Free Blood Money by Julian Page Page A

emotions tightly and keeps his responses as brief as possible.
    In this session, it’s Bill’s turn to pose the questions. John sits back and watches, trying to understand the tough guy’s complex psychological make-up.
    Straight away, John can tell that something with Eddie just isn’t right, it’s not just that he’s cold, serious and sober, there’s something else that doesn’t quite fit.
    Then it occurs to him that any normal man, after being on the receiving end of such a violent attack would show signs of shock or distress. But at no point does Slater display a twitch or a fidget or any sense of fear or anxiety. Under the circumstances he should be displaying any number of human emotions, but this guy’s so chilled he’s ice-cold.
    Responding minimally to all of Bill’s questions, the bodyguard explains he too hadn’t noticed anything different that Monday morning. The routine he follows each week had run completely to plan. Additionally, he makes a point of explaining how he makes it his business to constantly check for people following him as he drives and hadn’t observed anyone doing so prior to the attack. And he too is either unable or unwilling to provide a useful description of the assailants.
    Once he’d got his boss safely inside the Savoy Hotel, Eddie had merely stood guard on his employer and kept an eye on the TV and internet for news of the incident as the rest of the day unfolded. Predictably, Eddie also denies having any connections to organised criminals.
    *
    When John and Bill get back to Bishopsgate Station they examine all the testimony they’ve gathered and try to build-up a likely sequence of events that would fit everything discovered to date. Perhaps the attackers had no need to follow the Mercedes for any distance. If they’d done their homework properly, they’d have known exactly what route the black Mercedes took each and every Monday morning and they pretty much would have known exactly when it would arrive at his headquarters. Everything seemed to make most sense if you assumed the assailants were professional criminals and they’d prepared themselves well.
    After all the analysis is over, Bill and John agree that the most likely scenario is that it was an attempted kidnapping by organised crime (most probably Greek) with the prospect of a highly profitable pay-off. If it had just been an assassination it would have been done with far greater subtlety, with fewer people and less hardware.
    Having spoken with the Fund Manager face to face, John can now empathise with Rebecca’s feelings on Alexis Vasilakos. He’s comes across as a particularly ruthless and sharp individual; a man whose life revolves around making money, without care for family or apparently, friends.
    Guilty of insider dealing…probably. Could it be proven? -Hell no…with a man this devious you’d stand more chance of nailing a jelly to a wall.

5
    Tuesday 26th April

    Alexis smiles smugly, congratulating himself on how he’s turned things to his advantage. In an unusual show of physical activity he slowly paces the floor alongside his office windows, occasionally stopping to take a sip of coffee whilst observing the insignificant people walking up and down Lombard Street way down below.
    The press conference had been skilfully orchestrated and his performance in-front of the cameras had been exemplar, -as good as any polished politician.
    The realities of yesterday were that he’d been cowering in the back of an armoured limousine praying that he’d live to see another day. But in the press conference, a highly edited version of the events had miraculously transformed him into a hero. An upstanding man, viciously attacked by organised criminals -bravely thwarting their wicked plans.
    Alexis habitually re-writes history, preferring to believe in his own massively distorted version of events.
    By shunning interpersonal