Page 85 of Partner Pursuit
“I know.”
“Oh.” They’d reached the room at the end of the hall. It was free. The three women stepped inside and sat around the small round conference table.
Mrs. Rothman said, “Thing is, this was not the first time Pierre called John on his cellphone to make a trade. There was at least one other time. About twelve years ago. John said he doesn’t remember it.ButI do.”
“Why do you remember it?” Audrey asked, the room quiet.
“I was annoyed he was working while we were on vacation. He’d promised me he wouldn’t work. And then Pierre called him and they were arguing. John didn’t want to make the investment. He didn’t think it was a good one. Pierre was insistent.”
“But we’ve looked through all the records. Do you remember the month?” Audrey wished she’d brought a pad or something to write notes. She looked around and saw the firm pads on the credenza by the wall, along with pens. She scooted her chair back slightly and reached for it.
“Yes, it was March of that year. We were in Bermuda. I remember because I went out to sit on the balcony to wait for John to finish and to calm down by looking at the water because I was so annoyed. Is this useful?”
“Extremely.” Audrey sat at the edge of her chair. This could be the break they needed. “John said he’d never done oral trades before. But why doesn’t John remember this? I don’t understand.”
“He doesn’t remember. He said there’d be records that the law firm would have found if it had happened. I don’t know why this trade isn’t in the records. But I told Genevieve, and she suggested we tell you, even though John doesn’tremember.”
“What happened? Did he make the trade?” Audrey asked.
“Yes, after a lot of discussion, John made the trade on his laptop. I’d come back into the room, and I was sitting there tapping my foot loudly. And I remember John making the trade and saying ‘I hope he sends me the written authorization.’ You know, as we discuss this, I think I told him to send him an email confirming the trade,” Mrs. Rothmansaid.
“Did he?”
“I think hedid.”
“We can ask him to check for that.” Audrey wrote a note. “And did Pierre send the written authorization after?”
“I don’t know that for certain, but I presume he must have because I didn’t hear moreabout it.”
“But why didn’t John tell us that you rememberedthis?”
“John doesn’t want me involved. But I am. I’m the reason he wasn’t at the office that day, because he was taking me to chemotherapy.” Her voice rose in frustration. “I couldn’t believe it when Pierre denied that he had requested this trade. I mean, I know the stock tanked, but I just don’t understand. He’s the one who wanted to buy that stock! And John’s not some random financial advisor—we were family friends for years, before they entered into a business relationship. To ruin John’s reputation for money.”
“Well, quite a lot of money,” Audrey said. As Colette had pointedout.
“This is not a lot of money to them. I tried to reach out to Laila initially—when Pierre didn’t acknowledge that he’d sought the trade. I mean, we’ve had a regular correspondence for years. We usually visit each other every other summer, although I’d been lax in writing back earlier this year, what with the cancer diagnosis and chemotherapy. No energy.”
“Did Lailarespond?”
“No.”
“A regular correspondence.” Audrey read from her notes, thinking aloud. “Do you think you wrote her after this March call—saying you wereannoyed?”
“I might have. I can check my email. We often complained to each other about our workaholichusbands.”
“Thank you very much Mrs. Rothman. This could be a significant breakthrough.” Audrey’s tone was measured, but inside, hope was billowing. “I will pull the records from that month and see if we missed something. Are you sure it was March, twelve yearsago?”
“Positive.”
“But can we ask your husband now if he remembersthis?”
“I’d prefer you to see if you can find any records. John doesn’t want me involved. I wanted to talk to you specifically, but we didn’t tell him I was going to talk to you. If you find the records and then ask him, as if you discovered them unprompted, then he need never know that I mentioned this to you. So please let me know first if you find anything. Without the records, I’m not sure it does much,does it?”
“I asked Pierre in his deposition if he’d ever before called John on his cellphone to make a trade, and hesaid no.”
Mrs. Rothman harrumphed and shook her head. “We can’t trust anything hesaysnow.”
“Do you mind if I leave you now to call my Hen contact to check that month? You can make yourcall.”
