“Just orange juice and a black coffee, please.”
He glanced at the woman on his right but he could see that she only had a few more pages of her book to read, so he reluctantly decided not to interrupt her.
When the pilot announced they would be landing in thirty minutes, the woman immediately disappeared into the lavatory and didn’t reemerge for some time. Hakim concluded that there had to be a lucky man waiting for her at Heathrow.
Hakim always liked to be among the first passengers to disembark, especially when he was only carrying hand luggage and wouldn’t be held up in the baggage hall. His chauffeur would be waiting for him outside the terminal building and, although it was a Sunday, he still intended to go into the office and tackle the mountain of unanswered mail that would have piled up on his desk. Once again, he cursed the Nigerian oil minister.
Since he’d become a British citizen he was no longer held up at passport control and didn’t have to endure the lengthy nonresidents queues. He walked past the baggage carousels and headed straight for the green channel as he hadn’t purchased anything while he was in Lagos. The moment he put his foot in the corridor, a customs officer stepped forward and blocked his path.
“Can I check your bag, sir?”
“Of course,” said Bishara, putting his small overnight bag on the low slatted table.
Another officer appeared and stood a pace behind his colleague, who was systematically going through Hakim’s single piece of luggage. All he found was a wash bag, two shirts, two pairs of pants, two pairs of socks and two silk ties; all he’d needed for a two-day visit. The customs officer then unzipped a small side pocket that Hakim rarely used. Hakim watched in disbelief as the man extracted a cellophane bag packed with a white substance. Although he’d never taken a drug in his life, he knew exactly what it must be.
“Does this belong to you, sir?” asked the officer.
“I’ve never seen it before in my life,” Hakim answered truthfully.
“Perhaps you’d be kind enough to come with us, sir.”
31
DESMOND MELLOR SMILED when he read the headline in the Daily Mail.
CITY BANKER ARRESTED IN HEROIN SWOOP
He was only halfway through the article when he looked up at Adrian Sloane and said, “This couldn’t be much better, Adrian, if you’d written it yourself.”
Sloane tossed over his copy of the Sun. “I think you’ll find this one tops it.”
BANKER BISHARA BEHIND BARS
Mellor laughed.
“He can’t hope to survive headlines like this,” said Jim Knowles. “Even the FT is saying, and I quote, ‘The Bank of England confirms that it has not received an application to merge Farthings and Kaufman’s banks, and will not be issuing any further statements on the subject.’”
“Shorthand for ‘don’t bother us again, we’ve kicked the ball into the long grass.’” said Sloane.
“What a coup,” said Mellor. “Dare I ask how you managed to pull it off, Adrian?”
“It’s probably better that you don’t know the details, Desmond, but what I can tell you is that the main participants are already safely back in Nigeria.”
“While Bishara is locked up in Wandsworth prison.”
“What’s more, I can’t see him enjoying any better accommodation for the next few months.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” said Jim Knowles. “That smooth-talking QC of his will probably get him out on bail.”
“Not if Bishara’s charged with unlawful possession of a Class A drug with intent to supply,” said Sloane.
“And if he’s found guilty,” asked Knowles, “how long could he be sent down for?”
“The minimum sentence is five years, according to the Times. I’m not too fussed about the maximum, because I’ll be chairman of Farthings long before then,” said Mellor.
“What do you think will happen to the two banks’ shares?”
“They’ll collapse, but we should hold fire for a few days until they bottom out,” said Mellor. “That’s when I intend to pick up another couple of percent, before I join the Farthings board. While the trial’s taking place I’ll position myself as a white knight who’s reluctantly willing to come to the rescue of the beleaguered shareholders. And after Bishara’s been found guilty, I’ll allow myself to be persuaded to return as chairman of Farthings in order to save the bank’s reputation.”