Tycho began to explain, “Well, financing cargo like that – bear in mind that the first shipment was worth $26m at that time – is a complicated process.”

“What buyers or consignees usually do is to arrange a letter of credit with the supplier, which is then guaranteed by a bank.”

“So your firm is one such bank, then?” Bette asked.

Tycho smiled, “Um … no.”

“Well, to hedge risk, it’s common practice in the trade finance business for those letters of credit to be separately financed by a third party, such as an international bank, or a firm like ours.”

Bette tapped the glass of water she’d set down on the table, lost in thought. She traced 0ut a square pattern on the glass-top of the coffee table.

She asked, “So is that what happened? Your firm lost a boatload of money when the gold went missing? Were you one of the third parties involved in one or more of those 17 shipments?”

“We did lose money,” Tycho said, after a minute’s pause. It was clear Bette hadn’t made up her mind yet, concerning his position. She continued to watch him closely, and remained cool, keeping him at a distance. Her phone was within reach, and he guessed there were a few hot keys there that she could use to summon help quickly. Well, he had nothing to hide, and he was going to answer as many questions as she wanted answered. His firm had, indeed, lost money. Lots of it. And although they’d managed to regain some of it back, there were still large amounts that needed to be recouped.

And Bette was key to that.

“But our firm was not one of those third parties.”

Bette narrowed her eyes, continuing to evaluate him, and then said, at length, “I see. So, apart from the direct guarantors of the lines of credit, and the third parties, there were other indirect parties engaged, maybe by those third parties, to hedge their risks?”

Tycho nodded, “Yes. I greenlit a few of those agreements, mainly as favors to a few of the international banks that were third parties to some of those transactions, and whose European heads were long-time partners of ours. Several years ago, they’d introduced us to their contacts in Shanghai and Beijing, and some of those eventually became clients of ours for their European investments. So it was time I returned the favor.”