Stone was beginning to feel hungry. He called room service. He had not eaten much; the clinic in London with the painful biopsy of his prostate and then the awful prognosis had left him with little appetite. But the tray of smoked salmon with a green salad that was quickly brought to his suite was tempting – he sat at a small table, and he ate it in only a short time.
He pulled out a sheet of crumpled paper from his pocket and he read the words Electric Motors Inc that he had scribbled down. Xavier, the inmate of HMP Belmarsh, became real again, and he could see the shiny bald head with a rippling neck. Making fast money would always drive Stone, and today, with his time left getting shorter, maybe the prize to buy Marine House was getting closer.
But Stone was cautious, his intuition pulling him back. This ruthless crook, who kept as pets snarling slobbering dogs, was trying to lure him into another blind corner that only paying up a quarter of a million pounds would get him out of. Sitting back on the sofa, he opened his laptop and he keyed in Electric Motors Inc. He flicked past the technical pages until he found what Electric Motors Inc had to say about its own money. Stone did not need to study it for long to see that this supposed money-making tip was losing cash in bucketloads. The screen showed a red arrow pointing downwards, the price of the shares had fallen today. And yesterday and the day before. He found nothing about what this business did with its electric motors that was special, unique and what somebody would want to pay a lot of money to get their hands on.
Stone smiled to himself. Aimlessly staring at the screen for several seconds, he felt the raw memory of five years ago buying some shares after an insider tip. He should have known better, but talking with somebody in a bar room, somebody he did not even know, alongside his usual glass of whisky, he had swallowed a nod about a gold mine in Africa. The price of anything gold was massive, still going up, and tomorrow the gold mine was going to hit the big time, hit it rich from rock deep underground. And wasn’t everybody cashing in by selling their gold jewellery to someone who would smelt it down for its high value?
Stone had hustled himself into buying into an African gold mine just as the tip had suggested. But he waited and waited and watched as the price tumbled over the next few weeks. The tip-off had been a dud, somebody’s guess at what might happen in a faraway deep gold mine. In just one afternoon Stone saw nearly £10,000 drain away.
The memory for a short while increased the sneering ridicule Stone now had for Xavier, a money launderer serving a sentence in prison. Electric Motors Inc smelled like a hoax; it was likely that this insider secret was dead – it was worthless. After closing his laptop, he nibbled at what was left of the salad and, for ten minutes, sat almost motionless on the sofa. He called Roger in his high rise city office. Stone spoke with an eager edge.
‘Roger, listen to this. It’s sensitive information on what I hear is going to happen in a few days’ time. My informant tells me the price of some shares is going to run up. There’s going to be a takeover of a business and I want to know what you think. You’ve got to keep this close, Roger.’
‘I’m listening, but if this is another of your reckless deals with the underworld, leave me out.’
‘Electric Motors Inc. My information is that the price is going to double sometime soon on the stock market. A deal’s going to be announced to the world that somebody’s making a bid for them. What do you think of that?’
‘Harry, it sounds again as if you’re talking about something right on the edge. Are you sure you want to share this with me? I mean, using insider information is a criminal offence. They lock you up for it.’
‘I might spend some money buying into it. So, what’s Electric Motors all about?’
‘Where did you get this drivel from? And why do they want to tell you about it?’
‘I have my sources; I can’t disclose them – just tell me what you know about Electric Motors Inc.’
‘Not much, and I don’t have a clue why somebody would want to buy them at twice the price they are today. It sounds to me like some speculative deal that one of your mates has tipped you about in the pub when he was half drunk.’
‘I want you to set up a stockbroker dealing account for me. You know the channels to do this so get it done and I’ll transfer some cash into it when I’m ready to deal. Then in a few days’ time we’ll watch Electric Motors together to see what happens.’
‘Yeah, sure, I’ll set it up for you – it might take a few days. But you leave insider dealing alone if you want to stay in one piece.’
Stone ignored Roger’s lecturing which he had heard many times before.
‘There’s something else. My place in Brighton I’ve got on a lease that’s running out. I’m trying to buy it, but the owner’s being awkward, a Lady Ruth Jackson. And in the picture, there’s a son, Josh, maybe a daughter too. Maybe a Sir or Lord Jackson, maybe other hangers-on. Who knows? But the son, Josh, has called for a meeting. I’ve got to get this right, so I need to find out who they really are. Roger, dig up everything on Lady Ruth and her family. Where she lives, what she has, property, money, cars, debts, lovers, the lot,’ Stone said.
‘I’ve never heard of them, but give me some time and I’ll see what I can find.’
‘The meeting with the son, Josh Jackson, is next Friday morning, 10.00, St James’s Square, Pall Mall. Reform Club. I want you to be there.’ Stone’s voice snapped the instruction.
‘Yeah, I’ll be there, but it’ll have to be quick. I’ve got other important things on that day.’
‘I’ve had some unpleasant news from my doctor,’ Stone said quietly as if he did not want anyone to hear it.
There was silence for a moment as Roger was uncertain what he should say.
‘Do you want to tell me more?’ Roger coaxed.
‘I’ve got eighteen months, probably much fewer, probably only weeks,’ Stone said.
‘Harry, what’s going on?’
‘Cancer in the prostate, may be spreading. Giving me serious backache even when I’m sitting still.’
‘That’s awful. Are you having treatment?’ Roger asked.
‘Not until I’ve bought Marine House. I’ve got to feel well enough to get that deal right without people fiddling about with me. It might be my last chance.’
‘Why Marine House?’
‘Good investment. It’ll make three smart apartments when I’ve split it up. And that’ll bring in three times the money I pay for Marine House. But there’s something else. It’s where I’ve been living for the past three years. I don’t want to leave it.’ Stone paused. ‘But it’s £2.5 million,’ he added quickly as if his reckoning was not as shrewd as he had said.
‘That sounds like a very big house. And £2.5 million sounds like a very big price.’
‘You must come to see it sometime. Soon,’ Stone said.
‘Maybe one day,’ Roger replied half-heartedly.
‘Don’t forget Electric Motors – there’s money there,’ Stone said, but he knew that all around that deal was the fog of where it had come from. He pressed his phone off.
The whisky decanter on the sideboard was looking low and Stone drained it to fill his glass. He sat back and took a long sip. Impatiently, he then walked round the room trying to ease his back, trying to find a comfortable position. His numbered days draining away, he now had little to lose. He was never going to know if Xavier was really onto something unless he dipped his toes in the murky water. Innate greed, he needed money to close the gap for Marine House, and curiosity pushed Stone into leaving that thought still resonating. And it would be too easy to pour £50,000 into Xavier’s blind share deal just from the press of a button a few screens away on his laptop.
It left Stone undecided. Lying on a large sofa, his eyes closed, after a few minutes, he fell into a deep sleep.