‘You want to sell, I want to buy. I see some synergy and also I just love London. But don’t exploit my sentimental nature, OK?’

He laughs, as if to suggest he knows that they know he’s kidding. He has a corrugated face, as though the traffic of commerce across it has been heavy, and his hair is curiously barbered so that it sits on his head in little waves, without appearing to be a toupee. It may be the product of hair transplants. He wears an enormous graduation ring on one of his fingers. It’s a parochial thing, reminding everybody who cares to ask that he graduated from the school of hard knocks, Coney Island branch. He once told Julian that his family’s neighbour was the author of Catch-22. And, said Cy, he spoke with a worse accent than me. Woise. Much woise.

Cy loves meetings. He loves to negotiate.

‘So how much do you want for the old place?’

Julian isn’t prepared for this. It’s too direct.

‘Nigel and I have given you the asset value and freehold value and we have tried to estimate the bank’s reputation and history. We would like to retain the freehold, charging you a fair rent. As you know, despite a few set-backs with sub primes and so on, our deposits are healthy.’

‘So how much? And by the way, I want the building included.’

‘One point two billion pounds, one point four with the building.’

Julian is shocked that it has all, finally, come down to a price.

‘We think we can stand that up,’ says Nigel calmly.

‘OK, sounds like a fair price. I have a few questions for you boys. Ready?’

‘Yes, I hope so.’

‘Right, the first question relates to some unexplained transfers from various sources in the last few weeks. I don’t want any nasty surprises if I buy. I want details of all the deposits over twenty million in the last four weeks. I also want to know exactly the extent of your losses in winding up the hedge fund. It’s not clear from what you have sent me. And I would like to know if your family trusts are involved in any way in providing capital for the bank.’

Julian looks at Cy, who is smiling.

‘I am not a member of the family, so I don’t have much to do with the family trusts. There is a board of trustees,’ says Nigel.

‘You’re one of them.’

‘Yes, but only because as the CEO I have to certify the payments from the bank to the trust, but nothing more.’