‘Mrs Baskin, you are using blackmail.’
‘I want to know what happened to that account, Mr Corsel, and believe me, I’ll find out. This is no idle threat. If you still won’t tell me after I transfer the Svengali funds, I’ll have the press and my lawyers swarming all over the place. The media should love a story about a widow who wants to donate her late husband’s earnings to charity and the bank that may have stolen the money.’
‘Stolen?’
‘The bank’s reputation will be somewhat compromised, Mr Corsel, but eventually I will get the information.’
Richard Corsel looked like he had just lost a boxing match.
‘By the way,’ Laura added, ‘Sam is very precise. I only have a few minutes left to stop him.’
Corsel lowered his head. ‘I don’t know where the account is exactly. You have to believe me.’
‘Go on.’
‘Your husband had me transfer the money to a bank in Switzerland.’
‘When?’
He paused. ‘Please, Mrs Baskin, I can’t tell you.’ ‘Which bank in Switzerland?’
‘Bank of Geneva. But I know it didn’t stay there long so you can’t make a claim there. And you may be able to threaten Heritage of Boston, but there’s no way to budge a Swiss bank.’
‘But why would David do something like that?’
He shrugged. ‘I don’t know.’
‘Did he handle this transaction in person?’
‘No, I spoke to him on the phone.’
‘Are you sure it was David’s voice?’
‘Positive. I know your husband’s voice very well – even with the static. Plus he used a code number only he knows.’
‘784CF90821BC,’ Laura stated.
‘And obviously,’ Richard Corsel replied, ‘he trusted you with it.’
‘David always told me everything, Mr Corsel,’ she said. ‘Now would you please hand me the phone? I have to call Sam.’
Laura recounted the conversation to T.C. as they headed back to the car.
‘I can’t believe you did that, Laura. I arrest people for doing that sort of thing.’
‘Okay, guilty. So what do you think?’
‘About Switzerland? I think Corsel is right. I’ve got a few friends at the FBI’s office but I doubt we’ll find out what happened to the account after it reached the Bank of Geneva.’
‘But why would David do this?’
T.C. shrugged. ‘Maybe he wanted to have some money stored away in case the bottom fell out.’
‘And not tell me about it?’
‘Maybe he was going to and didn’t have a chance. You said he had the Heritage account recently. Maybe he made the transaction right before you eloped and decided a honeymoon was not the place to discuss finances.’
‘Wait a second,’ Laura began. She concentrated hard, trying to remember exactly. ‘David came here to get some cash right before we left for Australia.’
‘Then that’s your answer, Laura. He made the transfer when he picked up the cash and just decided to tell you about it later.’
She shook her head. ‘Something is still not right. David could barely balance his checkbook.’
‘That’s true, but – ’
Laura stopped suddenly. ‘Hold on.’
‘What?’
‘Corsel said that David made the transfer over the phone, not in person. He mentioned that there was static on the line.’
‘So?’
‘Don’t you see?’ Laura almost shouted. ‘That means that David must have transferred his money while we were in Australia.’
Stan sat up and watched the television. Nothing on. Fat Oprah (or was she skinny this week?) was talking to some group of slobs who sexually assault their plants or something like that. Stan wasn’t really listening. He was thinking. He needed to think up a score. A big one. And he needed to think of one in a hurry.
He was also thinking about the B Man.
The solution to his current money problems was obvious: get the money from David’s estate. But how? Everything was left to Laura. He could ask her for it but that would arouse her suspicion. She may be a bit naive, but she was far from stupid. Plus Stan was sure that fucking T.C. was filling her head with all kinds of nonsense about the past. No, Stan decided, he could not ask her directly. He would have to make her offer the money to him.
But how?
Knuckles rapped on the door.
Terror ran through Stan. He had used a fake name when he registered. No one knew he was here. He closed his eyes as the knock came again. Maybe it was just the maid. Maybe it was -
‘Open up, Stan. I want to talk to you.’
– B Man.
Stan stood as though hypnotized. He was on the fourteenth floor so a window escape was out. But what the hell, he and B Man went back a long way. B Man had never hurt him before. He knew Stan was good for the money, and once Stan explained that he had a chance of getting his hands on serious money, B Man would give him more time. Stan turned the knob and opened the door.
‘B Man!’ Stan greeted him with a smile. ‘How the hell are you, man? You look great.’
B Man stood in the doorway and smiled coolly. ‘Thanks, Stan. It’s nice to see you, too.’
Stan was always surprised by B Man’s appearance. He hardly looked the part of a rough gangster. He had long, bleached-blond hair, a year-round tan, and teeth that were white enough for a tooth-polish commercial. His height and weight were average, maybe even a little on the small side. Even more unusual, the B Man had an ivy league education and had lived for three years in Korea, where he trained six hours a day in Kung Fu or some shit like that.
That was his specialty: hand-to-hand combat. You could put three bruisers twice his size against him and B Man would slaughter them without breaking a sweat.
‘Come in, B.’
‘Thank you.’ He stepped in and closed the door. His voice remained pleasant. ‘What are you doing in Boston, Stan?’
‘I told you I was going to go to my brother’s funeral.’
‘That was quite a while ago.’
‘I know that, B Man, but I’m very close to scoring big.’
‘I’ve heard that from you before.’
‘No, really.’
B Man stood directly in front of Stan, their faces no more than six inches apart. ‘You wouldn’t be trying to avoid me, would you, Stan?’
‘No way,’ Stan argued. ‘I would never do that.’
B Man just stared.
‘Wh… What brings you to Boston, B?’
B Man strolled around the room. ‘I have a little business here. One of my wrestlers is in town.’
‘Roadhouse Rex?’ Stan asked.
B Man nodded.
‘Roadhouse is great,’ Stan continued, trying to keep B Man’s attention on the gruesome wrestler and off of himself. ‘He can take a dive like nobody’s business.’
‘Roadhouse is the best,’ B Man agreed with a hint of a smile. ‘You should see him backstage. His trunk is filled with blood capsules, phony casts for whatever ailment he plans on faking, you name it.’ B Man turned and moved toward Stan. ‘But we’re getting off the subject, aren’t we?’
‘Off the subject?’
B Man just smiled. ‘Stan, have you been trying to hide from me?’
Stan swallowed. ‘You know me better than that, B Man. Like I said before, I told you I was coming to Boston.’
‘True,’ B Man agreed, ‘but you forgot to mention that you were going to use an alias.’
‘I just needed a little time. You see, my brother – ’
‘I know all about your brother.’
‘Well, he was loaded. I’m going to get some of his money.’
B Man laughed. ‘Who do you think you’re talking to? I know what you did to him. I was there, remember? Your brother would never leave you a cent.’
‘I know that, B Man. I’m going to get the money from his widow.’
‘That model?’
‘Yeah, B Man. She’ll give me the money.’
‘Fifty thousand dollars?’
‘Right. No problem.’
B Man calmly walked toward the bed. ‘But Stan, you’re already very late.’