Adventures in the City Pt. 03

This time, it was Penny. "So the Old Guard at Greystone is on the horn to 10 Downing, and Reggie is on the horn to Thames House, and certain individuals are announced to have taken new career directions..."

I added, "And the Tabloids are immensely pissed."

Tony laughed, "And two LSE students are on leave for a quarter on special assignment with the daughter of a well known London lawyer."

Geoff stood. "Go track down Reggie. Tell him you have discussed this with me and we are proceeding unless he calls a halt. And start work on the confidential annex. We will fill in the details as we go. And, by the way, redouble your personal security precautions. Perhaps a move to one of the quieter four or five star establishments with full time lobby and door security?"

As we walked to the Tube, Penny said, "Damn, putting our names in that note means we are definitely targets."

We found Reggie hurrying away from his school office. Once he heard the first part of our story, he swore and said to report to his flat at 7:30. "Before that, disappear from your lodgings."

We started towards my place on foot. Penny said, "I'll call my Dad's security person for advice."

She did that while I stuffed odds and ends of clothing into a wheelie. Hard to say when I might be back or if anything would survive a likely trashing once our report surfaced to Department Heads at Greystone.

"Guess what," she smiled at us. "Harold says Dad's club has a special entrance and suite of rooms for members who are dealing with embarrassing or dangerous situations. He checked and it is available. Very discreet in and out."

Tony pulled her up into a tight embrace. "Penny, you are so kind to your American cousins."

I bulldozed in for a kiss, saying, "No time for mush. Must get moving and not be late to Reggie's."

Chapter 10 - Dangerous Days

The tall elegant woman who answered Reggie's door was instantly recognizable from the London Society pages. "Hello, I'm Barbara. Reggie hardly ever lets me meet his students, so this is a special pleasure. He is in the shower, but please come in and make yourself comfortable."

We were shortly served sherry and crackers in a cozy living space with a small fire going. It was the kind of intimate room that upscale decorators loved to create. After extracting a large sum from your wallet, of course.

Reggie bustled in, clad in cashmere sweater and lounge pants. "Barbara, that oaf Geoff has outed me to these young detectives, so I might as well out you, considering the conversation we are about to have."

He paused, with a wide smile, "The Duchess of Wickham, who happens to be my long term partner, had the misfortune to be the only child of an MP and previous SAS fighter who was enlisted in the Security Service during the Iraq war. Her first at Cambridge in Mathematics doomed her to similar recruitment. We met at work and something clicked..."

Barbara interrupted, "Reggie, don't be so formal. Spies are spies, even when they are into quant work."

Turning to us, she said, "He teaches Economics, but I put it to work. I gather your digging at Greystone has turned up a bit of mischief or you wouldn't be here."

My poor brain was in shock at seeing two Brit polymaths bouncing off each other. Tony was smiling and Penny was in the same daze I was.

"Enough foolishness, give me the short version."

Fifteen minutes later he was nodding. "Yes, more than mischief. An old line firm, trying to modernize, and infiltrated by smart thieves with criminal connections."

There was a pregnant pause, after which he asked, "Barbara, will you see if our favorite hole in the wall has room for five in a few minutes? I will debrief these starved young people and we can go."

Knowing we were befuddled, she laughed and went to the phone in the other room.

"No need to go on about the study right now. If Geoff likes it, I am fine. The reference to the confidential annex will no doubt have the intended effect. I will have a chat with the MI5 Director in the morning, and he will have a chat with the Managing Director of Greystone. I will receive directions and pass them to you immediately. To preserve our options, please occupy yourselves with the study until otherwise directed."

He added, "And in the meantime, look out for your physical safety. Geoff needs to send his family to the country until this blows over and I will ring him about that."

The dinner was excellent and the wine caused a fade from tension release. The little voice in my head said there was no reason to relax, but I did anyway.

One of Penny's friendly cabbies conveyed us to a street corner a block or so away from our destination. The uniquely coded card opened a heavy black door, behind which was a passage with a TV monitor and a speaker which verified our names.

The large shower had a central head that drowned three bodies that needed its hot water. Tony soaped and tickled and said, "We've gotten a glimpse of how the pros work this evening. Remember the saying from Le Carre, "Nothing is as it seems?"

I closed my eyes and hung on.

Two days later, the whole game unraveled in a totally unexpected way. We were in Penny's office at Greystone when her interoffice phone rang. After a casual greeting, her face suddenly got very serious.

"Yes, Cora, I very much wish to talk to you about that. I think you should make a quick copy to a flash drive, lock the file, and tell your supervisor you need an early lunch. Out front, just start walking west and we will catch up."

She looked at us. "That is a new accounting person in Derivatives that I provided some mentoring for. She says she has some very strange spreadsheet numbers to show me."

Tony and I said, "Damn," simultaneously and rose to go. I grabbed my laptop and Penny nodded, "Need that."

I couldn't understand later why we hadn't picked up a tail, given the circumstances, but we didn't and ended up in a pub some distance from the office. In the dark recesses of the back, Cora was full of apologies for intruding into our valuable time and it was probably nothing, but perhaps she could show us some numbers that didn't seem correct.

For an hour, she showed us the whole nasty story. She said the spreadsheets were the responsibility of one of the senior clerks, but she had been substituting because that person was ill with the flu.

The spreadsheets were generated automatically each evening, and required attention the following day to make designated account transfers. Cora had followed instructions about the transfers, but noticed that there were several sheets that appeared to be the same, except for small character insertions in the file names.

We analyzed the sheets and it was like unwrapping a statue. Very cleverly, the Derivatives group had been making financial bets far in excess of the agreed limits. In fact, as we got to the end of what she had brought us, it seemed as though the outstanding risks were more than equal to the entire reserve accounts of the firm. Masterson, Covington and company were either incredible winners, or Greystone was insolvent!

As we sat back with closed eyes, Cora asked anxiously if she had done anything wrong. Penny reached for her hand. "My dear Cora, you have just saved the entire future of Greystone. Your instincts about these spreadsheets were exactly correct. So correct, in fact, that you are going on leave with pay this very moment. Do you have a relative in the country whose location is not in your Greystone file?"

"There is an aunt near York."

Penny extended her phone, "Ring her and see if an unscheduled visit is permitted."

It was, and we drank up to leave. I needed something stronger than beer, but not right now.

Outside, we split, Tony and Penny going in search of Geoff, and Cora and I going to Kings Cross to get her safely on the train to York.

"Camille, it will look strange, my arriving with no luggage or clothes."

I patted her on the back, "You're right. Let's shop at the station stores, my treat."

Thirty minutes later, holding tightly to brand new wheeled luggage filled with clothes still tagged, she inquired, "What is going to happen?"

"Cora dear, I am not entirely sure, but the police and other authorities will be involved. When it is safe for you to return, there will be a need for you to tell the story over again."

"What about my job?"

"The firm owes you a great deal for courageously coming forward. When the air clears, there will be a promotion. Maybe a double promotion. But I must tell you that it is possible that the criminals will be removed quietly and no public announcement ever made. Do you think you can live with that? Sometimes recognition for a good job is something you receive but must keep to yourself."

She hugged and whispered, "Oh, I am just shaking. Thank you for taking care of me!"

We were both teary as she headed down the platform to her train and I turned to the exit. Damn, I said to myself, we still have to catch the bad guys and not get hurt!

My cell chimed just as I was grabbing a ride at the taxi rank. Penny's official voice directed me to meet them soonest at the address in my phone for the study executive.

By the time I got to Geoff's house, they were there and he was busy talking to Reggie. In a minute, he rang off and smiled.

"Within the hour, a detail from the Security Service and Met Police will be taking the ones we are sure of into custody. The Managing Director has called in chits and is assembling an emergency team to unwind those derivative positions without alerting the whole western world!

He punched in a number to the phone. It was answered and he said, "Honey, prepare for visitors. The study team and I have been directed to disappear for forty-eight hours!"

Tony was grinning. Penny and I were clutching each other. All I could think to say was, "Damn."

Chapter 11 - The Final Act

A month later, small pieces were still being resolved. The three of us, feeling tightly bound together, were spending much time in Poole in the restored pub. There was an official telephone rendezvous twice a day, at 6am and 6pm, where our current location and state of health was noted by an anonymous but friendly voice. Geoff and Reggie, sounding like they were back on active duty, assured us that in the event we did not report on time, instant action to retrieve us would occur. The culprits were free to pursue new ventures, but hemmed in by the equivalent of a plea bargain, which promised many years in prison if anything about their misdeeds at Greystone leaked out, or any harm came to the study team.

We were not allowed near Greystone. Geoff and Penny were officially on leave to attend "an advanced educational opportunity." Both were offered major promotions to stay with the firm. Both decided not to provide instant answers.

After a visit from industry regulators, Greystone partners had decided to take the hint and rebuild the firm. Not only was the excess Derivatives position unwound successfully, but the entirety of the line of business had been eliminated and many severance notices handed out. Likewise, almost half of the senior partners had been retired and a junior cohort of executives was in charge of management.

On a sunny weekend afternoon, the three of us were lying in the famous down laden four poster, naked as usual.

Tony said, "Secret heroes for a day, that's us. What do we do now? The LSE Master's in Econ doesn't seem like such a big deal..."

Penny laughed, "I was a rising finance executive. Now I am a dissolute female lounging with decadent Americans and reaching for cock twice a day!"

Reggie invited us to dinner and provided a solution. Or rather, it was Barbara who had an idea. In the kitchen, where Penny and I insisted on helping, she said, "I don't know why, but your success at Greystone has shocked me into thinking about being more useful..."

The two of us crowded her from both sides. "Useful? What is that?" The sexy body might be from the nobility but was pinchable and kissable. She turned for a threeway hug.

"Would you devils like to be my junior assistants in a private investigations firm?"

Over a delicious stroganoff, Reggie allowed that discretion was the secret to success in private investigations. He smiled and asked, "Are the three of you capable of discretion?"

He was teasing, but Tony stared him down. "Sir, you have the recent incident at Greystone to measure us by. I don't believe the Tabloids have uncovered scandal so far."

"Yes. You're right and I shouldn't tease about something that could have caused a serious crisis for the City."

He went on, "If this interests you, I can provide some cover at LSE. Put the disreputable Americans back in harness as graduate students. Make Penny our youngest adjunct."

Barbara clapped, "Yes. And I will attend to a prestige but discreet address!"

In bed later, I tickled Penny and threatened, "We must get tattoos of a big letter D!"

Tony was energized and frisky, "Come here wenches, my tattooing iron is ready!"

We howled and wrestled and got speared in return.

In the morning, there was a sense of calm over breakfast. I poked Tony, "You know, Barbara is likely to get us back into risky business."

He pulled me over his knee, one hand caressing my perpetually bare bottom. "Penny, this one here, with the "body," is going to be running us into trouble again!"

We tumbled into Penny's bed, where our best work, and our best sex, occurred. I picked up my cell and pressed a number.

"Cora! What are you up to?"

"Oh gosh, Camille, I've been working out like you suggested. Do you take beginners on a run?"

"Yes, definitely. How would you like to be PA to a Duchess and work with us again?"

"OMG, how could that be?"

"Meet us at Marble Arch in an hour and find out."

Tony's hand was on its favorite part of my anatomy, swatting away. "Inspired," he said.

Penny lay there, smiling in her naked glory, "My father will never understand what ties the three of us together."

Thus began the next set of our Adventures in the City.

The End