STOCKS & SHARES 12

The Chief was also less than amused by the report brought to him by McKay. That very morning, he had another meeting with Jim Barton, who had promised to look into the matter further on his behalf. Jim had sombre news.

“Listen to this,” said Jim, his face serious and animated at the same time, “Danny Wilkinson - six months; James West - Jimbo to you - community service; David Marks - suspended sentence - and that’s only to name a few. Altogether I found something like five hundred or so cases where an unexpected leniency was shown to people indicted and implicated in the credit and housing scams”.

The Chief was frowning now.

“What about the common factor - the Judges? Was there any corollary there?”

“Yes, quite definitely” said Jim, becoming even more animated, “Out of this sample of five hundred, the same six Judges were sitting”.

They both looked at each other, the importance of what they were suggesting silencing them for a moment. The Chief was first to speak.