have to sell them tomorrow, you are likely to sustain a loss.â
âI donât care,â he said. âI need the money now.â
âAll right,â I said. âBut as your financial adviser I have to ask you again why you need your money so quickly. If I had more time to sell, you might get a better return.â
âI havenât got more time,â he said.
âWhy not?â
âI canât tell you.â
âBilly,â I said seriously, âare you in some sort of trouble?â
âNo, of course not,â he said, but his body language gave another answer.
I could remember most of the details of the investment portfolios of most of my clients, and Billy Searle was no exception. His was rather smaller than one might imagine after so many years at the top of his profession, but Billy had always been a spender rather than a saver, driving expensive cars and staying in lavish hotels. However, as far as I could recall, he had a nest egg of around a hundred and fifty thousand growing nicely for his retirement, certainly more than he would prudently need just for a new car or a foreign holiday.
âOK, Billy,â I said. âIâll get on with liquidating everything tomorrow. But itâll take a few days for you to get the cash.â
âCanât I have it tomorrow?â He looked desperate. âI need it tomorrow.â
âBilly, that simply isnât possible. I need to sell the shares and bonds, have the funds transferred into the companyâs client account, and then transfer it to your own. Banks always say to allow three days for each transfer so overall it might take a week but it will probably be a little quicker than that. Todayâs Tuesday. You might have it by Friday if youâre lucky, but more likely it will be Monday.â
Billy went pale.
âBilly,â I said, âare you sure youâre not in any trouble?â
âI owe a guy some money, thatâs all,â he said. âHe says I have to pay him by tomorrow.â
âYou will just have to tell him thatâs impossible,â I said. âExplain to him the reasons. Iâm sure heâll understand.â
Billy gave me a look that said everything. Clearly the guy in question wouldnât take excuses.
âIâm sorry,â I said. âBut I canât do it any quicker.â
âCanât your firm lend me the money until everythingâs sold?â he asked.
âBilly,â I said, âitâs a hundred and fifty thousand pounds. We donât have that sort of cash lying round.â
âI only need a hundred,â he said.
âNo,â I said firmly. âNot even a hundred.â
âYou donât understand,â he said in desperation. âI need that money by tomorrow night.â He was almost crying.
âWhy?â I asked him. âWhy do you owe so much?â
âI canât tell you.â He almost screamed the words at me and the heads of a few other late-leaving racegoers turned our way. âBut I need it tomorrow.â
I looked at him. âAnd I cannot help you,â I said quietly. âI think Iâd better go now. Do you still want me to sell your portfolio and liquidate the money?â
âYes,â he said in a resigned tone.
âRight,â I said. âIâll get the office to send you a written authority. Just sign it and send it straight back. Iâll try and get the cash into your account by Friday.â
He was almost in a trance. âI hope Iâm still alive by Friday.â
4
I sat in my car in the membersâ parking lot and thought through my recent conversation with Billy Searle. I wondered what I should do about it, if anything.
As he had said, it was his money and he could do what he liked with it. Except that he clearly didnât like what he was doing with it.
Heâd also told me that he owed some guy about a hundred thousand and
A. Meredith Walters
Rebecca Cantrell
Francine Pascal
Sophia Martin
Cate Beatty
Jorge Amado
Rhonda Hopkins
Francis Ray
Lawrence Schiller
Jeff Stone