`The US economy is huge,’ he said. `Net assets and net liabilities are incalculably large. Trillions of dollars. But almost none of it is actually represented by cash. That gentleman had a net worth of a half-million dollars, but only fifty of it was in actual cash. All the rest of it is on paper or in computers. The fact is, there isn’t much actual cash around. There’s only about a hundred and thirty billion actual cash dollars inside the whole US.’
I shrugged at him again.
`Sounds like enough to me,’ I said.
The guy looked at me severely.
`But how many people are there?’ he asked me.
`Nearly three hundred million. That’s only about four hundred and fifty actual cash dollars per head
of population. That’s the problem a retail bank has
to deal with, day by day. Four hundred and fifty dollars is a very modest cash withdrawal, but if everybody chose to make such a withdrawal, the nation’s banks would run out of cash in the blink of an eye.’
He stopped and looked at me. I nodded. `OK,’ I said. `I see that.’
`And most of that cash isn’t in banks,’ he said. `It’s in Vegas or at the racetrack. It’s concentrated in what we call cash-intensive areas of the economy. So a good currency manager, and Mr Hubble was one of the very best, has a constant battle just to keep enough paper dollars on hand in our part of the system. He has to reach out and find them. He has to know where to locate them. He has to sniff them out. It’s not easy. In the end, it was one of the factors which made retail so expensive for us. One of the reasons why we pulled out. We kept it going as long as we could, but we had to close the operation eventually. We had to let Mr Hubble go. We were very sorry about it.’
`Any idea where he’s working now?’ I said.
He shook his head.
`I’m afraid not,’ he said.
`Must be working somewhere, right?’ I said. The guy shook his head again.
`Professionally, he’s dropped out of sight,’ he said. `He’s not working in banking, I’m sure of that. His institute membership lapsed immediately, and we’ve never had an enquiry for a recommendation. I’m sorry, but I can’t help you. If he was working anywhere in banking, I’d know it, I can assure you of that. He must be in something else now.’
I shrugged. Hubble’s trail was stone cold. And the discussion with this guy was over. His body language indicated it. He was shifting forward,
ready to get up and get on. I stood up with him. Thanked him for his time. Shook his hand. Stepped through. the antique gloom to the elevator. Hit the button for the street and walked out into the dull grey weather.
My assumptions had been all wrong. I had seen Hubble as a banker, doing a straight job. Maybe turning a blind eye to some peripheral con, maybe with half a finger in some dirty pie. Maybe signing off on a few bogus figures. With his arm twisted way up his back. Involved, useful, tainted, but somehow not central. But he hadn’t been a banker. Not for a year and a half. He had been a criminal. Full time. Right inside the scam. Right at the centre. Not peripheral at all.
I drove straight back to the Margrave station house. Parked up and went looking for Roscoe. Teale was stalking around in the open area, but the desk guy winked and nodded me back to a file room. Roscoe was in there. She looked weary. She had an armful of old files. She smiled.
`Hello, Reacher,’ she said. `Come to take me away from all this?’
`What’s new?’ I said.
She dumped the stack of paper onto a cabinet top. Dusted herself off and flicked her hair back. Glanced at the door.
`Couple of things,’ she said. `Teale’s got a Foundation board meeting in ten minutes. I’m get
ting the fax from Florida soon as he’s out of here.
And we’re due a call from the state police about