Cashback

by Duncan James

  ***

  Robin was back at Heathrow a few days later, with Marian this time, on their way to Montreau. Marian had put together a carefully planned itinerary, the main aim of which was to have final meetings with the two Swiss banks. They then planned to go on to Nairobi, to meet Will and Bonkers.

  It was Will who had suggested the Nairobi rendezvous, as the situation in Zimbabwe was still a little tense and nobody was quite sure what might happen next. But Robin was keen to see them, if only to brief them first hand on the financial arrangements he had made on their behalf. He wasn't keen for them to learn about their settlements from the bank before he'd had a chance to talk to them both himself.

  In Montreau, they stayed at the Royal Plaza Hotel, as they had on their previous visit, since it was centrally placed for their meetings, and certainly very comfortable. Robin had also been hinting that he might like another trip on one of the old lake steamers if there was time. If not, their room had a balcony overlooking the lake, so he would at least be able to see them go by on their regular, scheduled, journeys.

  The couple had built a spare day into their itinerary, as they were both still struggling to get to grips with the news about Jim Farlow. In any case, they hadn't really had a day off to relax for weeks. But it was immediately obvious that Jim was no longer able to play any further part in their plans, so there was no point in delaying any longer the activation of the next stage of their plan, which was for the two Swiss banks to start distributing the money they had accumulated over recent months. Appalling though Jim's behaviour had been, he had at least almost completed his part in the operation before being found out. Robin was quite sure, too, that none of Jim's illegal activities could be traced back to them.

  "I have the programme disc that he used and then cleverly disguised," he had explained to Valya and Grudge, "and Jim has assured me that he has not taken a copy of it. He would have been an even bigger fool to have done that as well."

  "What worries me about it all," said Grudge, "is that if he can get caught, then so can we."

  "I don't think so, for several reasons," Robin reassured them. "First of all, he aroused suspicion himself by chattering to a colleague in the loo - probably after a good lunch somewhere. Then he had been stupid enough to put the cash he had illegally transferred direct into accounts in his own name. Our transactions have been through several banks before ending up in the Swiss accounts, which are not in our name, and the deposits have been made in many different currencies. Finally, the banks in Montreau have no real idea who Marian and I are. One thinks we are representing the Zimbabwean Government, and the other believes we are acting on behalf of a giant American business corporation."

  "I just hope you're right, that's all," said Valya.

  "There are two final precautions which I shall take when we're at the Swiss banks this time," added Robin. "First of all, I shall transfer responsibility for the future operation of the accounts - in one case, to the Justice for Farmers organisation, and in the other to the bank itself. They can handle the Russian operation from their branch in Moscow. Once I've arranged that, I shall ask for my name to be removed from any record of earlier meetings, and for any letters of credit or introduction that I presented to them at our initial meetings to be returned to me. I hope they will be able to comply with all that, but even if not, their reputation for secrecy should be sufficient to safeguard against our ever being identified."

  "My main concern," said Grudge, "is that we plan to present the new banking operating system to The Bank of England - the very place where Jim Farlow was employed. Surely it would be sensible in view of what has happened to pick another bank, don't you think? They are bound to be suspicious that we are somehow implicated in what Jim has been doing."

  "Personally," replied Robin, "I think the risk is minimal. If they do discover that Jim and I were at University together, so what? He has never worked for Computer Solutions, has he, and there is nothing to link what he has been up to with what we have been doing. I still believe it makes sense for us to pitch our marketing at the top, particularly now they have first hand experience of the vulnerability of their present system, thanks to Jim."

  "I suppose you're right," said Valya.

  "I hope you're right," said Grudge, emphatically.

  "Remember this, too," said Robin. "Rupert will be making all the arrangements for us to make the presentation, and playing a major role in delivering it to the bank people, whoever they chose to be there. Rupert doesn't know about Jim and what he's done, so if they should mention it, it will be a total and genuine surprise to him. I will be there, of course, with Marian in support, working the view foils and flip-charts and so on, and we shall have to pretend to be surprised if they should mention Jim's activities to us. But since he is now the subject of a criminal investigation, they probably won't. I guess the most they might do is ask if we ever met him while we were at Oxford, and of course we can say that we did. I don't believe there is any way they can link Jim's activities to any of us."

  It was eventually agreed that they should stick to their original plan, and that Rupert would try to fix up their meeting in Threadneedle Street while Robin and Marian were finally sorting things out in Switzerland.

  They started with a visit to Monsieur Gilbert, who was at his unctuous best when they were ushered into his office.

  "My dear Lady FitzWalter," he gushed, kissing her hand, "how very nice to meet you again. And you too, sir, of course. Please make yourselves as comfortable as you can in my humble office. May I offer you coffee, or perhaps something a little stronger?"

  "Coffee would be nice, thank you," replied Marian, struggling to choke down a fit of the giggles.

  Coffee was quickly served, with much flourish, and M. Gilbert eventually stopped fussing and settled behind his large desk.

  "Now tell me," he said, "just how may I help you this morning? I must confide in you that, before you arrived, I permitted myself a look at your account, and I have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised to note the healthy balance - very pleasantly surprised indeed, if I may be so bold. Beyond my wildest expectations when you first opened the account, I have to admit. So how may I help you this morning?" he repeated with a smile.

  "You will recall," began Robin, "that I explained how most of the victims of the land reclamation policy in Zimbabwe, if I may call it that, were soon to receive compensation, and that, for obvious reasons, the authorities in Zimbabwe were keen to avoid the publicity that would otherwise surround the making of such a change in their policy. Third parties were therefore being employed to put their plan into operation, and it was in this respect that I sought your help. You will also recall, I'm sure, that I told you of my wish that the compensation should flow through this bank."

  Monsieur Gilbert sat back in his swivel chair and nodded. "I also remember that you indicated that you may wish to pass control of the account to a third party once all the deposits had been made."

  "Quite correct," replied Robin. "The deposits have all now been made, so future growth of the account will depend entirely on the earnings from your own investment portfolio. I intend to pass ownership of the numbered account to the organisation I mentioned, Justice for Farmers, and I shall be going from here to Africa to make the necessary arrangements. I would be glad if you would draw up any paperwork you wish them have, so that I can take it with me."

  "I can easily arrange that," replied M. Gilbert. "I shall obviously need the signature of their principal, but once the transfer is in place, I can arrange for the lump sum payments to be made to the individual members, and for annuity interest to be paid in accordance with our earlier agreement. It should be quite unnecessary for me ever to contact the organisation, as we shall deal direct with each of the members, whose details you have provided."

  "Excellent," said Robin. "There are two other things I would like you to do, if you would. First of all, for reasons of security and confidentiality, I wish all references to myself to be deleted
from your records, so far as that is possible. You have on your files, for instance, letters of introduction and references which I brought with me for our first meeting, as well as my visiting card, all of which I would like returned while I am here. Secondly, I believe a substantial reduction in your charges is now called for, not least because of your obvious surprise and delight at the amount which has now been put on deposit with you, and from which you will earn far greater interest than you had first envisaged."

  The two men eventually agreed the new administrative charges to be raised against the account, by which time M. Gilbert's secretary had retrieved the papers that Robin had asked to be returned to him. Finally, they settled on a date when payments would begin to the fifteen hundred or so members of Justice for Farmers.

  "You will need to know," said Robin, "that the Chief Executive of Justice for Farmers is Mr. Wilfred de Burgh."

  "Thank you," replied the Bank Manager, "I was about to ask, as some of the documents you will need to take with you will need to bear his name. I shall need his signature on a few of them, which he should return to me, but I will assemble a portfolio of documents for him, with full instructions, so you will no longer need to worry about the operation of this account, Mr. Hood."

  Robin and Marian, who had been taking copious notes, stood to leave.

  "When will you have this portfolio ready for us?" asked Marian. "We plan to leave in two days time."

  "I shall have them delivered to your Hotel - The Royal Plaza again? - tomorrow evening."

  The couple took their leave of Monsieur Gilbert, who returned to his swivel chair as the door closed, and rubbed his hands in glee, thinking of what he might do with the handsome commission he was now due.

  Their meeting the next day with Monsieur Renoir followed much the same lines, but without the informality they had noticed on their first visit to the bank. It was also a quicker meeting, as there were no papers to collect or negotiations to be completed. Robin began to remind M. Renoir of the background to the account that he had opened.

  "I refreshed my memory before you arrived," interrupted Renoir, "and I remember that you represent a large American business that wishes to pay compensation to some Russian mathematicians, but without attracting undue attention to itself."

  "Absolutely right," agreed Robin.

  "And I take it that the account you opened now contains all the deposits you mentioned when you were first here?"

  "Right again," replied Robin.

  "I must confess," admitted M. Renoir, "that the account balance is considerably larger than I anticipated, so that is good news for the beneficiaries n'est pas?"

  "Indeed," said Robin.

  "So now the account is complete, and we have the names of those who will benefit from the capital sum to be paid and the subsequent annuity payments, you wish me to transfer the operation of the account to our Moscow office, is that so?" enquired M. Renoir.

  "That is exactly what I would like you to do Monsieur Renoir," replied Robin. "I also want nothing further to do with the account personally, so would welcome the deletion of my name from your records, s'il vous plais."

  "Certainly, monsieur. I shall personally see to the destruction of any documents containing your name. However, although you may now leave the operation of this account and the future annuity payments in the hands of this bank with complete confidence, it would be sensible to have a contact in the event of any problems occurring," suggest M. Renoir.

  Robin and Grudge had anticipated this. "In case of such a need, you should contact Sergei Volkov, who provided the list of names which I passed to you earlier. He is now a Professor of Mathematics at Oxford University and one of the beneficiaries," explained Robin, who passed across Grudge's address.

  On their return to the Royal Plaza, Robin and Marian went to the bar opposite reception, and ordered champagne.

  "I think we've done just about all we need to do," said Marian. "And I think we have achieved all we initially set out to do, as well, which is very rewarding."

  "Not only that," agreed Robin, "but it's going to be the devil's own job to identify us with anything that we've done. I think we've covered our tracks as best we can, and I'm sure the secrecy with which Swiss banks pride themselves will be added security for us."

  "All we need to do now is wait for the papers from Monsieur Gilbert, and take them to Nairobi," said Marian.

  "I particularly want to be able to tell Will and Bonkers what we've laid on for them, and for Will's father, so agreeing for the bank to take responsibility for everything next week gives us ample time to do that," said Robin.

  "It will be nice to see them both again," said Marian, "and it's great that they've been able to persuade Wilfred de Burgh to meet us in Nairobi, too. It will save a lot of travelling."

  "And once he's got the papers from Gilbert, we shall have nothing further to do with this little exercise at," said Robin.

  "It really will be quite a relief, in a way," sighed Marian. "We shall be able to get on with our own lives again, and not worry too much about other people's."

  "I'll drink to that," replied Robin, raising his glass.