The Ethical Banker

by Richard Black

failed to work out ?,” Harold fished.

  “It was heart-breaking. I remember staying up all night crying. But in a way, I clearly understood him. He was so busy and overworked. He couldn't handle a relationship. And somehow I expected it would end up with me in tears even on our first date when he took me sailing on his yacht. I looked at him and the world around him, it was just too good to be true. And it was.”

  “Do you have any regrets?”

  “I wish I had stayed with him. Then probably all this wouldn't be happening. He could have fallen in this trap of women because he was lonely, stressed and overworked.”

  “The hotel maid claims that during the sexual encounter, Mr Kenyon did not use protection. Do you think Mr Kenyon would get himself into a risky sexual experience? Because, already it's being claimed that he could have picked up HIV from the sexual encounter.”

  “I don't know what happened or didn't happen between Donald and that woman. What I don't believe is that Donald can rape. He is a gentleman. About safe sex, Donald and I were in love and trusted each other, there was no need for.......besides Donald didn't like Jimmy hats, he said they ruined the sensation.”

  “I beg your pardon Madam, but you mentioned Jimmy hats and not all of us are familiar with the phrase.”

  Savannah laughed,... “ Jimmy hats is what Donald called condoms.”

  “Jimmy hats!” Harold thought. This was a high note and he knew it was always important to quit the interview on a high note. Grip the viewers.

  “Thank you Miss Irese. It was wonderful having you on our show this afternoon.” The show ended and the TV channel switched to the day's highlights programme.

  London's Evening Chronicle had Mr Kenyon on front page again. It reported how calls for him to resign had fallen on deaf ears but then speculated that with fresh allegations from two more women, the pressure was getting too much and he was definitely going to resign by the end of the week. It reported how he had been denied bail, even with a million pounds in sterling as surety especially as the two unrelated allegations had come to light; one of a former bank intern and another of an escort. On page three was a statement from Neil Edwards, the attorney representing Mr Kenyon and he claimed that his client was already being lynched by the media. He said once his victim was exonerated, and he was confident that he would, then some newspapers were going to end up paying heavily for defamation.

  The lawyer also claimed that he was gathering evidence that would exonerate his client.

  On Herald TV, there was an update on the DSK case. Police had only a few minutes ago raided Mr Kenyon's office at Global Capital and carried off what they termed as “boxes of evidence.” They had also taken Mr Kenyon's computer. The reporter said there were unconfirmed reports that the computer was to be checked for Mr Kenyon's “internet activities” which were suspected to be illegal and that he had used it to visit escort and prostitute websites.

  Mr Neil Edwards sat in his office with a copy of London's Evening Chronicle in his hand and watching the breaking news on TV.

  He picked up his phone and called a contact of his. David Jones was a rogue Police officer who was fired from The Metropolitan Police several years ago and had turned the skills he picked up from the Police force to work as a Private Investigator. He was an expert in surveillance, Communications intercept and eavesdropping(hacking), he also helped women find and locate husbands who had run off with younger mistresses-if they could afford his fees, that is.

  “Yes, Mr Lawyer,” he answered on the third ring.

  “Officer, how is the assignment going?” Neil asked without bothering to even greet him.

  “Okay, but I need some more time to fix a few loose ends” Mr Jones answered and at the same time wondered why people still called him officer even after he had been fired from the Police almost five years ago. Maybe he still looked the part.

  “You mean, you haven't got all the data?” The lawyer asked.

  “No, but by tomorrow afternoon I will have the file on me. I'll snoop around the hotel in the morning, then I will talk to her neighbours and a contact of hers in the afternoon.”

  “Then, let it be tomorrow afternoon because we are running out of time and I need that info before my court appearance at 4 pm,” and he hung up.

  On Thursday morning, J.W. Harold awoke at 7am. He went to the window and pulled the curtain aside, it was still dark.

  He headed for a quick shower then minutes later switched on the TV and watched the news as he dressed. Already, journalists were camped at Belmarsh and he wondered what time they had woke up. Or had they slept at the gates of the famous prison? He tried to focus on Herald TV's breakfast show where the presenters were fielding questions and comments from the viewers. The topic was the randy banker and one viewer who called in claimed she was fed up by the non-stop coverage of DSK's story as if there wasn't anything else more important to be in the news. “To be honest, people are sufficiently disgusted by the seedy details of his private life and the media is not helping issues by reporting his life story over and over. Even my eight year old son was asking me who DSK is!” She complained. And another viewer who called in also had a complaint, “ I don't care what he does in his private life- he could be in bed with the Prime Minister or the pope for all I care- and I am catholic! What really bothers me is the issue of rape. Women should never be subjected to rape, intimidation, sexual assault or any kind of unwanted sexual contact. And for a man of his calibre and position, I am somehow disappointed that he is in such a situation.” The show' presenter went on to field a comment from another viewer. Harold switched off the television.

  By 7:45am, he was heading to work. He picked up a copy of The Moonlight at the train station and read it on the train to work.

  DSK was on the headlines again, although the story had taken on a new twist.

  There was a picture on page two of Savannah Irese dressed in a bikini and posing for a trashy lad magazine. There were also details about how she was a “high class hooker” and how she had met DSK. The tabloid went on to speculate that the way things were going, DSK was most likely going to spend Christmas at Belmarsh.

  There were also comments by Manchester United fans some of whom weren't happy that DSK had slept with a prostitute while wearing a Manchester United shirt as revealed in the TV interview.

  Others claimed that DSK showed solidarity with the football club and besides, he had bought the shirt with his own money.

  When he reached London bridge station, he got off the train and quickly headed for the escalators. When he got out of the train terminal, he looked for the nearest trash bin and threw The Moonlight in. He walked to the nearest newspaper stall and bought the London Herald, which was a more reliable source.

  He walked to the nearest Starbucks and ordered a take away coffee. He immediately got engrossed in the paper as he waited for his coffee.

  “The Ethical Banker,” the headline screamed and below was a file photo of a sharply dressed Mr Kenyon smiling in happier times.

  “The Ethical Banker,” phrase had been coined a year ago when Mr Kenyon had won the prestigious “Banker Of The Year” award from the British Bankers Association. After winning the award, he would appear in an interview the following week in the Financial Times weekend magazine. The interview in the FT weekend Magazine was titled: “ The Ethical Banker: Donald Solomon Kenyon talks banking, golf and why he will never wear anything by Hugo Boss.” It was an entertaining and gripping read. He explained how the banking industry had sobered up and were cleaning up after the global recession. He talked Corporate social responsibility and how his bank was planning on investing in the youth by sponsoring sports academies, youth centres and arts festivals. Then he had talked about his loving wife and children, his love of golf and his exploits at his favourite golf course at St. Andrews.

  Then he had talked about the environment, on how his bank was concerned about climate change and were planning on putting up a fund to help environmental scientists research more and
find ways of combating climate change. He had explained how his bank had actually cut its executives' air miles by scaling down on the use of private jets and were now instead using business class only chartered flights in an alliance with British Airways.

  He then talked fashion and claimed he wore only off the peg suits, nothing handmade or designer. He had claimed he had only four suits, three of them made in China- nothing fancy.

  He had also revealed that his wife had bought him a birthday present- a nice blue shirt from Hugo Boss but had turned down the present by explaining to his wife that he would never wear anything by the design House as Hugo Boss had been very instrumental in the rise of Hitler and the Nazi Party. Hugo Boss, the founder of the design label had used Prisoners from Nazi concentration camps to work in his factories without pay and under inhuman conditions, he had dressed the Nazi party, Nazi army, SS officers and the German army and had profited immensely from the Holocaust and the rise of the Nazi Party. Hugo Boss himself was a member of the Nazi Party. DSK would never wear a thing from such a designer or design label.

  That interview had been a year ago, and in such a short time, DSK had fallen badly from grace.

  That's what the London Herald was reporting: How in a very short time, a man's life can change so drastically either negatively or