Authors: Stephen Douglass
“Wire it to my boss in New York,” Kerri said, excited and overjoyed.
“Who’s your boss?”
“His name is Miles Dennis. He’s with a commodity brokerage company called Iacardi & Sons.” Kerri removed Dennis’s business card from her wallet and gave it to Lambert. “Here’s his address and telephone numbers. I’ll call him and tell him what we’re going to do.”
“Do you trust Miles Dennis? You must understand that what you’re doing is extremely dangerous. If the Monaco police discover that you’ve removed anything from Visconti’s briefcase, you’ll be in serious trouble. In addition to what I said earlier, they’ll have reason to suspect you had a motive for killing Visconti.”
“Of course I had a motive. I had to save my own life.”
“That’s apparent, but I’m sure you understand the need for secrecy… Now, I asked you if you can trust Miles Dennis.”
“Absolutely. Miles is completely aware of why I’m here and what my objectives are. There are no secrets between us.”
“Okay. Then I’ll proceed as soon as I receive the fax from your lawyer.”
“My lawyer is a she, Pierre. I’ll call her this afternoon. Do you have a business card?”
Lambert gave her his card. “Now, as I said earlier in our discussion, I want to talk about the items in Visconti’s briefcase. Who opened it?”
“I did. I used a drill.”
“The same one you used to kill Visconti?”
“Yes. Why did you ask?”
“There’s an inconsistency in your story. Ullman said you told him it was Visconti who opened the briefcase.”
“That’s right. I didn’t want to implicate myself.”
“Did Louis ever use that drill for any purpose, whatsoever?”
“No.”
“Then we have a problem.”
“What?”
“The police won’t find Louis’s finger prints on the handle of the drill.”
“Yes they will. I cleaned mine and covered the handle with his prints after he raped me.”
“You’re very clever,” Lambert said, obviously relieved. “I’m very impressed by your ability to think clearly in such difficult conditions.”
“Thanks.”
“Do you know anything about a company called Forta Equitas?”
“Yes. My father told me Visconti used all of the funds in the King’s trust to buy the shares of that company from himself. That’s why I took the corporate seal and share certificates out of Visconti’s briefcase. Why?”
“It now belongs to you. In addition, you now own a house in Connecticut, an apartment in Manhattan, and what appears to be a substantial investment portfolio.”
“That interests me, Pierre, because it might be useful in helping my father, but I know I can’t do that until I get out of Monaco.”
“Getting you out of Monaco is the main reason I’m here. I want you to tell me the entire story of your relationship with Louis Visconti and Alfred Schnieder. Start from the beginning. Take your time and don’t leave anything out. I don’t care how insignificant or trivial you think it is.”
“I don’t mind doing that, but why? Aside from hiding the money, and maybe being an accessory to theft and tax evasion, I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“You know that but no one else does. I suspect the police remain unconvinced of your innocence in the death of two men. Unless I can prove that to them, beyond a reasonable doubt, you could be convicted of murder. To convince them, I must know everything.”
Kerri nodded, still shocked that she could in any way be considered responsible for what happened to Visconti and Schnieder. She exhaled, then began her story. She talked for an hour and a half, stopping only to answer Lambert’s questions, or to wait while he referred to his notes.
Lambert gave Kerri a pensive stare. “I need to ask you one more question… Did you in any way plan to murder Louis Visconti?”
“No! I’m not the slightest bit sorry he’s dead, but I never, ever planned to kill him.”
“I believe you,” Lambert said with a generous grin. “You gave me the answer I assumed you would give me.” He stood, extended his hand, and gave Kerri a confident smile. “Leave the rest to me.”
CHAPTER 98
Toronto. Thursday, September 27. 9:00 A.M.
“Give me your take on the confrontation in Monte Carlo last week,” John Hill said to his friend, Alex McDowell. Both had spent the night at Toronto’s King Edward Hotel and, by mutual agreement, had arrived for breakfast in the hotel’s breakfast nook, just off the main lobby.
“Too early to break open the champagne. We still haven’t found a dime.”
“True, but you’ve got to believe Mike King knows exactly where the money is.”
“You bet your ass we do, and we’re going to put pressure on the courts to throw the book at him.”
“You have enough to convict him?”
“Yup. We found him hiding out on an island north of Toronto. He left his car at Pearson, an obvious attempt to mislead us. We’ve also got his stepson’s statement on tape. More than enough.”
“You’ll be happy to know we’re pressuring the Monaco authorities to detain Visconti’s girlfriend as long as possible. Did you know she’s King’s daughter?”
“Not until recently. Hell of a coincidence, isn’t it?”
“It all fits, Alex. We think King and his daughter were wrapped up in some kind of deal with Visconti and Schnieder.”
“How do you explain the fact that all hell broke loose after ten years of silence?”
“I won’t even try. King and his daughter have the answer, and the more pressure we put on them, the sooner they’re going to talk.”
“How long can you keep King’s daughter in Monaco?”
“I’ll let you know. We’re working through the back door on this one. Of course if they manage to convict her of murder, it’ll be academic.”
“Do they think she’s guilty?”
“They don’t know what to think. She really must have wanted Visconti dead. She put an electric drill bit through his brain. Maybe Schnieder wanted him dead also. It was his gun the police found at the scene.”
“It’s absolutely amazing what people will do for money.”
“Maybe both of us should take a good look in the mirror,” Hill replied.
An hour later, Dan Turner ushered both Hill and McDowell into the ornate boardroom of Turner, Peterson, Greenwell and Worthy on the 65th floor of Toronto’s North American Bank Building. Coffee was served and the pleasantries were hurried.
“Would you mind if I taped this meeting, gentlemen?” Turner asked.
“We would,” McDowell replied. “This meeting is exploratory. We want it off the record. We’re here to negotiate, Mister Turner. As you know, we have your client behind bars, and we have every intention of keeping him there for a very long time. He’s clearly demonstrated that he’s a flight risk, so bail is out of the question.”
“So what’s to negotiate?” Turner asked, aware that his guests held all of the cards, and that he held virtually none.
“The money Jim Servito stole from our respective governments,” Hill replied. “We suspect your client knows where it is, and that he has access to it. His recent actions have made that quite clear. Furthermore, his step son’s statements have strongly supported our suspicion.”
Turner decided to plunge with the use of a high risk tactic. He had nothing to lose. His weak bargaining position gave him no choice. “I’m not prepared to confirm nor deny that my client has, or has ever been aware of the location of the money Jim Servito stole from your respective governments, but for the sake of negotiation, suppose he was able to find it. How much would it take to free him, and for all the charges against him to be dropped?” he asked.
Hill and McDowell exchanged barely perceptible glances, then Hill glared at Turner. “Our calculations indicate that Servito stole over three hundred million. Conservatively, that amount would have doubled over the past ten years, so six hundred million gets our attention,” he said.
Turner, the consummate professional, struggled to postpone a blink. “That amount closes your files, and all charges dropped?” he asked, aware that his client had no chance of getting his hands on anywhere close to that amount.
Both Hill and McDowell nodded.
“Why not give my client a break and round it out to five hundred million? Do I still have your attention?”
“Show us the money. We’ll talk again,” Hill replied, showing five fingers
CHAPTER 99
Monaco. Friday, September 28.
“Hi, Pierre,” Kerri said, her middle and index fingers of both hands crossed.
Lambert stepped inside her suite and closed the door. He displayed a huge smile. “A numbered Iacardi account just received an injection of slightly more than one hundred and sixty-six million dollars?”
“Yes!” Kerri shouted, her waning confidence having received an enormous boost. “Thank you, Pierre. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
“Congratulations. It took an enormous amount of courage to do what you’ve done. You’re now my wealthiest client.”
“I’ll never see or touch that money, Pierre.”
Lambert frowned. “On that subject, I just talked to Dan Turner. He regretted to inform me that he tried every trick in the book to get the charges against your father dropped, but couldn’t. He said the Feds’ influence was obvious. He speculated that they leaned on the court. They did it to put maximum pressure on your father to talk. Now here’s the really bad news. He further advised me that if your father can turn over six hundred million to them, they’ll drop the charges and close their files. They refused, however, to put it in writing.”
Kerri closed her eyes and bit her lip. In spite of all of her efforts, including risking her life, she had nowhere near that amount. “I don’t know my father very well, Pierre, but I’m sure even if they gave him a life sentence, he still wouldn’t talk.”
“Dan was delighted to hear that you had recovered the money. He said he would pass the information along to your father as soon as possible.”
“Thank you. What about me? When am I going to be allowed to leave Monaco?’
“I don’t know. I’m having a lot of difficulty getting answers from anyone. The police appear to be delaying any formal action on your case. Whenever I press the issue, they just tell me to be patient. I suspect they think you know where the money is.”
“Will you call me as soon as you know anything? I’m really scared.”
“I will. I suspect the delay is to get you to talk. I’m sure the Monaco police have been informed of the enormous amount of money involved in this case.”
“Then I want you to get a message to my father as soon as possible. Tell him that hell will freeze before I breathe a word about that money to anyone.”
“I’ll certainly do that, but I’m confused. What could you possible hope to achieve by continuing to hide it?”
“I want my father to use it to negotiate with the Feds. Unfortunately, it’s not enough, not nearly enough.”
CHAPTER 100
“So what’s with the collect call?” Miles jested. “I’m shocked that one of the wealthiest women in Europe can’t afford to pay for a telephone call to New York.”
Kerri laughed. “So deduct it from my salary.”
“Congratulations. You continue to amaze me. You’ve done exactly what you said you were going to do. I knew you were a winner from the day I met you.”
“I haven’t done everything yet. I still have to get my dad out of prison. Then I need to get my ass out of this wonderland.”
“Why is he in prison, and why can’t you just leave?”
“Dad tried to dodge a subpoena by hiding on an island north of Toronto. The Feds found him and convicted him of obstruction of justice. I think I’m being detained here because of the money. Pierre Lambert thinks the Monaco Police are delaying action on my case to put pressure on me to tell them where it is.”
“That infernal money! Everyone who touches it rolls snake-eyes.”
“Well you’re touching it now, Miles.”
“What do you want me to do with it?”
“Make it grow.”
“And how do you expect me to do that?”
“Short crude oil.”
Dennis laughed. “Let me amend my last statement. Everyone who touches that money rolls snake-eyes and goes stark raving mad.”
“I’m serious, Miles. I’ve had nothing to do but watch television for days. I’m convinced that the Kuwait problem is going to come to crashing end and crude oil is going to crash with it.”
“You know we could lose it all.”
“Yes, but what the hell do we have to lose?”
“Work with me on this. Please explain why a hundred and sixty-six million is nothing to lose.”
“My only interest in that money is using it to clear my father. We need at least six hundred million to have any hope of doing that. If you can’t pull off a miracle with that money, we might as well give it away to charity.”
“How high do you want me to fly?”
“As high as you can. Back up the truck and bet the farm.”
“What name do you want to put on the account?”
“Forta Equitas, S.A.”
“What’s that?”