Stenning sat down. Im looking forward to seeing it. He regarded the clippings, then folded them and put them into his pocket. Youre having quite a time at this Inquiry. I dont think your family is going to like the things youve been saying.
I know they dont like it, said Ballard. I had a visit from Frank yesterday. He wants me to shut up.
What did you do? asked Stenning interestedly.
I showed him the door.
Stenning did not comment but he looked pleased in an indefinable way which Ballard could not place. You know, I was more than your grandfathers lawyer. I was also his friend.
I know he placed a lot of trust in you.
Trust, said Stenning, and smiled. Trust thats what I want to talk about. What do you know about the way your grandfather organized his affairs I mean his financial affairs?
Practically nothing, said Ballard. I knew that he put all, or most, of his money into some kind of trust a few years ago. He made it quite clear that I was not going to inherit, so I didnt take much interest. It was nothing to do with me.
Stenning nodded. Yes, it was a little over seven years ago. Do you know anything about estate duties in the United Kingdom?
Death duties? Nothing much.
Then I shall enlighten you. A man may give his money away to his family usually to a charitable foundation, as Ben did. However, if he dies within seven years of the transaction having taken place then his gift is assessed for estate duty just as if he hadnt made it at all. If he dies after seven years have elapsed then the gift escapes the tax.
I had heard about that, Ballard smiled. I didnt worry too much about it, myself. I dont have much to leave, and Ive no one to leave it to.
Stenning shook his head. Every man must make provision for the unknown future, he said in a lawyerly way. Ben died after the seven-year period.
Therefore the foundation doesnt have to pay the tax.
Precisely. But it was a near-run thing. For one thing, the government changed the law and Ben squeezed in just under the deadline. For another he died just two weeks after the seven years were up. In fact, he nearly didnt make it at all. Do you remember him coming to see you just before you came to New Zealand?
Yes. It was when he offered me the job in Hukahoronui.
The effort nearly killed him, said Stenning. The next day he took to his bed and never left it again.
He sent me his stick, said Ballard. I had a bad leg at the time. He said he wouldnt need the stick again.
He didnt. Stenning looked at the sky contemplatively. It was very important to Ben that he should see you at that time. The breaking of your leg was a minor disaster you couldnt go to see him, so the mountain had to go to Mahomet. It was so important to him that he put at risk a very large sum of money and more beside.
Ballard frowned. I dont see how it could have been important. All he did was to twist my arm into taking the job at Hukahoronui and look how thats turned out. His voice was bitter.
An avalanche wasnt part of Bens plans but it came in useful. Stenning laughed as he saw the bafflement on Ballards face. You think Im talking in riddles? Never mind; all will be made clear. Let us look at the charitable foundation. Ben gave it all his personal fortune except what he needed to live on until his death, which wasnt much. Ben was not a man to flaunt prestige symbols; he had no Rolls Royce, for example. His needs were few and his life austere. But the foundation got a lot of money.
I could see how it might.
It does good work. The money or, rather, the interest on the money, supports several laboratories working mostly in the fields of mining safety and health. Very good and necessary work, indeed.
My God! said Ballard in astonishment. Do the trustees know how the Ballard Group works? Every safety regulation is normally bent, or broken if they think they can get away with it. Thats like giving with one hand and taking with the other.
Stenning nodded. That perturbed Ben, but there was nothing he could do about it at the time for reasons you shall see. Now let us take a look at the trustees. There are five. He ticked them off on his fingers. Theres your uncle Edward, your cousin Frank, Lord Brockhurst, Sir William Bendell and myself. I am the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Ballard Foundation.
Im surprised that two of the family are trustees. From what Ben said the last time I saw him he had no great regard for them.
Ben made them trustees for tactical reasons. Youll see what I mean when I come to the nub. Youre right, of course, in your assessment of Bens attitude to the family. He had four sons, one of whom died here in New Zealand, and the other three turned out in a way he couldnt stomach. He had no great regard for any of his grandchildren, either, except one. Stenning jabbed forward a thin forefinger. You.
He had funny ways of showing it, said Ballard wryly.
Hed seen how his sons had turned out and he knew that whatever else he was good at he was not a good father. So he saw to your education and left you strictly alone. He watched you, of course, and he liked what he saw. Now consider what could Ben do a few years ago when he contemplated what was likely to happen to his personal fortune? He wouldnt give it to his family whom he didnt like, would he?
Not on the face of it.
No, said Stenning. Anyway, as Ben saw it they already had enough. In all honesty, could he give it to you? How old were you then?
Seven years ago? Twenty-eight.
Stenning leaned back. I rather think that when Ben and I first talked about setting this thing up you were twenty-six. Just a fledgling, Ian. Ben couldnt see himself putting so much money and power and money is power into the hands of one so young. Besides, he wasnt too sure of you. He thought you were immature for your years. He also thought your mother had something to do with that.
I know. He was scathing about her at our last meeting.
So he set up the Ballard Foundation. And he had to do two things: he had to make sure that he retained essential control and he had to live for seven years. He did both. And he watched you like a hawk because he wanted to see how you turned out.
Ballard grimaced. Did I come up to expectations?
He never found out, said Stenning. He died before the Hukahoronui experiment was completed.
Ballard stared at him. Experiment! What experiment?
You were being tested, said Stenning. And this is how it went. You were now thirty-five; you were more than competent at any job youd been given, and you knew how to handle men. But Ben had a feeling that you have a soft centre and he discovered a way to find out if this was indeed so. He paused. I gather that you and the Peterson family have never got on too well together.
An understatement, said Ballard.
Stennings face was firm. Ben told me that the Petersons had walked all over you when you were a boy. He sent you to Hukahoronui to see if the same thing would happen.
Well, Ill be damned! Ballard was suddenly angry. I knew he had a power complex, but who the hell did he think he was? God? And what the devil was it all for?
You cant be as naive as that, said Stenning. Look at the composition of the Board of Trustees.
All right; Im looking. Two Ballards, yourself and two others. What about it?
This about it. Old Brockhurst, Billy Bendell and I are all old friends of Ben. We had to have two of the family on the board so they wouldnt smell a rat. If they had suspected what Ben was up to theyd have found a way to shove their oar in and wreck Bens plan. Any half-way criminal lawyer could have found a way of torpedoing the Foundation before Ben died. But for seven years the three of us have been playing the Ballards on a length of line so the boat wouldnt be rocked. Weve been playing along with the two Ballards on the board, only forcing our hand in things which didnt matter too much to them. They think its going to continue in this way but its not.
I dont see what this has got to do with me.
Stenning said evenly, Ben wanted you on the Board of Trustees.
Ballard gaped at him. So?
So its arranged like this. The board is self-perpetuating. If a member retires there is a vote to elect his replacement and this is important the retiring member has a vote. Brockhurst is nearly eighty and has only held on to please Ben. When he retires youll have his vote, youll have Billy Bendells vote, and youll have my vote and thats a majority and theres nothing the Ballards can do about it.
Ballard was silent for a long time. Presently he said, This is all very well, but Im not an administrator, at least, not of the trustee kind. I suppose thered be an honorarium, but I have a living to earn. Youre offering me a job for a retired business man. I dont want to run a charitable fund, no matter how big.
Stenning shook his head sadly. You still dont get the point. Ben set up the foundation for one reason and one reason only to prevent his fortune from being dissipated and to keep the Ballard Group intact but out of the hands of his sons. He took an envelope from his pocket. I have here the share quotations of the companies in the Ballard Group as at the middle of last week.
He extracted a sheet of paper from the envelope. Its astonishing what can be put on to a small sheet of paper like this. He bent his head. The total value of the shares is two hundred and thirty-two million pounds. The holdings of the Ballard family that is your uncles and all your cousins is about fourteen million pounds. The holding of the Ballard Foundation is forty-one million pounds, and the Foundation is by far the largest shareholder.
He slipped the paper back into the envelope. Ian, who-ever can swing most votes on the Board of Trustees controls the Ballard Foundation, and whoever controls the Foundation controls the Ballard Group of companies. For seven years weve been waiting for you to come into your inheritance.
Ballard felt as though the wind had been knocked from him. He stared blindly into the shimmering pool and knew that the dazzle in his eyes did not come only from the sunlight reflected from water. That wonderful, egotistical, crazy old man! He rubbed his eyes and was aware of wetness. Stenning had been saying something. What was that?
I said theres a snag, said Stenning.
I suppose its inevitable.
Yes. A fugitive smile chased across Stennings face. Ben knew he was dying. Two days before he died he extracted a promise from me to come out here and see the results of the Hukahoronui experiment to see if the Petersons were still walking over you. As Bens friend and his lawyer I feel bound to honour his last wish and to do what he would want to do himself were he alive.