Detective Danny Cavanaugh 01 - The Brink

Bank of Japan.”
    Sydney nodded again. “Which, by not buying America’s debt any longer, is supposedly forcing Walsh’s hand to print more money and then raise interest rates.”
    “What about the Chinese?”
    “What about them?”
    “Why did they stop buying our debt? Are these Bilderbergers in with the Chinese as well?”
    “No. Although it is the more powerful, bigger brother, China has always shadowed Japan’s financial movements. They just assume that the Bank of Japan is wired in better to the international financial markets and follow their lead.”
    “And since they’ve always done it, the Bank of Japan knew China would play follow the leader again here.”
    “Correct.”
    “So, if the Bank of Japan is just a front for the Bilderbergers, they’re the ones who want America’s gold.”
    “You’re thinking like a detective, Danny. Now think like an economist.”
    He wasn’t in the mood to be a student. “Just tell me how the gold fits in, professor.”
    “I told you that our ICJ chamber meets in secret to prevent any information that we discuss from affecting the markets.”
    “I’m sensing that was a big, fat lie.”
    Sydney shook her head. “Not a lie, just not the entire truth. While we do meet in secret, information concerning our deliberations invariably gets out before we want it to.”
    Danny knew where she was going. “Plausible deniability.”
    “I’m sorry?”
    “Bank of Japan officials will leak the story about wanting payment in gold, which will make the rest of our creditors want the same thing, no matter the outcome of your deliberations. That news will not only send the price of gold through the stratosphere, it will ensure that the dollar completely tanks. But if anyone tries to call Japan on it, all they have to do is point to the ICJ and say they tried to keep it hush hush. Plausible deniability.”
    Sydney nodded. “The Bilderbergers have undoubtedly purchased much of the gold on the world market to take advantage when the dollar collapses and the price of gold skyrockets to unprecedented levels. While your economic analysis was top notch, Danny, you forgot one important thing.”
    “Which is?”
    “The values of all paper currencies across the planet are inextricably linked, with the dollar being the most powerful one. If it becomes worthless, it sends the whole global fiat money system into freefall. The only currency that will have any value left will be gold. And while most countries still maintain a small gold reserve, those reserves won’t last long, especially during a global financial crisis.”
    “If the Bilderbergers have most of the gold and none of the expenses that countries do, they’ll be sitting pretty,” Danny surmised.
    “Correct.”
    “And he who has the gold, makes the rules.”
    “And in this case, rules the world,” Sydney added.
    “Why can’t we track those purchases and put the screws to the buyers for information?”
    “The Bilderbergers do not make big movements, Danny. Theirs are fractional actions over time. They would have made small purchases of gold over a period of several years and spread them through their various businesses and interests. The last thing they would want is for their activities to be found out.”
    Danny looked out the back window. It still framed a motionless scene. “So what makes you think Walsh is their puppet?”
    “The summer after my sophomore year in college, I was part of a research team that was sent to the island of Trinidad and Tobago. The island’s economy was almost solely dependent on its oil reserves. We were there to perform research into diversifying their economy so that fluctuations in oil prices, which had recently bottomed out, wouldn’t have such a detrimental effect. The research group was led by Dr. Walsh. I fell in love with his assistant, Alex.” Sydney smiled as her eyes lulled into a pleasant memory. “Alex was several years older than I. He had a mop of wavy black hair that never looked the same two days in a row. And what a smile. Like one you’d see on a Ralph Lauren model.” She laughed. “The clincher was his wardrobe. He had a different gaudy Hawaiian shirt for every day of the week.”
    “Sounds like you were real fond of him.”
    “He was my first love.”
    “What happened to him?”
    “He and I could never be together. Our personalities were too similar. There we were not only living in paradise but trying to save it. We both knew that if we lived