some time later. How do you interpret that?"

  "Very difficult to be precise," Maslov said, "but I would guess this was always planned. This was borrowed more than stolen, and my guess is, whoever did it did not expect anyone to notice until it was returned. Still, what you are saying is this is relevant because it happened to Kapralov?"

  "Go on," the General challenged. The good news, from Maslov's point of view, was the General was enjoying this, but in a good way.

  "My guess is it at least indicates the Americans have taken an interest in some project involving a manganese chemical produced near here?"

  "Yes. I want to assure you we think there is a major espionage incident in the making, and I wanted to warn you so you will not feel as if you have been sent out to pasture. You are there because I feel you give us the best chance we have of catching some spies."

  "If I need more equipment, bugs, tracers, and so on?"

  "Order it. Oh, and as for Doctor Bazina, find out what she needs to boost her reputation. If she needs more equipment, or more staff, give it to her. Since the Americans seem to have taken an interest in her, we have to give them more cause."

  "She will thank you, sir."

  "I just hope this works out, Fedya. I've got quite a bit riding on you, so, good luck."

  With that the General hung up. Maslov was pleased. He could tell Jannochka that things were on track, and with any luck, he would put one over those wretched Americans.

  Chapter 14

  "Well, you two are lucky," Cameron said with a grin. "The boss's invited you to dinner tonight."

  "He has? Where?" Justin tried to look enthused, but it also occurred to him that either he or Janice could well have had dates that evening.

  "You'll find out, because I'll take you," Cameron said, then added wryly, "but you'll dine without me."

  "Then why are you taking us? We can –"

  "Because my job, in part, is also to lose those two followers, and to do it so it looks as natural as possible that we eluded them."

  "So no jumping onto trains at the last moment?"

  "Not unless we would normally have to run for them, which is why we shall give the trains a miss."

  "So why don't you eat with us?"

  "Because I am running security outside," Cameron replied. "That's how I earn my money."

  There was no answer to that. They elected to close the office at half past four, at which time Cameron checked the two outside were still there. They were.

  "Since you don't usually leave for another hour minimum, I think we have them still in an inattentive state. We shall leave out the back door."

  They reached the ground floor and worked their way to the back of the building where there was a loading door and a fire exit.

  "Just let me have a look," Cameron said. He opened the door and peered out. There was nobody in the back lane other than two men unloading a van and carrying whatever into another back door.

  "We could get a lift in that van," Justin remarked. "Nobody would see us if we were in the back."

  "As long as the two unloading aren't also Goldfinch's men," Cameron said.

  "That'd be something of a coincidence," Justin said. "The probability of that –"

  "I agree it's unlikely," Cameron said, "but not impossible, so why take the risk?"

  There was no answer, so they walked past the van, and noticed the two men took no particular notice of them. They reached a main street, and quickly merged with a number of pedestrians. Twice they walked into stores, and re-emerged to join different groups of pedestrians. Finally, Cameron was convinced they were not being followed, so he sent a text. They continued walking; Cameron received an answer, and quickly picked up the pace. They crossed with the lights and walked halfway down the next block when Cameron stopped. They stood there, and a minute later a car pulled up and they got in.

  They drove for quite some time, effectively leaving the metropolitan area, and seemingly going nowhere in particular, when they stopped outside a diner.

  "In you go," Cameron said, as the car drove off. When he saw the concern on Janice's face, he laughed and gave the further explanation, "Don't worry, you'll be taken back. We just don't want anyone spotting the car outside."

  For an "out of the way" place, Justin was quite surprised with what he saw. This was luxurious, and it occurred to him this was a "place in the country" for the rich. A waiter motioned them to follow, and he took them to a small side room. There was one table, and Rutherford was already seated.

  "Thank you for coming," Rutherford said, as he indicated they should sit down. "I know it was short notice, but thanks."

  Justin had to control himself because he knew their continued business operation would depend on Rutherford for a short period of time. "You're welcome," he said, as he sat down. Janice managed a polite smile.

  "Here's the menu." Rutherford handed each of them a copy that, Justin noted, did not have prices on it. "Order whatever you would like to drink and eat, and I mean whatever. There is no point in trying to be cheap, because I would hold that against you. When we get the ordering out of the way and the meals are served, I have some business to discuss."

  Justin realized the fact that it would be held against them if they tried to be cheap also meant it would be held against them if they were stupid. Justin suggested that Rutherford should choose a bottle of wine, and tell them what sort it would be so they could choose an appropriate meal. This seemed to go down well with Rutherford, and he ordered a tolerably expensive French red. They ordered, and Justin was pleased to see Janice also realised that choosing something expensive was good, but excessive ordering was bad. Then there was polite conversation as they waited for their orders to arrive.

  Finally, their main meals were before them and the waiter had left and closed the door. "I need you to do something for me," Rutherford said, and gave the two of them a slightly challenging smile as he continued, "and this time it gets Justin a chance to get out of the city. Janice, you will stay in your office and be really careful."

  "What do you want me to do?" Justin asked cautiously.

  "The background's this," Rutherford started to explain. "There's a major development planned upstate, and the general assumption is it is going to be here." He produced a map, with a red circle marked on it.

  "So?"

  "I have reason to believe Goldfinch will be out there trying to buy up the land in that circle. Once the development gets underway, those sections will become critical. There're about two hundred acres there, and –"

  "Why won't whoever does this simply use land nearby?" Justin asked. This did not make sense. A relatively small piece of land could be purchased just about anywhere.

  "It needs to be flat, it needs to be near a river but it also needs to be flood-free, it needs to be somewhere where the environmentalists won't protest too much, and it needs to have good transport access."

  "There'll be a number of other suitable places, though," Janice noted. "This land is hardly unique, unless there's something I don't know."

  "There's also the issue of permits," Rutherford explained.

  "So you want me to go up there and buy land?"

  "Not exactly," Cameron said and broke into a grin at Justin's expression of sheer puzzlement.

  "Well, what?"

  "You're to go up there and look like you're trying to buy the land, but you haven't really got the necessaries."

  "That last part shouldn't be too hard," Justin said. "Unless you give me the cash, I can't see that I would even want to buy land."

  "You'll represent yourself as an agent, but you will not disclose for whom."

  "There's going to be a
n interesting commission on this," Justin said, as he shook his head from side to side. "There's no point haggling over the rate, because any percentage of nothing is still nothing." He paused, then said, "What happens if I fail, the other side feels sorry for me, and sells cheaply?"

  "I'll cover it, as long as you stick to the guidelines."

  "And what happens if the other side offers a partnership, him throwing in the land and –"

  "Decline. Remember, you have to appear to want the land, but really you're trying not to get any at all."

  "Just raise the price for Goldfinch?" Janice asked.

  "More or less," Rutherford said. When he saw Justin's frustrated expression, he added as an explanation, "I also want to bog Goldfinch down. So you have to go there and try to generate interest in people's selling, only you don't want to buy."

  "Suppose Goldfinch pulls out?"

  "Then he's smart and we have wasted time, and maybe I'll end up wasting a bit of money. Now, all reasonable expenses will be met, and your firm will get one per cent of whatever Goldfinch pays and two thousand a day for your time. Interested?"

  The answer from Justin's point of view was, not at all, but he knew that was not going to go down at all well, so he took a breath and said, "Yes, of course."

  "Good. Now, one more thing. While you're at this, I want you to have a close look at the land and tell me what you think of it, but don't tell anyone you're doing this."

  "You want me to inspect it?"

  "Yes, but not too overtly. Remember, you are to give the impression you are wanting the site, not what's on it, so don't go inspecting buildings or taking soil samples."

  "And is this dangerous?" Janice asked.

  "It shouldn't be, but we have to accept that sooner or later Goldfinch might start to get annoyed. Oh, one other thing. You can expect that Goldfinch will try to follow you, and check on what you are doing."

  "You want me to avoid tails?"

  "No. I want you to act normally, but keep an eye out. If someone tails you, so be it, but I want to know. Just pretend you don't know as long as they keep a good distance away. "

  "And if they don't?"

  "Then they're not tails. If it is reasonably obvious they're going to be dangerous, do what you can to evade, and when you evade, go to somewhere more populous. Parking outside a police station would probably make most people leave you alone."

  "Hmmm."

  "Justin, don't worry." Rutherford leaned over and put his hand over Justin's and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "You're only going out there to buy land, and you're trying not to succeed. If anyone is going to try to stop you, the first thing they'll do is to try to threaten you off. Since you're really trying not to buy, just look chastised and promise to go away. Then go away. Nobody's going to beat you up to stop you buying if they can stop you buying simply by threatening."

  "I suppose."

  "I'm fairly confident nothing will happen. All I'm saying is, if someone tries to get tough, just fold. It ain't worth getting into strife over."

  "Would you fold?" Justin asked, his face lifting up with an out of the blue challenge.

  "Depends on what assets I have," Rutherford chuckled. "You don't have any and you're not trained for rough stuff, so fold. That's an order."

  "Yes sir. At once."

  Rutherford gave him an odd look. He had never really considered that Justin might have spine, and had really considered him a very weak person who, unfortunately, he had to use. Perhaps that needed re-evaluation. "Right, when you go, Doug will give you an envelope with the where, the details of how much you should offer, and what to do under what circumstances. Your most common instruction is to tell them you'll be back with a bigger offer."

  "Do I give them a business card so they can get back?"

  "No. Tell them you'll get back to them. I'll also give you a car to drive up there."

  "You don't want them to see the sort of car I drive," Justin said with a laugh. "It'd give the wrong impression."

  "I don't want them writing down your number plate," Rutherford countered. "They'd find out who you are and tell the competition."

  "Good point," Justin said, a trifle abashed. "I never thought of that."

  "Don't worry. All I'll usually ask you to do is make investments. You're a money man, but this time I want you to do this for another reason."

  "Which is?"

  "You're to look like a money man who hasn't got a lot of money and who needs a quick deal. The last part isn't true, but if you can look like it, all the better."

  "I can manage to look like someone without a lot of money," Justin laughed, "because I haven't."

  "Good, now we're feeling a little uplifted, why not try for some dessert, and a refill of the wine, or would you like something else to drink?"

  "I'd like a coffee," Janice said. "Preferably a strong one."

  "OK, looks like no wine. Justin?"

  "A coffee, and a cognac, if that's –"

  "Certainly! I said you were to order what you want, not what you think I would approve of. I'll call the waiter."

  * * *

  Justin was surprised at the vehicle that was provided. A slightly aged and somewhat roughed up BMW that most certainly looked as if it had seen better days. As Rutherford had said when he handed the keys over, "It helps you look as if you've had money, but you've seen better days."

  "I agree. It's a great prop, and I've always wanted to drive a beemer."

  "Then take care," Rutherford said with a grin. "The bodywork looks like it needs attention, but the motor has had attention. If you've got the ability, this thing will get you out of any trouble, but don't go beyond your driving skill. I don't want to find you wrapped around a tree." He paused, and added, "Also, I don't want to be buried in your speeding tickets. Keep within the speed limits unless there's a good reason not to."

  Justin had to admit that last piece of advice had been followed only part of the time. There were places he just could not help himself, but he did keep an eye out for traffic police, and as far as he was aware, he had got away with his little ventures into speed. He had also taken some delight in winding parts, not that they were very winding. Still, the uphill parts allowed him to get the feel of a vehicle that was obviously far superior in performance to his car. Not that that was hard to do. His car was chosen to be reliable, to do what he needed, and to avoid looking ostentatious.

  When he pulled up outside the first place, he was confused. This mainly comprised some land that was not really being used, an old barn or shed, and an old house that was badly in need of paint. True, the land was an asset, and he felt he should concentrate on that. He went up to the house and knocked on the door.

  No answer.

  He knocked again, and after another no answer, he called out at the top of his voice, "Anyone home?"

  No answer.

  He turned and headed back towards his car.

  "You want something?"

  He turned and saw a man walking slowly towards him from the barn.

  "Looking for Mister Simmonds."

  "That's me."

  "I was wondering if you were interested in selling this place."

  Simmonds nodded slightly, and said, "Could be. What're you offering?"

  "It's a nice looking piece of land," Justin said, "but the buildings are a bit run down, so what say one and a half million?"

  "Son, you've got no show."

  "No show?" Justin tried to look puzzled. "Then what do you want?"

  "You're the third one here today, son, and I told the last one, eight million. He's going away to think about it, but he was keen, so, well, nine would fix it right now."

  "Sorry, I can't go that high right now," Justin said. Phase one was working perfectly, but what was it with two others? "I'll need to confirm with my partner, so I'll get back to you."

  "If the other man puts eight on the table, he's got it, so, make up your mind."

  "I'll get back to you," Justin said, and began walking back to hi
s car. That had been a lie, but the good news was, it looked like someone else was doing his job of raising prices for him.

  When he approached the front entrance to the next place, he saw a car already parked, and a man who, from his dress, Justin guessed was the owner, who in turn was talking to someone he could not see. The someone appeared, and seemed agitated. Presumably the owner did not want to sell, or he wanted too much. Or he had sold to the third person. As the man was getting into his car, Justin took a photo with his cell phone, backed up the car, then crouched down so he could just see through the side window. The car passed by and seemingly did not notice Justin, but Justin recognised him: Middleton. Justin felt convinced that Goldfinch had not got that property, but if anyone had then who was it?

  Middleton had driven towards where he had come from, which meant that he would be going to the northernmost of the two in that direction, assuming Middleton was one of the ones who had been to the first place he had tried. He would try the remaining possible purchase in the other direction.

  Again, he arrived at the front gate to see a car parked in the drive, and two men shaking hands. This was not a very big drive, so he took a photo of the two, and watched as the man put some documents into a briefcase, and put that into the back seat of his car. Justin had seen enough and once again backed away. He was reasonably confident he knew all of Goldfinch's possible staff, and this man was not one of them. He must be the third person who was interested. Eventually, the car came out, but instead of heading towards Justin, it kept going away.

  Justin decided to try his luck. He was reasonably convinced that a deal had been signed, judging from the enthusiasm of the parting, and the documents being secured. He parked outside the gate and walked up the drive. The owner was somewhat surprised to see him, and even more surprised to be asked if he wanted to sell. He did, but he had, and that was to the person who had just left.

  "I suppose if you made me an offer big enough to make it worth my while and to untangle the legal mess –"

  "No!" Justin interrupted firmly. When he saw the greedy look be replaced by surprise, he added, "If you would break a deal just signed with someone else, you'd break it with me. I don't need that sort of trouble."