Banks the world over have arcane safety procedures and the Philadelphia Trust and Fidelity Bank was no exception.

Clarence Desmond was checking the lavatories, storeroom, safe-deposit area. Only when he was fully satisfied that he was alone would the Venetian blind be raised as a sign that all was well.

The senior bookkeeper was always the first of the employees to be admitted. He would take his place next to the emergency alarm until the other employees were inside then lock the door behind them.

Tracy smiled and went to work. She was in charge of the cable-transfer department. Until recently the transfer of money from one bank to another and from one country to another had been a slow, laborious process requiring multiple forms to be filled out and dependent on national and international postal services. With the advent of computers the situation had changed dramatically and enormous amounts of money could be transferred instantaneously. It was Tracy’s job to extract overnight transfers from the computer and to make computer transfers to other banks. All transactions were in code, changed regularly to prevent unauthorized access. Each day millions of electronic dollars passed through Tracy’s hands. It was fascinating work, the life-blood that fed the arteries of business all over the globe, and until Charles Stanhope the Third had come into Tracy’s life, banking had been the most exciting thing in the world for her. The Philadelphia Trust and Fidelity Bank had a large international division and at lunch Tracy and her fellow workers would discuss each morning’s activities. It was heady conversation.

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