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Sloane waited for the inspector to leave his office and close the door behind him before he picked up the phone

“I need those docunature by close of business today”

“I’ve got a teaht now, sir”

Sloane’s second call was to Ralph Vaughan at Savills, who passed on his condolences, but didn’t go into all of the details of his conversation with Cedric Hardcastle on Friday afternoon

“And like you,” said Sloane, “our thoughts are with Cedric and his fa he said towas to be sure we closed the Shifnal Farm deal”

“But surely you knoithdrew the bank’s offer on Friday afternoon, which was e, to say the least”

“That was before I was able to brief him on the full details, and I know he had intended to call you first thing this ”

“If that’s the case, I’ to extend the deadline for one han

“That’s good of you, Ralph And be assured the deposit of a hundred and sixty thousand will be with you later today, and we’ll just have to wait and see if anyone outbids me”

“I can’t ihan “But I must ask if you have the authority to make an offer of one point six million on behalf of the bank”

“It’s no more than my duty to see that Cedric’s final wishes are carried out,” said Sloane, before putting down the phone

Sloane’s third and fourth calls were to two of the bank’s major shareholders, who said they would back hi with his proposal

“I’ll have the docunature by close of business tomorrow,” he assured them

Sloane’s fifth call was to the Bank of Zurich in Switzerland