Chapter Sixteen
In a small room in a City of London police station, Chief Inspector Whittaker had assembled his team. "Right! Let's get started. First off, Greenall's. Mortimer, you're up."
"Well, Sir, the records really were a bit of a mess. It took us a while to try and identify what was what, but Constable Miles thought he saw a bit of a pattern emerging in one of the accounts and from there we were able to build up a trail of transactions. I'm not going to go into too much detail ("Thank Gawd" muttered Whittaker) but from what we can unpick at the moment, there were a number of different approaches being used." Inspector Mortimer paused as he looked around the rest of the team. "It looks more complicated than it is, because everything was mixed up together. If we split them out, they make a bit more sense." He walked to a chalkboard and started to write out some names. "From what we can tell, these accounts were legitimate investors, real people, but from what I can gather they had no idea of the number of transactions being run either on their behalf or through their accounts." He started a second list "Then there are these, which appear to be entirely fictitious people who held accounts that allowed Grey to move money about at whim."
"Does anyone else recognise any of these names?" Whittaker asked the group.
"A couple" admitted Inspector Money "But even though they may be real people, I suspect some of these accounts are still bogus. There's no way that Richard Grey would have invested with his son. They weren't on speaking terms and he's very sensible with his cash. He doesn't dabble in stocks and shares. He's too steady." He turned to Mortimer "Do you have records from Greenall's that show the accounts being opened? I've got a contact in the Rosenberg & Smithson bank that can confirm the signature and transfer of initial funds for us." He turned back to Whittaker "I think it's worth checking out if any of these real people knew they had an account at Greenall's"
"Fair point." Whittaker made a note "You're sure about this Richard Grey?"
"I can't be totally sure, but it's just the feeling I get. If he had invested with Grey he would have told me. He volunteered everything else, which checks out by the way, and included stuff he didn't have to. He certainly wasn't trying to hide anything, or protect Grey."
"Good enough." mumbled Whittaker. He motioned for Mortimer to continue.
"So, what was he running? Well, we think there were a few things going on. He was using an amount of money that he moved between the accounts to always make sure they looked solvent. There was always a deposit every month. In a couple of the accounts, money was moved in specifically to cover a withdrawal, and we suspect this was when real people wanted access to their cash. But other than that he seems to have been using the money however he wanted." Mortimer paused. "First off, there's the old fashioned gambling on stocks. Betting against a rise or fall over a certain period of time. We're short on evidence at the moment, but Constable Jones thinks he can detect maybe some tampering going on which would suggest that there's an accomplice operating elsewhere, or he had access to inside information. We're still digging that bit. He seemed to be doing OK at that, but then there was a shift in the amounts being used. Either he started to get greedy, or someone was putting pressure on him for greater returns. Difficult to tell." Mortimer took a slug of his coffee before continuing "Second there's what looks to be a far more simple Ponzi-type investment scheme going on. Returns were reasonable rather than outrageous and it's been run for a few years with Grey seemingly creaming cash off as well, but that's the premise. This was starting to get out of hand though and wouldn't have been able to keep operating for much longer."
"And are these investors all people on your 'real people' list?" Money asked.
"Not necessarily. We don't actually know who they all are. There are some names attached to deposits and withdrawals, but it's impossible to tell if they are linked and we haven't done the work to see if they are real. We were looking at the numbers first." Mortimer replied. Whitaker and Money nodded in understanding.
"Third, there's the straight up fraud. There were applications for business loans and mortgages made by these fake accounts, so there are obviously no companies or buildings as surety. Some of these are clear breaches of company policy, others may have been run through sympathetic colleagues or are possibly forgery. We're working with the bank on identifying those and the amount of bad debt: it's a lot. We're talking tens of thousands, and it has serous repercussions for the bank. Fourth, there appear to be some genuine investments, mostly in new overseas companies. Some of these title documents are missing, which may indicate that Grey has taken them with him. An easy way to travel light with large chunks of cash?" Mortimer suggested.
Whittaker looked up from his notes "Maybe. Do you have a list?"
"Yes, but again, we haven't researched at Companies House yet." Whittaker just nodded. "There are still deposits that we have no idea of origin, and withdrawals too, but we have identified a number of transfers to some overseas accounts. Germany, Switzerland, United States, Brazil, South Africa. There's a good spread, and no amount that stands out as a destination of choice." Mortimer concluded.
"Good work" Whittaker nodded at Mortimer and his team "That's a lot to go through in a short amount of time. I want you to carry on looking. Use your experience, follow your hunches, look for those patterns." Whittaker shifted his focus. "Now, what about the life and times of Grey? Money, you're up"
"It'll be no surprise he was known to like the high life. He had a reputation for throwing lavish parties since he inherited Merton House from his Father. Before that, he was the life and soul of every party, always working on his connections. He'd risen quickly in the bank on the back of his contacts and the business he'd brought in. Then he started making money too. Greenall's put it down to him gaining experience, but we'll look into that tip that there might be an accomplice out there." He nodded at Mortimer. "I've told you about his father already, but it's worth noting his father-in-law is Arnold Cruikshank. (someone whistled) Now we know he's hard-nosed business, but I doubt very much he would have touched anything like this with a barge pole. From the rumours I've heard he wasn't overly fond of Grey, but his daughter got what his daughter wanted. It came with the prospect of a title too, so he was happy to compromise with her. First child was born in June, and on the day the Greys disappeared, she sent the child to his grandparents in Yorkshire. Could be because the Grandfather is the Title, could be because she didn't want to let her own father have him, but for me that speaks volumes about her knowing they weren't coming back. Brother is in the diplomatic and has been less than forthcoming. Said he's been out of the country for 6 weeks and doesn't know anything. It's true he was in Rome, but as to not knowing anything - I'm not so sure"
Whittaker nodded "Has anyone found anything that might suggest they're intending to return?"
"No, Sir" Piped up Sergeant Bailey "In fact, the opposite. Wills were re-written about 6 weeks ago. Life insurance was updated. Accounts have been emptied systematically."
"I foun' sum o' them pieces sold fair 'n square. But a good lot of 'em were sold quick in the last for'night for cash. Usual suspec's" Sergeant Hicks added. "Tidy sum tho'"
"What about movements?" Whittaker asked.
"I've had two constables going through suspected sightings from the usual ports, but we have no idea how they left or if they used their own names. We certainly haven't been able to find any record of Grey or Cruikshank on a passenger list." Sergeant Bailey reported.
The room was quiet for a few minutes. Finally Whittaker spoke. "Right. I've got an old mate works in the International Criminal Police Commission* and he owes me a favour. Let's get a description to him and see if they can help at all. If he's got accounts around the world, they might be headed to any of those places. And Bailey, start looking to use other names in your search: his mother's maiden name, her mother's maiden name." Bailey nodded. "We know the rumour about the bank foreclosing has got out, so maybe it's time to use the rumour mill to our advantage. See if we can't smoke out some of his investors: they may have something to tell us as they'll be eager to get their money back. And lean on the brother a bit more: the father may be straight up, but the brother is far less open. He has a career in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office to worry about, so he'd better start helping us. Make that clear to him now." Money nodded. "Also, let's find out who stands to benefit from the Greys being gone. If they're declared dead, who collects?" Bailey nodded again.
"If there's anything I hate, it's when someone gets away with it." Whittaker growled. "Right, I've got an appointment with the Commissioner. Keep up the good work lads." And with that he was gone.
Money wandered over to Mortimer "Don't suppose you've got that list of those companies he invested in handy, have you? I'll start on Companies House for you."
-TW- -TW- -TW-
"How was your trip to Cavenham?" Isobel asked as she climbed in to bed.
"Thought provoking. Stevens was clearly concerned at the discussion taking place, but he did contribute and could see the problem clearly. He and Tom got on very well and are going to investigate some potential options." Dickie sighed. "I just don't know if I'm too old to be taking on such a huge task. Or if I even want to."
"Would you need to? Might Stevens be a man who could run it for you?" Isobel asked.
"It doesn't seem fair to ask him to save my skin." Dickie answered.
"I think you're tied up in the traditional role of a Steward, rather than seeing this as an opportunity for both of you to do this differently." Isobel suggested. "Maybe try thinking of him as an Estate Manager instead. You could change his contract to something that reflects how the estate prospers, maybe include something like a bonus that is tied to the operating profit? That way he sees a real return for his efforts and has a vested interest in doing the best job he can, rather than just looking out for the tenants and receiving a fixed salary."
Dickie looked thoughtful. "Tom had some interesting ideas today, and made the point that we shouldn't just follow the path Downton has trodden, but find a way that suits Cavenham."
"I agree you shouldn't keep Cavenham just because you think you should" Isobel leaned over to switch out her lamp "But don't be too quick to dispose of it altogether. I'd hate for you to regret it."
"I have handed it over once already" Dickie reminded her.
"That was different, I think. That was passing a baton… which has rather unceremoniously been handed back." Isobel turned to cuddle up to Dickie. "Selling the place would be something else entirely." She paused, the said quietly "I know it's not the same, but I still have the house in Manchester. I didn't want to sell it when we moved here, just in case, then later it became a place that held the memory of a previous life. I know our lives were very different, but you had your childhood at Cavenham and shared so many of life's events with those bricks and mortar. Just take some time."
-TW- -TW- -TW-
* The ICPC was the forerunner of InterPol. The UK didn't join until 1928, and I set this story in the autumn of 1927.