‘As part of our negotiation process, you’ll be allowed to view the merchandise in person, and count and recount them to your heart’s content,’ Ben told him. ‘For the purposes of this discussion, suffice to say that there are enough of the damn things to fill two medium-size vans. Except if you did, the weight would bust the suspension. It took us weeks to dig it all up. Took even longer to count it all, once we’d smuggled it away and stashed it safely where nobody could find it.’

‘Where did you find it?’

‘Right from under your nose, Stuart. It’s been sitting buried in the middle of the Loch Ardaich pine forest all these years. Personally, I have no interest in where it originally came from or who put it there. If it was up to me, I’d melt the whole bloody lot of it down into bars.’

‘If you did that, it would instantly be worth half as much. This is about historical value, not just gold.’

‘Yeah, well, history isn’t my thing, Stuart. And a pile of obsolete currency isn’t much use to me. But of all the people in the world who’d love to get their hands on them, something tells me you’re first in line. Are you ready to make me an offer I can’t refuse?’

Stuart warned, ‘You’d better not be leading me on, Hope.’

‘I always deliver on my promises,’ Ben replied. ‘Trust me when I say that you’ll get what’s coming to you.’

‘Then let’s get this started. How do you wish to proceed?’

‘Are you at home right now?’

‘I have several homes,’ Stuart said ostentatiously. ‘I’m presently staying here at my Scottish residence, if that’s what you mean.’

‘Then here’s what you’re going to do,’ Ben told him. ‘If you can bear to come down off your high perch and mix with us poor common folks for a couple of hours. You’re going to take a drive out to Kinlochardaich. I presume you know where that is.’

‘Is that your current location?’

‘My current location is of no concern to you,’ Ben said. ‘But I’ll be at the village pub at one o’clock this afternoon. Not because I’m interested in socialising with a scumbag like yourself, but because it’s a public place where I can be reasonably assured that you can’t bring your henchmen to cause trouble for me.’

Stuart chuckled. ‘You’re a very careful man, aren’t you?’

‘Which is why, if I catch even the tiniest whiff of a trick or a trap, this deal is instantly void and you can forget about ever seeing a single one of these coins. I’ll simply go to another buyer. I have several more interested parties already lined up.’

‘Really? Who? I know most of the collectors.’