Kane and Abel/Sons of Fortune Read online

  Harry Gates turned around and shook Fletcher by the hand. He could hardly make out the former senator’s words above the uproar.

  Fletcher thought he heard Harry say, “May I be the first to congratulate you, Senator.”

  BOOK FOUR

  ACTS

  36

  NAT WAS ON the train back from New York when he read the short piece in the New York Times. He had attended a board meeting of Kirkbridge & Co., where he was able to report that the first stage of building on the Cedar Wood site had been completed. The next phase was to lease the seventy-three shops, which ranged in size from a thousand to twelve thousand square feet. Many of the successful retailers currently on the Robinson’s site had already shown an interest, and Kirkbridge & Co. were preparing a brochure and application form for several hundred potential customers. Nat had also booked a full-page ad in the Hartford Courant and agreed to be interviewed about the project for the weekly property section.

  Mr. George Turner, the council’s new chief executive, had nothing but praise for the enterprise, and in his annual report, singled out Mrs. Kirkbridge’s contribution as project coordinator. Earlier in the year, Mr. Turner had visited Russell’s Bank, but not before Ray Jackson had been promoted to manager of their Newington branch.

  Tom’s progress was somewhat slower as it had taken him seven months before he plucked up the courage to invite Julia out for dinner. It took her seven seconds to accept.

  Within weeks Tom was on the 4:49 P.M. train to New York every Friday afternoon, returning to Hartford on Monday morning. Su Ling kept asking for progress reports, but Nat seemed unusually ill-informed.

  “Perhaps we’ll find out more on Friday,” he said, reminding her that Julia was down for the weekend, and they had both accepted an invitation to join them for dinner.

  Nat reread the short piece in the New York Times, which didn’t go into any detail, and left the impression that there was a lot more behind the story. William Alexander of Alexander Dupont & Bell, has announced his resignation as senior partner of the firm founded by his grandfather. Mr. Alexander’s only comment was that for some time he had been planning to take early retirement.

  Nat looked out of the window at the Hartford countryside speeding by. He recognized the name, but couldn’t place it.

  “Mr. Logan Fitzgerald is on line one, Senator.”

  “Thank you, Sally.” Fletcher received over a hundred calls a day, but his secretary only put them through when she knew they were old friends or urgent business.

  “Logan, how good to hear from you. How are you?”

  “I’m well, Fletcher, and you?”

  “Never better,” Fletcher replied.

  “And the family?” asked Logan.

  “Annie still loves me, heaven knows why, because I rarely leave the building before ten, Lucy is at Hartford Elementary and we’ve put her down for Hotchkiss. And you?”

  “I’ve just made partner,” said Logan.

  “That’s no surprise,” said Fletcher, “but many congratulations.”

  “Thanks, but that wasn’t why I was calling. I wanted to check if you’d spotted the piece about Bill Alexander’s resignation in the Times.” Fletcher felt a chill go through his body at the mere mention of the name.

  “No,” he said, as he leaned across the desk and grabbed his copy of the paper. “Which page?”

  “Seven, bottom right.”

  Fletcher quickly flicked through the pages until he saw the headline, Leading lawyer resigns. “Hold on while I just read the piece.” When he’d come to the end, all he said was, “It doesn’t add up. He was married to that firm, and he can’t be a day over sixty.”

  “Fifty-seven,” said Logan.

  “But the partners’ mandatory retirement age is sixty-five, and even then they keep you on as an in-house advisor until you’re seventy. It doesn’t add up.” Fletcher repeated.

  “Until you dig a little.”

  “And when you dig a little, what do you find?” asked Fletcher.

  “A hole.”

  “A hole?”

  “Yes, it seems that a large sum of money went missing from a client’s account when …”

  “I have no time for Bill Alexander,” Fletcher cut in, “but I do not believe that he would remove one penny from a client’s account. In fact I’d stake my reputation on it.”

  “I agree with you, but what will interest you more is that the New York Times didn’t bother to report the name of the other partner who resigned on the same day.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “Ralph Elliot, no less.”

  “They both went on the same day?”

  “They sure did.”

  “And what reason did Elliot give for resigning? It certainly can’t have been because he was planning to take early retirement.”

  “Elliot gave no reason; in fact their PR spokeswoman is reported to have said that he was unavailable for comment, which must be a first.”

  “Did she add anything?” asked Fletcher.

  “Only that he was a junior partner, but she failed to point out that he was also Alexander’s nephew.”

  “So a large sum of money goes missing from a client’s account, and Uncle Bill decided to take the rap rather than embarrass the firm.”

  “That sounds about right,” said Logan.

  Fletcher could feel the sweat on the palms of his hands as he put the phone down.

  Tom burst into Nat’s office. “Did you spot the piece in the New York Times about Bill Alexander’s resignation?”

  “Yes, I recalled the name, but couldn’t remember why.”

  “It was the law firm Ralph Elliot joined after he left Stanford.”

  “Ah yes,” said Nat, putting down his pen, “so is he the new senior partner?”

  “No, but he is the other partner who resigned. Joe Stein tells me that half a million has gone missing from a client account, and the partners had to cover the sum out of their own earnings. The name on the street is Ralph Elliot.”

  “But why would the senior partner have to resign if Elliot’s name is in the frame?”

  “Because Elliot’s his nephew, and Alexander pushed for him to be the youngest partner in the firm’s history.”

  “Sit still and revenge will visit thine enemies.”

  “No, I don’t think so,” said Tom, “but it might revisit Hartford.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Nat.

  “He’s telling everyone that Rebecca is missing her friends, so he’s bringing his wife back home.”

  “His wife?”

  “Yeah. Joe says they were married at City Hall quite recently, but not before she also resembled a big apple.”

  “I wonder who the father is,” said Nat almost to himself.

  “And he’s opened an account at our Newington branch, obviously unaware that you’re the bank’s chief executive.”

  “Elliot knows only too well who the bank’s chief executive is. Just let’s be sure he doesn’t deposit half a million,” Nat added with a smile.

  “Joe says there’s no proof, and what’s more, Alexander’s has a reputation for being tight-lipped, so don’t expect to hear anything more from that quarter.”

  Nat looked up at Tom. “Elliot wouldn’t come home unless he had a job to go to. He’s too proud for that. But just who’s been foolhardy enough to employ him?”

  The senator picked up line one. “Mr. Gates,” said his secretary.

  “Business or pleasure?” Fletcher asked when Jimmy came on the line.

  “Certainly not pleasure,” replied Jimmy. “Have you heard Ralph Elliot is back in town?”

  “No. Logan rang this morning to tell me that he’d resigned from AD and B but he didn’t say anything about him returning to Hartford.”

  “Yeah, he’s joining Belman and Wayland as the partner in charge of corporate business. In fact, part of his agreement is that the firm will in the future be known as Belman Wayland and Elliot.” Fletcher didn’t comment. �€