“So simple?”
Brekke held up a hand in defense and glanced at his watch. “I knew that a Japanese investor from Asahi Bank was going to Patpong last night. In the end I found him in Soi 4. I primed him with info and pumped him for more until three in the morning, then I let him have my woman and went home. I came to work at six and have been buying baht ever since. He’ll soon be at work and he’ll have baht worth four billion kroner. Then I’ll sell again.”
“Sounds like a lot of money, but it also sounds almost illegal.”
“Almost, Harry. Only almost.” Brekke was excited now, like a boy showing off a new toy. “It’s not a question of morality. If you’re a target striker in a football team you’ll always be in a semi-offside position. Rules are there to be bent.”
“And those who bend the rules furthest win?”
“When Maradona scored with his hand people accepted that as part of the game. Anything the ref doesn’t see is fine.”
Brekke held up a finger.
“Nevertheless, you can’t get away from the fact that this is about odds. You lose once in a while, but if you play with the odds in your favor you earn money in the long run.”
Brekke grimaced and stubbed out his cigar.
“Today this Japanese investor has determined what I’m going to do, but do you know what the best feeling is? It’s when you run the game. For example, before the U.S. inflation figures are published you can spread a rumor that Greenspan said at a private lunch the rate has to go up. You can confuse the enemy. That’s how you scoop the big wins. Hell, it’s better than sex.”
He laughed and stamped the floor in his excitement.
“The currency market is the mother of all markets, Harry. It’s Formula One. It’s as exhilarating as it is deadly. I know it’s perverse, but I’m one of those control freaks who like to know that it’s their own fault if they kill themselves at the wheel.”
Harry looked around. A mad professor in a glass room.
“And if you get caught speeding?”
“As long as I’m earning money and I stay inside my limits, everyone’s happy. What’s more, it makes me top earner in the firm. Do you see this office? The boss of Barclays Thailand used to sit here. You might be wondering why a lousy broker like me is here. It’s because there’s only one thing that counts in a brokerage company: how much money you earn. Everything else is decoration. Bosses, too. They’re only administrators who are dependent on those of us in the market to keep their jobs and salaries. My boss has now moved to a comfortable office on the floor below because I threatened to go to a competitor with all my clients if I didn’t get a better bonus agreement. And this office.”
He undid his waistcoat and hung it over his chair.
“Enough about me. How can I help you, Harry?”
“I was wondering what you and the ambassador spoke about on the phone the day he died.”
“He rang me to have our meeting confirmed. Which I did.”
“And then?”
“He came here at four, as we had arranged. Five past, maybe. Shena in reception has the precise time. He arrived first and registered.”
“What did you talk about?”
“Money. He had some money he wanted to invest.” Not a muscle in his face revealed that he was lying. “We sat here until five. Then I accompanied him down to where he had parked in the underground car park.”
“He was parked where we are now?”
“If you’ve got the guest’s space, yes.”
“And that’s the last you saw of him?”
“Right.”
“Thanks. That was all,” Harry said.
“Wow, that was a long trip for very little.”
“As I said, this is all routine.”
“Of course. He died of a heart attack. Wasn’t that it?” Jens Brekke asked with a half-smile on his lips.
“Looks like it,” Harry said.
“I’m a friend of the family,” Jens said. “No one is saying anything, but I get the picture. Just so you know.”
As Harry got up, the lift door opened and the receptionist came in with a tray on which were two glasses and two bottles.
“Some water before you go, Harry? I have it flown in once a month.”
He filled the glasses with Farris mineral water from Larvik.
“By the way, Harry, the time you gave for the conversation yesterday was wrong.”
He opened a door in the wall, and Harry saw what looked like an ATM. Brekke tapped in some numbers.
“It was 13:13, not 13:15. It may not be important, but I thought you might like to have it absolutely accurate.”
“We were given the time by the telecommunications company. What makes you think your time is more accurate?”