‘I wanted to talk to you and Jones about that. Those glasses made me look like Michael Caine in The Ipcress File. I know the movie was made a long time ago but re-runs on TV remind people. Drew attention to me.’

‘Sorry about that.’

‘Missed it myself.’ Cavalier stirred his coffee. ‘One other thing. I’m going back to that Conquer story. I expect to be able to break something big in a few months.’

‘To do with what?’

‘Their reserves. They’ve overstated them in what could be one of the biggest frauds in corporate history.’

‘You’re going to break that yourself ?’

‘No. If I do that, Conquer will draw a link between me and Haut.’

‘You’ll plant it?’

‘With the Wall Street Journal. I might let the BBC have it as well. Nothing like a visual piece with Old Auntie to rattle the cage.’

‘Will you be paid?’

‘Nicely, I can assure you, but without attribution.’

40 ENTER MR X

40

ENTER MR X

In August, when half of Europe and the US were enjoying vacations, the Wall Street Journal and BBC TV broke a story that shook the financial world and beyond. There was no by-line on the newspaper article. It was titled: ‘Conquer in History’s Biggest Fraud?’

It began:

Oil industry insiders have been shocked by the rumors that the European Conquer Group, the number one oil giant, has overstated its reserves by 30 per cent. If so, it may prove to be the biggest fraud in financial history. There is a huge flow-on effect from the public comprehension of stated reserves. Conquer’s share price has been kept buoyant for decades because of its capacity to gobble up new discoveries worldwide. This influenced insurance companies and pension funds to park their money in Conquer. It was regarded by them as the safest bet in the world. Millions of ordinary people with small savings, pension plans and insurance policies have long adhered to the corporate slogan: ‘Conquer all with Conquer’.

Top Conquer executives are said to be in a panic with the alleged internal discovery of the cover-up. One executive, who would not be named, said: ‘The oil slush will hit the fan soon.’ Another said: ‘We are shocked and angered by this story.’ When asked if it were true, one commented: ‘I am not at liberty to say.’ Further unsubstantiated claims were that Conquer’s rush to take over Shelf Energy with its massive reserves on Australia’s northwest shelf, and other potential finds in Tasmania, were part of the scramble to make up the shortfall on the books. Both efforts failed, leaving Conquer with no capacity to make up the 30 per cent.

*

Bleulance called a meeting at his Champs-Élysées Paris office with de Cobb, Joslin and Daniel.