that mean?” Ian asked.
“What was his day-to-day like?” I added.
“Well.” Clark rubbed his forehead, glanced at his computer screen and clicked his mouse. “I’m just going through some emails while we talk,” he explained to me, and then turned and scrolled through his screen as he talked. “Right. Adam. Well, he did a bit of trading, and most of his day was spent on researching what to buy or sell. The actual trading – just a few clicks of the button, it’s all done virtually now – didn’t take him very long.”
“Did he meet clients?” I asked. “Or people working where he’d invest?”
“Um, once in a while.” I watched Clark read something on the screen and clicked his mouse a couple of times before he looked at me again. “He was having a hard time managing it all. The clients usually went through an advisor first, and they only spent a few minutes with him, detailing what they wanted. He’d meet some company people once in a while, but mostly, we’ve got another guy who does that kind of info-gathering.”
“Right.” I thought about it, and watched Ian out of the corner of my eye. He opened his mouth to say something, and I gave him a subtle kick and a warning look. I didn’t want him going off on a tangent right now.
“So what kind of people did Adam meet at work?” I asked. “Doesn’t seem like very many.”
“No,” Clark shook his head, still reading something. I wondered if he’d come to the office early because of me, or if he just came to the office early every day. For a brief second, I wondered if he’d killed Adam – as the CEO, he’d have easy access to the building. “Adam met a handful of people each week, and usually it wasn’t for very long.”
“What about Nanna?” asked Ian. “Did she have an advisor here?”
“I went through Gwendolyn’s files here,” Clark said, looking at me seriously. “Once in a while we get clients referred directly to someone, and your nanna was one of them. She dealt exclusively with Adam.”
“So if anything went wrong, she’d only blame Adam.” Clark nodded and I said, “Did Adam lose anyone else’s money?”
“A fair few. But most of our clients have higher net wealth and Clark only invests a portion of their funds. None of them suffered huge losses like your nanna, and she only lost that because she asked for an ‘extremely aggressive’ strategy. It means high risk; it might pay out, but there’s a big, big risk of losing most of the money.”
“So it wasn’t Adam’s fault he lost the money?”
Clark sighed and shook his head. “I’m not saying that. Adam wasn’t performing very well and your nanna should’ve gotten a couple of warning letters each time Adam lost a bit of her funds. That way she wouldn’t have had the shock of losing 90% all at once.”
“What’s the average fund size Adam dealt with?” Ian asked, and Clark turned his attention to him.
“Between fifty and two hundred k,” Clark said.
“So Nanna’s money was peanuts to him.”
“It all adds up,” Clark said politely.
“What kind of funds do your other people manage?” Ian asked.
Clark smiled thinly. “A bit larger than that.”
“So why was Adam managing less?” Ian asked.
Clark glanced from me to Ian. “I don’t see how it’s relevant to the investigation.”
I needed the man’s help to get his employees to co-operate with me, so I didn’t want to push the matter, but Ian said, “Oh, come on, tell us. Now I’m curious.”
“Well.” Clark sighed and crossed his arms. “We haven’t told the cops this, since it’s not really something they needed to know. But Adam wasn’t doing too well. He was skipping admin tasks – like those letters he should’ve sent your nanna, warning her about the lost funds. His trading wasn’t going too well; he lost his touch a few years back, but we kept him on because hey, the whole market’s doing badly, so maybe it wasn’t all his fault. But we cut back his
“What was his day-to-day like?” I added.
“Well.” Clark rubbed his forehead, glanced at his computer screen and clicked his mouse. “I’m just going through some emails while we talk,” he explained to me, and then turned and scrolled through his screen as he talked. “Right. Adam. Well, he did a bit of trading, and most of his day was spent on researching what to buy or sell. The actual trading – just a few clicks of the button, it’s all done virtually now – didn’t take him very long.”
“Did he meet clients?” I asked. “Or people working where he’d invest?”
“Um, once in a while.” I watched Clark read something on the screen and clicked his mouse a couple of times before he looked at me again. “He was having a hard time managing it all. The clients usually went through an advisor first, and they only spent a few minutes with him, detailing what they wanted. He’d meet some company people once in a while, but mostly, we’ve got another guy who does that kind of info-gathering.”
“Right.” I thought about it, and watched Ian out of the corner of my eye. He opened his mouth to say something, and I gave him a subtle kick and a warning look. I didn’t want him going off on a tangent right now.
“So what kind of people did Adam meet at work?” I asked. “Doesn’t seem like very many.”
“No,” Clark shook his head, still reading something. I wondered if he’d come to the office early because of me, or if he just came to the office early every day. For a brief second, I wondered if he’d killed Adam – as the CEO, he’d have easy access to the building. “Adam met a handful of people each week, and usually it wasn’t for very long.”
“What about Nanna?” asked Ian. “Did she have an advisor here?”
“I went through Gwendolyn’s files here,” Clark said, looking at me seriously. “Once in a while we get clients referred directly to someone, and your nanna was one of them. She dealt exclusively with Adam.”
“So if anything went wrong, she’d only blame Adam.” Clark nodded and I said, “Did Adam lose anyone else’s money?”
“A fair few. But most of our clients have higher net wealth and Clark only invests a portion of their funds. None of them suffered huge losses like your nanna, and she only lost that because she asked for an ‘extremely aggressive’ strategy. It means high risk; it might pay out, but there’s a big, big risk of losing most of the money.”
“So it wasn’t Adam’s fault he lost the money?”
Clark sighed and shook his head. “I’m not saying that. Adam wasn’t performing very well and your nanna should’ve gotten a couple of warning letters each time Adam lost a bit of her funds. That way she wouldn’t have had the shock of losing 90% all at once.”
“What’s the average fund size Adam dealt with?” Ian asked, and Clark turned his attention to him.
“Between fifty and two hundred k,” Clark said.
“So Nanna’s money was peanuts to him.”
“It all adds up,” Clark said politely.
“What kind of funds do your other people manage?” Ian asked.
Clark smiled thinly. “A bit larger than that.”
“So why was Adam managing less?” Ian asked.
Clark glanced from me to Ian. “I don’t see how it’s relevant to the investigation.”
I needed the man’s help to get his employees to co-operate with me, so I didn’t want to push the matter, but Ian said, “Oh, come on, tell us. Now I’m curious.”
“Well.” Clark sighed and crossed his arms. “We haven’t told the cops this, since it’s not really something they needed to know. But Adam wasn’t doing too well. He was skipping admin tasks – like those letters he should’ve sent your nanna, warning her about the lost funds. His trading wasn’t going too well; he lost his touch a few years back, but we kept him on because hey, the whole market’s doing badly, so maybe it wasn’t all his fault. But we cut back his
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