It was just after 4.00 in the afternoon – Stone’s indecision was weighing on him, and time was moving past him quickly. He called Roger. There was something dragging him towards this deal, and he wanted to hear what Roger thought of this leak from a fraudster in prison. But what had he now to lose?
‘Did you check out the price of Electric Motors Inc? It doubled. Did you buy into it?’ Stone asked.
‘No, I’ve told you before I don’t work on tips. They can be wrong and mostly they are,’ Roger said.
‘Okay, but you listen to this one. It’s another big deal coming off. Sapphire Holdings Inc. Going to be taken over just like Electric Motors Inc was.’
‘I don’t think you should talk to me about this, Harry,’ Roger said.
‘You sound as if you know something.’
‘There’s been a mountain of gossip about Sapphire Holdings for a long time. And a few months ago, I splashed out and bought a bundle of their shares.’
‘We can watch them together then when they double at the end of the week.’
‘Be careful, Harry. Don’t be caught in the middle of these deals, and as I’ve told you before, some regulator’ll tear you apart if they catch you at it,’ Roger said.
‘They’ll never know where I get my information from, and I’m never going to become a snitch for the police to find out.’
‘Okay, we’ll open a bottle of champagne at the end of the week. Give me a call then, Harry.’
Stone felt the note of confidence from Roger on Sapphire Holdings Inc. He again walked to the balcony window and looked across to the sea. Marine House was now very quiet again and it somehow mesmerised him. Stone topped up his whisky glass and ran his hand through his thinning grey hair. He opened his laptop and found the web page for Sapphire Holdings Inc. It had glowing pictures of a deep-blue sapphire stone mounted on a white gold ring. He flicked to the financial page of the business – he noticed that it did have a pile of cash in the bank and was not borrowing, and he liked the look of that.
Stone slumped back into the chaise longue, but he could not find a comfortable position. For a minute he stared at the ceiling. When the price of Sapphire Holdings Inc doubled at the end of the week, he could make another fifty grand to put to his Marine House purchase. With diamonds from Sol, Goldnight safely scooped and a bundle of notes stuffed in his safe, it would leave him just short of £170,000 to get. And he still had two big, glinting, diamonds to come from Nevis.
He reread the email from Minted Money Investments. It was uncanny, spooky, the email was personal to him – they knew who he was, where he lived, with ID and passwords all set up ready to go. Roger too had bought into Sapphire Holdings Inc and that allowed Harry Stone a few moments of optimism.
Stone looked at his watch. It was just before the deadline of 5.00. He poured a whisky; he felt excitement as if he was in the chase, but he let the clock tick for the next ten minutes before he stirred.