Best Kept Secret (The Clifton Chronicles, #3)(47)

‘Won’t the brokers become suspicious, and tell the board what we’re up to?’

‘They’re not going to say a word as long as they get a commission when they sell the stock and another one when they buy it back. They can’t lose either way.’

‘But can we?’

‘Only if the share price rises after the chairman’s annual report, because you’d have to pay more to buy your shares back. But frankly, that’s unlikely to happen once the company announces that it’s putting three million pounds of its reserves at risk.’

‘So what do I do next?’

‘If you give me the authority to act on your behalf, I’ll place the business through a broker I know in Hong Kong so it can’t be traced back to either of us.’

‘Giles will work out what we’re up to. He’s no fool.’

‘Not if three weeks later the records show that the ownership of your seven and a half per cent of the company hasn’t changed. In any case, he has far more pressing problems to occupy himself with at the moment.’

‘Such as?’

‘I’m told he’s facing a vote of confidence from the local Labour Party executive committee, after they found out about his relationship with Miss Gwyneth Hughes. There’s even a chance he won’t be contesting the next election. That’s assuming you still haven’t signed those divorce papers.’



‘Can you assure me, Major Fisher, that this investigation has no connection with Sir Giles Barrington or Mrs Harry Clifton, because I’ve represented both of them in the past, and that would create an unacceptable conflict of interest.’

‘My enquiries have nothing to do with the Barrington family,’ said Fisher. ‘It’s simply that the local Conservative Association has shortlisted two candidates to be their representative for Bristol Docklands. As secretary of the association, I want to be absolutely sure there’s nothing in their backgrounds that might embarrass the party at some future date.’

‘Are you looking for anything in particular, major?’

‘With your contacts in the force, I need you to find out if either of their names appears in police records.’

‘Does that include parking fines or other non-custodial offences?’

‘Anything that the Labour Party could use to its advantage during an election campaign.’

‘I get the picture,’ said Mitchell. ‘How much time do I have?’

‘The selection process will take a couple of months, possibly three, but I’ll need to know if you come up with anything long before then,’ said Fisher, passing over a piece of paper with two names on it.

Mitchell glanced at the two names before placing the piece of paper in his pocket. He left without another word.



Fisher phoned a private number in Hong Kong at nine o’clock on the morning of Barrington’s Annual General Meeting. When he heard a familiar voice come on the line, he said, ‘Benny, it’s the major.’

‘How are you, major? Long time, no hear.’

‘There’s a reason,’ said Fisher, ‘and I’ll explain everything when you’re next in London, but right now I need you to carry out a sell order for me.’

‘My pen is poised,’ said Benny.

‘I want you to sell two hundred thousand shares in Barrington Shipping at spot price the moment the London Stock Exchange opens.’

Benny whistled. ‘Consider it done,’ he said.

‘And once you’ve completed the order, I want you to buy back the same number of shares during the next twenty-one days, but not until you think they’ve bottomed out.’

‘Understood. Just one question, major. Should Benny be placing a little flutter on this particular horse?’

‘That’s up to you, but don’t get greedy, because there’s going to be a lot more where this came from.’

The major put down the phone, walked out of his club on Pall Mall and took a taxi to the Savoy. He joined his fellow directors in the hotel’s conference room just a few minutes before the chairman rose to deliver his annual address to the shareholders of the Barrington Shipping Company.





19


THE CONSTITUTIONAL HALL on Davis Street was packed. Several party members had to stand in the aisle or at the back of the room. One or two were even perched on windowsills in the hope of getting a better view of proceedings.

Both of the candidates on the shortlist, Neville Simpson and Gregory Dunnett, had delivered powerful speeches, but Fisher felt that at that moment Simpson had the edge over his preferred candidate. Simpson, a London barrister, was a few years older than Dunnett, had a fine war record and had already contested an election against Aneurin Bevan in Ebbw Vale, where he’d increased the Tory share of the vote. But Mitchell had been able to supply Fisher with enough information to embarrass the man.

Simpson and Dunnett were seated on either side of the chairman on the stage, while the committee were in the front row. The news that Sir Giles Barrington had survived a vote of no confidence at a closed meeting of the local Labour Party earlier in the week had pleased Fisher, although he didn’t admit his reason to anyone, other than Virginia. He planned to humiliate Barrington publicly, in the glare of a general election campaign, rather than in a dimly lit Labour Party committee room. But his plan couldn’t work unless Dunnett became the Tory candidate, and that was still in the balance.