‘What’s that in English?’ said Sophie, standing up to get a better look.
‘Have you ever heard of bearer bonds?’
She nodded. ‘They’re what Hans Gruber was after in Die Hard, right?’
Josh didn’t smile. ‘Exactly, but you don’t just get them in Hollywood. They used to be used by banks to transport large amounts of money, but they became popular with criminals as a way of concealing funds. If you have a bearer bond, it’s like owning cash, except it’s pretty much untraceable. Whoever physically holds the bond can redeem it for cash.’
‘So what’s this?’ asked Sophie.
‘This,’ said Josh, waving the paper, ‘means you own a whole company, rather than just cash. You turn up at the issuer’s bank holding this, it means you – and you alone – have full access to the company’s accounts. Your dad was clever, Soph. Putting Asner’s money into this offshore company meant it was almost impossible to track down because it leaves so little paper trail.’
‘So where is the bank account?’
Josh examined the certificate.
‘Vanuatu, by the looks of it. It’s an offshore banking centre in the South Pacific.’
Lana stepped forward.
‘Very good, Josh,’ she said coolly. ‘You’re smarter than I thought. Now how about you give it to me and then I suggest we hurry along.’
Josh handed Lana the certificate.
‘I’m sorry, Sophie. I think it’s better if you stay here,’ said Lana slowly. ‘And if you think of squealing to the SEC about where Mr Asner’s hidden money has gone, you’ll have more than some angry Russians on your tail.’
Sophie looked at Lana and then at Josh. She felt time slow down as she realised what was going on.
‘Josh, what’s happening?’ she croaked, a sense of dread filling her chest.
Lana gave a gentle little snort.
‘He’s doing his job, aren’t you, Josh? Now are you coming or do you want to stand around admiring the view?’
‘W-where are you going?’ said Sophie, still looking at Josh.
Lana shrugged, putting the certificate back into its envelope.
‘Oh, I believe the first stop will be Vanuatu. It’s an island in the South Pacific, one of the most privacy-conscious offshore banking centres in the world. That’s where Peter told me he’d hidden the money. All I have been trying to do is work out where the bearer share certificate was. It’s useless trying to claim the money without it.’
Sophie felt the floorboards beneath her feet shift. Her brain couldn’t take it all in.
‘You spoke to my father?’
‘Frequently,’ said Lana with a spiteful smile. ‘Usually in bed, actually.’
‘You liar!’ screamed Sophie, lunging at her. Josh stepped forward and grabbed her, pinning her clawing arms to her sides. ‘My father wouldn’t go near someone like you!’ she spat.
Lana pouted.
‘I was your father’s mistress for almost two years,’ she said mildly. ‘Before my husband, of course – well, mostly before.’
Sophie struggled against Josh again, but he held her tight.
‘You bitch!’
‘Funny, that’s what your father said when I told him I was marrying Simon. He said it was only because Simon was richer than he was, which was probably true, actually.’
She gave a small laugh.
‘But then poor Peter began to beg; he told me he was going to come into a lot of money too, but I didn’t believe him. Why would I? He was just some accountant from nowhere.’
‘Screw you, Lana,’ said Sophie. ‘You never knew him.’
‘Actually, you do have a point,’ said Lana. ‘It turned out that Peter had hidden depths after all. When Simon found out I couldn’t give him children, he told me he wanted a divorce. So I went back to Peter and asked him straight – “What money?”’
She laughed, shaking her head.
‘He was only too happy to tell me about Asner’s fraud. According to Peter, we just had to sit tight for a couple of years until the scandal blew over, and we could go to Vanuatu and retrieve the money.’
‘So your family never lost money in the Ponzi scheme?’
‘Don’t be silly,’ she laughed. Then her face clouded over. ‘But then that idiot Asner got himself killed and Peter fell apart. He couldn’t handle the stress. I visited him in hospital, gave him a little incentive to tell me how to get to the money, but the bloody-minded fool wouldn’t tell me.’
‘You killed him!’ roared Sophie, jerking towards Lana, almost slipping from Josh’s grasp. He pulled her back and pushed her on to the bed, standing between the two women.
‘Don’t, Sophie,’ he said. ‘You’ll only make it worse.’
‘Worse?’ she spat, her voice cracking. ‘How could it possibly be worse?’
Lana looked at her watch and put the envelope into her bag.
‘Come on, Josh, we can’t stand here all day.’
Together they turned towards the door, leaving Sophie crumpled on the bed in misery.
‘And you’re working for her, I suppose,’ she hissed at Josh.
Lana spoke for him. ‘Nick did such a shabby job of getting information from you; he always was too easily impressed by pretty things. But then I met Josh in Cap Ferrat and I knew that he could be more helpful than Nick had ever been. So I persuaded him to work for me.’
Hot tears were running down Sophie’s cheeks.
‘Sophie,’ said Josh, his eyes pleading. ‘If you’ll just let me explain . . .’
‘Get the hell out of here!’ screamed Sophie. ‘I don’t want to even look at you, let alone listen to any more of your lies.’
‘Sophie, I’m sorry.’
‘Get out!’ she sobbed. ‘Get out!’
Josh bowed his head, then turned and walked out of her life.