Throy (12 page)

“Yes, of course,” said Overman Vambold. “But tell me this: have you in fact brought new funds to Sir Denzel’s account?”

“Absolutely not! To the contrary!”

“That is interesting news,” said Overman Vambold. If anything, he seemed relieved, rather than otherwise, by the emphatic statements.

Kathcar, however, had become exasperated by Overman Vambold’s evasiveness. “Please explain what is going on, and with clarity! I am bored with your musings and vague hints!”

Overman Vambold responded with impeccable courtesy. “The circumstances, in themselves, are not limpidly clear, and this is the difficulty. But I will do my best.”

          “Never mind the difficulties! Just present the facts!”

“The account is in a curious condition. There are physical assets, but the cash balance has been reduced - in a certain sense - to twenty-nine thousand sols.”

Kathcar cried out in consternation, “What do you mean: ‘in a certain sense’? Your ambiguities leave me in the dark!”

Glawen interjected a remark. “Take care of the urgent concerns,” he told Kathcar. “Then sort out the curiosities!”

Kathcar gave a grunt of annoyance. “Yes, yes; quite so.” He addressed himself to Overman Vambold. “Sir Denzel has had reason to distrust the judgment and even the fidelity of his associates. As of this instant he wishes to place his account under stringent control - what there is left of it.” Kathcar produced a document and with an emphatic flourish placed it on the desk. “You may regard this as a formal notification.”

Overman Vambold lifted the document with fastidious fingers and scrutinized it carefully. “Ah, hmm. Yes. Most interesting.” For a moment he sat motionless, preoccupied with his thoughts. They seemed to amuse him. “I am pleased to receive Sir Denzel’s definite instructions. They have arrived at a timely juncture. I was on the point of paying over sixty-five thousand sols into a special fund.”

Glawen was astounded. “Sixty-five thousand sols from an account of twenty-nine thousand? That is a financial miracle!”

Chilke was not impressed and explained the mystery. “It is a special way of moving decimal points. Some bankers back home tried it, but they did not understand the system, so they were caught and sent to jail.”

Overman Vambold said primly: “We work no miracles, and our decimal points are immutable. At times, however, as in the present case, adroit timing allows us to create some truly remarkable effects.”

“Explain, if you please!” said Glawen.

Kathcar cried out: “First - make sure that the account is secure, and that your clerks are not paying out Sir Denzel’s last few sols with both hands!”

“That is simple enough.” Overman Vambold turned to his work area and touched buttons. A voice spoke: “Account of Sir Denzel Attabus - now isolated.”

“The deed is done,” said Overman Vambold. “The account is secure.”

“Now then,” said Kathcar. “What of this draught for sixty-five thousand sols - who issued it, to pay for what and to whom?”

Overman Vambold hesitated. “These transactions are confidential. I cannot discuss them in the course of casual conversation.”

“This is not a casual conversation!” thundered Rufo Kathcar. “As Sir Denzel’s agent I am entitled to all knowledge pertinent to his interests! If you withhold information to Sir Denzel’s detriment, you, personally, and the bank, institutionally, will be liable to legal redress. I make this statement before witnesses of good reputation.”

Overman Vambold smiled a wintry smile. “Your remarks are persuasive - the more so in that they are accurate. As Sir Denzel’s designated representative, you have a right to ask these questions. What of these other gentlemen? Can you guarantee their absolute discretion?”

“In every respect! They hold commissions in the IPCC, which speaks as to their character. This present affair is of local concern, so for the occasion they are wearing the hats of the Cadwal Constabulary.”

Overman Vambold nodded, without any great interest. “Across the years I have learned something of Sir Denzel’s moral principles, and clearly they have not been advanced by either Roby Mavil or by Julian Bohost. You demand information, and rightly so, in view of the rather unconventional manipulations which Julian Bohost has attempted.”

“What, then, are the facts?”

Overman Vambold leaned back in his chair, and seemed to ponder the shelves at the far end of his office. When he spoke, his voice was relaxed and his manner less brittle. “It is a complex story, and - in a certain sense - amusing, as you will see.” From a slot to the side of his desk he took a sheet of yellow paper, and for a moment studied the material printed on its surface. “Two months ago Sir Denzel’s account stood at one hundred and thirty thousand sols. Then the T. J. Weidler Spaceyards presented a draught for one hundred and one thousand sols in payment for two Straidor-Ferox gunships. The draught had been issued by Roby Mavil and seemed no more than routine business. However, knowing Sir Denzel’s opinions in regard to killing and violence, I was not a little startled by this purchase. In the end I approved the disbursement, since Roby Mavil was one of the three persons authorized to draw on the account - the others being Julian Bohost and Rufo Kathcar. The new balance stood at twenty-nine thousand sols.”

Glawen jerked forward. “One moment! You are telling us that Roby Mavil used Sir Denzel’s money to buy two gunships?”

“That is correct.”

Glawen turned to stare at Kathcar. “You knew this?”

Kathcar’s shoulders sagged. “The circumstances were not easy. I discovered the gunships in a secret hangar and immediately notified Sir Denzel, who was outraged.”

“But you failed to notify Bureau B?”

“It was a complicated situation. I owed three duties: to Bureau B, to Sir Denzel, and to myself. I therefore resolved to report the gunships to Bureau B as soon as I had finished my work at the bank, thus fulfilling all three duties in the most expeditious manner possible.”

Glawen said nothing. Kathcar found the silence unnerving and turned to Overman Vambold. “Please proceed.”

Overman Vambold, who had been watching with cool amusement, continued. “Two weeks ago I was tendered another draught, this time to the amount of ten thousand sols, payable to the T. J. Weidler Spaceyards and authorized by Julian Bohost. The sum represented partial payment for a reconditioned Fratzengale passenger transport, leaving a residual balance of sixty-five thousand sols to be paid in thirty days. The draught was in order, but I did not approve it for payment. Instead, I telephoned Dorcas Fallinch, the sales executive at T. J. Weidler, with whom I have good relations; in fact, we are fellow Syndics at the Murmelian Institute. He told me what I had half-expected: the Fratzengale was an antiquated hulk, not worth serious reconditioning. It had been available for two years but Julian had been the first to show any interest. The thirty-day deadline was meaningless, since no one was about to snatch up the Fratzengale from under Julian’s nose.

“I remarked that seventy-five thousand sols seemed a viciously inflated price for such a vessel. Fallinch agreed. He would have accepted almost any offer, if only to get the hulk off the premises. The price was unreasonable; he would take the matter up with Hippolyte Bruny, the yard salesman and call me back. There the matter rested. Needless to say, I did not disburse the ten thousand sols deposit on the Fratzengale.

“Two days later Dorcas Fallinch called me back. The price on the Fratzengale had been fixed by Julian and Hippolyte Bruny, working together. Julian would buy two vessels: the Fratzengale for a premium price and a Fortunatus space yacht at a more modest figure. It was a ploy by which Julian could charge both ships to what he called ‘a fat account’ and take over the Fortunatus for his personal use, while Bruny would enjoy an inflated commission. The beauty of the scheme was that everyone profited and no one would be the wiser.

“I found this all very interesting and disturbing as well, since the bank, within certain limits, tries to protect its clients from misuse of their funds. Dorcas Fallinch was about to discharge Hippolyte Bruny with prejudice, but I dissuaded him, since I wanted to find how the scheme played itself out.

“Two days later Julian called upon me. It was the first time I had met him in person. I discovered a tall stylish young man, blond, with fresh and wholesome good looks, though somewhat airy in his mannerisms, as if he wished to be considered both charming and high caste at the same time. He wanted to know why I had not released the ten thousand sols for the Fratzengale deposit. I said that I had not yet taken time to study the transaction. The remark annoyed Julian. He told me that all the study necessary had been performed by himself. The price was not out of line for a vessel of such large capacity and range. He frankly admitted that the vessel lacked cosmetic refinement, but he declared it to be basically solid and sound - in short, a reliable old craft, by no means deluxe, but adequate to the uses for which it would be needed.

“I said, all very well, but how did he propose to pay for it? His response took me by surprise. That problem was the least of his worries, said Julian, since additional funds from Sir Denzel, in the amount of one hundred or even one hundred and fifty thousand sols, was due at any moment.”

Kathcar gave a caw of laughter. “I remember the situation very well. Dame Clytie had taken Sir Denzel aside and bullied him unmercifully, and insisted on the need for funds, and Sir Denzel, thinking only to escape, agreed to anything and everything. This was before I took him to see the gunships, of course. Dame Clytie thereupon sent Julian the glad news. Julian had good reason to believe that a transfer of funds was on its way.”

“That explains his sense of financial amplitude,” said Overman Vambold.

“Meanwhile, T. J. Weidler had not received the ten thousand-sol binder and time was in short supply, so Julian informed me; indeed, he had been able to secure only a thirty-day option upon the Fratzengale. He confided that he was also looking into another transaction of almost equal importance.

“I asked, what kind of transaction? He told me that it was not yet firm, but it seemed most attractive. I asked how he would finance these transactions if Sir Denzel’s account remained without sufficient money? Julian said that a short-term loan from the bank might be the most practical solution.

“And what security would he be offering on this rather substantial loan?

          “Julian became a trifle haughty, and stated that he had access to other resources, if need arose. I asked him to identify these resources, but he said the information was not presently germane, and went off in a huff.

“I considered what he had told me and made certain investigations among the bank records, and learned a great deal which I thought germane. I discovered an LPF account almost twenty years old, which had been built up by slow increments to a present total of ninety-six thousand sols, also Dame Clytie Vergence had a personal account of thirty-one thousand sols, and an account in Julian’s name totaled eleven thousand sols. Julian was authorized to use any of the accounts. I began to toy with an idea which I was forced to discard as being blatantly unethical.

“Three days ago Julian returned. His manner was confident and affable. For a few moments Julian spoke of the LPF, the movement in which both he and Sir Denzel were active, and of the difficulties his aunt Clytie Vergence was having with the Conservationists at Araminta Station, but I was certain this was not the reason for his visit. Indeed, there was something else on his mind. Along with the Fratzengale transport, he told me, the LPF urgently needed a small courier ship. At the Weidler yards, he had discovered a vessel exactly suited to their requirements, at a very fair price. It was a prime Fortunatus Nine space yacht priced at forty-three thousand sols, so that the Fratzengale and Fortunatus together could be had for only one hundred and eighteen

thousand sols. It was a phenomenal bargain, and he could not let such an opportunity escape.

“Julian’s enthusiasm was intense. The Fortunatus was a charmer! A jewel! Like new, at a most favorable price!

“All very well, I told him, but, once again, how did he propose to pay for the vessels? Only nineteen thousand sols would remain to Sir Denzel’s account, after the down payment on the Fratzengale. He insisted that Sir Denzel’s transfer of funds was imminent; he had been assured of this by notification from Dame Clytie Vergence herself!

          “Nevertheless, if the money failed to materialize, the ten thousand sols would be lost.

“Julian waved this idea aside as preposterous. What he wanted was a short-term loan from the bank which should enable him to buy the two vessels.

“I told him that yes, the bank could properly make such a loan, on the understanding that both title and physical possession must reside with the bank until the loan had been amortized, and also that, for the bank’s protection, I would require a very substantial collateral.

“Julian found these formalities irksome and tried to circumvent them. The two ships themselves should serve as adequate collateral, he argued. I pointed out that the Gaean Reach was broad, long and deep. For this reason spaceships were considered chancy collateral for bank loans.”

Again Overman Vambold smiled his cool smile. “Julian drew himself up and became severe. He asked if I thought him the type of person to default on a debt. Yes indeed, I told him. I was a bank officer and trained to suspect everyone.

“Julian went away, but returned the next day, in a state of anxiety. Dorcas Fallinch, at my suggestion, had advised him that other interests were preparing an offer for the Fortunatus. Julian told me that we must act quickly, and that it might not be wise to wait for Sir Denzel’s money.

“That decision was his to make, I told him, but had he considered proper collateral?

“Julian explained, rather glumly, that, if necessary, he could use the assets in other accounts for collateral.

“In that case, I told him, he should consider using these assets to buy the ships. The idea had merit, said Julian, but he preferred to channel the funds through Sir Denzel’s account, for a number of reasons. I knew that the most important reason was that this was the only way he could use Sir Denzel’s money to buy his precious Fortunatus. I told him, the other accounts might well be nominated as collateral, though the process sometimes meant weeks of waiting for approval by a board of review. It was a system of deliberate intricacy intended to discourage speculators, financial high-wire artists and those who contrived inverted pyramid schemes. Julian became indignant. This was foolishly over-protective; after all, he could transfer the money from these accounts into Sir Denzel’s account in a matter of minutes. I told him that the decision was his to make; he needed only to issue instructions. Perhaps he might wish to take a few days or a week to think things over. No, said Julian; time was of the essence and he would act immediately. He would transfer money from the other accounts into Sir Denzel’s account, and move the money back again as soon as the new funds arrived. Just as he liked, I told him; at this very moment I would prepare the documents and he could transfer the entire accounts if he so chose.