CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Two days later there was a meeting in the third floor Crescent offices leased by Miles Cavendish. Development company director Michael Farrier was seated on the rather solid sofa, while Cavendish paced up and down.
"Do you think they'll swallow it?" asked Cavendish.
"They're used to paying more than this for good sites. The fact that you and I know they could do better for less is neither here nor there. This place couldn't be bugged, could it?"
Cavendish laughed. "I used to think that things like that didn't happen in sleepy places like Sharmouth and I'm still not convinced. Don't worry, though. I have the place checked every month. They've never found anything yet."
"When do you reckon all this will be tied up."
"The Planning Committee is in two weeks time, then there's a full Council meeting at the end of the first week in February. Once the Council have approved it, the legal formalities won't take long to finalise. You'll get your bonus the day your company signs."
"We can't risk any suggestion of corruption. Are you sure you're not linked in any way to the ownership of the land?"
"I've told you that before. If you must know, the company that owns the land is controlled by an offshore company, which is in turn owned by nominees acting on behalf of a company based in a second country where they respect privacy. My holidays in the Caribbean and Europe are always a mixture of business and pleasure."
Cavendish turned and looked at Farrier, who was soaking up every word. The man seemed to believe everything he was told, but still, his description of his finances did bear some relation to the real facts.
"I can see I shall have to get rather more sophisticated in my personal finances," Farrier said, "but for the moment it would suit me if the payoff could be in cash."
Cavendish stopped his pacing and sat down at the desk in the corner of the room and tapped at the buttons of a pocket calculator. Then he got up and went to the door. "Excuse me, I won't be a moment."
He was back a few seconds later with a box of five reams of photocopier paper. He put it down heavily on the desk and beckoned to Farrier to join him.
"Pick it up," he said.
Farrier looked a bit puzzled, but he decided to humour Cavendish. He strolled over to the desk and tipped the package over the edge so that he could get his fingers underneath.
"That's all right, you can put it down now," Cavendish told him, as soon as he had lifted it off the surface. "You wouldn't want to carry it far though, would you? If you have a million pounds in twenty pound notes, it fills a large suitcase and weighs about ninety pounds, I reckon, which is more than three times as much as that pack of paper."
"I didn't realise it was quite that much, but I can cope. I won't have to carry it far."
"As you wish then. I'll make arrangements for cash."
"What's my guarantee that you'll pay?"
"Come now, Michael. We're both benefiting from this deal. I get far more for my land than it's worth and you get some handy grocery money. There's no point in me trying to cheat, because I hope we might be able to do business again. You know that there'll be another bonus for you if the right building contractor wins the contract. There has to be a little honour among thieves."
Farrier remembered something else that he had been meaning to mention. "You know that the Council are asking quite a steep price for the bit of the superstore site that's in their ownership? I'm not too worried about that in itself, because it's only a relatively small area and we'll probably be able to negotiate them down a bit. The trouble is that they've been making suggestions that we might like to help out with the theatre they want to build down by the river."
"You just leave that to me. This town can't afford frivolous loss making projects at a time when they're having to consider sacking staff. I'll make damn sure the project is shelved indefinitely."
"Well, I must be going," said Farrier, who hadn't sat down since his paper lifting. "It would probably be best if I didn't see too much of you from now on. I know your connection with the land isn't public knowledge, but I wouldn't want people to think I was trying to influence an elected member in the matter of planning permission."
"Quite so. Why not telephone me from a public call box from time to time? - and I'll keep you up to date. If my secretary asks who's calling, just say that you're Mr Cash."
Cavendish waited by the window and watched as Farrier strode purposefully out into the street three floors below. He heard the door behind him open and close softly as John Riggs came into the room.
"Did you hear all that, John?"
"Loud and clear. I just had to be careful not to make a noise that he might hear over the intercom."
"You'll appreciate that I'm not altogether keen on giving Mr Farrier a million pounds."
"The thought did cross my mind."
"He's rather too naive and amateurish for me to want it to be a long term relationship. I could just let them sign and then not give him the money. He couldn't very well complain to anyone, could he?"
"Maybe not, but people who think they've been cheated out of a million pounds can turn nasty. You wouldn't want too many enemies like that at large."
"As ever, John, you're ahead of me. If it was worth getting rid of that interfering accountant, it's even more appropriate to deal with Mr Farrier. I was so relieved when he said he wanted bank-notes. If he'd insisted on bank transfers or a deal through a third party, we might not have been able to keep hold of the money. Mind you, we're going to have to get the actual cash, just in case he wants to see it before the signing. It'll be quite safe at my house, with all the security measures I've taken. After they've signed, with a bit of luck Mr Farrier might have a fatal road accident on the way to collect the cash. Or he might just disappear. No doubt you'll be able to think of something."
"There's a few weeks to think about it. On the subject of the cash, if you can arrange funds in an offshore numbered account, I can probably buy the notes at a discount. Our financial services division often has to deal with customers who have an embarrassing surplus of bank-notes."
"Good thinking, John. I'm sure we'd be able to filter the notes back out again through our various companies. There's just one other matter before you go. We don't want the business of the theatre to foul up the land deal. It might be helpful if there was some adverse comment in the newspaper, you know, an editorial questioning why the Council are considering it in such difficult times."
"I thought we could confuse the issue by spreading rumours that the land for the theatre is unstable in-fill. That would be very plausible, considering where it is."
"Anything like that would be helpful. If we get really stuck, we could tip the tables by making sure that Dennis Avery doesn't get to the critical Council meeting. Don't misunderstand me, I wouldn't want anything nasty to happen to Dennis. Just some delaying tactics, maybe. There'll be a big bonus for you John, when all of this goes through."