Майкл Ридпат - Fatal Error

‘Guy is confident he can raise more funds. He’s the Chief Executive. I’m not one of those people who believe in dumping the Chief Executive as soon as things get tough. You’re putting me in a situation where I have to choose between you and him. I have no choice but to go for him.’

‘But we’ve got ourselves in trouble before by relying on Torsten Schollenberger,’ I protested.

‘Guy and I discussed this at dinner on Monday night. He says the deal is ninety per cent done.’

‘He’s wrong.’

‘It’s possible he may turn out to be wrong. But from my standpoint it seems to be the best chance we’ve got.’

‘But...’ I hesitated, and then went ahead anyway. ‘Ninetyminutes has been in a similar situation before. Last year, when Guy had that argument with his father and resigned.’

‘And?’

‘And, well, a few days later Tony Jourdan was killed.’

‘That was a hit-and-run driver, wasn’t it?’ Silverman said.

‘Perhaps. The police don’t know who it was.’

‘What’s your point, exactly, David?’

What was my point? Was I going to accuse Guy of killing his father? Once I had suggested that to Silverman there would be no going back. And I had no proof, yet. Even if I did suggest it, what would I expect Silverman to do? Change his mind in my favour? Fire Guy because he might possibly be a murderer? No. That would be unfair. Not just unfair, wrong.

‘Nothing, Derek. Nothing. Thanks for your time.’

Silverman saw me out. ‘I’m sorry that you felt you had to leave. I’ve been very impressed with what you’ve contributed to Ninetyminutes over the last year. One of the saddest things I see is when good teams split up under pressure.’

I wanted to protest, claim I hadn’t wanted to leave at all, that it was Guy, not me, who was feeling the pressure, but I realized there was no point. Guy had got to him. So I went.

Once out on the street I pulled out my mobile and dialled Orchestra’s number. Clare Douglas reluctantly agreed to see me in her offices in an hour. But she said she’d only have ten minutes between meetings.

I was shown into a conference room, where I waited for half an hour before Clare arrived. She looked flustered.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘This doesn’t seem to be a great time to be a venture capitalist. No sooner do I put out one fire than another starts.’ She looked at her watch. ‘I’m already late for my next meeting. I’ve only got five minutes.’

‘OK,’ I said. ‘You’ve heard I’ve left Ninetyminutes?’

‘Yes. Guy has explained it all to me.’

‘Did he tell you why?’

‘He said that you wanted to cut back on costs drastically to conserve cash. He said he’d found another investor so he could continue growing the business.’

‘He hasn’t,’ I said.

‘Well, he says he has. I have to believe him.’

‘It’s an old friend of ours from school. He’s let us down once before. He’ll let us down again.’

Clare looked doubtful. She was not her cool Scottish self that morning. She frowned. ‘That’s not what Guy said.’

‘I know.’

Clare hesitated. ‘Look, I’ve spoken to the Chairman. I’ll be sorry to lose you, but I trust Derek Silverman. People here have known him a long time, and if he wants to stick with Guy on this I’ll go along with him.’

‘Can’t you reconsider?’

Clare’s expression became firm. ‘We’ve made our decision. Now I really must go. Can you see yourself out?’

Once again I found myself out on the pavement.

When I arrived home I rang Anne Glazier in Paris. She was back from her trip. I had decided I needed to talk to her face-to-face. If there was some vital detail to be gleaned from her about Guy and the night Tony died I’d never get it from her over the phone. I was prepared to go to Paris to speak to her, but she had a meeting in London the following week and she was willing to see me for half an hour before that.

The next call was much more difficult. My father was at work: his building-society office in the Market Place. We skated over some small talk, before he asked the question I dreaded.

‘How’s Ninetyminutes?’

‘I have bad news,’ I said.

‘Not again! This thing really is a roller coaster, isn’t it? I’m sure whatever it is, you’ll work out a way round it.’

‘Not this time, Dad.’

‘Oh.’

‘Guy and I have fallen out. He fired me.’

‘Good God. Can he do that?’

‘I’m afraid so.’

‘Oh, Lord. I am sorry. How awful for you.’

‘It is, actually.’ I appreciated my father’s concern for his son. But that wasn’t what I was most worried about. ‘I think it’s awful for all of us. Ninetyminutes is running out of cash and I want to do something about it. Guy wants to ignore it. I fear this time the company doesn’t have long in this world.’

‘Oh.’

Silence. I knew what my father was trying to work out a way of saying. I put him out of his misery. ‘I think it’s quite likely that you’ll lose your entire investment. We all will.’

‘Oh God,’ he whispered.

‘I’m sorry, Dad. I’m really sorry.’

I heard an intake of breath over the phone line. ‘That’s all right, David. It was entirely my decision. Don’t blame yourself.’

‘I won’t,’ I said. Although, of course, I would. He had trusted me and I had let him down. He’d never hold it against me, but I’d always know. It was my fault.

‘I would feel better if you were still there, though.’

‘Believe me, so would I.’

‘Yes, well. I have to go now.’ I could hear his voice cracking, almost as though he were about to cry. I had never seen my father cry.

‘Bye, Dad.’

‘Goodbye.’ And he was gone, leaving me feeling angry, sad and very, very guilty.

I met Ingrid that evening in a pub round the corner from my flat. She smiled broadly when she saw me, and kissed me quickly on the lips.

I checked my watch. A quarter to six. ‘Coming in late. Leaving early. What will people think?’

‘They won’t know what to think. Anyway, I don’t care. I was eager to see you.’

‘Likewise,’ I said.

‘And...’ She reached into her bag and pulled out a small brown package. ‘I bought some coffee.’

I smiled. If having my coffee insulted was the price of Ingrid staying another night, I was quite prepared to pay it.

‘Did you manage not to resign?’ I asked.

‘I did. In fact, I hardly spoke to Guy all day. He seemed rather preoccupied.’

‘I’m not surprised. No news from Torsten?’

‘Not that I could tell. But Owen came into the office.’

‘You’re joking!’

‘No. He spent most of the day on his computer. But he talked to Guy a bit.’

‘Watch out for him, Ingrid. You know how dangerous he can be.’

‘Don’t worry. I’ll avoid him.’

‘Do be careful. Please.’ I was surprised how apprehensive I suddenly felt. I had lived with the persistent threat of Owen’s violence for the last six months. I didn’t like the idea of Ingrid putting herself at risk as well.

‘I will be,’ she smiled, grateful for my concern. ‘Also, Mel was there.’

‘Mel?’

‘Yeah. I thought Guy had had enough of her. But obviously not. She didn’t seem very pleased to see me.’

‘I’m sure she wasn’t. What was she doing?’

‘I don’t know. She was sitting at your desk doing it, though. It was kind of weird.’

‘It sounds it.’ The idea of Mel sitting at my desk was uncomfortable. But it made sense. She would be able to do as good a job as anyone in picking up my work. She might have other clients at Howles Marriott, but if Guy said jump, I was sure she would jump.

‘No luck with Silverman or Orchestra, then?’ Ingrid asked.