Donaldson. He referred to his notes. ‘And what about BOWL?’
‘BOWL?’
‘Yes. It stands for the Brave Old World League. It’s a group of activists who believe that new technology will ruin society. They are particularly upset about virtual reality.’
‘I think Richard did mention something about some people like that,’ I said. It had been during a conversation several months before. I struggled to remember more about it. ‘Hadn’t one of his people joined them? Doug? Dougie? Something like that.’
‘That’s right,’ said Kerr. ‘Doogie Fisher worked for FairSystems until last year, when he joined BOWL. It’s quite a secretive organisation – more like a network, really – a group of individuals in Britain and America. Most of them seem to be disillusioned technical people; at any rate, they seem to know a lot about computers. They are prepared to use violence to achieve their ends. A couple of months ago, there was a spate of letter bombs sent to virtual reality companies in the UK. None caused any damage. We think that Doogie, or one of his colleagues, was behind it.’
‘And you think this Doogie might have been involved in Richard’s death?’
‘It’s a possible line of inquiry,’ said Donaldson. ‘But you can’t tell us anything about him?’
I shook my head. I wanted to help. I wished I had listened more closely when Richard had spoken about BOWL. But I hadn’t. It had seemed so far away then. So remote from my everyday life.
‘We’ve followed up your brother’s suspicions about manipulation of FairSystems’ shares,’ Donaldson continued. ‘The Stock Exchange are looking into it now, and they are consulting with the authorities in America.’
‘Oh really? Have they found anything?’
‘They’re still gathering data. But to go back to the evening when Richard Fairfax asked you to look into FairSystems’ share price. Did you?’
‘Yes. Or rather Karen did.’
‘Karen Chilcott. Your girlfriend?’
‘Yes.’
‘And she discovered nothing?’
‘That’s right. FairSystems is such a small stock that it’s only really traded by one firm, Wagner Phillips. When she checked with a friend of hers there, they didn’t know anything. It seemed to us that there was nothing funny going on.’
‘I see,’ said Donaldson. ‘Have you traded in FairSystems shares yourself?’
‘No. At least not since the company went public.’
‘You haven’t sold any?’
‘I’m not allowed to. Not for two years.’
‘Do you know anyone else who has been involved in the shares?’
‘No. Just Karen. And she operates under the same restrictions as me.’
‘And does she have any contacts who are involved in FairSystems shares?’
‘Of course not!’
‘Calm down, Mr Fairfax. Just answer the questions.’
‘Let me save you some time,’ I said, successfully controlling my temper. ‘I had no inside information about FairSystems at all. I know virtually nothing about the company. Neither does Karen. In fact, she knows even less than me. So we would have had nothing to tell anyone, even if we had wanted to. In any case, why should we? The shares went down, not up. What would be the point of getting anyone to buy them? If we’d told someone to buy, they’d have lost money.’
I looked from Donaldson to Kerr, and back to Donaldson. His grey eyes held mine. I knew what I said made sense, and so, I could see, did he.
‘All right, Mr Fairfax. But we may have to make some more inquiries.’
I relaxed. He believed me. And I did want to help. In a way I was pleased he was asking difficult questions. ‘That’s fine with me,’ I replied.
‘Thanks for the tea,’ he said, getting up to leave. ‘By the way, make sure you don’t touch anything in the boathouse. There are a lot of technical papers there that we want to go through with Rachel Walker later this week.’
‘Fine,’ I said, and saw them out. The last thing I wanted to do was go back in there, anyway.
7
I drove fast
‘BOWL?’
‘Yes. It stands for the Brave Old World League. It’s a group of activists who believe that new technology will ruin society. They are particularly upset about virtual reality.’
‘I think Richard did mention something about some people like that,’ I said. It had been during a conversation several months before. I struggled to remember more about it. ‘Hadn’t one of his people joined them? Doug? Dougie? Something like that.’
‘That’s right,’ said Kerr. ‘Doogie Fisher worked for FairSystems until last year, when he joined BOWL. It’s quite a secretive organisation – more like a network, really – a group of individuals in Britain and America. Most of them seem to be disillusioned technical people; at any rate, they seem to know a lot about computers. They are prepared to use violence to achieve their ends. A couple of months ago, there was a spate of letter bombs sent to virtual reality companies in the UK. None caused any damage. We think that Doogie, or one of his colleagues, was behind it.’
‘And you think this Doogie might have been involved in Richard’s death?’
‘It’s a possible line of inquiry,’ said Donaldson. ‘But you can’t tell us anything about him?’
I shook my head. I wanted to help. I wished I had listened more closely when Richard had spoken about BOWL. But I hadn’t. It had seemed so far away then. So remote from my everyday life.
‘We’ve followed up your brother’s suspicions about manipulation of FairSystems’ shares,’ Donaldson continued. ‘The Stock Exchange are looking into it now, and they are consulting with the authorities in America.’
‘Oh really? Have they found anything?’
‘They’re still gathering data. But to go back to the evening when Richard Fairfax asked you to look into FairSystems’ share price. Did you?’
‘Yes. Or rather Karen did.’
‘Karen Chilcott. Your girlfriend?’
‘Yes.’
‘And she discovered nothing?’
‘That’s right. FairSystems is such a small stock that it’s only really traded by one firm, Wagner Phillips. When she checked with a friend of hers there, they didn’t know anything. It seemed to us that there was nothing funny going on.’
‘I see,’ said Donaldson. ‘Have you traded in FairSystems shares yourself?’
‘No. At least not since the company went public.’
‘You haven’t sold any?’
‘I’m not allowed to. Not for two years.’
‘Do you know anyone else who has been involved in the shares?’
‘No. Just Karen. And she operates under the same restrictions as me.’
‘And does she have any contacts who are involved in FairSystems shares?’
‘Of course not!’
‘Calm down, Mr Fairfax. Just answer the questions.’
‘Let me save you some time,’ I said, successfully controlling my temper. ‘I had no inside information about FairSystems at all. I know virtually nothing about the company. Neither does Karen. In fact, she knows even less than me. So we would have had nothing to tell anyone, even if we had wanted to. In any case, why should we? The shares went down, not up. What would be the point of getting anyone to buy them? If we’d told someone to buy, they’d have lost money.’
I looked from Donaldson to Kerr, and back to Donaldson. His grey eyes held mine. I knew what I said made sense, and so, I could see, did he.
‘All right, Mr Fairfax. But we may have to make some more inquiries.’
I relaxed. He believed me. And I did want to help. In a way I was pleased he was asking difficult questions. ‘That’s fine with me,’ I replied.
‘Thanks for the tea,’ he said, getting up to leave. ‘By the way, make sure you don’t touch anything in the boathouse. There are a lot of technical papers there that we want to go through with Rachel Walker later this week.’
‘Fine,’ I said, and saw them out. The last thing I wanted to do was go back in there, anyway.
7
I drove fast
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