Trader Jack -The Story of Jack Miner (The Story of Jack Miner Series) by Neil Behrmann Page A

reception room to wait for confirmation. The silver haired man was still sitting there.
    'Did I hear you say gold?' he asked.
    'Yes that's right.'
    'Do you think it's going up?'
    'Maybe.'
    'Those drawings of yours? Are they telling you to buy gold?'
    I didn't reply. There was no way I was going to tell him why I was buying gold shares. Tracy came up and gave me my broker notes. They had bought me my gold shares leaving me with cash to spare. I asked for the money and she gave me nine crispy twenty pound notes.
    'Did you just buy gold shares?' insisted the man.
    Now that I definitely owned the shares, I was happy to talk.
    'They're going up while the rest of the market's going down,' I said.
    'I don't know why, but it could mean that some people expect gold to rise.'
    He smiled: 'I hear that Moscow Narodsky has been selling gold.'
    I shuddered. That bank again! He looked at me closely with sharp eyes, wondering if I knew something.
    'They may be selling, but the gold price isn't falling,' I blurted out.
    He grinned and held out his hand: 'That's a good answer. Name's Stanley Slimcop.'
    'Jack Miner,' I replied, noticing that his newspaper was on the coffee table.
    'Finished with the paper?' I asked.
    'I'll give it to you on one condition.'
    'What?'
    'Do you think I should buy gold shares?'
    'That's up to you. I did.'
    I snatched the paper, picked up Jazz's lead and rushed out of the office.
     
    *   *   *
     
    Jazz and I raced from the broker towards the Heath. On the one hand I was on a high. I had sold my OilFinder and MineDeep shares before the crash and had bought gold shares. Dealing in thousands of pounds was better than wrapping up fish and chips and selling them for a fiver. But at the same time I was worried about the murder. It was big news and they were probably still looking for me. After passing some cottages and a white church, we came to The Freemasons Arms, a pub with a large garden. Successfully fooling them that I was older than eighteen, I bought a pint of lager and some crisps and asked for some water for Jazz. A blonde barmaid with an Australian accent accepted the order. She had a nice smile, so I chatted to her.
    'I've got a friend who's from Perth,' I said. 'Where are you from? Sydney? Melbourne?'
    'No ways. West Australian. Born in Kalgoorlie. Worked for Macquarie Bank in Perth.'
    'Don't suppose you know Sandy Swann,' I said.
    It was a long shot, but it was worth a try.
    'Does she live in Hampstead? Quite a few Australians come here.'
    'Her cousin's Mike Swann, the Australian fast bowler. She looks a bit like him.'
    'Is that so? I'll look out for her. You can watch the cricket over there.'
    She pointed to the TV screen in the corner of the room. The Australians were hitting the winning run.
    'It's all over. You guys have won,' I said, passing her Martha's phone number. 'If you manage to spot Sandy, could you give this to her?'
    Jazz pulled on his lead and led me into the pub garden. It had neat flowerbeds, a thick green lawn and dark brown wooden benches and tables. The lager tasted good. Two bearded authors were whinging about their publishers, complaining that they weren't earning enough money from their royalties.
    I picked up the Telegraph and read the article about the collapse of Moscow Narodsky. Boris Yapolovitch, Moscow Narodsky's chief executive, was involved in a Russian mining scam. He had become friendly with directors of new Russian mining exploration companies. They were prospecting and drilling for gold, diamonds, platinum, aluminium and other minerals in the Siberian wastelands.
    Yapolovitch persuaded Moscow Narodsky, a leading Russian bank, to make loans to the companies. The finance paid for the exploration. Soon afterwards, the directors announced that their companies had discovered exciting new gold, diamond and other resources. Russian, European and American investors were excited and Yapolovitch encouraged them to invest in the new mining companies. British, German, French and