Crisis

‘I look forward to seeing you at one of our sales,’ he said. ‘Yes, indeed.’

He turned and walked out of the sales ring, no doubt back to his office and his meetings, leaving Kate and me standing there alone.

‘Mrs Williams?’ I said. ‘What’s all that about?’

‘I am Mrs Williams,’ she said. ‘I never reverted to my maiden name when I got divorced.’

‘Why not?’ I asked.

‘Laziness, I suppose. Having gone to all the trouble to convert everything to Williams in the first place, I couldn’t be bothered to turn it all back. And I was never that keen on Logan anyway. I was always being told by people to run, after the film, and they called me Loganberry at school. I hated it.’ She paused. ‘Also, it makes getting rid of unwanted men easier if I’m a Mrs.’

‘Does that happen often?’ I asked.

‘Quite often.’

‘You didn’t tell me that you were a Mrs.’

‘That’s because you’re not unwanted.’

I smiled at her. ‘Good. Now, what’s left of the tour?’

‘Nothing much, this is it really. Everything of interest happens in this space. This is where the big bucks get spent. During the sale I stand behind the rostrum over there.’

She pointed at a raised box on the edge of the ring.

‘When the hammer drops, the auctioneer hands me the purchase confirmation form and it’s my job to get the successful bidder’s signature on it before he or she leaves the building. I keep the white top copy and give the yellow one to the buyer as a receipt. But I have to keep my wits about me as some of them seem to bid without moving more than an eyelid, and others hide in the stairways up the back there so no one else can see them.’

‘Why?’

‘God knows. Perhaps they think the price will go higher if someone sees them bidding. And they might be right if it was Sheikh Karim.’

‘Don’t you start,’ I said. ‘I’m embarrassed enough already. Fancy getting the chairman to show me round.’

She laughed. ‘It was his idea, not mine.’

‘But you could have stopped it.’

She looked at me. ‘Now why would I want to do that?’

Kate and I went inside the main administration building to visit the ‘girls at Tatts’, her work colleagues, some of whom I had met in the box at the races.

As we moved from desk to desk, I realised that she was showing me off as her own personal VIP, one who the chairman himself had taken the time to show round. All the girls knew about that, sure enough. And why not, I thought. If Kate had visited Simpson White, I’d have shown her off too.

‘You must come again on a sale day,’ Kate said. ‘The whole place comes alive. Chauffeurs fight for a spot in the car park, the restaurant is booked out for weeks in advance, and the thrill of seeing rich men bidding against each other is electric. I have friends who come every day just to watch. It’s the best theatre in town, and with no admission charge. But what makes it really exciting is that it’s not a game, it’s deadly serious. Fortunes and reputations are made and lost here.’

‘You should be on the marketing team,’ I said with a laugh.

‘I am.’