Читать книгу The Song of Mawu - Jeff Edwards - Страница 22

16

Late that evening Justine lay wide awake with a single thought incessantly circling through her overactive brain.

In frustration she finally reached up and tapped several times on the small lump in her neck, ‘Are you awake?’ she asked.

‘I am now,’ replied her friend, ‘What’s up?’

‘I met someone today.’

‘I meet people every day.’

‘I can’t stop thinking about him.’

‘Don’t tell me you’re a human after all. Justine in love, that’s a new one.’

‘I’m not in love,’ she protested weakly, ‘it’s only that I can’t get him out of my head.’

‘And you get all twisty in the stomach?’

‘No! Well maybe…a little.’

‘What do you want me to tell you? That you shouldn’t see him again? That you aren’t allowed to be in love?’

‘No…it’s just that there are…complications.’

‘There are always complications. That’s what makes it all such a pain in the rear. But if it works out for you it’ll be worth it.’

‘What makes you such an expert? You’ve never been in love.’

‘At least I’ve had boyfriends. I can fall in love any time I like…at least I’m not afraid to try. I don’t mind having feelings.’

‘It isn’t like me to react instinctively. I always plan what I do.’

‘This is romance and romance defies planning. Now let me get back to sleep. We can continue this some other time when you’re sober.’

‘I’m not drunk.’

‘You’re in love and that’s worse. Goodnight Justine.’

‘Good night Eliza.’ The connection went dead.

In Namola, Eliza smiled and thought. ‘That poor man doesn’t know what he’s in for,’ as she rolled onto her side and difted off to sleep.

Justine remained awake and continued staring at the darkened ceiling. Now that the ‘problem’ had been identified she had plans to make.

***

Brian and Lana Reynolds packed a small suitcase each and headed for the Jersey ferry. They had booked ahead to stay in a small boutique hotel on the harbour front, not far from the International Bank of Jersey.

The bank was one of the major assets owned by The Fund and its current manager, Lionel Rafter, had become a close friend.

The following morning, they sat opposite him and explained their problem.

‘So you need to find where your President Lattua secretes his ill-gotten gains?’

‘That’s the problem,’ said Lana, ‘Can you help?’

‘Well I can certainly help but I can’t guarantee success, besides, even if you do manage to track the funds down there’s no way of you being able to touch them without the correct passwords. When you ‘appropriated’ Harry Soh’s money you knew exactly where it was. All you had to do in that case was to find the key that would enable you to get to the money.’

‘I agree that it isn’t going to be easy,’ conceded Brian, ‘But knowing where the money has been hidden will give us an indication of how to go about retrieving it.’

‘Quite possibly,’ conceded Lionel Rafter, ‘Let’s see what we can do.’ He dialled a number and they were soon joined by an impeccably dressed young Asian man carrying a note pad and pencil.

Lionel Rafter introduced the Reynolds’ to Chris Tan the bank’s head of IT. ‘I won’t tell you how much it cost us to poach young Chris here from his former employer but he has been worth every penny. The bank’s security systems are now decades ahead of our opposition.’

Chris Tan laughed, ‘Hardly decades. With change taking place so fast, a month ahead of the rest is what we aim for.’

Chris Tan sat down and Lionel Rafter explained the situation. Tan took a few notes before leaning back and looking absently out the window.

Finally, he began to speak. ‘Every day there are virtually trillions of transactions taking place in the banking world. To track down a single, anonymous, transaction will be way beyond the figures of the old ‘needle in a haystack.”

He turned to a clean page in his notebook, ‘First, we have to know WHERE the money is coming from. Then we have to know WHEN the transaction will take place and finally we have to know HOW MUCH the transaction will be for. When we have all that information we will have a reasonable chance of tracking the funds to their destination. If only one of the pieces of information is missing, then your chances of success will become virtually zero.’

‘How accurate does this information have to be?’ asked Brian.

‘A very astute question,’ smiled Chris Tan. ‘The ‘where’ is vital. Without knowing where to look, an amount would simply get lost in the avalanche of transactions that take place in the normal banking day. The same goes for ‘when’. While not as important as ‘where’, we will have to know how long to keep looking. The funds could sit in an account for years before moving.’

‘The man we’re dealing with is greedy,’ said Brian, ‘He won’t allow the money to sit for long.’

‘That’s all well and good but I’ve left the worst for last. ‘How much’, that’s going to be the tricky part.’

‘How so?’ asked Lana.

‘Well, what if the full amount isn’t transferred? What if part of it goes to paying off an accomplice?’

‘I see. Is there any way around that?’

‘There is a way, but only if your target obliges us by acting normally. I’ll explain. You have a million dollars in funds and your accomplice wants his ten percent share. You simply transfer one hundred thousand dollars to his account and keep the remaining nine hundred thousand, which you then transfer to your secret account overseas. If we were looking for a million dollars, then we’d miss it because it wasn’t a million dollars that he transferred. We could keep an eye on the account where the money was first lodged for any transactions at all. Then we would know about the payment and we could then concentrate on the balance of nine hundred thousand.’

His audience nodded, feeling more hopeful than they had a minute before.

However, Chris Tan was not finished with the bad news. ‘Now then, do you have any idea how many transactions totalling nine hundred thousand dollars are processed in any one day?’

‘It’s an odd amount. There can’t be that many,’ said Brian.

Chris Tan nodded his head, ‘Odd amount or not, there could still be several million and I don’t have the computing power that would be required to follow each and every one. It would take years to analyse every one to locate the particular one you’re looking for.’

‘But you said there is a way,’ said a frustrated Lana.

‘Possibly,’ Tan smiled.

‘How?’

Chris Tan leaned back and asked, ‘For arguments sake I’ll you ask what you would do in our friend’s place if your ill-gotten gains totalled not one million dollars but let’s say, one million dollars and one cent. What would you do with that one cent?’

‘Leave it where it is.’

Chris Tan nodded, ‘That’s right. Such a miniscule amount you wouldn’t worry about and most people would leave it where it was. However, what if the amount were say, one million nine hundred and ninety-nine dollars and ninety-nine cents?’

‘In that case I might transfer it all or I might leave it.’

‘Correct again. Therefore, our problem is to find an amount that is odd and distinctive, an amount that will make it worthwhile for your target to transfer.’

‘What about the accomplice? Would part of the residual go to him?’

‘It would be hardly worth his time to do the mathematics. No, the accomplice will get a round figure and we’ll still be able to track the residual.’

‘But if he did?’

‘We’d lose track of the money. That’s why I wouldn’t leave anything to chance. I wouldn’t go looking for one odd amount of money, but several. That way we can be sure that the account the money ends up in, is the correct one. Even if we select an odd amount there will still be millions of transactions using that residual figure during that particular timeframe but there will be far fewer for us to trace. By using several sums with different residual amounts we’ll be better able to triangulate the target account.’

***

Joseph and Thomas Lattua were enjoying a quiet beer beside the Presidential palace’s large swimming pool while they congratulated themselves on their latest gains.

‘The figures from the provinces are in and they’ve all been able to achieve their targets,’ smiled the President.

‘That’s good. I thought we might have had a lot more trouble. It seems the governors are calling on my troops more and more these days to ‘encourage’ the populace to part with their taxes.’

‘It has been happening a lot, hasn’t it?’

‘Yes, and using my men for tax collection is eating into my budget. My ‘profits’ from the army this quarter is way down and I’m not happy about that.’

‘There’s no reason why you should be brother,’ reasoned the President. ‘If you’re doing the governor’s work for them, then I see no reason why they shouldn’t meet your costs. Send them a bill for your collection services.’

‘A good idea brother, I’ll have my staff implement it immediately. I can think of all manner of things I can add into the invoices.’

The President laughed, ‘And I’ll await the indignant calls from the governors when they receive them. But if they want the army’s help then they’ll just have to pay. After all, you are doing their work for them.’

‘The governors seem very reluctant to do the more ‘difficult’ work themselves.’

‘Have there been many difficulties?’

Thomas shrugged, ‘A particularly recalcitrant person here and there has to be made an example of, but nothing that my men can’t handle.’

‘There’s no sign of any organised opposition?’

‘Not that I know of.’

‘Good. Very good,’ Joseph smiled as he sipped at his ice cold beer and watched as one of the junior members of his staff strode toward him in her micro mini skirt.

‘You have a call from a Mr Reynolds from The Fund,’ she announced shyly.

‘I thought The Fund had given up on our poor country,’ Joseph said to his brother. ‘Put the call through to me on my speaker phone,’ he ordered the girl, and watched her swaying hips as she walked back into the palace.

‘Very nice!’ commented Thomas Lattua.

Joseph turned to his brother and smiled, ‘She’s new and I think it’s time I got to know that young woman a little better.’

Thomas laughed, ‘What about me? I saw her first.’

‘I’m sure she’ll be more than willing to entertain you… as soon as I’m through with her.’

‘The first born and therefore the first in all things?’

‘Of course younger brother. Of course.’

***

Brian sat in his comfortable office, looking out over the countryside as he waited for the call to be connected. Lana sat opposite, listening in.

‘Go ahead, Mr Reynolds,’ announced the President’s PA.

‘Good afternoon Mr President, it’s Brian Reynolds from The Fund. Thank you for taking my call.’

‘Good afternoon Mr Reynolds. I recall our last conversation and formed the impression that The Fund has decided not to continue with its good works in our corner of the world.’

‘I’m afraid that despite the best efforts of the world’s charities, the refugees on your border are still suffering. My Directors at The Fund feel that our services are needed more than ever in Namola.’

‘Yes my friend,’ agreed the President with an exaggerated sigh. ‘I too, see the unfortunate situation and I wish that I could do more. Regrettably we are a poor nation, and not in a position to offer more than a dusty plot of earth for them to call home.’

‘I’m sure they appreciate the efforts of the Namolan people on their behalf Mr President. We at The Fund would like your permission to return to Namola and to continue our work.’

‘Of course Mr Reynolds you may return at any time you wish. However, I must remind you that your financial commitment to our country has yet to be met.’

‘Ah yes. The taxes,’ sighed Brian dramatically. ‘You must realise, Mr President, that The Fund is a young charity with very limited financial resources. We’re continually stretched to our limit in providing resources to the poor of the world.’

‘And I reiterate Mr Reynolds, Namola is a poor nation. In order for us to survive it is important that everyone meet their obligations. That is especially true of our international debtors.’

‘Yes of course, Mr President. It’s simply that we have had a very difficult time accumulating the sum you seek. We have been able to convince our backers to contribute a goodly portion of the amount you asked for and there are promises of more to follow. Would you allow us to make the payment in several instalments?’

Joseph Lattua smiled broadly at his brother. ‘The Namolan people are most anxious to help your charity in any way we possibly can. However, we must insist that all debts are paid in full before our former relationship can be resumed.’

‘That will be difficult, but we hope to have all the money to you within a fortnight. You’ll understand that the money may have to come from several different sources.’

‘As long as the funds are lodged with Namola’s Treasury Department I don’t foresee any problems Mr Reynolds.’

‘Excellent Mr President, and when will we be able to move back into our encampment?’

Joseph looked to his brother who nodded in the negative. He had no intention of giving back his comfortable billet to its rightful owner.

‘Unfortunately, Mr Reynolds there is a problem there. We are currently conducting military manoeuvres in the area and we can’t risk civilians getting hurt. It would be best if you kept well away from the area for the present.’

‘How long do you think it will be before we can move back?’

Thomas mouthed the word ‘never’ to his brother and Joseph replied: ‘We’ll keep you informed about that, but in the meantime, I’m sure that there will be plenty of other places that you can set your camp. Perhaps somewhere closer to the refugees?’

‘Yes, I suppose we’ll have to find somewhere else for the time being,’ said a disappointed sounding Brian. ‘Thank you Mr President. Where do you want us to transfer the money?’

‘I’ll pass you back to my assistant. She’ll provide you with the banking details for the Treasury and I look forward to doing whatever I can to assist you with those poor refugees.’

Joseph placed the call back on hold before grinning broadly and high-fiving his brother.

The next beers tasted particularly sweet as the pair discussed their latest source of much-needed funds.

***

After a brief conversation with Lattua’s PA, Brian cut the connection and dialled another number.

‘You knew he wouldn’t give us back the camp,’ said Lana.

‘Of course, but we had to give him a chance to flex his muscles. Now he thinks he has us under his thumb and that we’ll do whatever he wants.’

‘Which we will do, but only if that suits our plans.’

Lional Rafter answered Brian’s call with a cheery, ‘Hi!’

Brian pulled a sheet of paper covered in numbers from among several on his desk. ‘Get your computers fired up Lionel. I have Namola’s official Treasury account number and we’ll be sending the following amounts on the following dates.’ He recited the figures before him to the waiting Lionel.

‘Very good!’ enthused Lionel. ‘Five odd payments spread a couple of days apart will give us an excellent chance of seeing where President Lattua hides his ill-gotten gains.’

‘What are our chances of being able to access that account?’

‘With our contacts and a crew of computer experts, I’d guess it may be better than you care to believe.’

‘Let us know as soon as you have something positive.’