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Jessica would have enjoyed drawing the expressions that appeared on the faces of the three men sitting opposite her father.
“Even worse, on that occasion Mellor offered to sell me fifty-one percent of the company for one pound.”
“What did he want in exchange?” asked Brook.
“That once he was released from prison, we would return his fifty-one percent, also for one pound.”
“Not a very seductive proposition,” suggested Dawson. “Although it must have been tempting at the time.”
“But not tempting enough,” said Hakim, “if as a result you have to rub shoulders with scumbags like Sloane and Knowles, who in my opinion should be locked up in the same cell as Mellor.”
“That was off the record,” interjected Arnold firmly, “and does not represent the views of the bank.”
“I agree with you, Hakim,” said Brook. “I only met Adrian Sloane once, and that was quite enough. However, let me ask you, Mr. Clifton, do you think there’s any chance that Mellor might consider reviving his offer?”
“It seems unlikely, although I’d be willing to give it a try, assuming he’d agree to see me.”
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??Then let’s find out as quickly as possible if that’s a runner,” said Dawson.
“But even if Mellor did agree to see you,” said Arnold, “I must warn you that the wheels of power grind even more slowly in the prison service than they do in Whitehall.”
“But I remember you and Seb visiting me at Belmarsh at a moment’s notice,” said Hakim.
“Those were legal visits,” said Arnold, “and not subject to the usual prison restrictions—don’t forget, you were my client.”
“So if Mellor were to agree to let you represent him,” said Hakim, “we could cut through the red tape.”
“But why would he even consider doing that?” asked Dawson.
“Because Barry Hammond,” said Sebastian, “a private detective employed by Farthings, discovered it was Sloane who stitched up Mellor. Which is why Mellor ended up in jail, and once he was safely out of the way, with the help of his friend Knowles, Sloane appointed himself chairman of Mellor Travel, which hasn’t declared a profit or issued a dividend since. So it’s just possible Mellor might be desperate enough to consider us the lesser of two evils.”
“If that’s the home team,” said Brook, “what have you managed to find out about our rivals?”
“That they’re even worse,” replied Seb. “Sorkin International is not an easy company to get to grips with. Their head office is registered in Panama, and although they have an office number, no one ever answers it.”
“Is Conrad Sorkin himself based in Panama?” asked Dawson.
“No. He spends most of his time on a yacht, constantly on the move. In fact, there are seven countries where he’s currently persona non grata, but unfortunately the UK isn’t one of them. And in any case, he seems to have access to bent lawyers, shelf companies, even aliases to make sure he always stays one step ahead of the law.”
“An ideal bedfellow for Sloane and Knowles,” suggested Brook.
“Agreed,” said Seb, “and as you know, Sorkin has recently matched our bid of two million for Mellor Travel. However, I think it’s unlikely we’ll be treated as an equal.”
“But surely Sorkin can’t instigate a full-blooded takeover without Mellor’s backing,” said Cook’s lawyer.
“He doesn’t need to,” said Hakim, “because we’re not convinced that’s his purpose, as Seb will explain.”
“I’m pretty sure it’s not the company that Sorkin is interested in,” said Seb. “Just the forty-two shops and offices, which have a book value of under two million pounds, whereas my property analyst has valued them at over five million.”
“So that’s his game,” said Dawson.
“I think he’ll be happy to sell off the properties without consulting Mellor,” said Arnold, “or even worrying about breaking the law, because I suspect Mr. Sorkin will have long since disappeared before the police catch up with him.”
“Can we do anything to stop him?” asked Brook.
“Yes,” said Seb. “Get hold of Mellor’s fifty-one percent, and sack Sloane.”
