account limits.”
I frowned. “He must’ve been frustrated with work.”
Clark shrugged. “Look, I was treating him fairly. I didn’t fire him, and I don’t think he would’ve gotten much of a job somewhere else, with that track record.”
“Besides,” Ian told me, “If he hated it here, he would’ve just quit. Right?” he asked Clark.
Clark nodded. “Right.”
“If you were giving him smaller accounts,” I said, “You must’ve also been giving him less pay.”
“That’s how it works,” Clark said.
“How much does a trader here earn?”
Clark shrugged. “It depends, based on how much they bring in. Adam’s most recent trades hadn’t gone so well, so wasn’t making more than about 60k in the last year or so.”
“Who could’ve been coming here to meet Adam after midnight?” I asked, and Clark shrugged.
“It wouldn’t be a client, because then he’d bill us. I’d say it’s something personal – maybe a girlfriend or something. Although he already had a girlfriend. So maybe he was cheating on her in here.”
He made a face to show just what he thought of that idea, and I said, “Did Adam work late often?”
“Definitely not till midnight, ever,” said Clark. “He usually left by five-thirty, and he rarely stayed after six.”
“Did he have bad relationships with any other clients?” Ian asked. “Did anyone else call him up and yell at him?”
I could see Clark bite back a smile as he shook his head. “I’m afraid not. He lost some money, but nobody else yelled at him.”
I sighed. That had been a good try.
“Did he seem any different in the days before he was killed?” I asked. “Worried, or stressed, or unusually happy?”
Clark shook his head. “No. Not that I noticed. Of course, I’m often not here in this office, and my time’s tied up in meetings a lot. But he didn’t seem different.”
“He must’ve hated his co-workers,” Ian said. “Seeing how they got more money and bigger accounts than him.”
Clark shook his head. “There’s not much back-biting in this office. Not that I know of, of course.” He looked at me apologetically and explained, “Maybe they hide the backbiting from the CEO. But Clark seemed like a pretty laid-back kinda guy, got on ok with his co-workers. Even when we reduced his pay and his accounts, he didn’t kick up a big fuss or anything. ’Course, we were just doing what’s fair.”
“Who’s we?” I asked. “Who owns this company?”
“Myself, and a few small investors.”
Clark told us a bit about the structure of his company, and it seemed fairly standard to me – a CFO, a couple of admin people, and couple dozen folks in different positions of varying importance.
“I have a favor to ask,” I said. “Could you maybe send your employees an email letting them know I’ll be talking to them?”
Clark smiled. “Done. Did that first thing, when I came in this morning. One of them probably has his girlfriend’s details too, so you can talk to her.”
“Right.” I nodded. “Who would you say were his closest friends here?”
“Well there’s Sharon,” said Clark. “She’s an accountant here. And I’ve seen him chatting with Noel, Susan and Greg – we’re all pretty friendly here.”
“What about the alarms?” Ian said. We all looked at him in confusion, and he said, “The alarm that Adam pressed that night. What’s up with that?”
I smiled. Ian wasn’t as dumb as I thought he was – but then again, I suppose he must’ve had some smarts to have invested in a company that had a big IPO.
“We take security measures seriously here,” said Clark.
“Why?” asked Ian. “It’s not like a bank, you don’t keep massive amounts of cash on the premises.”
I watched as Clark looked studiously blank.
Ian said, “You do some money laundering, don’t you?”
Clark smiled and shook his head. “I’ll tell you what we told the cops. You can never be too careful in this town.”
“I don’t
I frowned. “He must’ve been frustrated with work.”
Clark shrugged. “Look, I was treating him fairly. I didn’t fire him, and I don’t think he would’ve gotten much of a job somewhere else, with that track record.”
“Besides,” Ian told me, “If he hated it here, he would’ve just quit. Right?” he asked Clark.
Clark nodded. “Right.”
“If you were giving him smaller accounts,” I said, “You must’ve also been giving him less pay.”
“That’s how it works,” Clark said.
“How much does a trader here earn?”
Clark shrugged. “It depends, based on how much they bring in. Adam’s most recent trades hadn’t gone so well, so wasn’t making more than about 60k in the last year or so.”
“Who could’ve been coming here to meet Adam after midnight?” I asked, and Clark shrugged.
“It wouldn’t be a client, because then he’d bill us. I’d say it’s something personal – maybe a girlfriend or something. Although he already had a girlfriend. So maybe he was cheating on her in here.”
He made a face to show just what he thought of that idea, and I said, “Did Adam work late often?”
“Definitely not till midnight, ever,” said Clark. “He usually left by five-thirty, and he rarely stayed after six.”
“Did he have bad relationships with any other clients?” Ian asked. “Did anyone else call him up and yell at him?”
I could see Clark bite back a smile as he shook his head. “I’m afraid not. He lost some money, but nobody else yelled at him.”
I sighed. That had been a good try.
“Did he seem any different in the days before he was killed?” I asked. “Worried, or stressed, or unusually happy?”
Clark shook his head. “No. Not that I noticed. Of course, I’m often not here in this office, and my time’s tied up in meetings a lot. But he didn’t seem different.”
“He must’ve hated his co-workers,” Ian said. “Seeing how they got more money and bigger accounts than him.”
Clark shook his head. “There’s not much back-biting in this office. Not that I know of, of course.” He looked at me apologetically and explained, “Maybe they hide the backbiting from the CEO. But Clark seemed like a pretty laid-back kinda guy, got on ok with his co-workers. Even when we reduced his pay and his accounts, he didn’t kick up a big fuss or anything. ’Course, we were just doing what’s fair.”
“Who’s we?” I asked. “Who owns this company?”
“Myself, and a few small investors.”
Clark told us a bit about the structure of his company, and it seemed fairly standard to me – a CFO, a couple of admin people, and couple dozen folks in different positions of varying importance.
“I have a favor to ask,” I said. “Could you maybe send your employees an email letting them know I’ll be talking to them?”
Clark smiled. “Done. Did that first thing, when I came in this morning. One of them probably has his girlfriend’s details too, so you can talk to her.”
“Right.” I nodded. “Who would you say were his closest friends here?”
“Well there’s Sharon,” said Clark. “She’s an accountant here. And I’ve seen him chatting with Noel, Susan and Greg – we’re all pretty friendly here.”
“What about the alarms?” Ian said. We all looked at him in confusion, and he said, “The alarm that Adam pressed that night. What’s up with that?”
I smiled. Ian wasn’t as dumb as I thought he was – but then again, I suppose he must’ve had some smarts to have invested in a company that had a big IPO.
“We take security measures seriously here,” said Clark.
“Why?” asked Ian. “It’s not like a bank, you don’t keep massive amounts of cash on the premises.”
I watched as Clark looked studiously blank.
Ian said, “You do some money laundering, don’t you?”
Clark smiled and shook his head. “I’ll tell you what we told the cops. You can never be too careful in this town.”
“I don’t
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