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“No, put me through to David Alexander immediately,” demanded Diego.
“But he’s on the line to another client.”
“Then get him off the line. This is an emergency.”
“I’m not allowed to interrupt a call, sir.”
“You can and you will interrupt him, you stupid girl, if you still hope to have your job tomorrow morning.”
“Who shall I say is calling?” asked a trembling voice.
“Just put me through!” shouted Diego. He heard a click.
“Are you still there, Mr. Hardcastle?”
“No, he’s not. This is Diego Martinez, Mr. Alexander.”
“Ah, good morning, Mr. Martinez. Your timing couldn’t be better.”
“Tell me you haven’t sold my father’s Barrington’s shares.”
“But I have, in fact, just before you came on the line. I’m sure you’ll be delighted to hear that one customer took all one million two hundred thousand of them—in normal circumstances it might have taken two, possibly even three weeks to offload them all. And I even got a shilling more than the opening price.”
“How much did you sell them for?”
“One pound and nine shillings. I have the sale order in front of me.”
“But they were two pounds and eight shillings when the market closed on Friday afternoon.”
“That’s correct, but there seems to have been a great deal of activity in this stock over the weekend. I assumed you’d be aware of that, and it was one of the reasons I was so delighted to get them all off the books so quickly.”
“Why didn’t you try to contact my father to warn him that the shares had collapsed?” shouted Diego.
“Your father made it clear that he would not be available over the weekend, and wouldn’t be returning to London until tomorrow morning.”
“But when you saw the share price had collapsed, why didn’t you use your common sense and wait until you’d spoken to him?”
“I have your father’s written instructions in front of me, Mr. Martinez. They could not be clearer. His entire holding of Barrington’s stock was to be placed on the market when the Exchange opened this morning.”
“Now listen to me, Alexander, and listen carefully. I’m ordering you to cancel that sale and get his shares back.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that, sir. Once a transaction has been agreed, there is no way of reversing it.”
“Has the paperwork been completed?”
“No, sir, but it will have been before the close of business this evening.”
“Then don’t complete it. Tell whoever bought the shares there’s been a mistake.”
“The City doesn’t work like that, Mr. Martinez. Once a transaction has been agreed, there’s no going back, otherwise the market would be in perpetual turmoil.”
“I’m telling you, Alexander, you will reverse that sale, or I will sue your company for negligence.”
“And I’m telling you, Mr. Martinez, that if I did, I would be up in front of the Stock Exchange council, and would lose my license to trade.”
Diego changed tack. “Were those shares purchased by a member of the Barrington or Clifton families?”
“No, they were not, sir. We carried out your father’s instructions to the letter.”
