61. Nigel
NIGEL
Nigel sank back in the chair, relieved that the SEC interview was over.
‘You look exhausted,’ Rebecca said as she walked back into her office.
‘I’m glad it’s done. And I’ve had a stressful week on top of all this case stuff.’
‘Then you’ll be pleased to know that I have good news.’ She sat down at her desk. ‘I quizzed the investigators when I was showing them out. They were satisfied with what you said today, so all we have to do now is wait with fingers crossed to see how it’s resolved.’
‘You don’t think I’ll have to testify in court?’
‘It’s highly unlikely. These things typically end in a settlement with the company, not a public trial, so I’d be very surprised if you are called on again.’
‘How long before it’s all done and dusted?’
‘Anywhere between a few weeks and a few months usually.’
Too long. Nigel sighed.
‘Is everything ok?’ Rebecca asked.
‘Let’s just say it will help me greatly when it’s finally made public.’
She shrugged. ‘It’s all on public record now. If you’re lucky, a keen journalist might discover the details before the SEC makes their final judgement. And even if they don’t, it will come out eventually. You just need to be patient.’
‘Akeen journalist might discover the details.’ Rebecca’s words kept running around his brain. What if he helped a journalist discover the details? He wouldn’t be breaking the terms of his NDA, he’d just be encouraging them to look in the right place.
Nigel took out his phone to call Rebecca to check if his understanding was correct. Then he changed his mind. The least she knew the better, just in case someone asked her about it.
The more he considered the idea, the more he thought it could work. Get someone to join the dots, write an article, then steer Helen towards reading it so she could see he wasn’t involved in the deception. Now all he had to do was find a journalist to write the piece.
There was a coffee shop across the road, but someone from his old life here might see him if he went there. He walked the two blocks back to his hotel.
How could he find the right financial journalist? Bylines on the various financial publications he subscribed to would be a good place to start.
He spent half an hour sitting at the table in his hotel room compiling a list of potential names.
Some of them might be distant connections on LinkedIn.
That could be a more effective way of reaching out to them, rather than just sending an email from a Gmail address. They’d see what his job had been then.
As he browsed LinkedIn profiles, he spotted someone very familiar.
Toby Landseer, den builder extraordinaire, though he didn’t have that on his list of skills.
What were the chances? Toby was a senior editor on Global Financial Updates.
How had he never spotted that before? But then he always skipped past the bylines when he was reading articles.
Someone who knew him personally would be an excellent place to start.