Free The Legacy by Craig Lawrence Page B

thought there was something suspicious about the death, Bubble.com’s share price would still drop like a stone, particularly given how much the media were linking the company’s success to Fairweather’s personal leadership. He reviewed his position. When the market closed on Friday, the shares were selling at 545 pence each. He didn’t currently own any of the shares but he had undertaken to sell two million of them at 450 pence per share in just less than two months’ time. He intended to start investing very heavily in the shares over the next week or so to honour his commitment. He expected the share price to drop to between 280–300 pence per share within the next week. To make the biggest possible killing, he would need to work out when the shares had reached their lowest point. The company would be quick to try and reassure its investors that Mymate remained on track and, eventually, market confidence would start to be restored and the share price would begin to rise. The company would try and do this as quickly as possible and well before Mymate was expected to be rolled out at the end of the year.
    Highworth went through his initial sums again. If he got the shares for 300 pence, then he would make a quick three million on the short sell. If he were able to buy another five million shares for 300 pence then, when Mymate was rolled out at the end of the year and the share price soared to 900 pence, as his researchers suggested it should, he would make a further thirty million. In all likelihood, the shares would then plateau for a while whilst the market waited to see how Mymate was received. If it caught on quickly, then the price would begin to rise again. His researchers suggested it could go as high as 1800 pence per share within a year of its launch which, if it did, would see his profits rise to seventy-five million pounds plus the three million from the short sell. Not a bad return, he reflected, for the one hundred thousand it had cost him to rid the world of Mr Peter Fairweather!

Chapter 15
    I sobel and Lucy got out of the taxi and looked around them. It was just before ten o’clock and the streets were full of life as people went about their daily business. Women in brightly coloured saris were bartering animatedly with street stall owners, trying to get the cheapest price for the chillies and herbs that gave their cooking its unique flavours. The men were more reserved. The majority of older men wore traditional Nepalese attire: a smart jacket with trousers that were baggy on the hips but tight around the calves. Younger men in their late teens and twenties were wearing jeans and t-shirts. Nearly all the men, whatever their age, were wearing hats. Lucy particularly liked the ‘topis’ worn by the older men with their traditional clothes. These came in a variety of colours but all had a similar shape, not unlike a Stetson but without the rim. Worn at a jaunty angle, they gave their wearers additional stature.
    â€˜Can I help you?’ asked a middle aged man, noticing that Lucy and Isobel seemed unsure of where they were going. Lucy smiled and showed the man the address Harry had given them.
    â€˜The building you are after is down that street,’ said the man, pointing the direction with his chin. ‘If you walk down that street you will see a small Buddhist temple on your left. The building you want is opposite.’
    â€˜Thank you,’ said Isobel, ‘we’re very grateful.’
    The man smiled. ‘You’re welcome,’ he replied.
    Lucy and Isobel were always surprised at how polite the vast majority of Nepalese people were. It was one of the qualities she admired about them and one of the reasons she continued to enjoy travelling in Nepal. They set off down the road as indicated by the man and, within a few minutes, found Harry’s address. It was an old and substantial four storey building that looked as if it had been important at