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you nevertheless wish to have your lawyer present?"
    I really don’t have anything to hide. My conscience is clear. I’ve done
nothing illegal or unethical. Although I know that my father will chide me
for not having insisted on the presence of a lawyer, I decide to play it by
ear. "Not at this point. I may though wish to change my mind depending
on the questions you are going to ask."
    "Fine. Let us know if you do."
    He first inquires about my background, my academic qualifications,
my employment at Lewis Stockbrokers, and my functions. Then he
broaches what I reckon is his real interest: "I understand that you are in
charge of the Ventura Consolidated account. What does that imply?"
    "To put the record straight, I was in charge of it. I’m no more. The
account is now handled by one of my colleagues. Being in charge of an
account simply means that the client always deals with the same broker
who is thoroughly familiar with the needs of the client, his or her
transaction history, the preferences as to the type of investments in terms
of risk, diversification, industry, geographical location, and so on, rather
than having to deal with several different brokers within the same firm.
So I handled all buy and sell transactions for Ventura, provided them with
investment advice, and, as part of that, made them aware of potentially
attractive ventures."
    "You also advise them if they should sell stocks they hold?"
    "Yes."
    "Why? Could you elaborate on that?"
    "For instance, as recently happened, the number of new housing
construction permits has taken a dive. This will most likely result in a
slump in industries that manufacture building material. So the moment a
conscientious broker discovers such a trend, she would advise a client
who holds large parcels of shares in such industries to sell these shares
and reinvest the funds in some more attractive industries."
    "Isn’t this though insider trading?" questions Somes. "He would
violate stock exchange regulations."
    "No, not if she bases her advice and any subsequent transaction on
publicly known information, such as the monthly report of new housing
constructions permits." I purposely use ‘she’ again, just to make a point.
          "But the advice you gave Ventura to sell the …," Somes searches
through her notes.
    "Sanvino shares," I suggest.
    "Yes, the Sanvino shares. That was not based on publicly known
knowledge," she asserts, frowning.
    "The wine industry was aware that the Sanvino contract with
Lufthansa is to expire shortly. There was also a rumor that the airline
might dump Sanvino in favor of another supplier of Italian wines."
    "But that is insider information, so acting on it is illegal," she
continues rather aggressively.
    I almost laugh. I seem to be facing the stereotype duo of a benevolent
and a nasty interrogator. But I also realize that she is way out of her
depth. Or is she only feigning and if so what is she aiming for? "Rumors,
by definition, are public information," I counter.
    A fleeting frown of annoyance crosses her face. "Since you knew of
that, you must surely also have been aware of the other, that Sanvino was
going to get the Singapore Airlines contract."
    "No, I did not, and if you persist in this sort of aggressive questioning,
I insist that I have a lawyer present." I’m not going to be bullied by this
woman.
    Willis casts her a brief glance — is it a warning, I wonder? — and then
says: "Look, Miss Walker, the stock market is always a bit of a mystery
to most outsiders, so, please, don’t take our questions wrong. Enlighten
us. When did you learn that Singapore Airlines was considering signing
with Sanvino?"
    His use of language hints that he knows more about the dealings in the
stock market than he lets on. "Yesterday morning, about ten o’clock,
when it was announced on Reuters’ electronic newsflash our firm
subscribes to. You can easily check this out. It was the first public
announcement posted on the Web on this matter."
    "So,