Looking for Sophie

Looking for Sophie

He had to find her. He had to find her before the tenth of September.  It loomed before him as an impossible task. It was like making an iceberg melt into the Arctic Ocean.

“Put an advert in the paper, Anthony.”

“Sophie could be anywhere. She could be in Alaska, India, Poland,  Kazakhstan or Kyoto. An advert in the local paper will not cast the net wide enough, I have to think globally.”

“What about Face Book and LinkedIn, they are fairly global?”

“ I will try them first but there are only ten days left .”

Sophie had left in a hurry.  She had left because he had not believed in her. They had had a terrible row.  Sophie was like that, impetuous and hot tempered. She had bought the ticket and left,  without a word. He knew she was afraid, terribly afraid.

“You think I am responsible for the cheque scam  in the office.  I am not.  I will never forgive you for thinking the worst of me. I am innocent. They will soon find out they have made a mistake.”

Sophie had left, before the Asset Company could put out a warrant for her arrest.

She had contacted no one, not her family or her friends. Her sister had no knowledge of her whereabouts. With her aptitude for travel and painting as a sideline, she could be anywhere in the world, in Machu Pichu or Caracas. She had saved up enough money to go back packing for years and stay under the radar. They had, after all planned, for some time, to go on a backpacking holiday.

The thing to do now was to put it out on FB and LinkedIn. Then he would try Skip Tracer. He did not want to scare her, if she was approached by a person from Skip Tracer, that would probably set off the alarm bells right away. Whew!  He had no desire to make waves. How to find Sophie and not get into trouble, was his aim. He had first to find her and then persuade her to fly back home.

She had to come back within the next ten days and sign an affidavit in front of witnesses that she was Sophie Sinclair, Granddaughter of Ferdinand Sinclair and that she was resident in South Africa. Then she would inherit her grandfather’s fortune, standing at present, at a figure of 15 million English pounds and growing. He had been a businessman of some standing, in the London banking scene.

If Sophie was not found in time , the fortune would go to various charities. The cheques responsible for her being accused of siphoning off millions of rands,  would pale into insignificance by comparison. Even if she was guilty she could at least get herself out of the trouble she seemed to be in.

She had been away now for 5 days and all of them dogged with fear, the fear of being recognised was uppermost. The fraud had attracted global coverage in the investment world. There was a photograph of her in the international papers. She had seen it on the newspaper stands. Walking along  Nivågade  she had seen her face on the front page of the Illustrated News. Pulling her scarf over her head she had glided by, quickening her pace.  She had a fear of being caught, as she walked along a street, a fear of being deported back to South Africa and put in prison. She lived with fear, every waking moment.

She had an appointment at 2pm with the company she had discovered by chance, looking at a local paper.  In desperation she had called them as a last way out. She had time to spare before 2. Walking along Strøget in the centre of Copenhagen she decided to visit Tivoli Gardens. It was expensive getting into Tivoli but she had been taken there as a child with her mother and wanted to have another look at it. She would always remember the æbleskiver, hot from the pan and dripping with jam and sugar. She felt hungry and sat outside at the Færgekro watching the waitresses carry tall frothing glasses of beer  to their customers.

The tulips were out and the band at the Tivoli entrance was playing her kind of music. She ordered two smørrebrød, a fiskefillet with remoulade sauce and a rullepølse topped with asier. She then had a linser with coffee. It was the first square meal she had had for days.

Yesterday the Face book message had come through,  but she needed time.

‘Contact me immediately. It is urgent’ and there was his name, Anthony Miller, also with a request to become a friend. She loved Anthony, everything about him, the way he talked, the way he laughed at her, the way he looked at her when he was caught off guard. Now it had all gone wrong. She was a suspect in a huge fraud scam.

She had no intention of replying to the message on FB. She was going to remain hidden from her pursuers. They could all carry on looking!  No way did she want to land up in goal like Jennifer Hillstar  found guilty of fraud, for redirecting pensioner funds into her own account.

“ Anthony, they had me in a hearing at work and accused me of creaming off profits going back years. I feel so humiliated. I tried to tell them they had the wrong person but they were so severe.

The Director looked at me and said,

 ‘You are an opportunist, I knew from the first time I laid eyes on you.”

“Sophie, you need a lawyer, now!”

“But Anthony I didn’t do it. Why must I pay a lawyer for something I didn’t do? They charge you hundreds even if you call them on the phone for a few seconds. I wish I had become a lawyer! An accountant  is paid peanuts!”

“Sophie ,  you have to get a lawyer. You need a lawyer now!”

“Anthony, you should believe me and not tell me to get a lawyer.”

If Anthony had not been so negative about her innocence,  she would not have run off.  She would be back home now , most probably awaiting trial. If he did not believe in her, who would? Her flight from home would undoubtedly be confirmation of her guilt.

There had to a way to get out of the mess. There was a chance she could convince someone.

 Sitting in the neat office on Nørrebrogade,  she explained her predicament to the person assigned to her. He questioned her kindly but  probingly for over an hour.

“I believe you are telling the truth Miss Sinclair. We will take your case. We have offices all over the world.  I will contact our man in Cape Town immediately and let you know you within the next twenty four hours if it is safe for you to go home.”

Back in Humlebæak where she was staying in a B and B, she walked along the beach front,  watching the seagulls. They were full of energy, squabbling over the smallest  pieces of sandwich thrown out of cars along the walk way. Sophie loved their aggressive behaviour it matched her own spirit, fighting for something  you want. She wanted her name cleared and she wanted Anthony but she would not have the one without the other.  The water at the edge of the sand lapped up around her feet , icy cold from the Øresund.  This has to be one of the most beautiful places in the world, she thought where vast sweeps of azure sky streaked with clouds, merged into the  sea.

She got the all clear signal to return home.

Anthony saw her the moment she came through the Arrivals Hall. She looked stunning, pulling her case along on its wheels looking straight ahead. She saw him and gravitated like a magnet to his side.

“Sign this  document right here Sophie, I have two witnesses to counter sign.”

“What is it? I can’t sign anything before I read it.”

“Sophie it is your inheritance from your grandfather and  if you don’t sign it within the next few days, you will lose it. Look at me. Trust me!”

Sophie took the pen and signed.

“Only because it is you Ant.”

Still holding the pen she was surprised by two officers of the law.

“ We arrest you, Sophie Sinclair for fraud and unlawful appropriation of funds.”

“Sophie, let me call a lawyer.”

“It’s alright Anthony. They will see I am innocent.”

“ May I follow you in my car?”

“What relation is the suspect to you?”

‘Ms Sinclair is my fiancée.”

At the police station, Anthony had to wait in a waiting room.

Sophie sat in the straight backed chair and looked around. It was, true to form, a dingy, dirty room with broken blinds over the only window. The walls were painted a dark green and showed marks of  accumulated grime.  Obviously the walls had not seen a lick of paint for decades.

There was a smell of stale cigarettes and sweat,  that made Sophie want to puke. She felt awful, sick with despair. She had trusted the Danish company and they had not been able to clear her.  Now there seemed nothing for it but to go to prison. The police officer read her , her rights and asked if she would like to make a phone call. They gave her , her cell phone and she called the number she had been given. Right then a young man was shown in.

“Hello, Martin Lindgren from ISOG,  you must be Sophie Sinclair. Sorry I am late. I got a call from our investigator and you are cleared. I will sort out the formalities now but first let me explain what happened.

The chief accountant from your company has been stealing money through scam cheques for years while the economy was sound.  It was discovered only with the economic downturn. Your name was found on one of the recent cheques , a forged signature.

You are absolutely in the clear.

 One of Warren Buffet’s famous quotes says, it is

“Only when the tide goes out, do you see who’s been swimming naked!”