Chapter 31

As for himself, Toby was at least being kept busy at the Bank. Beevish Shagwell had put him straight onto the number three cash till the moment that he had arrived back from Elba. Despite the emotional pressure that he went through during Amber’s departure, Toby had managed to keep his head while at work and was able to reach the end of the year without having once had a single difference in cash at the end of the day. In other words his till balanced every night for four and a half months, which was no mean achievement in Banking circles. Toby’s end of the year report, delivered by William Anchor himself, though most probably written by Beevish Shagwell, was highly flattering and the delighted young man found himself recommended for the maximum possible increment in his salary.

In January of the following year, Beevish took Toby under his wing and began to teach him the secrets of the Securities Department. Toby learnt how to buy and sell Stocks and Shares on behalf of his customers; how to enter their Stock and Bond certificates into the Bank’s registers and how to handle items left for safekeeping in the Branch strong room.

He had been working under Beevish’s gentle guidance for just four months when there was a ring at the doorbell at three thirty-two one Wednesday afternoon. Three of the Bank’s Inspectors stood forbiddingly outside the Branch awaiting entry. It was Toby’s first brush with members of the Chief Inspector’s Department and initially he found the experience utterly terrifying. Fortunately, although he was the most amiable of men, Beevish Shagwell actually ran quite a tight ship and all the most important of the Bank’s rules, particularly those relating to security and the correct handling of cash and negotiable items, were obeyed as a matter of course. Thus the keys to the strong room were not hanging on a nail on the wall by the door and everything that should have been locked up was locked up, so the inspection got off to a good start. As Beevish said to Toby later, that was an important factor in their favour.

Confident that Toby had been taught well in all departments, Beevish promptly gave him the job of being the Branch liaison man. This meant that he was in the forefront all the time and was responsible for providing the Inspectors with answers to all the questions that they asked and for providing them with any documents that they might request. At first Toby found the task rather harrowing, particularly as he knew that the way that he acquitted himself might have an important bearing on his future career within the Bank.

‘How are you coping then, Toby?’ asked Beevish at the end of the first week after they saw the inspection team safely off the premises at four o’clock.

‘OK I think. This afternoon Mr Thomas asked me how I saw my career in the Bank progressing.’

‘What did you say?’

‘Well I had a feeling that there might be a right and a wrong answer so I waffled for a bit and ended up by saying that I thought a job in the Chief Inspector’s Department seemed really interesting.’

‘Not bad,’ chuckled Beevish, ‘In fact that was quite a good answer to give an Inspector’s Assistant. They think they’re God’s gift to the Banking profession you know. However, if the boss-man himself ever asks you the same thing, tell him you want to be Chairman and you won’t settle for anything less.’

‘Isn’t that a bit arrogant?’ asked Toby dubiously.

‘Of course. But what you’ve got to bear in mind is that they’re already looking out for ambitious young men who will one day be running the outfit and making sure they get their pensions at the end of every month.’

‘So do you tell them that you want to be Chairman too?’ asked Toby.

‘Good heavens no,’ chuckled Beevish, ‘I realised that that ambition was beyond my grasp years ago. Nowadays I laugh and say that I’m waiting for the position of Messenger at Melvesham Branch to become vacant.’

Toby found himself working long hours to keep up with the great screeds of paper created by the diligent junior members of the Inspector’s team. After being caught out on a relatively simple question about the correct storage procedure for unsold Premium Savings Bonds, he even took the Bank’s rule book home and started reading it in bed. He ruefully reflected that it was not quite as enjoyable as looking at photographs of Amber, but at least it was adding to his knowledge of Banking.

As Beevish had predicted, the Inspection took a further two weeks to complete. During that time Toby was under constant scrutiny. Whilst he found the work challenging he also found it rather rewarding. At the beginning of the third week he was relieved when Beevish told him that the Inspector was well pleased by the standard of work that the Branch maintained and it looked as if the report to Head Office would be most favourable. At the same time Beevish urged all his staff not to be caught napping during the final few days, when they might be lulled into a false sense of security.

On the Wednesday afternoon, before they were due to finish the following day, the Inspector began to interview each member of staff individually. Toby felt quite nervous as he awaited his turn but his feeling of unease slipped away once he was inside the office. The whole of his education, particularly his final year as Second Prefect at the College, had left him with an outward air of easy self-confidence. As Len Bickerstaffe had told him right at the beginning, he had a very valuable asset. He interviewed well. So on Friday, after a final lunch with the Manager and his First Clerk at the local Hotel, the Inspectors packed their heavy leather briefcases one final time and were on their way. Toby, for one, heaved a sigh of relief when he saw them go. He found Beevish well buoyed up after lunch and assumed that it was as the result of too much to drink.

‘Ho, not at all,’ contradicted Beevish when he said so, ‘I have just had very good news. Mr. Merrick says that we have a strong case for the appointment of a full-time Securities Clerk and of course if we get one that will mean a Sub-Managership for Shagwell.’

‘Oh that’s super,’ exclaimed Toby who was well pleased for his friend.

‘It depends on a visit from the inspectors from O & M Department though,’ said Beevish, ‘We’ll probably see them in the next couple of months or so.’

‘Oh no not more inspectors,’ groaned Toby, clapping his hand to his head in anguish.

‘These are much easier,’ reassured Beevish, ‘All they do is to count things. Their task is to work out whether the level of work is sufficient to warrant the extra staff that we say we need to run the Branch efficiently.’

‘I could tell them that,’ growled Toby, ‘I’m supposed to be surplus to requirements, but without being conceited I really can’t imagine how you would have coped without my extra pair of hands for the past few weeks.’

‘Exactly,’ nodded Beevish, ‘That was exactly what Mr. Merrick said. Oh and he was very impressed by the way.’

‘Impressed by what?’

‘Impressed by you. He says you’ll go far.’

‘Oh good,’ laughed Toby, ‘Let’s hope that means in the right direction.’

‘I believe that he was thinking of our Branch in the Outer Hebrides,’ joked Beevish and Toby grabbed a ledger to throw at him.

Life got back to normal quite quickly and everyone in the Branch seemed greatly relieved that the pressure was off. Even the Manager seemed more cheerful than usual and actually managed to remember Toby’s name one morning which cheered him no end, for it was a rare occurrence.

It was at the end of May that Toby had what he subsequently numbered as amongst the most bizarre sexual experiences of his life. The blame for it was laid firmly at the door of Beevish Shagwell. You see, Beevish collected pornography. He collected it in the same way that other people collect stamps or butterflies. Toby doubted if he even really looked at much of it, for his collection was stored in a large black tin box that he kept in a corner of the strong room. Toby knew about it because one of the Bank’s prime directives stated that two members of staff must always be present in the strong room. One alone was simply not allowed, so if Beevish wanted to spend time on his collection, then somebody had to accompany him. Only Toby and Ernie Danglers were ever thus privileged. Not long after the Inspectors left, Beevish decided that the time had come to tidy up his collection, particularly as he had not had a chance to do so since their inopportune arrival. He chose a quiet Wednesday morning, when the Manager was out visiting one of his farming customers, as being most suitable for the task. So after he and Toby had sorted through the post and had dealt with all things urgent, they went into the vault, leaving instructions that they were only to be disturbed if strictly necessary.