Chapter Six
Captaine Frangois Durer, chef de Police in Corsica, was in a foul mood.
The island was overcrowded with stupid summer tourists who were incapable of holding onto their [email protected] their wallets, or their children. Complaints had comd streaming in all day long to the tiny police headquarters at 2 Cours Napol6on off Rue Sergent Casalonga. ' man snatched my purse." ship sailed without me. My wife is on board." bought this watch from someone on the street. it has nothing inside." drugstores here don't carry the pills I need.' The problems were endless, endless, endless. And now it seemed that the capitaine had a body on his hands. ' have no time for this now,' he snapped. ' they're waiting outside,' his assistant informed him.
"What shall I tell them?, Capitaine Durer was impatient to get to his mistress. His impulse was to say, ' the body to some other 40 ut he was, after all, the chief police official the island. e well.' He sighed. ''ll see them briefly.' moment later, Captain Vacarro and Dmitri @@]Kaminsky were ushered into the office. ;1".. &S. t 1 down,' Capitaine Durer said, ungraciously. The two men took chairs. ' me, please, exactly what occurred.' Captain Vacarro said, ''m not sure exactly. I didn't see it happen.' He turned to Dmitri Kaminsky. ' E;1% was an eyewitness. Perhaps he should explain it.' Dmitri took a deep breath.
"It was terrible. I work worked for the man." what, monsieurt "Bodyguard, masseur, chauffeur. Our yacht was caught in the storm last night. It was very bad. He ' me to give him a massage to relax him.
Afterward, he asked me to get him a sleeping pill. They were in the bathroom. When I returned, he was standing out on the veranda, at the railing. The storm was tossing the yacht around. He had been holding some papers in his hand. One of them flew away, and he reached out to grab for it, lost his balance, and fell over the side. I raced to save him, but there was nothing I could do. I called for help. Captain Vacarro immediately stopped the yacht, and through the captain's heroic efforts, we found him. But it was too late. He had drowned." am very sorry.' He could not have cared less. 41 captain vacarro spoke, up. ' wind, and the sea carried the body back to'the Yacht. It was pure luck, but'now we would like permission to take the body home." should be no problem.' He would still have time to have a drink with his mistress before he went home to his wife. I will have a death certificate and an exit visa for the body prepared at once.' He picked up a yellow pad.
-The name of the victim?" Stanford.' Capitaine Durer was suddenly very still. He looked up. ' Stanfordr '." Harry Stalnford?, "Yes.' And Capitairke Durer's future suddenly became much brighter. The gods had dropped manna in his lap. Harry Stanf,'Ord was an international legend! The news of his deatil would reverberate around the world, and he, Capitairle Durer, was in control of the situation. The immediate question was how to manipulate it for the maximi4m benefit to himself Durer sat there, staring into [email protected], thinking. ' soon c.-an you release the bodyt Captain Vacarro asked. He looked up-_ '. That's a good question.' How much time will it lake for the press to arrive?
Should I ask the yacht's c-,aptain to participate in the interview? No.
Why share Athe glory with him? I will handle this 42 ' is much to be done,' he said regretfully. rs to prepare ...' He sighed. ' could well be a ,"Rape k or more.' Captain Vacarro was appalled. ' week or more? "'But you said ' are certain formalities to be observed," Durer said sternly. ' matters can't be rushed. He picked . the yellow pad again. ' is the next of kint Captain Vacarro looked at Dmitri for help. I guess you'd better check with his attorneys in Boston." names?9 ', Renquist & Fitzgerald."
Chapter Seven
Although the legend on the door read RENQuw, RENQuist & Fffzgmald, the two Renquists had been long, deceased. Simon Fitzgerald was still very much alive, and at seventy-six, he was the dynamo that powered the office, with sixty attorneys working under him. He was perilously thin, with a full mane of white hair, and he walked with the sternly straight carriage of a military man. At the moment, he was pacing back and forth, his mind in a turmoil. He stopped in front of his secretary. ' Mr. Stanford telephoned, didn't he give any indication of what he wanted to see me about so urgently?", sir. He just said he wanted you to be at his house at nine o'clock Monday morning, and to bring his will and a notary." you. Ask Mr. Sloane to come in.' Steve Sloane was one of the bright, innovative attorneys in the office. A Harvard Law School graduate in his forties, he was tall and lean, with blond hair, amusedly inquisitive blue eyes, and an easy, graceful 44 He was the troubleshooter for the firm, and Fitzgerald's choice to take over one day. If I on had a son, Fitzgerald thought, I would have wanted -A to be like Steve. He watched as Steve Sloane walked ''re supposed to be salmon fishing up in New- Steve said. ' came up. Sit down, Steve. We have a problem.' Steve sighed. ' else is new?"'s about Harry Stanford.' Harry Stanford was one of their most prestigious clients. Half a dozen other law firms handled various Stanford Enterprises subsidiaries, but Renquist, Renquist & Fitzgerald handled his personal affairs. Except for Fitzgerald, none of the members of the firm had ever met him, but he was a legend around the office.
"What's Stanford done now?' Steve asked. ''s gotten himself dead." Steve looked at him, shocked. ''s whatt ' just received a fax from the. French police in Corsica. Apparently Stanford fell off his yacht and drowned yesterday." God!" know you've never met him, but I've represented him for more than thirty years. He was a difficult man." Fitzgerald leaned back in his chair, thinking about the past. ' were really two Harry Stanfords - the 45 public one who could coax the birds off the money tree, and the sonofabitch who took pleasurelin destroying people. He was a charmer, but he could turn on you like a cobra. He had a split personality - he was both the snake charmer and the snake." fascinating." was about thirty years ago - thirty-one, to be exact - when I joined this law firm. Old Man Renquist handled Stanford then. You know how people use the phrase "larger than life"? Well, Harry Stanford was really larger than life. If he didn't, exist, you couldn't have invented him. He was a colossus. He had an Ing energy and ambition. He was a great athlete. He boxed in college and was a ten-goal polo player. But even when he was young, Harry Stanford was impossible. He was the only man I've ever known who wag totally without compassion. He was sadistic and vindictive, and he had the instincts of a vulture. He loved forcing his competitors into bankruptcy. It was rumored that there was more than one suicide because of him." sounds like a monster." the one hand, yes. On the other hand, he founded an orphanage in New Guinea and a hospital in Bombay, and he gave millions to charity - anonymously. No one ever knew what to expect next." did he become so wealthyt ''s your Greek mythologyt ''m a -little rusty.' 46 of Oedipust ' know the story Steve nodded. ' killed his father to get his mother.". Well, that was Harry Stanford. Only he killed his father to get his mother's vote.' Steve was staring at him. ' Fitzgerald leaned forward. ' the early thirties, E""Harry's father had a grocery store here in Boston. It did so well that he opened a second one, and pretty soon he had a small chain of grocery stores. When H411M finished college, his father brought him into the business as a partner and put him on the board of directors. As I said, Harry was ambitious. He had big reams Instead of buying meat from packing houses, he wanted the chain to raise its own livestock. He wanted it to buy land, and grow its own vegetables, can its own goods. His father disagreed, and they fought a lot. ' Harry had his biggest brainstorm of all. He told his father he wanted the company to build a chain of supermarkets that sold everything from automobiles to furniture to life insurance, at a discount, and charge customers a membership fee. Harry's father thought he was crazy, and he turned down the idea. But Harry didn't intend to let anything get in his way. He decided he had to get rid of the old man. He persuaded his father to take a long vacation, and while he was away, Harry went to work charming the board of directors. ' was a brilliant salesman and he sold them on 47 his,-concept. He persuaded his aunt and uncle, who were on the board, to vote for him. He romanced the other members of the board. He took them to lunch, went fox hunting with one, golfing with another. He slept with a board membees wife who had influence over her husband. But it was his mother who held the largest block of stock and had the final vote. Harry persuaded her to give it to him and to vote against her husband.', "Mat's unbelievable!" Harry's father returned, he learned that his family had voted him out of the company.' GMy God! s ''s more. Harry wasn't satisfied with that.