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“Do we know the end game?”
Toby winced and held his head. “God, Emma. I don’t know. I tried to calculate it out, but the variables just exploded. Oh God. My head hurts so much.”
She felt instantly sorry for pushing him. They were on some kind of timeline, and the clock was ticking. But Toby had been knocked out and kept a captive. He was at his limits. She shouldn’t expect him to be able to try so hard. Understanding the endgame of something like this was difficult. She switched tactics.
“Hey, Tobe.” He was shaking. She put a hand on his shoulder and repressed a wince. He’d lost weight in the past few days. She could feel his bones under her hands. “How about we turn it around, try to understand how it started?”
He drew in a deep breath. In that moment, she admired the hell out of him. Nothing in his life could have prepared him for what he’d just been through. He lived a life of the mind and his was sharper than most. But being kidnapped, submitted to violence, must have been such a shock.
She stole a glance at Raul. He, on the other hand, had seen violence first hand. Had seen it, had suffered it, had inflicted it. It was part of the job description. Looking at that hard face, it didn’t affect him like it did Toby. Or her. She was shaken, but didn’t dare show it. Toby needed her to be calm and steady.
“On the graph, it looks like things started ramping up on the 28th. Just like you said.”
He nodded, looked up at her, trembling. “I don’t remember putting most of this data together, Emma. It’s like I’m seeing it for the first time.”
Oh, Toby.Emma’s heart gave a sharp pulse of pain for him. He’d lost a chunk of his life, and looked it. She tried to inject cheer into her voice.
“Well then, that just means that you’re coming at the data fresh, doesn’t it?” She touched his arm, and some of his trembling eased. “And there are two of us now, aren’t there?”
He nodded, his head hanging.
Emma met Raul’s eyes. He looked back steadily. His support was a wall she could lean against. This was her show, but he was here for her.
“Ok, then. Let’s go over it again.” Emma led Toby through the charts. They both pored over the data. He’d done a remarkable job of putting it together, pulling data from new and unusual sources.
“Really good job, Tobe,” she said after a while.
He sketched a smile. “Thanks.”
“It’s telling a story, we just need to find it.”
“Yeah.”
He was right. Most of the short selling was emanating from PIB, though well-hidden. The sales were from thousands of accounts, but all you had to do was check the history of the accounts to see that they were shallow, with no history. Set up that month. The first rudimentary short sales were traceable back to Whitaker Hamilton, their boss.
Emma sat back and nudged Toby. “Early sales are definitely Hamilton. And I suspect that the other sales on behalf of those other fictitious entities are his, too.”
He sighed and nodded.
“But – Whitaker isn’t a genius.You’rea genius, but he isn’t.”
That got her a faint smile. “I’d have hidden my tracks better, that’s for sure.”
“Yeah. But you wouldn’t have made those vast short sales.”
He shook his head. “Nope. Not a dope.”
“And arguably, Whitaker is. But by the same token, I don’t think he’d have done something like this all on his own.”
Toby turned his head to stare at her. “You think he was acting under orders?”
“Maybe.” Emma shrugged. “It’s one of the few things in this mess that would make sense.”
“Should I hack into his email?”
She thought, then shook her head. “Even he’s notthatdumb, to leave digital dust in his emails. But maybe he saw someone? Someone who convinced him to do this? But how would we know? I mean it’s not as if he has a videocam in his office.”
Toby’s eyes flickered.
