Mightier Than the Sword (The Clifton Chronicles 5)

“Where’s Clifton?” he demanded as he strode into Sebastian’s room. Bobby Rushton, Seb’s young assistant, looked up at the new chairman, and was so petrified he couldn’t get any words out. “Are you deaf?” said Sloane. “Didn’t you hear what I said? Where’s Clifton?”

“He packed his things and left a few minutes ago,” said Rushton. “He told us all that he’d resigned and wouldn’t be back.”

“Only minutes before he would have been sacked,” said Sloane. Looking down at the young man, he added, “And you can join him. Make sure you’re off the premises within the hour, and be certain you leave nothing in this room that even hints that Clifton ever existed.”

Sloane stormed back to his office and sat down at his desk. Five more envelopes, all marked Personal, were waiting to be opened.

* * *

“I only met Cedric Hardcastle on half a dozen occasions, mostly social,” said Saul Kaufman. “We never did any business, but I’d have liked to, because he was one of the few men in the City who still believed a handshake closed a deal, not a contract.”

“Even a contract won’t necessarily close a deal with the new chairman,” said Seb.

“I’ve never met Adrian Sloane, I only know him by reputation. Is he the reason you wanted to see me so urgently?”

“Yes, sir,” said Seb. “I was looking into a major deal involving Sloane when the chairman had his heart attack.”

“Then take me through the deal slowly, and don’t leave out any details.”

Seb began by telling Mr. Kaufman how he’d taken a phone call from Ralph Vaughan of Savills that had alerted him to what Sloane was up to. And how the following morning, on Cedric’s instructions, he’d travelled up to Shifnal, and how the day had ended with him meeting Mr. Swann and discovering why Sloane was willing to pay way over the odds for a thousand-acre farm in Shropshire.

When Seb came to the end of his story, an enigmatic smile appeared on Kaufman’s face.

“Could it be possible that Mr. Swann has stumbled across something we all missed? We’ll find out soon enough, because the government is expected to announce its findings in the next few weeks.”

“But we haven’t got weeks, only a couple of days. Don’t forget, closing bids have to be in by five o’clock tomorrow.”

“So you want me to outbid Sloane, on the possibility that Mr. Swann has worked out what the government has planned?”

“Cedric was willing to take that risk.”

“And, unlike Sloane, Cedric Hardcastle had the reputation of being a cautious man.” Kaufman placed his hands together as if in prayer, and when his prayer was answered, he said, “I’ll need to make a few phone calls before I come to a final decision, so come back to my office at 4:40 tomorrow afternoon. If I’m convinced, we’ll take it from there.”

“But by then it will be too late.”

“I don’t think so,” said Kaufman.

* * *

When Seb left the bank he was in a daze, and not at all convinced that Kaufman would go ahead with the deal. But he had nowhere else to turn.

He hurried home. He wanted to share everything that had happened since he’d left the flat that morning with Samantha. She always saw things from a different angle, often coming out of left field, to use one of her favorite American expressions.

While Sam prepared supper, Seb told her who’d attended the funeral that morning and, more important, who hadn’t, and what Sloane and his cronies had been up to while he was in Huddersfield … and why he was now looking for a job.

When he finally stopped pacing around the kitchen and sat down, Sam said, “But you’ve always known Sloane was a crook, so it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that he’d call a board meeting when everyone who would have opposed him was out of town. I bet your mother would have worked that one out.”

“She did, but by then it was too late. But I still think we can beat Sloane at his own game.”

“Not at his own game,” said Sam. “Try to think what Cedric would have done in the circumstances, not Sloane.”

“But if I’m ever going to beat him, I’ll have to think like him.”

“Possibly, but that doesn’t mean you have to act like him.”

“Shifnal Farm is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

“That’s not a good enough reason to crawl around in the same gutter as Sloane.”