False Impression by Jeffrey Archer Read Free Book Online

less, than
advise the board, of which I am a member, that if we were to sell the Van Gogh,
either privately or through one of the recognized auction houses, the amount
raised would more than cover the bank’s original loan, plus interest.’
    ‘But it might
not have been my intention to sell the Van Gogh,’ said Fenston, now clearly
straying from his script.
    Tou would have
been left with no choice, chairman, had that been the wish of our client.’
    ‘But I may have
come up with a better solution for dealing with the Wentworth problem.’
    ‘If that was the
case, chairman,’ said Anna evenly, ‘I’m only surprised you didn’t consult the
head of the department concerned, so that, at least as colleagues, we could
have discussed any difference of opinion before I left for England tonight.’
    ‘That is an
impertinent suggestion,’ said Fenston, raising his voice to a new level. ‘I
report to no one.’
    ‘I don’t
consider it is impertinent, chairman, to abide by the law,’ said Anna calmly.
‘It’s no more than the bank’s legal requirement to report any alternative
recommendations to their clients.
    As I feel sure
you realize, under the new banking regulations, as proposed by the IRS and
recently passed by Congress...’
    ‘And I feel sure
you realize,’ said Fenston, ‘that your first responsibility is to me.’
    ‘Not if I
believe that an officer of the bank is breaking the law,’
    Anna replied,
‘because that’s something I am not willing to be a party to.’
    ‘Are you trying
to goad me into firing you?’ shouted Fenston.
    ‘No, but I have
a feeling that you are trying to goad me into resigning,’ said Anna quietly.
    ‘Either way,’ said
Fenston, swivelling round in his chair and staring out of the window, ‘it is
clear you no longer have a role to play in this bank, as you are simply not a
team player – something they warned me about when you were dismissed from
Sotheby’s.’
    Don’t rise,
thought Anna. She pursed her lips and stared at Fenston’s profile. She was
about to reply when she noticed there was something different about him, and
then she spotted the new earring. Vanity will surely be his downfall, she
thought as he swivelled back round and glared at her. She didn’t react.
    ‘Chairman, as I
suspect this conversation is being recorded, I would like to make one thing
absolutely clear. You don’t appear to know a great deal about banking law, and
you clearly know nothing about employment law, because enticing a colleague to
swindle a naive woman out of her inheritance is a criminal offence, as I feel
sure Mr Leapman, with all his experience, of both sides of the law, will be
happy to explain to you.’
    ‘Get out, before
I throw you out,’ screamed Fenston, jumping up from his chair and towering over
Anna. She rose slowly, turned her back on Fenston and walked towards the door.
    ‘And the first
thing you can do is clear your desk because I want you out of your office in
ten minutes. If you are still on the premises after that, I will instruct
security to escort you from the building.’
    Anna didn’t hear
Fenston’s last remark as she had already closed the door quietly behind her.
    The first person
Anna saw as she stepped into the corridor was Barry, who had clearly been
tipped off. The whole episode was beginning to look as if it had been
choreographed long before she’d entered the building.
    Anna walked back
down the corridor with as much dignity as she could muster, despite Barry
matching her stride for stride and occasionally touching her elbow. She passed
an elevator that was being held open for someone and wondered who. Surely it
couldn’t be for her. Anna was back in her office less than fifteen minutes
after she’d left it. This time Rebecca was waiting for her. She was standing
behind her desk clutching a large brown cardboard box.
    Anna walked
across to her desk, and was just about to turn on her computer when a voice
behind her said, ‘Don’t touch