STOCKS & SHARES 17

“I don’t understand this,” said Susan, her beautiful face tight and perplexed as she viewed the series of screens stretching as far as the eye could see. The Chief came over to stand beside her, catching the delicate fragrance of her subtle perfume as he leaned close to her face.

“What is it?” he said, studying the screens with interest.

Susan, self-conscious of his closeness, pulled herself ever so slightly away.

“Look” she said with (she hoped) professional detachment, pointing at the screen in front of her, “ Activity in withdrawals has almost completely dried up – as far as I can tell, these are all genuine transactions we are seeing now”.

“As far as we can tell” cautioned the Chief, but he could see that Susan must be right. Even the volume of overall transactions was down massively and was dying even more moment by moment.

“What do you think it means?” said Susan in an almost frightened little girl’s voice. The Chief ‘s face hardened.