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Lara felt exposed and off-balance. She looked around.
‘Where’s Victoria?’ she said, trying to keep her voice even.
‘Where Victoria usually is, having dinner, having fun with her friends.’
She didn’t miss the contempt in Michael’s voice. ‘I sent her away as I thought it might be more constructive if we spoke privately, man-to-man as it were. But first, let me show you around.’
Before she had time to object, Michael strode off, enthusiastically talking her through the many features of his new office: the Italian design and the state of the art computer brains hidden behind sliding panels.
‘And come and see the view,’ said Sachs, leading Lara to the far end of the floor where the sheeting was rattling against the scaffold. ‘The windows go in last so we could crane everything else up, but they will be seamless, giving a 180 across the park. It was a bugger getting planning permission, but it’s magnificent, don’t you think?’
As Lara gazed out, all she could see was darkness and the storm whipping the tops of the trees – and all she could hear was the sound of a trap snapping closed. Victoria had set her up, lured her to an empty building. And now Michael had her where he wanted her.
Lara took a breath. She wasn’t going to let him intimidate her, however vulnerable she was feeling.
‘Well, I’m glad you showed me all this,’ she said. ‘Because it’s really helped me understand your nasty little conjuring trick.’
Sachs looked at her, surprised.
‘All the way through, I’ve been thinking it was about greed,’ continued Lara. ‘But it isn’t, is it? It’s about fear.’
‘Fear? I think you’ve lost me.’
‘You had to shut down Helen Groves because any scandal regarding the charity would undermine your plan to sell Sachs Capital. If the ImpactAid trafficking story came out, your investors would have pulled their money out of your fund and the sale of the company would be derailed. Investors want to see corporate responsibility in this day and age, not corruption, cover-ups and trafficking.’
Sachs put up a hand, but she kept going.
Lara gestured towards the floor.
‘You’ve sunk all your money into this place, haven’t you? My guess is you’ve over-extended. And if you lose the fund, you’ll lose your investment here too. And you’ll have nothing left. That’s why you were so desperate to keep the story quiet.’
Sachs clicked his tongue.
‘It’s a creative story, Ms. Stone. I can see why you’ve done so well in journalism.’
‘So you’re denying it?’
‘Denying what? Some fairytale about a non-existent scandal and disappearing investors?’
‘No,’ said Lara. ‘Denying that
you killed Jonathon Meyer.’
He smiled at her and suddenly Lara caught a glimpse of the man behind the carefully-groomed façade. He looked like a wolf sizing up his prey.
‘No. I did not kill Jonathon Meyer,’ he said. ‘Jon died after a particularly brutal street attack. I wasn’t in the country at the time.’
‘Let me rephrase,’ said Lara. ‘Did you arrange to have Jonathon Meyer murdered?’
Sachs remained calm, just a slight irritated shake of the head. ‘Murder? Scandal? Do you realise how unlikely all these accusations sound? They might even suggest an unbalanced mind. Suicidal, in fact.’
Lara took a step away, her disquiet growing.
‘And I suppose saying that you had Helen Groves and Sandrine Legard killed would also show that I was slipping into madness?’
‘It would,’ said Sachs, with a creeping smile. ‘In fact, Lara, that’s exactly what I will say.’
‘Will say?’ said Lara, feeling the atmosphere change.
