he?”
“No. Just his darling Porsche. You’re right, if he went anywhere, he’d have taken the Porsche. He loves that car.”
“I don’t suppose he has another house, does he? Somewhere he’d go if he had to make a run for it? A villa on the Algarve, perhaps?”
“Roy’s not particularly fond of Portugal. And he doesn’t own a place in Tuscany or Provence, or anywhere else, as faras I know. At least he never took me to one. He loves travel and holidays but he says it’s too much hassle owning property abroad. It ties you down to just one place.”
“He’s probably right.”
Corinne bit on her lower lip. “Now you’ve got me really worried.”
Banks put his hand on her shoulder, then took it away quickly, not wanting her to get the wrong idea. She didn’t react. “I’ll find Roy,” he said. “But let’s have a look at some of these files first. They might help us find out where to start looking. You know more about his business affairs than I do.”
“That’s not saying much. Anyway, there’s nothing here that looks even the remotest bit dodgy.”
“How can you tell?”
Corinne faltered a little. “Well, I don’t suppose I can, really. As I said, the drive isn’t protected or encrypted, and Roy’s hardly likely to write down references to importing heroin, is he?”
“So there’s no way of telling?”
As Corinne spoke, she opened and scanned various files. The printer was still running. “Not from these files. Everything looks above-board. I think if he were trying to hide that sort of thing, there’d be something to set off alarm bells. It’s not that easy. Besides, as I’ve been trying to tell you, Roy’s not like that.”
“What about the Money files?”
“Simple income and expenditure. Company profit and loss sheets. Investment returns. Bank statements. Some offshore banking. His finances are in pretty good shape.”
“Roy did a lot of offshore banking?”
“Anyone working at his level of income has to. It’s a matter of keeping tax liabilities as low as possible. It’s not illegal. Mostly we’re looking at memos and correspondence here. Youare, of course, welcome to examine them all at your leisure, especially as you took them in the first place, but I’d say you’d be wasting your time. Roy’s on the board of a few hi-tech companies, mostly interested in miniature information storage devices, like that USB hard drive, flash memory cards, that sort of thing. Given the way the world’s going, with mobiles, digital cameras, PDAs, MP3 players and various combinations, it seems a wise enough area to be in. Smaller is better. As a board member, he’s paid dividends.”
“What else is there?”
“Recently Roy’s become interested in private health care. I remember him talking about it. Look.” She activated a PowerPoint presentation that extolled the virtues, and profits, of investing in a string of cosmetic surgery clinics. “He’s on the board of a chain of health centres, a pharmaceutical company, a fitness club.”
“It all sounds very dull,” said Banks.
“I told you so. But guess who’s the one with the Porsche.”
“No need to rub it in. Is there more?”
“A few market research reports on health and hi-tech, the kind of reports you buy, the expensive kind.”
“I was hoping for a few names.”
“They’re here,” said Corinne. “Memos and letters between Roy and various directors and companies he was involved with. Julian Harwood, for example.”
“I’ve heard that name.”
“You might well have done. He’s quite big in the private health-care field these days. Directs the chain of clinics Roy’s involved with. Anything from cancer to breast enlargement. Actually, Roy and Julian have been mates for years.”
“Harwood’s not a doctor, though?”
“No, a businessman.”
“Have you met him?”
“Uh-huh.”
“You don’t sound impressed.”
“Maybe because that’s exactly what he sets out to do. Impress people.
“No. Just his darling Porsche. You’re right, if he went anywhere, he’d have taken the Porsche. He loves that car.”
“I don’t suppose he has another house, does he? Somewhere he’d go if he had to make a run for it? A villa on the Algarve, perhaps?”
“Roy’s not particularly fond of Portugal. And he doesn’t own a place in Tuscany or Provence, or anywhere else, as faras I know. At least he never took me to one. He loves travel and holidays but he says it’s too much hassle owning property abroad. It ties you down to just one place.”
“He’s probably right.”
Corinne bit on her lower lip. “Now you’ve got me really worried.”
Banks put his hand on her shoulder, then took it away quickly, not wanting her to get the wrong idea. She didn’t react. “I’ll find Roy,” he said. “But let’s have a look at some of these files first. They might help us find out where to start looking. You know more about his business affairs than I do.”
“That’s not saying much. Anyway, there’s nothing here that looks even the remotest bit dodgy.”
“How can you tell?”
Corinne faltered a little. “Well, I don’t suppose I can, really. As I said, the drive isn’t protected or encrypted, and Roy’s hardly likely to write down references to importing heroin, is he?”
“So there’s no way of telling?”
As Corinne spoke, she opened and scanned various files. The printer was still running. “Not from these files. Everything looks above-board. I think if he were trying to hide that sort of thing, there’d be something to set off alarm bells. It’s not that easy. Besides, as I’ve been trying to tell you, Roy’s not like that.”
“What about the Money files?”
“Simple income and expenditure. Company profit and loss sheets. Investment returns. Bank statements. Some offshore banking. His finances are in pretty good shape.”
“Roy did a lot of offshore banking?”
“Anyone working at his level of income has to. It’s a matter of keeping tax liabilities as low as possible. It’s not illegal. Mostly we’re looking at memos and correspondence here. Youare, of course, welcome to examine them all at your leisure, especially as you took them in the first place, but I’d say you’d be wasting your time. Roy’s on the board of a few hi-tech companies, mostly interested in miniature information storage devices, like that USB hard drive, flash memory cards, that sort of thing. Given the way the world’s going, with mobiles, digital cameras, PDAs, MP3 players and various combinations, it seems a wise enough area to be in. Smaller is better. As a board member, he’s paid dividends.”
“What else is there?”
“Recently Roy’s become interested in private health care. I remember him talking about it. Look.” She activated a PowerPoint presentation that extolled the virtues, and profits, of investing in a string of cosmetic surgery clinics. “He’s on the board of a chain of health centres, a pharmaceutical company, a fitness club.”
“It all sounds very dull,” said Banks.
“I told you so. But guess who’s the one with the Porsche.”
“No need to rub it in. Is there more?”
“A few market research reports on health and hi-tech, the kind of reports you buy, the expensive kind.”
“I was hoping for a few names.”
“They’re here,” said Corinne. “Memos and letters between Roy and various directors and companies he was involved with. Julian Harwood, for example.”
“I’ve heard that name.”
“You might well have done. He’s quite big in the private health-care field these days. Directs the chain of clinics Roy’s involved with. Anything from cancer to breast enlargement. Actually, Roy and Julian have been mates for years.”
“Harwood’s not a doctor, though?”
“No, a businessman.”
“Have you met him?”
“Uh-huh.”
“You don’t sound impressed.”
“Maybe because that’s exactly what he sets out to do. Impress people.
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