had decided to adopt an approach of initial intimidation, and then, once he had sufficiently scared the man, change to the role of saviour, and offer him a way out of the impending doom-laden predicament in which he suddenly found himself.
‘Thank you for seeing me at such short notice,’ said James as he walked into Hurd’s office, and placed his briefcase squarely on the man’s desk. Without waiting to be asked he turned to the secretary and said, ‘Please bring me a glass of iced water,’ and sat down.
She went to a side cabinet and attended to his request. As she placed it in front of James, Hurd thanked and dismissed her.
James flipped open his briefcase and withdrew a spiral-bound document consisting of five pages. He handed it to Hurd.
‘I’ll be brief. This is a transcript of a conversation that has come into our possession. Please read it.’
Hurd, sensing that all was not as it should be, picked up the document and began to read. The contents came as no surprise to him. In fact he was surprised that this had not happened earlier. Peter, although he was a good friend could never resist talking about himself, especially if he thought it might help his chances of impressing a gullible girl. He read the first page and then flicked through the others, casually closing and spinning the document back across the desk to James with an attitude of bored contempt.
‘I don’t see what this has to do with me,’ he said without emotion.
Before he could go further James stood up, lit a cigarette, and said, ‘Then let me explain, very simply, pal. My company is thinking of buying Knight Market Research. Our analysts looked at their figures in detail. On the surface everything seemed fine.’ He inhaled deeply, letting the pause in his speech create its tension. ‘Then they noticed a repetitive trend of payments for travel expenses and accommodation in places like Antigua, Aspen, Klosters, most of which were linked to your name. Quite a highly paid consultant, considering you were, and still are working for the company which provides Knight with eighty per cent of its turnover. Rather careless on their part as well, and certainly unethical on yours.’
Hurd feigned boredom. ‘I have no idea what it is you’re trying to imply, but I do have more pressing engagements, so if you’ll excuse me.’
‘I’m not implying,’ cut in James, ‘I’m stating facts. You were and still are taking bribes from Knight. Over the years you’ve benefited to the tune of approximately two million plus, that we can easily prove.’ He threw another folder across the desk. ‘These are copies of airline tickets in your name, hotel bills, and cash deposits. Large cash deposits in accounts here and abroad. They all correlate to withdrawals that were made against Knight’s accounts.’
‘This is all circumstantial. The transcript of this conversation with Knight was obviously gained without his knowledge or consent. The receipts and tickets could reasonably be argued as coincidental. None of what you have would ever stand up in a court of law,’ he smiled facetiously knowing he was on strong ground. ‘Besides, how many successful prosecutions for large-scale city fraud have there been recently? Virtually none. Good day.’ Hurd sat back in his chair and reached for his newspaper.
‘I have no intention of trying to secure a prosecution in the courts, Mr Hurd.’
‘Then I’m even less interested in listening to you any further. Good day.’
‘I have duplicated this information which I’ve shown you, and if I don’t have your co-operation in the next five minutes this is what will happen.’ James lit another cigarette.
‘Please tell me, and then get out before I have you thrown out.’
‘Sixty per cent of the display advertising in Amalgamated Magazines is bought by three main supermarket chains. You commission supposedly independent research, exit polls outside their shops, for them which states that advertising in
‘Thank you for seeing me at such short notice,’ said James as he walked into Hurd’s office, and placed his briefcase squarely on the man’s desk. Without waiting to be asked he turned to the secretary and said, ‘Please bring me a glass of iced water,’ and sat down.
She went to a side cabinet and attended to his request. As she placed it in front of James, Hurd thanked and dismissed her.
James flipped open his briefcase and withdrew a spiral-bound document consisting of five pages. He handed it to Hurd.
‘I’ll be brief. This is a transcript of a conversation that has come into our possession. Please read it.’
Hurd, sensing that all was not as it should be, picked up the document and began to read. The contents came as no surprise to him. In fact he was surprised that this had not happened earlier. Peter, although he was a good friend could never resist talking about himself, especially if he thought it might help his chances of impressing a gullible girl. He read the first page and then flicked through the others, casually closing and spinning the document back across the desk to James with an attitude of bored contempt.
‘I don’t see what this has to do with me,’ he said without emotion.
Before he could go further James stood up, lit a cigarette, and said, ‘Then let me explain, very simply, pal. My company is thinking of buying Knight Market Research. Our analysts looked at their figures in detail. On the surface everything seemed fine.’ He inhaled deeply, letting the pause in his speech create its tension. ‘Then they noticed a repetitive trend of payments for travel expenses and accommodation in places like Antigua, Aspen, Klosters, most of which were linked to your name. Quite a highly paid consultant, considering you were, and still are working for the company which provides Knight with eighty per cent of its turnover. Rather careless on their part as well, and certainly unethical on yours.’
Hurd feigned boredom. ‘I have no idea what it is you’re trying to imply, but I do have more pressing engagements, so if you’ll excuse me.’
‘I’m not implying,’ cut in James, ‘I’m stating facts. You were and still are taking bribes from Knight. Over the years you’ve benefited to the tune of approximately two million plus, that we can easily prove.’ He threw another folder across the desk. ‘These are copies of airline tickets in your name, hotel bills, and cash deposits. Large cash deposits in accounts here and abroad. They all correlate to withdrawals that were made against Knight’s accounts.’
‘This is all circumstantial. The transcript of this conversation with Knight was obviously gained without his knowledge or consent. The receipts and tickets could reasonably be argued as coincidental. None of what you have would ever stand up in a court of law,’ he smiled facetiously knowing he was on strong ground. ‘Besides, how many successful prosecutions for large-scale city fraud have there been recently? Virtually none. Good day.’ Hurd sat back in his chair and reached for his newspaper.
‘I have no intention of trying to secure a prosecution in the courts, Mr Hurd.’
‘Then I’m even less interested in listening to you any further. Good day.’
‘I have duplicated this information which I’ve shown you, and if I don’t have your co-operation in the next five minutes this is what will happen.’ James lit another cigarette.
‘Please tell me, and then get out before I have you thrown out.’
‘Sixty per cent of the display advertising in Amalgamated Magazines is bought by three main supermarket chains. You commission supposedly independent research, exit polls outside their shops, for them which states that advertising in
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