When Brander got home, he went straight to Malenkov and told him what Marsh wanted. “You have a sweet operation here Yaakov, and to continue with this goldmine, Marsh is demanding a one off payment. The man wants to vanish and live a quiet life in comfort, and who can blame him. He is a Detective Inspector with the police and holds no prospects for the future. He will say nothing about your operation and give back the cash he stole if you pay him, just £10 million, into this bank account.” Brander gave Max’s note to Malenkov.
Brander watched Malenkov master his rage. He was not used to being coerced and was thinking how he could turn the tables on this man Marsh.
“Your men were given the slip by Marsh at the restaurant. He is a slippery fellow and it requires your personal attention to catch him. If you go down, so do I and I have my family to think about.
“He wants to give the cash back to you, because it is not spendable. Even if you have to pay him the £10 million in clean money, you may still be able to get that back by reversing the transfer. I doubt Marsh will risk hurting his family by exposing you, once he gets payment. I expect everything has been set up for him to disappear and I’m betting he would not hang around for you to catch up with him, either.”
The power of suggestion worked. Malenkov had visibly calmed down, the prospect of catching Marsh and clawing back the £10 million pleased him greatly. Killing Marsh’s family was a bonus. It would also reinforce the fear Malenkov’s associates had, that he was unconquerable.
“Tell Marsh I’ll agree to pay him and he had better find a big stone to hide under, because I will track him down. I don’t want a word of this arrangement to leave the room. My men must never know.”
Michael Brander nodded and walked off to phone Marsh.
Max took the call from Brander. He said he would be in contact in three days, the 26th June, with the time and place of the meeting. Max stressed to Brander, he must make his own arrangements about on-going security and Malenkov must be at the meeting, with all his men.
Brander asked how he planned to dispose of Malenkov and the others. Max replied that he need not be concerned about this, because the less he knew, the less it could hurt him or his family. The call ended.
“Star, the deal is on!” exclaimed Max as he showed her a list. “We need to get these tasks underway, immediately.”
Star picked up the checklist and they worked through it. There was only one item that might change; it was the disposal of Malenkov and his men - the most unpredictable element of the plan.